Now They Want My Forgiveness - Chapter 156: Chapter 156
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Lionel's parents' lectures about the Quinn family needing an heir didn't help. "Anna's healthy enough to bear children," his mother had reasoned. "You can't put your life on hold for a ghost. What if Stella never comes back?"
Gradually, Lionel was persuaded to start dating Anna. The Quinn family began to push for an engagement as soon as Anna graduated.
The day before the engagement, Lionel found out Stella was coming back. His heart stirred again. He knew he shouldn't, because Stella was too young, but he couldn't help it.
So, he waited for her to grow up. He had already made up his mind. On Stella's eighteenth birthday, he would confess to her. He was determined to be with her. But before her birthday even came, that incident happened.
In the beginning, Lionel had been Stella's lone defender against the Hayes family's cruelty. But as months bled into years, his conviction eroded. Maybe they'd been right about her all along. Maybe she'd brought this on herself.
That was why when he finally saw her again, the words tore out of him like shrapnel. "Jesus, Stella, quit making scenes. Don't you ever think?"
But the Henry incident? That was when he'd crossed a line even he couldn't justify. As her physician, Lionel knew better than anyone how fragile Stella's health had become after the abduction.
Those stolen months in the hospital—poring over her charts, watching the numbers decline—he'd seen the expiration date written in her lab results. Yet he'd still taken her blood that day, telling himself one vial wouldn't matter.
The look she gave him as the needle slid in—pure, undiluted hatred—would haunt him longer than any of his other sins.
At that moment, when Stella heard those words, she was shocked. Lionel felt like he wasn't just taking Stella's blood, but his own. But he had no choice. He had to do it.
"Lionel, we're murderers. Goddamn murderers!" Max's fist connected with Lionel's jaw.
Lionel spat blood and swung back. "You wanna play moral high ground? I salted the wound twice. You people poured the whole damn shaker!"
"There's a difference between neglect and pulling the trigger," Max growled, dodging another punch.
"Keep telling yourself that, Hayes. If you really believed it, why're you drowning in bourbon every night since she came back?"
"Yeah, we're all jerks. We're all the ones who hurt Stella," Max yelled. The two of them fought fiercely.
Across town, Stella's phone shattered her sleep. She groggily answered it. "Hello, this is Stella."
"Ms. Hayes?" A harried officer's voice came through. "We need you down at the police station. Your brother and Dr. Lionel Quinn got into a fight, and they're here now."
"Not my circus, not my monkeys," Stella slurred, already reaching to disconnect.
"Wait! They keep asking for you. Maybe they want you to come over."
"Should I feel honored, then? Just tell them I would never come," Stella said firmly and hung up.
The police officer was stunned and didn't know what to do. Eventually, Lionel's father and Andrew came over and took the two of them out of the station.
Andrew surveyed his eldest with palpable disgust. "You and Lionel used to be brothers. What the hell happened? Why did you get into a fight?"
"We didn't fight," Max said.
"Don't give me that," Andrew snapped. "You're acting like some angsty teenager instead of the next head of this family."
Gradually, Lionel was persuaded to start dating Anna. The Quinn family began to push for an engagement as soon as Anna graduated.
The day before the engagement, Lionel found out Stella was coming back. His heart stirred again. He knew he shouldn't, because Stella was too young, but he couldn't help it.
So, he waited for her to grow up. He had already made up his mind. On Stella's eighteenth birthday, he would confess to her. He was determined to be with her. But before her birthday even came, that incident happened.
In the beginning, Lionel had been Stella's lone defender against the Hayes family's cruelty. But as months bled into years, his conviction eroded. Maybe they'd been right about her all along. Maybe she'd brought this on herself.
That was why when he finally saw her again, the words tore out of him like shrapnel. "Jesus, Stella, quit making scenes. Don't you ever think?"
But the Henry incident? That was when he'd crossed a line even he couldn't justify. As her physician, Lionel knew better than anyone how fragile Stella's health had become after the abduction.
Those stolen months in the hospital—poring over her charts, watching the numbers decline—he'd seen the expiration date written in her lab results. Yet he'd still taken her blood that day, telling himself one vial wouldn't matter.
The look she gave him as the needle slid in—pure, undiluted hatred—would haunt him longer than any of his other sins.
At that moment, when Stella heard those words, she was shocked. Lionel felt like he wasn't just taking Stella's blood, but his own. But he had no choice. He had to do it.
"Lionel, we're murderers. Goddamn murderers!" Max's fist connected with Lionel's jaw.
Lionel spat blood and swung back. "You wanna play moral high ground? I salted the wound twice. You people poured the whole damn shaker!"
"There's a difference between neglect and pulling the trigger," Max growled, dodging another punch.
"Keep telling yourself that, Hayes. If you really believed it, why're you drowning in bourbon every night since she came back?"
"Yeah, we're all jerks. We're all the ones who hurt Stella," Max yelled. The two of them fought fiercely.
Across town, Stella's phone shattered her sleep. She groggily answered it. "Hello, this is Stella."
"Ms. Hayes?" A harried officer's voice came through. "We need you down at the police station. Your brother and Dr. Lionel Quinn got into a fight, and they're here now."
"Not my circus, not my monkeys," Stella slurred, already reaching to disconnect.
"Wait! They keep asking for you. Maybe they want you to come over."
"Should I feel honored, then? Just tell them I would never come," Stella said firmly and hung up.
The police officer was stunned and didn't know what to do. Eventually, Lionel's father and Andrew came over and took the two of them out of the station.
Andrew surveyed his eldest with palpable disgust. "You and Lionel used to be brothers. What the hell happened? Why did you get into a fight?"
"We didn't fight," Max said.
"Don't give me that," Andrew snapped. "You're acting like some angsty teenager instead of the next head of this family."
End of Now They Want My Forgiveness Chapter 156. Continue reading Chapter 157 or return to Now They Want My Forgiveness book page.