Chapter 354: A Crack in the Mask
Johnathan stared at the photo. “The build looks similar,” he said slowly, “but without a clear face, we can’t be sure. Wasn’t Timothy supposed to have disappeared? Why would he suddenly resurface?” He had no answer to his own question. He forwarded the images to his phone and sent them to Mateo, asking him to start digging.
Right now, there was nothing else to do but wait. Sierra glanced over at Quinn, who sat motionless and blank-eyed. She asked softly, “What about Quinn?”
Johnathan frowned in thought before replying, “We’ll take her back with us.”
Sierra nodded. She didn’t exactly want Quinn staying at the house she shared with Johnathan, but there was no better option. Quinn’s mental state was too fragile—she couldn’t be left with just anyone.
Luckily, Quinn didn’t put up a fight. Dazed and unresponsive, she followed their instructions: washed up when told, went to bed when told.
Still, even with Johnathan there, Sierra had trouble sleeping. The presence of someone unstable in the house made her uneasy. She woke up in the middle of the night feeling thirsty. Johnathan was still asleep, so she carefully got out of bed. As she was closing the door behind her, she heard faint muttering coming from the guest room.
That was Quinn’s room.
Curious, Sierra crept closer—not to eavesdrop, but to see who Quinn might be talking to at this hour. But as she approached, the voice stopped. A moment later, it started again.
“Dora… Dora… I’m going to kill you… Timothy, I hope you die…”
The fragmented whispers were incoherent, more like a feverish monologue than any real conversation. Sierra frowned, then knocked on the door. “Quinn? Quinn?”
After a few seconds, the door opened. Quinn stood there.
“Sierra. Is something wrong?”
“I heard something in your room. Are you… okay?”
Sierra kept her body tense, instinctively on guard. Something about Quinn felt off. The ramblings she’d just heard didn’t come from a stable person—but now, Quinn seemed…
Quinn’s face was pale, but otherwise, she appeared lucid. For a moment, Sierra wondered if she’d imagined it all.
Just then, their bedroom door opened. Johnathan stepped out, clearly not fully awake. His expression was dark and cold.
“Why are you up?” he asked.
“I got thirsty. Then I heard something from Quinn’s room and came to check.”
Johnathan’s expression softened slightly at her explanation. He walked to the kitchen, poured her a glass of water, and handed it to her. Then he took her by the hand and led her back to their room.
To Quinn, he said only, “Get some sleep. We’ll find her.”
“I know. Thank you,” Quinn murmured, her eyes red but clearly calmed by his words.
Back in their room, Sierra recounted everything she’d heard.
“Something’s not right with Quinn. I’m afraid she’s just pretending to be okay.”
Johnathan frowned. “I’ll take her back first thing in the morning.” He wouldn’t tolerate a loose cannon in the house—not even if that person was Quinn.
“I’m scared,” Sierra admitted, curling up against him. “Dora… she’ll be okay, right?”
“She’ll be fine.” Johnathan didn’t hesitate. “He took her for a reason. Until he gets what he wants, she won’t be harmed.”
“Try to sleep. Don’t worry.” He patted her gently. This time, Sierra relaxed and, eventually, drifted off.
What she didn’t know was that after she fell asleep, Johnathan got up again. He sat alone in the living room, eyes fixed on the closed door of Quinn’s room, lost in thought.
The next morning, Johnathan drove Sierra to the lab, then took Quinn to the Treno family estate. Before she got out of the car, he said only one thing: “Quinn, I’ve always seen you as a sister.”
“I know. You’ll always be my brother.”
Johnathan stared at her for a long moment before nodding. “Stay here. I’ll handle Dora.” With that, he drove off—without stopping to see Wayne.
Quinn sat frozen in her seat, uneasy. Something had gone wrong. Somewhere along the way, Johnathan had started to doubt her.