Filed to story: A Second Chance with My Billionaire Love
You care about her, and you don’t hate her either, but you still don’t know how to get along with her. That was why you pretended to be a bad guy to provoke her and make her hate you. You didn’t mean what you said-you’re just afraid to face your feelings.” After studying Quinton’s expressions, Flossie tried to put herself in his shoes and figure out his thoughts.
“I’m afraid?” Quinton’s facade fell as he flexed his fingers. ‘Maybe I am really scared!”
After over half an hour, Owen exited the clinic calmly.
“How is Joanne?” Flossie asked as she hurried forward.
“She’s fine. She just lost a lot of blood, so I gave her a blood transfusion and some supplements. I’m guessing she’ll wake up in around half an hour, Owen said nonchalantly. Simple physical injuries like these were easy to treat compared to the complex illnesses he had treated before.
“That’s great.” Flossie heaved a sigh of relief and looked at Quinton happily. “Did you hear that, Quinton? There’s no need to worry. You can talk to her when she wakes up.”
“Hmm.” Quinton just grunted, then stood up and walked to his room, his tall figure looking somewhat lonely.
Owen watched Quinton leave, then asked Flossie carefully, “What’s your brother’s relationship with that woman?”
“Umm…” Flossie thought about it, but didn’t know how to describe their relationship. “I guess they’re considered siblings,”
“They don’t look like siblings.” Owen shook his head and said directly. “That woman is your brother’s misfortune.”
“What?” Flossie looked confused. “Are you serious? It’s very much the opposite. You don’t know what my crazy brother did to her. She hates him a lot.” Flossie sometimes wondered if matchmaking them was the right thing to do since Joanne hated Quinton that much. Their reunion could either be a reward or tragedy.
“On the surface, it looks like your brother is suppressing her, but she’s actually the one controlling your brother.” As a doctor, Owen was used to seeing death and separation, and could easily see the good and bad in people. At a glance, he could tell that Joanne was controlling the situation instead. Joanne was Quinton’s reason to live-if she passed away that day, Quinton might not survive either.
“You’re right.” Flossie nodded in agreement. “Joanne does have a great impact on him. He’s usually calm and indifferent, but he always gets agitated when he talks about Joanne. He secretly went to meet her, and I don’t know what happened that they ended up in this situation. I don’t know if I did the right thing by telling him Joanne’s address…” Flossie’s guilt grew when she recalled Joanne’s bloody figure. How would she ever make it up to her?
“Don’t worry-they would have met eventually even if you didn’t do anything.” Owen approached Flossie and whispered, “I’ll tell you a secret. That woman kept calling your brother’s name when she was unconscious, so she definitely feels very strongly about him. If not, she wouldn’t still think about him when she was dying.”
“Really?” Flossie’s eyes lit up hopefully. “So, is it possible between the two of them? Maybe they do care about each other but haven’t resolved their trauma yet.”
“I’m not sure about that,” Owen added objectively, “But when I said she feels strongly about him, it isn’t necessarily a positive thing. What if it’s hatred she feels for him? She might be full of hatred for your brother even when she’s dying.”
Flossie stared at Owen, at a loss for words. He didn’t need to remind her of it.
As expected, Joanne woke up after a while. Her head was bandaged, and she looked weak and pale. Flossie was too afraid to let Quinton see her in case he might upset her. She gently opened the door and walked in, carrying a tray of fruits and smiling. “Joanne, what a coincidence to see you again so soon!”
Joanne looked past Flossie to make sure she was alone, then glared at her coldly. “Is it? Didn’t you cause this?”
“Umm…” Flossie kept her head hung as she nudged the carpet with her foot awkwardly, too ashamed to face Joanne. “It’s not what you think… You know how crazy my brother is, and you can’t stop him when he goes mad. I didn’t expect this to happen either.”
Joanne imagined people tackling Quinton to the ground to stop him, and her body relaxed in amusement. However, she couldn’t laugh in front of Flossie, so she took a deep breath and whispered, “Where am I? Your brother… won’t disturb me again, right?”
“Actually… this is my house,” Flossie confessed. “My brother also lives here.”
“What? He’s here too?” The blood drained from Joanne’s face and she immediately became nervous. She pushed the blanket off her and tried to find a place to hide, her fear of Quinton overwhelming her. Hearing that she was in his house made her even more desperate to run away.
“Relax…” Flossie hurriedly tried to comfort her. “Although he lives here, my house is pretty big. If you don’t want to see him, I’ll forbid him from approaching this floor. You guys won’t have to see each other.” Flossie knew that she needed Joanne to trust her. If Joanne let her guard down, the issue between her and Quinton could be resolved. If not, they would argue with each other when they met, and things between them would never get better.
“Can I leave?” Joanne’s eyes were watery as she asked Flossie.
“Sure.” Naturally, Flossie would not force Joanne to stay, but she didn’t want to see things end like that for Joanne and Quinton. She shamelessly tried to persuade Joanne, “But you’ve just woken up and your body is still very weak. The doctor suggested that you rest for at least ten to fourteen days before you start moving around again.”
“I can’t stay here for long.” Joanne shook her head, looking uncomfortable and anxious.
“Don’t worry, I’ll keep my brother away. I won’t let him disturb you.”
“It’s not because of him.”
Flossie couldn’t understand it. “If it’s not because of my crazy brother, what’s your reason?” It seemed that the only thing in the whole manor that made Joanne uneasy was Quinton.
“I need to go back to my school to handle my affairs.” A long sigh escaped Joanne. “Mr. Guajardo got me that job, so I’m very thankful to him. It’s like he’s given me another chance, but I’ve let him down. After today’s mess, I’m sure the parents will find fault with the principal, and I’m afraid it’ll affect Mr. Guajardo… that’s why I want to go back to the school to settle it.” Joanne felt like the only person in her life that truly cared for her was Halston. He had rescued her so many times, but she hadn’t repaid him for it. She didn’t want to burden him either, so she wanted to resolve this issue even if she had to die.
“Oh, that’s it…” Flossie sighed in relief. “Don’t worry. Just rest here; I’ll help you settle it. Plus, don’t feel like you owe Halston something. You helped him back then, so he should help you settle in too.” Flossie wanted to calm Joanne down. Halston had sowed discord between Quinton and Joanne before he seized Carmine Pawnshop, and even ruined Quinton’s face. If not for their relationship, Flossie would have avenged Quinton, so she couldn’t accept how grateful Joanne was to Halston.
“You can’t say that.” Joanne frowned. “Mr. Guajardo wanted to save me. He didn’t manipulate me. I betrayed your brother because I hated him-it had nothing to do with Mr. Guajardo. Plus, if I hadn’t been so ruthless back then, Quinton wouldn’t have held such a big grudge against Mr. Guajardo. I wouldn’t have nearly gotten Mr. Guajardo killed either. I really owe him a lot!” Although Joanne hadn’t seen how Quinton had taken revenge on Halston, she had heard of it. She heard that Quinton nearly killed Halston, and Halston only managed to survive because of his cousin’s blood. Joanne felt that she could never repay him for what he had done.
“Ah, there’s no point in trying to figure out who’s right or wrong. Everyone is at fault.” Flossie waved her hand dismissively. There was no way they could move on if they remained stuck in the past. It was better that they figure out how to reconcile instead. “Don’t worry. The head of the mighty Guajardo Enterprise wouldn’t be affected by such a small thing. An elementary school is nothing to him,” Flossie patted Joanne’s shoulder and said lightly.
“Yes, the school won’t find fault with Mr. Guajardo, but the parents aren’t easy to pacify,” Joanne added worriedly, Lone Pine Elementary is an important school in this city, and its students come from either rich or noble families. Now, my class’s parents know that I’m a teacher without any academic qualifications or experience, and that I have terrible scars all over me. They won’t let it go. They’ll demand an explanation, and then they’ll find out that Mr. Guajardo played a part in this. It’ll affect Guajardo Enterprise, and Mr. Guajardo too.”
“Yes, you’re right.” Flossie nodded in agreement. “Well, people are always afraid of what society says, and Guajardo Enterprise has had quite a bad reputation lately. The news more or less affects the enterprise’s stocks and sales.” Flossie wasn’t worried because large companies like Guajardo Enterprise usually had a Public Relations department to handle any bad news that could affect the company’s image.
“So, you should know why I insist on going back. As the person involved, I have to show up and take responsibility. I can’t involve Mr. Guajardo.’ Joanne had been thinking of how to repay Halston for saving her. She tried to work hard to show the other teachers in the school that Halston hadn’t made a mistake by recommending her. The principal admired her very much because the class she taught had improved their grades in the Cienna language. Some of them even joined the national essay writing competition and won it, which was why the principal had appointed her as a class teacher. Joanne had wanted to share that good news with Halston after the parent-teacher meeting, but unexpectedly…
“Wow, you really love him so much!” A voice said icily from outside the room. Flossie and Joanne had no idea that Quinton had been standing outside the whole time, and had heard their entire conversation. At first, he could control his temper, but he lost it when he realized how much Joanne valued Halston-the one man who had humiliated Quinton.
“Stop… Don’t come near me!” Joanne yelled fearfully as she grabbed Flossie, hiding behind her. Even after trying to kill herself, she couldn’t escape him. He was like a curse she couldn’t get rid of that haunted and tortured her.
“Don’t be scared.” Flossie stood in front of Joanne and glared at Quinton who had suddenly barged in. “Quinton, didn’t we agree that you would only come here if she asked for you? She’s just recovered. Do you want to scare her and get her killed?” Although Quinton was her twin brother, she could not be biased toward him. He was too extreme, and Joanne was just a victim in all this. Flossie had to make her feel comfortable.
“Hmph, she’s not that weak!” Quinton steely gaze landed on Joanne. “She didn’t even hesitate when she wanted to kill me.’
The atmosphere immediately became tense.
“Okay, both of you stop talking.” Flossie became helpless and exhausted. She had finally persuaded Joanne to stop being stubborn, but once Quinton appeared… Well, everything returned to how it used to be.
“Get out!” Joanne picked up a pillow and flung it at Quinton fiercely, then jumped out of bed and hurried to the window. “If he doesn’t leave, I’ll jump!”
“Hey, stop! Let’s talk things out!” Flossie had to stop Quinton from approaching and prevent Joanne from doing anything stupid, and she couldn’t do both at the same time. “Don’t worry, I’ll get him out of here. I promise I’ll stop him from entering this place, and if he does, I won’t stop you if you want to leave,” Flossie said to Joanne, then quickly walked to Quinton and grabbed his arm. “Go out. You’re not welcome here.”
“I didn’t do anything wrong. Why should I go?” Quinton demanded aggressively, not intending to leave. He sneered at Joanne, ‘It’s been so many years. Is that all you got? The only thing you can threaten me with is hurting yourself? If you hate me so much, why don’t you come and fight me? Jumping off a building is nothing; forcing me to jump off the building is much more impressive!”
“How could you!” Joanne stood beside the window, trembling in anger. “I’ve never met a wicked and crazy man like you. Why did you save me? You should have just let me die. Maybe you can just kill me now, then maybe you might become a normal person!”
“Letting you die is too easy on you. I won’t let you die that easily!” Quinton said fiercely, “Seeing you miserable is the only thing that will make me happy. If you don’t like it, well… try to kill me.”
“Hey, can you two quit it?” Flossie’s head pounded as she groaned. She felt like she was in the middle of a battlefield, with Quinton and Joanne on either side, constantly launching attacks at each other with Flossie taking collateral damage. She finally understood what dramatic meant. In the past, she felt that things between her and Halston were quite dramatic, but Quinton and Joanne’s story was like a period drama. “Just go. You can’t stay here. And both of you stop talking about death because you have to live, do you understand?” Then, Flossie forcefully pushed Quinton out of the room.
Margaret happened to hear the intense fight in the room and was shocked. “What happened? Why are they behaving like that?”
“Ah, it’s a long story. Margaret, please help take care of Ms. Garcia. Leave Quinton to me.” Flossie sighed. She could only rely on Margaret to help persuade Joanne for now.
“Is that Ms. Joanne Garcia?” Margaret looked into the room and asked carefully.
“Yes, so it’s a little complicated… Please talk her into staying.”
When Flossie had first reunited with Quinton, Margaret found Quinton a dangerous and extreme person. That was why Flossie had to explain Quinton’s past with Joanne to Margaret. Margaret had felt sorry for both of them when she heard their story, so she didn’t mind talking to Joanne. “Leave it to me. I’ll take good care of Ms. Garcia,” Margaret promised. She had wanted to meet Joanne for a long time, and as a member of the Ellsworth family, she had always wanted to repay Joanne. Since Joanne was there, Margaret could finally take the opportunity to do it. After some contemplation, she entered the room where Joanne was.
Meanwhile, Quinton was still angry that Flossie had dragged him out of Joanne’s room. He wanted to keep arguing with Joanne.
“Enough!” Flossie finally yelled in frustration. “Quinton, can you stop making a scene and being so pretentious?”
“What did you say?” Quinton was shocked, and stared at Flossie in disbelief. “What do you mean? Did you finally see my dark side and start hating me? You can’t take me anymore?”
“No, that’s not it. I just want you to stop making a scene.” Flossie knew that Quinton was a sensitive person, and even a small change in her expression was enough to make him overthink and question himself. Hence, she had always been careful and tried her best to not be mad at him, but he had gone overboard this time, and she couldn’t let it go like she usually did.