Chapter 2: I know my place

I KNOW MY  PLACE

QUINN

“Honestly, I thought you would have left already.”

I froze at who I saw. Seraphina Jason, my stepsister.

She stepped out of the car slowly, elegance dripping from every movement. In that instant, everything made sense. A sharp pain twisted in my chest. It was not mere pain, but recognition.

The message, the mockery and the arrogance. It was her all along. Of everyone in the world, it had to be her.

Seraphina smiled as she approached. “You’ve always been slow, Quinn. Even when it comes to leaving.”

Before I could stop myself, Smack!  My hand landed across her face.

She staggered back. “Ahh!”

“You shameless thing!” I snapped, my voice shaking. “I knew it. I knew it was you!”

“Stay away from me!” she shrieked. “Jasper! Jasper!”

Jasper rushed out panting. He paused when he saw us. His ex-wife and his mistress, who also happens to be my sister.

“What the hell is going on here?” he said calmly.

Seraphina ran behind him, clutching his arm like she belonged there, and I never owned him.

I stepped forward and slapped him so hard.

The impact stung my palm, but it was nothing compared to the ache spreading through my chest. His calmness broke something in me, not anger or shock.

But the quiet realization that none of this mattered to him. Not our marriage, not me, and not even the fear of being caught.

“You disgusting man!” I cried. “What have you done?”

The guards rushed forward, grabbing me before I could lunge again.

“Let her go,” Jasper said coldly.

They hesitated, then released me. I stood there, breathing heavily, my hands trembling.

“After everything…” My voice cracked despite myself.

“After everything I endured for you? The insults from your family, the way they spoke to me like I was nothing. The nights I waited for you to come home, I made excuses for you even when they were lies. I swallowed everything for you.”

I threw the printed photos from the ones the unknown contact had earlier sent to him.

“They’re yours. Take a good look.”

He caught them instinctively. For the first time, his expression shifted. He was shocked, but no guilt. Never.  A glance at the photos and his jaw tightened.

Of course, it was never about betrayal. Even now, the only thing he feared was exposure, not losing me.

He turned slowly to Seraphina.

“What did you do?” His voice dropped dangerously.

“I did..I did nothing; someone else must have sent the photos to her, not me,” she muttered defensively. “Take her away, she is running crazy,” she ordered the guards.

“If you move an inch there,” Jasper thundered, “you will answer to me.”

 He waved the photos in front of her face. “Do you have any idea what this could do if it leaks?” he growled. “Do you think this is a game?”

I was right after all. It was never about me or our marriage, just his reputation. I let out a quiet breath. Whatever illusion I had left died completely in that moment.

Jasper stormed off, still clutching the photos, already thinking about how to bury the scandal.

Seraphina walked closer to me with a winner’s smile. “You are still here. I thought you would have some pride.”

I said nothing. She leaned in, her voice dropping to a whisper.

“You really thought he would choose you?”

Once, I would have said yes without hesitation because I believed in him that much. Now, the thought felt almost laughable.

 “You should thank me, Quinn,” a soft laugh escaped her lips. “Without me, you’d still be clinging to a man who never loved you.”

Her gaze swept over me mockingly.

“Tell me… when was the last time he even touched you?”

My fingers curled slightly.

She didn’t wait for an answer. “Those three nights…” she sighed, closing her eyes as if reliving it. “He couldn’t get enough. He doesn’t do that way with you.”

Every word she muttered was deliberate and cruel. I felt it, but I didn’t break; it was not worth it anymore. 

I didn’t need the details. But she gave them anyway, like she needed to prove something. Maybe not me, but to herself.

“You’re right,” I said calmly.

She blinked, clearly not expecting that. The words surprised even me. But the moment I said them, the fight drained out, not because I lost. But because I understood.

“Good.”

I picked up my suitcase. But she stepped in front of me, blocking my path.

“You really should remember your place,” she added softly.

That word again. Place. Something my stepfather had once told me the night he handed me over to the Finn family.

“Know your place  and don’t ask for more.”

I stepped around her. “This time,” I said quietly, “I do.”

Not as the enduring wife anymore. But someone who understood where she stood and where she no longer would.

The moment I stepped beyond the gates, the cold wind hit my face. I thought I would feel broken. But there was just emptiness, not the type that hurts. But the kind that comes after something has already been destroyed.

For three years, I endured everything in silence. But silence had never meant ignorance. If something felt wrong, then it was.

I reached out for my phone and dialled the number of someone I had not called or spoken with in three years. The call connected instantly.

“Hi Joe.”

“Quinn,” a shocked voice exploded from the other end, “is that you?”

My voice cut through calmly. “Joe, look, I want you to do something for me.”

His excitement stopped immediately. I could feel it even on the phone.

“What is the problem, Quinn?”

“Jasper and I just divorced.”

“What?” he exclaimed.

“He’s involved with my stepsister,” I continued calmly. “But something about this doesn’t feel right.”

I turned to look back to be sure no one was listening.

“This divorce came too suddenly. Jasper was cold, yes. But not impulsive. He calculated everything, which means this had been planned carefully. Find out.”

“Understood,” he said. “I’ll handle it.”

I hung up.

Behind me, the gates of the Finn estate shut with a heavy sound. I didn’t turn back. Because, deep down, I knew this wasn’t the end of anything.

It was the beginning of something they would never see coming.