Claire Sinclair lowered her head guiltily, not daring to meet his gaze. "I can’t live with you anymore," she said in a small voice. "I’m moving out."

"Convince me, and I’ll let you move out."

"It’s my freedom! Why do I need your permission to move?" Claire Sinclair didn’t know where the courage came from, but in that moment, she wasn’t intimidated by his presence in the slightest. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

’If I back down now, I’ll never be able to leave this place. I have to be firm when it counts.’

Adrian Quincy said nothing. With a dark expression, he snatched the suitcase from her hands, then kicked it back into the room. It flew across the floor, not stopping until it slammed into a corner.

She had once witnessed him slap his own sister, and now she had seen the force with which he could send a suitcase flying with a single kick. Claire Sinclair’s face went white with fear, her heart hammering in her chest.

"Y-you’re not thinking of hitting me, are you?" she asked, inching to the side.

’Forget the suitcase. Right now, all I want is to get out of this place alive.’

Adrian Quincy advanced on her, his voice as cold as ice. "Mother has already apologized to you. And I’ve sent Yara to a training camp for her punishment. What more do you want from me?"

’No way, Yara was sent to a training camp???’

’That guy is so ruthless. Is he really her brother?’

’Wait, I’m focusing on the wrong thing!’

"Mr. Quincy, please, be reasonable. I’ve made it perfectly clear—I don’t have romantic feelings for you. Can you please just let me go?"

"None at all?" Having heard her repeat that line so many times, Adrian Quincy had to face the question seriously.

He had never been moved by anyone before. Only her.

’If she felt nothing for him, then what did these past few months of being together day and night even mean?’

Claire Sinclair said with absolute certainty, "No, none at all!"

’So all his effort had just been one-sided wishful thinking?’

In that instant, Adrian Quincy’s pride and self-respect were trampled into dust.

Still, he clung to one last shred of hope.

"Am I not good enough?"

"You’re great, but we’re not right for each other."

"In what way are we not right for each other?"

"We’re incompatible in every way. Being with you makes me feel stupid and insignificant. You know what they say—people should be of a similar status. We were a mistake from the start, don’t you think?"

Adrian Quincy parted his thin lips. "No one is born noble. Even I have peaks I cannot reach. That is my ambition. Did you think everyone isn’t striving for their own goals?"

"I don’t understand what you’re talking about..." ’She was sick of his toxic pep talks!’

"All I see is that you’re giving up halfway."

"You’re right, I love giving up halfway! I’ve always been unambitious—that’s the real me. All that positivity before? That was you forcing it out of me. I’m just a failure at heart. Now you see the truth. You’re disappointed, right? So let me go! The last thing I want to be is some inspirational figure!"

Adrian Quincy didn’t speak, but the disappointment in his eyes gradually hardened into cold indifference.

Claire Sinclair couldn’t bring herself to meet that gaze. It made her lose her nerve. She quickly looked away. "So, can I go now?"

"I hope you’re only saying all this to convince me to let you leave. If this is what you really think, then I agree to a divorce."

With that, Adrian Quincy turned and walked away.

Claire Sinclair stood frozen in place, her mind reeling.

’He... agreed to a divorce...’

But she didn’t quite understand what part of her tirade had crossed his line.

’So, he had a bottom line with her after all.’

’Who cares what his bottom line is? He agreed to a divorce, so I should hurry up and set a time with him!’