Chapter 7

Natalie released Quinn and collapsed to the floor, gasping for air as her body began to convulse.

She was hyperventilating!

Xavier immediately pulled out a paper bag and held it over her mouth and nose, wrapping his other arm tightly around her. He seemed to know exactly what to do.

"It's okay... Don't be scared. I'm right here. No one's going to hurt you..."

Natalie clung to him desperately, like a drowning woman grabbing hold of a lifeline.

Quinn stood beside them, watching in a daze. Somehow, she felt like the one who didn't belong.

Then Xavier looked up at her, his eyes blazing with anger.

"Quinn Sawyer, what did you say to her? Don't you know she has depression?"

From the way he spoke, it was as though he hadn't even noticed the angry red fingerprints around Quinn's throat.

His accusation finally snapped her out of her daze. She shook her head instinctively.

"I didn't say anything. I just told her the film was mine..."

"It's just a damn film!" Xavier cut her off, almost shouting. "Was all this really necessary?"

"What do you mean, just a film? You know perfectly well..."

Quinn stopped mid-sentence as a terrible realization dawned on her. The color slowly drained from her face.

"Xavier... Were you the one who gave Natalie my film?"

His hand stilled around the paper bag. After a moment, he answered coldly, "I've already had someone transfer the money to you. Consider it... a purchase."

Quinn felt as though all the blood in her body had turned to ice.

She should have realized sooner.

Xavier was the only person who knew the password to her cloud storage. She'd told him herself once, so proud of the little secret she'd shared.

"Xavier, did you know I use my dad's birthday as my banking password and my brother's birthday as the code to my room? But guess what I use for my cloud storage?"

She'd smiled at him.

"Your birthday! That means you're the third most important person in my heart!"

And he'd used that password to take her film and give it to Natalie to enter in the competition.

As if that weren't enough, he actually thought he could pay her for it.

"Money?" Tears finally spilled down Quinn's cheeks. "You think this is about money? You know what that film means to me! You know..."

"You know I made that film in memory of my mother. You know it was my way of writing an apology to her in heaven. So how could you do this to me?" Was what she wanted to say but couldn't get the words out.

Seeing the tears streaming down Quinn's face, Xavier felt an unexpected pang in his chest. Almost without thinking, he raised his hand to wipe them away.

But before he could touch her, a pained voice came from his arms.

"Xavier..."

Everything else slipped from his mind. He immediately lowered his head toward Natalie.

"Natalie? What's wrong? Are you okay?"

Quinn stared at them.

Wrapped tightly in each other's arms, they looked like two lovers who had found salvation in each other.

Whatever strength she'd had left to confront Xavier drained away. She staggered to her feet and walked out.

...

As soon as Quinn returned to her dorm, she drafted a post on social media.

She attached screenshots of her video-editing history and behind-the-scenes footage from the shoot, more than enough evidence to prove that Mother was her work.

But just as she was about to publish it, she hesitated.

Natalie's face flashed through her mind, twisted with that frightening, obsessive rage.

Her depression seemed to be real. If Quinn exposed the truth, would Natalie's mental state be able to withstand the consequences?

She was still struggling with the decision when—

Bang!

The door was kicked open.

Several bodyguards dressed in black stormed into the room and pinned her down.