Free Web NovelChapter 261: Chapter 264: I Do Like Charlotte Shaw
"Er..." Fiona Dalton stammered for a moment.
Cecilia Quincy, who was standing to the side, was frantically motioning to her with her eyes.
After a moment’s hesitation, she decided to follow Cecilia’s advice.
"Willow, there’s no one else home right now. I want to ask you a question, and you have to answer me honestly."
"..."
Willow Quincy already guessed what the question was, so he immediately fell silent.
Fiona Dalton said urgently, "Don’t you dare be silent!"
"...Alright." ’This day was bound to come. I knew I couldn’t avoid it.’
"Go ahead and ask." His tone suddenly softened, as if he’d given up the struggle.
Fiona Dalton took a deep breath and got straight to the point. "Willow, are you in love with that girl, Charlotte Shaw?"
"...Yes."
Willow Quincy’s answer was exactly what Fiona Dalton had expected, yet she was still frightened out of her wits by his damning admission.
"You—" Fiona Dalton gasped, nearly fainting on the spot.
"Mom!" Cecilia Quincy quickly came over to support her.
The hand holding the phone trembled uncontrollably, and her legs went so weak she could barely stand.
"Mom, please, calm down!" Cecilia helped her sit on the sofa, then yelled into the phone at Willow Quincy. "Brother, are you out of your mind? How can you be in love with Charlotte Shaw? She’s your own sister!"
Willow Quincy replied, "She’s not my sister. We don’t share a single drop of blood."
"You..." Cecilia was stunned speechless by his candor. It took her several seconds to find the words to argue back.
"Of course she’s not related to you by blood *now*, but when did you fall in love with her?" Cecilia asked coldly.
"..." Willow Quincy did not answer.
In a situation like this, silence was the loudest answer. Cecilia already had her confirmation.
"Brother!" she cried out urgently to Willow, her voice choked with emotion. "Have you lost your mind? How could you fall for your own sister? Don’t you know that’s incest?"
"It’s not incest," Willow Quincy denied firmly. "Charlotte Shaw is not my sister. Loving her isn’t incest."
"But she was still a daughter of the Quincy family when you fell for her!" Fiona Dalton shrieked, on the verge of being driven mad by him. "Willow Quincy, when you fell in love with her, she was still your sister in name!"
"She wasn’t!" Willow Quincy’s voice suddenly shot up. "When I fell in love with her, I already knew she wasn’t my sister."
"...What?" Fiona Dalton was dumbfounded. She turned to Cecilia, and they exchanged a look of disbelief. "You already knew she wasn’t your sister when you fell in love with Charlotte?"
"Then when did you fall in love with her? After Cecilia came home?"
Willow Quincy: "...No."
"Then when?"
Cecilia subconsciously guessed a more recent time. "Was it after Charlotte married Felix Preston?"
"No." Willow Quincy’s reply was just as blunt.
Fiona Dalton had lost her patience for guessing games. She asked directly, "If it wasn’t then and it wasn’t then, when exactly did you fall for her?"
Willow Quincy did not have the courage to confess to them.
He had been preparing for this for a long time, but he still couldn’t bring himself to say it.
Holding his breath, he met Fiona Dalton’s questions with silence.
Fiona Dalton’s anxiety grew with the wait. She asked him again, "Say something, Willow Quincy! When on earth did you fall in love with Charlotte Shaw?"
"..." Willow Quincy didn’t dare to say.
Fiona Dalton suddenly thought of another question.
"Willow Quincy, are you responsible for Charlotte Shaw’s disappearance?"
"No." Willow Quincy answered this question quickly.
Fiona Dalton finally breathed a sigh of relief. The fact that her son was involved in what she considered incest was a huge headache, but it was still better than kidnapping. Kidnapping meant prison time. If Willow had really done it, the entire Quincy family would have been ruined.
"You’re sure it wasn’t you?" she asked again, needing to be certain.
Willow Quincy: "It wasn’t me. I don’t know who kidnapped Sonia either. My men are out looking for her too."
"As long as it wasn’t you."
Compared to kidnapping, the issue of incest suddenly seemed less significant in Fiona Dalton’s mind.
She didn’t press the matter, only admonishing Willow, "Willow, these feelings of yours are wrong. You cannot be in love with Charlotte Shaw! Let’s not even talk about how she was your sister for twenty years—the fact that she’s married with a child alone means she’s not someone you can love!"
"You need to bury these feelings deep inside you and never let them see the light of day. Don’t let anyone find out, especially not your father!"
"If your father finds out about this... this incest, you’ll give him a heart attack!"
"..."
Willow Quincy fell silent again.
Silence, in this case, meant he had no intention of listening to her. Fiona Dalton knew his defiant nature all too well and pressed him for an answer. "Willow Quincy, did you hear me?"
"...I heard you," Willow Quincy replied reluctantly.
Fiona Dalton: "Fine. Just focus on recovering for now. Once you’re healed, come back as soon as you can. The company needs you."
"Okay," Willow Quincy replied.
"Mr. Quincy is back."
At that moment, a maid shouted from the courtyard.
Fiona Dalton’s heart jumped, and she immediately handed the phone back to Cecilia Quincy.
Cecilia said hurriedly, "Dad’s home. We have to go. You need to get your feelings sorted out."
Then she hung up.
The next second, Finn Quincy dragged his tired body into the living room.
"Dad, you’re home." Cecilia put her phone away and quickly rose from the sofa to greet Finn Quincy.
Finn Quincy frowned and grunted a perfunctory, "Yeah."
He then glanced up at Cecilia, and when he saw her swollen cheeks and red-rimmed eyes, his expression immediately changed.
"What happened to your face?" Finn Quincy stared at Cecilia and asked, "Did someone hit you?"
"Th-that’s not it!" Cecilia didn’t dare tell him that she and Fiona Dalton had gone to the Shaw residence to cause trouble, so she had to lie. "I... I wasn’t hit. I’m having an allergic reaction."
"An allergic reaction?" Finn Quincy narrowed his eyes, unconvinced.
Cecilia nodded, her expression earnest. "Yes. I accidentally ate something I shouldn’t have this morning, and my cheeks got swollen and red. The doctor already gave me some medicine and said it should clear up in a couple of days."
"...Oh." Finn Quincy was mentally and physically exhausted. She didn’t seem to be lying, and he was too tired to press her for more details.
The heating in the living room was strong. He took a moment to adjust, then took off his overcoat, threw it on the sofa, and reached up to loosen the tie around his neck.
"You’ve all heard about what’s happening with Willow and Charlotte Shaw, right?"
He brought the matter up abruptly.
"..." Fiona Dalton and Cecilia Quincy looked at each other, neither daring to answer.
"Tsk..." Finn Quincy shot them an impatient glare. "I’m talking to you. Have you heard about what’s going on with Willow and Charlotte Shaw or not?"
