Chapter 3

Sasha looked at him, surprised. Confusion flickered in her eyes.

“Don’t worry, Sasha.”

Gabriel pulled Sebastian aside. “She’s the girl I took in, Sasha Lane. She studied finance overseas. You don’t seriously think she’s Sage, do you?”

Of course he didn’t.

And he wasn’t about to explain why.

What happened that night… only he, his bodyguard Frank, and one other person knew.

He had been searching for that woman for seven years.

It had turned into an obsession.

Something close to madness.

He glanced at Sasha again, more carefully this time.

Sasha Lane.

He’d remember that name.

…

By the time they arrived at the hotel, Sasha jumped straight into work, busy settling the guests in.

Watching her move around, constantly on the go, something in Gabriel’s chest twisted.

The girl he had once treated like a princess…

was now running around, taking care of other people.

After escorting Dr. Hawke to his room, Sasha wiped the sweat from her forehead.

“Dr Hawke, a bet’s a bet. I pushed everyone’s luggage like I promised. Next time we play, if you lose, no backing out.”

Dr. Hawke covered his face dramatically. “Miss Sage, last time I lost, you made me put on a dress and dance in the plaza!”

Sasha smiled, about to respond, when she saw Gabriel walking over.

She stepped aside to give him space. “Uncle Gabriel, are you looking for Dr. Hawke?”

“No. I’m looking for you.” He paused. “Sasha, come home with me.”

Home.

She didn’t really have one.

Still, she didn’t refuse. She simply nodded with a small smile. “Okay.”

Even if they hadn’t given her money all those years, they had raised her from ten to eighteen. They had given her an education. Given her care.

Those years were real.

She wasn’t ungrateful.

And this time, she had come back for a reason.

She needed to find out what really happened back then.

Going back to the Quinn house was the only way.

The moment she got into the car, Gabriel asked, “So what are you doing now? Running errands at Hawke’s lab?”

Sasha paused.

She didn’t really have an official title.

So she nodded.

“Quit.”

She blinked. “Why?”

“A job like that, you’d be lucky to make ten grand a month. That barely covers a shirt.”

Sasha glanced down at the designer shirt she was wearing and almost laughed.

Did he really think she was living off his money?

Did he even know that after her card was stolen and canceled, she never got a replacement?

He didn’t even ask how she had survived all these years without money.

Seeing her smile, Gabriel smiled too.

“I’ve got an interview lined up for you next month. Focus on preparing. Like we planned before, I’ll set up your future for you.”

Sasha tilted her head slightly. “Uncle Gabriel, government jobs don’t pay that well.”

“What do you know? It’s not about the salary. With that kind of status, you’ll have access to better opportunities. Sasha… you’re not like those girls from powerful families.”

Without a strong family background, she would have to rely on herself.

She understood he meant well.

The starting line he was offering her was something most people could only dream of reaching.

But she didn’t want that life.

She had her own goals. Her own convictions. That sense of purpose was the only reason she’d survived when she had no money and nowhere to go.

She pressed down the ache in her chest and looked back at him.

“Uncle Gabriel… are you not mad anymore?”

Gabriel paused, then understood what she meant.

He’d stopped being angry a long time ago.

Maybe he had been, in the first year or two. But seven years had passed. He’d spent those years climbing through the political world, and by now, he no longer cared about the foolish crush of a teenage girl.

He smiled at her. “I was upset because you wouldn’t behave. But you’ve changed now, haven’t you? What, are you still holding it against me?”

Sasha shook her head. “I wouldn’t dare.”

Wouldn’t dare.

Not wasn’t.

Gabriel pretended not to notice the difference. Instead, he asked how she’d been living overseas.

“It was fine. School, home, the library.” Her answer was vague and flat.

To Gabriel, it sounded like resentment.

He didn’t ask anything else.

The rest of the drive passed in silence, all the way back to the Quinn house.

Standing at the entrance, Sasha felt a rush of emotions.

Seven years ago, she used to sit on the garden swing and daydream about the future. She’d clipped roses from the yard and arranged them in a vase for Gabriel’s room.

Now the swing chains had been freshly oiled. The roses were still blooming bright and lush.

Everything looked almost the same.

“Sasha? Is that really Sasha?”

An elderly voice broke the silence.

Sasha turned and saw an old woman walking toward her in a deep plum silk dress.

“Marianne,” she said quickly, moving forward to support her.

Marianne pulled her into a tight embrace, her voice shaking. “My dear girl, you’re finally back. I regretted sending you away the minute you left. You were just a child, all alone in a foreign country with no family, no one to rely on. You’ve had such a hard time.”

Sasha smiled, hiding the loneliness in her eyes.

Her phone had been stolen, yes, but she had every one of their numbers memorized. The moment she got a local SIM card, she sent her new number to all of them.

If they had wanted to reach her, they could have.

Gabriel smiled and tried to soothe Marianne. “If we never let go, how would she ever grow up? She came back just fine, didn’t she?”

Marianne held Sasha’s hands and looked her up and down.

Though she was dressed simply, everything she wore was designer. Even the necklace at her throat was a new Tiffany piece worth a small fortune.

Marianne nodded in satisfaction. “Come inside first. Go take a shower and get some rest. I had Mrs. Watson make grilled chicken for you. It used to be your favorite.”

The housekeeper led Sasha upstairs.

Behind her, Marianne sighed to her son, “She’s grown into a real young lady.”

Gabriel said nothing.

The white shirt Sasha wore lingered in his eyes like a small sailboat drifting farther and farther out to sea.

Lowering her voice, Marianne added, “Even though she wasn’t with us all these years, you certainly didn’t hold back on spending money on her. Just look at what she’s wearing, what she has on. Our family never mistreated her.”

…

Sasha pushed open the door to the room she used to live in and stopped short.

It looked completely different.

When she was little, the old woman had decorated it all in pink. She used to lie beneath pink bed curtains like some little princess in a dollhouse.

Later, once she got older, she had stopped liking it. But she understood she was living in someone else’s home and never asked for it to be changed. The only thing she did was swap out the pink curtains and bedding for cream-colored ones.

Now the wallpaper and furniture had all been replaced with a soft, understated luxury style. The pale neutral tones felt elegant and calming. Every piece of furniture looked custom-made, expensive, imported.

At first, she thought she must have walked into the wrong room. But then she looked at the vanity.

It was clearly set up for a young woman.

Had they renovated the room in advance, waiting for her to come back?

A tiny flicker of warmth rose in a heart that had long since gone cold and hard.

Before everything fell apart, the Quinn family really had been good to her.

Maybe she should explain things clearly to them. Even though she’d received no support from them these past seven years, she had still managed okay. She had completed her postdoctoral research at Hartfield University, then joined Dr. Hawke’s lab. Now she was back to build her career here.

She walked to the closet and was just about to open it when someone shouted behind her.

“Get out of there. That’s not your room.”

Sasha turned around.

It was the maid who had just brought her upstairs.

She glanced around the room again. This definitely didn’t feel like Grace’s style.

But aside from Grace, who was already in her forties, was there any other young woman living in the Quinn house?

Unless…

Gabriel had a girlfriend?

She couldn’t help asking, “Then whose room is it now?”

“Mine.”

Sasha looked up.

Her eyes narrowed at once.

It was her.