The Divorced Military Queen Awakens (by Sadie Baxter) novel Chapter 526

Chapter 526 Visiting The Cemetery

Facing the gravestone of Julius‘ grandparents, Quinn bowed deeply three times.

“Grandpa, Grandma, Julius and I are getting married. I’ll be your granddaughter–in–law from now on. We’ll visit you often, and I hope you’ll give us your blessings from heaven.”

Julius also bowed three times. “Grandpa, Grandma, this is the woman I love. You were right, Grandpa. In this world, I really did find someone who loves me the same way I love her. Just like you and Grandma.”

“Your grandparents loved each other deeply?” Quinn asked.

“They did,” Julius replied softly. “Grandpa only ever loved Grandma his whole life. She passed away before I was born, but he kept all of her belongings and never remarried.”

As he spoke, Julius‘ gaze drifted toward Quinn. “Grandpa used to say that after Grandma died, he was just… going through the motions. He kept living only for the Whitethorn family’s sake. The person he loved most was gone, and without her, he had nothing left to look forward to. When he passed, he was almost… relieved.”

“Relieved?” Quinn repeated, startled.

“Yeah,” Julius said. “Because dying meant he could finally rest. He didn’t have to carry the family’s responsibilities anymore–or live with the endless ache of missing her.”

Quinn fell silent, her eyes lingering on the names on the tombstone

“What are you thinking?” Julius asked quietly beside her.

“I just feel that kind of love… It’s so heavy,” she murmured. “When your grandmother passed, she probably hoped your grandfather would let go of his grief and live well, not just exist like an empty shell.”

Julius gently took her hand. “But when the person you love most is gone… how can you really live well? In the Whitethorn family, we only love once in a lifetime. Everything we have, including our feelings, belongs to that one person.”

Quinn stared at him, momentarily speechless.

He met her gaze. “Do you think my kind of love is too heavy for you?”

It was indeed heavy. Quinn’s eyes flickered. She couldn’t quite measure how deep his love ran. However, she said, “Promise me something. Don’t be like your grandfather or your father. If your partner ever leaves, don’t live in so much pain. Try to be happy, and live your life well.”

Julius’s grip suddenly tightened around her hand. “What do you mean by that?”

“Ow!” Quinn gasped quietly from the pain.

He immediately loosened his hold a little, but still didn’t let go.

“Quinn,” Julius‘ voice rumbled against her ear, warm yet uncompromising, “the moment you chose to take me back, you forfeited the right to ever walk away again.”

She tipped her head back with a helpless, half–laughing sigh, the sort that surfaced whenever his fierce devotion left her both exasperated and quietly moved. “I’m not talking about leaving you,” she murmured, her fingertips absently drawing slow circles

1/2

6:29 pm MG

Chapter 526 Visiting The Cemetery

08

+10 Free Coins

over the steady drum of his heart. “It’s just that our years are finite. One day, when we’re old, one of us will have to say goodbye first. If it happens to be me, promise me you’ll stay in the sunlight and keep on smiling.”

Julius answered without blinking, “That day is never going to come.”

“You can’t just decree that,” she countered. “Lifespan isn’t something you or I can command.”

His gaze stayed locked on her. “If you truly leave before I do, then on that road to the afterlife, I will follow right behind you.”

Quinn went motionless, the words slamming into her like a sudden gust. “What? Have you lost your mind?”

“I’m not crazy,” Julius said, voice even. “I simply refuse to spend my days the way my grandfather and father did, half–alive after the women they loved were gone.”

Quinn drew in a steadying breath, leveling her gaze on him. “Then hear me out. Life is more than romance. If, by any awful chance, I do step through that door first, I want you to stay and live–really live. Find new interests, discover new passions, shift your focus, anything…”

She poured out a torrent of words, yet Julius wore the same distant expression, as though every sentence had floated past him unheard.

A sigh slipped from her lips. Old age was still a long way off; she would have time to reshape that stubborn part of him.

At last, she gave in with a wry smile. “All right, since you refuse to listen to me, I’ll do everything in my power to stick around longer than you.”

If he really can’t loosen that iron–clad belief, then all I can do is keep myself healthy and outlast him.

Julius‘ mouth finally curved into a smile. He guided Quinn’s hand to his cheek.

The heat of his skin seeped into her palm as he brushed his cheek against her hand. “Deal. You have to outlive me.”

Quinn studied the lowered fan of his lashes, so dark against the tranquil half–droop of his lids.

A mild breeze toyed with his hair, and, as if conspiring, stirred the quiet chambers of her heart.

Suddenly, she closed the small distance between them. His eyes flashed in surprise as she seized his collar, rose on tiptoe, and pressed her mouth to his.

With the heaven and earth as her witnesses, she wanted his family to know just how deeply she loved him.