Chapter 12
Chapter 12
The Narrator: [Today is Yalena and Quinlyn’s eighteenth birthday. At this coming-of-age party, Zachary-who was engaged to Quinlyn before he was even born-proposed to Yalena. Quinlyn, holding a grudge, went to confront Zachary, only to be cruelly humiliated by him.]
Quinlyn’s hand paused for a second, then she slowly smiled.
The Narrator’s words made her blurry memories come into focus. Even the bitter emotions she could barely admit from her previous life started bubbling up again.
She clicked her tongue, thinking how stupid she had been-humiliated by Zachary back then, and now, humiliated by her past self. All it took was a little kindness from someone, and she thought they’d given her the whole world.
Graham stood not far away and waved at Quinlyn, signaling her to come over.
She nodded and looked around, spotting a few sneaky-looking figures. Of course, sneaky was just how she saw them. The actual story would probably describe them as hopeless romantics.
“This is my daughter, Quinlyn. Yes, it took me a long time to find her, so of course I treasure her deeply. It’s her birthday today-perfect chance to introduce her to everyone,” Graham said smoothly, playing the proud father role well.
From what Quinlyn had heard, the Guzman family told others that she and Yalena were twins.
But because money was tight back then, Graham and Evelyn sent Quinlyn to the countryside to be looked after by someone else, planning to bring her home once life got better.
When they went back for her, she was gone. But they had never stopped searching for her all these years.
Whether people believed that story or not didn’t matter. They just needed a good excuse. After all, adults didn’t care about the process-only the result.
Most of the guests had business ties with the Guzman family. When they saw Quinlyn, they didn’t hold back their compliments or surprised glances.
One of Graham’s old friends said, “You’re really lucky-one daughter’s gentle and sweet, the other’s bold and stunning. You’ve got a great life ahead.”
Graham beamed. He looked at Quinlyn in her red dress, standing tall and full of confidence, and felt a touch of pride.
So he said, “Quinlyn, once all this is over, you should start focusing on school, okay? I heard your grades aren’t great, but that’s fine-there’s still time.
“If you work hard for a while, you can pick up a hobby too, something to shape your character. Oh, and your sister’s dance teacher is really good.”
But when he looked up again, Quinlyn was already far away. He hadn’t even noticed when she walked off.
Graham felt like all his warmth and excitement were just for himself.
The truth was, Quinlyn had heard every word. That was exactly why she walked away-to stop herself from saying something sharp she might not be able to take back.
Suddenly, she narrowed her eyes.
She saw Zachary. He was dressed in formal wear, hurrying toward the back of the venue, looking exactly like a groom heading to his wedding.
1/3
Chapter 12
Just then, Graham came over, scolding her in a low voice. “Did you hear what I just said? I heard you’re dating some punk-is that true? I’m telling you-hey, don’t walk away when I’m talking!”
There were too many guests around, and a lot of them were offering Graham drinks. So he didn’t dare raise his voice or chase after her. All he could do was watch as Quinlyn walked quickly toward the stage.
On one side of the stage, there was a small cart holding a seven-tiered cake. The cake was originally decorated with the words Happy Birthday, but at some point, they had been replaced with a little bride and groom topper.
No one really noticed the change. And even if someone had, no one would dare make a fuss at a party thrown by the Guzman family.
Quinlyn stared at the cake, fully focused, until a voice beside her pulled her back.
“There’s a ring on the cake topper,” the deep voice said. “Not a big one, just two carats. Looks like Mr. Fletcher rushed this proposal.”
The voice was slightly raspy, but steady and confident, with a kind of wild arrogance. Just hearing it, Quinlyn guessed the man was probably a flirt-and probably good-looking too.
She looked up and, sure enough, he was.
He had deep-set eyes and a sharp nose-not the soft, pretty-boy face popular with young girls, but the kind that looked strong and rugged.
Even though he tried to soften his gaze, there was still a sharpness in his eyes, like a blade that couldn’t be hidden.
Quinlyn took a step back. She didn’t want to deal with someone like him. More importantly, the Narrator hadn’t said anything.
But in the next second, she froze.
Floating above his head were three faint words: [A Random Guy]
She didn’t understand why a random guy in this novel had a visible tag, and she was even more confused that a side character looked better than the male lead.
Her stare was a little too intense-like she was looking at something unbelievable. Like a knockoff in a designer store, or maybe a real designer piece hidden in a pile of cheap fakes.
The man who had spoken-Yasin James-was slightly thrown off by the way she looked at him. Just as he was about to say something, Quinlyn spotted Zachary walking toward her, holding Yalena’s hand.
Zachary’s face bore the defiance of a rebellious teenager. Yalena, though showing a hint of reluctance on her face, still couldn’t help but smile a little.
To everyone else, the two of them looked like childhood sweethearts who had fallen for each other long ago. But only Yalena knew-Zachary didn’t love her that much.
At that moment, she suddenly felt that maybe Quinlyn coming back wasn’t such a bad thing after all.
Since they were both just side characters in the story, Quinlyn turned to Yasin and said, “Don’t sell yourself short. Hang in there-you’ll have your moment too.”
Right as Yalena and Zachary came into view, Quinlyn suddenly stepped up onto the stage, pulling all eyes toward her.
Yasin stayed quiet. He didn’t even get the chance to respond to what she’d just said.
2/3
Chapter 12
In the center of the stage stood a microphone, meant for Graham to give a speech and share his excitement. In Quinlyn’s previous life, Zachary had rushed to grab that mic.
But this time, Quinlyn got to it first.
She said, “Hi, everyone. I’m Quinlyn Guzman, daughter of Graham Guzman. I’m sure most of you already know that I was just found by my family not long ago.”
She deliberately slowed her words. Her voice wasn’t that of a bubbly eighteen-year-old-it was calm, gentle, and graceful.
Standing below the stage, Zachary’s expression turned complicated. He gripped Yalena’s soft hand tightly.
Yalena whispered, “Zachary, maybe don’t do this. People will-”
“People? That’s all you care about? People?” Zachary snapped. “Don’t you see that girl, that nobody who popped out of nowhere, is about to take everything that should’ve been yours? Including me!”
He stared at Quinlyn on stage in that bright red dress, smiling boldly under the lights, and suddenly remembered her raspy voice over the phone that night, with that little static and all that mocking.
The thought of it made him clench his jaw. He gripped Yalena’s hand even harder.
“Zachary…” Yalena let out a soft whimper.
He looked down and saw her eyes were red.
“Sorry, I got too worked up because of Quinlyn. Did that hurt?” he asked quickly.
Yalena just shook her head gently and lowered her eyes, hiding whatever she was really feeling.
