Love Unspoken

However, a drawback soon emerged; people like Walter and Galen began setting their sights on Quinn.

"So, what's our next move? Do we bring Quinn back?" Kyle queried.

Instead of answering directly, Alexander deflected, "Orion, he's adopted a bunch of stray cats and dogs, hasn't he?"

"Yes. Why do you ask?"

Alexander took a long drag from his cigarette, and without providing a response, he cast a mysterious glance at Kyle that sent a shiver down his spine.

Meanwhile, Quinn found herself at Orion's pet sanctuary. It was a place of refuge, equipped with sleeping quarters. After learning that she had no desire to return, Orion had brought her here.

Orion guided her to the dormitory room, flicked on the lights, and said, "You can stay here. It's pretty well-equipped, but there's no heating, so it might get chilly at night."

The room was modest in size, featuring a bed and an ensuite bathroom.

"We have plenty of rooms here, but only Grace stays here regularly," Orion explained as he made up the bed. "Occasionally, some other volunteers come and stay for a few days."

"All these blankets are new," he added.

Quinn nodded in appreciation and gestured a silent thank you.

"It's no big deal," Orion assured her, scratching his head. "Get some rest; tomorrow morning, I'll take you to see the new litter of puppies."

With that, Quinn agreed, and Orion took his leave.

She surveyed the room, noting the wooden planks that lent a certain warmth to the space.

She freshened up, retrieved the medicine from her bag, and took her dose. She had two types to take; one prescribed by a doctor the previous day and another given to her by Soren. The latter was crucial in slowing the progression of her condition. While its effects weren't immediately noticeable, it at least prevented her condition from worsening rapidly.

She could still recall most things intermittently-after all, people generally don't remember things unless they deliberately focus on them.

The difference with her was that she couldn't recall some things even when she tried hard to think about them.

After taking her medicine, Quinn picked up her notebook and lay on the bed to document the day's events.

If you're loving the book, nel5s.org is where the adventure continues. Join us for the complete experience all for free. The next chapter is eagerly waiting for you!

Once done, she stored the notebook in her bag, turned off the light, and settled down to sleep.

However, the unfamiliar environment kept her awake, tossing and turning restlessly.

After a couple of hours of restless rolling, a thought struck Quinn. She reached for her cell phone on the bedside table and opened her messaging app. To her disappointment, there were no messages from Alexander.

She lay on the bed, the white light from her phone illuminating her pale and desolate expression.

She had brought up divorce numerous times before, and each time, he had found ways to refuse her. This time... was he actually considering it?

Was it because she couldn't handle her alcohol, causing him to lose face in front of clients, or because her presence offended those clients? He was angry at and perhaps disappointed with her.

Quinn closed her eyes, pushing those messy thoughts aside.

Surely, she should feel relieved and free about the divorce. She shouldn't dwell on these things...

Yet, she found herself opening her eyes and clicking on Alexander's profile picture.

There was nothing but a single blank status line. Of course, Alexander never posted anything on his status, so there was nothing interesting to see.

Quinn was about to close the messaging app when her gaze fell again on his profile picture.

The profile picture was a blurry gray, and when shrunk down, it was even harder to discern what it depicted. Quinn couldn't help but click to enlarge the image.

Upon zooming in, she saw that it was actually a photo of two brown teddy bears. The shot had been taken too close, and the amateurish photography skills had resulted in only part of the bears being captured.

But upon closer inspection, it became evident that the teddy bears were nestled together on a shelf, one with a charmingly sewn-on arm that had come off. The teddy bear's arm look a bit shorter than it should have been due to the messy and crooked stitching.

Quinn's gaze flickered as she zoomed in on the photo, and in a flash of realization, she remembered.