Chapter 378 Stripped Of Protection

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    Serena’s heart mmed against her ribs. A cold wave of dread spread through her limbs, leaving her knees hollow and her breath thin.

    “No–please, not that. I… I cannot be erased from the Fane family. Uncle Everett, I beg you, spare me this once.”

    Everett regarded her with a face carved from stone. Not a muscle shifted. “So you expect the Fane family to make an enemy of the Whitethorns and surrender the entire Azanian market just for you?”

    Serena fell silent, the truth slicing her deeper than any insult. She knew she was worth far less to the n than the contracts waiting in Azania.

    “Julius Whitethorn is targeting us on purpose. If all I did was mutter a few insults about Quinn’s parents, why is he turning the world upside down?”

    Everett’s voice cut like frost. “I already looked into it. Quinn’s parents died as national war heroes. You stood on Azanian soil and mocked them. Were you nning to have the whole Fane family carry that outrage for you? You are finished here. Go back to Celosia.”

    Back to Celosia? The very thought made Serena’s stomach twist into knots.

    If she returned now, every path to redemption would m shut behind her.

    Expulsion from the Fane family meant exile from Celosia’s elite. Even her own parents would abandon her to fend for herself.

    “Uncle Everett, I-” The words snagged in her throat, shredded by fear.

    “Leave.” Everett’s tone allowed no argument. He closed his eyes, fingers rolling the

    beads in an unbroken circle.

    Serena gritted her teeth and followed Leander out of the suite.

    prayer

    “I cannot be cast out of the family,” she shouted at Leander. “Whatever it takes, you must make Julius withdraw those words.”

    “What power do you imagine I have that could force Julius to swallow his statement?” Leander asked, looking at her near–hysterical face.

    “He is only doing this because of Quinn. Go to Quinn. Aren’t you her brother? She will agree to anything you ask!” Serena said anxiously.

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    Chapter 378 Stripped Of Protection

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    “And yet you kept insisting I am not her brother at all,” Leander replied. “You imed I was yours.”

    Blood drained from Serena’s cheeks. She had wanted Leander to stay in the family; once he held real influence, she could bend him to her will.

    Given the right moment, she even dreamed of carrying Leander’s child. A single pregnancy could shift the bnce of power.

    After all, though Serena hailed from a branch line, Fane blood still ran in her veins. Leander, adopted and nameless, shared no such tie.

    “If they drive me out, Lena dies with me,” Serena hissed. “She saved your life in Doria. Without her, you would have died there instead of living thisfortable life.”

    Leander’s lips pressed into a thin, bloodless line.

    Five years earlier, he had awakened in a foreign hospital bed, memory wiped clean.

    In those tortured, shapeless days, Lena had been his first constant, sitting beside him until the nightmares loosened their grip.

    She was the one person he could never forsake.

    “I understand. I will speak to Quinn, but you will keep Lena alive.” Without another word, Leander turned and walked away.

    Serena’s teeth tore at her lower lip, anger clotting inside her chest.

    In a single day, her world had flipped end over end.

    All because of Quinn. Without that woman, none of this would be happening.

    By the time Laura returned to thepany, she discovered that Quinn was already back.

    Without bothering ito /ished her coat, Laura marched straight to Quinn’s desk. “How is it? What did the police say?”

    Quinn lifted her head, expression calm. “With Weston handling it, nothing serious can touch me. The punch was justified; at most, I’ll owe some medical bills. Honestly, it’s Serena Fane who should be afraid.”

    Laura nodded. “After Serena’s stunt today, the police will be after her, and even the Fane family won’t stomach the embarrassment. If they want to keep their foothold in this region,

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    they’ll throw her out–no hesitation. That said, answer me straight, Quinn–did you really break up with Julius Whitethorn?”

    Quinn forced a dryugh, though hurt lingered at the edge of her voice. “Do you think I’d joke about something like that? You heard him today–Julius said he doesn’t love me anymore.”

    Laura crossed her arms and began to pace. “Yet if he truly felt nothing, would he move against the entire Fane family on your behalf? If they refuse to yield, it bes war–two empires colliding. Even if the Whitethorns win, the losses will be massive.”

    Quinn lowered her gaze,shes casting delicate shadows across her cheeks. She understood every ounce of Laura’s logic.

    Still, she no longer trusted that she and Julius could survive the distance already yawning between them.

    Worst of all, the way he had looked at her that afternoon–detached, almost polite—made it painfully clear he might have already let their love slip away.