Love Unspoken

Quinn still had her back to him.

The room was dead silent. She waited forever, until the whole world seemed to hush. Then, she quietly pulled her hand away.

Her fingers brushed against the raised scar on her wrist. She shut her eyes tight and started peeling the scar bit by bit.

The scab had grown into her flesh, so every pull felt like a knife, even worse than when she first got cut.

She didn't dare move anything but her fingers. She bit down hard, holding her breath to get through it.

As soon as she tore open a tiny gap, she felt the smooth liquid and let out a sigh of relief.

The pain and the pressure in her chest balanced out. She didn't feel the pain anymore, just a desperate need for relief.

All the bottled-up emotions from the past days finally started to ease.

Sure, she could kill Alexander and then off herself; he wouldn't even fight back.

But she knew she couldn't do it.

If she hadn't pulled Walter, Alexander would be dead already. If she hadn't pulled, Walter wouldn't have jumped off that cliff in despair.

These days, she kept asking herself if she'd make the same choices if she had to do it all over again.

Still no answer.

The Mellon family's downfall had nothing to do with Alexander. But the deaths in the Kennedy family? That was on him. In a twisted way, he avenged her.

He went up the mountain because she and Walter led him there. Walter jumped off the cliff because she let him down.

None of this was Alexander's fault. It was all on her; no matter what she did, it was always wrong.

And by running away like this, she was just getting back at Alexander for all the crap he put her through over the years. For someone proud and powerful, living in constant pain was the worst punishment.

She said she didn't blame Alexander, but she'd never forgive him.

After a deep breath, she ripped off the entire scar.

After the intense pain, she exhaled in relief, hid her hand under the pillow, and closed her eyes peacefully.

Under the white pillow, her blood slowly spread, turning the pillow red.

She remembered Alexander saying, "Before people die, they think of beautiful memories."

Once again, it proved true.

As she closed her eyes, past events replayed in her mind.

The first time she met Alexander, he was still a kid but looked so grown-up.

He said she looked like a monkey.

Did she really look like a monkey back then? Quinn couldn't quite remember.

When she was with the Mellon family, she was chubby, and people said she was cute.

Maybe Freya was just too fat back then, making Quinn seem a bit frail.

Even though he said she looked like a monkey, his gaze still lingered on her. He looked her up and down multiple times.

Later, he secretly found her and asked if she was really the wife Ulysses had found for him.

Back then, she couldn't speak; she just stared at him, blinking, not understanding what "wife" meant.

When he found out she was mute, he regretfully rubbed her head and said seriously, "What a pity, just like me."

She didn't get it. He had everything; how could he be pitiful?

One time when his exam results sucked, she heard Wayne and Kaitlyn scolding him, while Freya, who also failed, was playing with toys on the couch. Only then did she start to understand what he meant by pitiful. Her thoughts got more and more blurred. Due to blood loss, her mind got fuzzy, but those distant scenes became clearer, flashing through her mind.

In the end, she selfishly thought, 'If I could do it all over again, if I could never remember, being mute would be so good.'

Her tears slid down the corners of her eyes. The images in her memories began to fade, like photos losing their color.