Free Web NovelChapter 30: Chapter 30: The First Love Returns
"She came to bring your brother breakfast," Sonia Quincy explained openly. "After she drops it off, she’s catching a ride with your brother to the studio to discuss a project collaboration."
"...Is she crazy?" Lynn Preston glanced back at Renee Sinclair, her complaint blunt. "My brother has a family and a wife. Does he need her to bring him breakfast? She must be up to no good."
"Perhaps," Sonia Quincy said with a nonchalant smile.
Hearing this, Lynn Preston looked at her, surprised. "How can you be so calm?"
Sonia asked, "Why shouldn’t I be calm?"
DING—
As they spoke, the elevator arrived, and Lynn Preston and Sonia Quincy stepped inside side-by-side. Since they were the only two in the elevator, Lynn continued, "You can tell that Renee Sinclair is up to no good with just one look. Aren’t you worried? Or do you already know what she’s up to and have a counter-strategy prepared? Is that why you’re so unfazed?"
Sonia Quincy answered truthfully, "It’s neither of those."
Lynn Preston raised an eyebrow. "Neither?! Then what is it?"
Sonia recalled the way Felix Preston kept Renee Sinclair completely at arm’s length, and the smile in her eyes widened.
"It’s because your brother gives me a complete sense of security. His interactions with Renee Sinclair are strictly for work. Outside of that, he ignores any attempt she makes to get close. Your brother knows what she’s after, but he can’t afford to offend her right now. So, he has to gently and politely turn her down every time, always making sure to mention that he has a wife. He doesn’t give me any chance to misunderstand."
"Since he’s already doing all that, what is there for me to worry about?"
"Oh, that’s true!" Now that Sonia Quincy had explained it, Lynn Preston instantly understood her mindset.
The elevator reached their floor, and Lynn Preston linked her arm with Sonia’s as they stepped out. "My brother is really amazing," she said, her face beaming with pride. "He’s so responsible and attentive to both his family and his wife—you can’t find a single fault in him. When I look for a husband, I’m going to find someone just like him."
Sonia said, "You definitely should. If you find a husband who can’t even measure up to your brother, not a single person in our family will approve the marriage."
"Mhm!" Lynn Preston said agreeably. "I’ll feel much better knowing you’ll all be there to vet him for me!"
Sonia Quincy had already warned Jack Sullivan at the company yesterday, so the moment she appeared today, he had someone summon her and Lynn Preston to his office.
Though he was stupid and disgusting, he knew when to back down. As soon as Lynn Preston submitted her resignation, he obediently produced her pay stub.
Lynn Preston checked the attendance record and deduction details, and after confirming everything was correct, she signed it.
The entire process, from arriving at the company to completing the paperwork and leaving, went smoothly without a single hitch.
"Wow... you really have a way with things." Looking at her pay stub, which wasn’t for a large amount but was accurate down to the last cent, Lynn Preston felt a weight lift off her shoulders.
Sonia Quincy pulled out her phone to call a car. "To deal with a scoundrel like him," she said with a smile, "you have to be even more of a scoundrel. In the future, think long and hard before you accept a job. Don’t subject yourself to that kind of treatment just for a pittance."
Lynn Preston snuggled affectionately against Sonia Quincy and replied in a sweet, singsong voice, "I get it now. Thanks, Sonia."
It was still early, so Lynn Preston wasn’t ready to let Sonia Quincy go home yet. She entered the address of Mrs. Preston’s class into a ride-hailing app and coaxed Sonia into going with her to pick Mrs. Preston up.
Mrs. Preston only had a morning class that day. After picking her up, they all went happily to her house and asked her to cook them something delicious.
It seemed the Preston family had completely believed and accepted Sonia Quincy’s repentance. Now, even without Felix Preston around, Mrs. Preston and Lynn Preston chatted and laughed with her freely. They even let her take a nap in Mrs. Preston’s room, treating her entirely like family with their guards completely down.
Sonia spent the afternoon at Mrs. Preston’s house, eating and drinking her fill. When she left, her hands were full of goodies that Mrs. Preston had packed for her.
She took out her phone, snapped a photo of her "haul" for the day, and sent it to Felix Preston.
—No need to cook tonight. What Mom gave us will be enough.
Felix Preston was busy with work and always slow to reply. Sonia sent the message and put her phone away, not expecting to hear back from him right away.
"Sonia Quincy."
Suddenly, a strange man emerged from the side of her apartment building, blocking her way.
Sonia Quincy stared at him in confusion, then accurately identified him by the beauty mark at the corner of his eye.
’Jasper Linden. The villainess’s first love from college. Innocent and devoted, he was arguably the only person in the novel who had ever truly loved her. But the villainess hadn’t taken his love seriously. While they were dating, she met Ethan Lockwood and became utterly infatuated. To get together with Ethan, she kicked Jasper to the curb and seamlessly jumped into Ethan’s arms. Jasper Linden was heartbroken. On the day the villainess got engaged to Ethan Lockwood, he left the country alone and hadn’t returned in all these years.’
This tragic character didn’t have much of a role in the novel. Sonia didn’t know how his story ended, much less what he wanted by suddenly appearing here now.
"Jasper Linden, what is it?" Unwilling to guess his motives, Sonia Quincy asked him directly.
Jasper Linden’s gaze raked over her bluntly. It went from her face, beautiful even without makeup, to her simple, solid-colored dress, and finally to the insulated bags in her hands.
He looked Sonia Quincy up and down several times but didn’t answer.
Her current appearance seemed to have taken him by complete surprise. For someone who should have hated her, there wasn’t a trace of hatred in his eyes.
"...I thought you would end up marrying Ethan Lockwood."
After a long moment, Jasper Linden finally spoke, but what he said was completely baffling.
The corner of Sonia Quincy’s mouth lifted in a faint smile. "The person Ethan Lockwood loves is the true heiress of the Quincy Family, not Sonia Quincy. So, I was never destined to marry him."
Sonia Quincy showed no hostility toward Jasper Linden. He was the villainess’s first love, the person she had wronged more than anyone.
Whether from her own perspective or the villainess’s, she felt she had no reason to hate Jasper Linden.
"Hmph," Jasper Linden sneered, his handsome face filled with blatant mockery. "You kicked me to the curb back then to be with him. Are you finally regretting it now?"
"I have nothing to regret." Sonia Quincy sensed his malice but remained composed and polite. "I chose my path, and I don’t regret it. Besides, I’m married now. My husband is very good to me, and I’m happy."
"Happy?" Jasper Linden glanced back at the old apartment building, his tone dripping with sarcasm. "You think you’re happy married to a man who’s gone bankrupt? You think you’re happy living in a place like this?"
"Sonia Quincy, your life is like this now. What’s the point of putting on a brave face for me?"
