Chapter 954: Chapter 491: Extra: At Least One Person’s Happiness Can Be Guaranteed

Skyler Jones cupped Christine Quinn’s face. "How come you suddenly asked me that?"

"Nothing, I just suddenly felt like asking you."

Skyler Jones gave a faint smile, his voice hoarse with tenderness. "If I’d known back then, I would’ve brought you back to my side no matter what."

"Even if you hated me?"

"Even then."

"Why? You hated me so much back then. Shouldn’t you have just ignored me?"

Skyler Jones was still smiling as he sat down at the head of the bed and pulled Rebecca Quentin into his arms. "As a man, how could I possibly ignore the woman who gave birth to my child? Even if there was hate, the responsibility is still there... I’m not going to be like my father and let my child grow up in a single-parent family."

His unhappy childhood had forged this powerful sense of family responsibility in him, so even if back then she had been that tired of him, he still could have brought her back to his side without looking back...

That explained why he hadn’t chosen Jennifer Douglas...

Everything really was just like Jennifer Douglas had said. Jennifer hadn’t lost to her; Jennifer had only lost to time.

If Jennifer had met Skyler Jones earlier than she did, or if Skyler Jones had never known she had secretly given birth to Marie for him, maybe today she and Skyler Jones would never have crossed paths again...

Everything could be sacrificed for responsibility...

A sour ache rushed up to the bridge of her nose, and Christine Quinn’s eyes turned slightly red.

"What’s wrong, baby?" Noticing the tiny change in her expression, he asked softly.

Christine Quinn shook her head. "Nothing. I was just thinking, if I’d told you earlier that Marie is your daughter, we wouldn’t have missed all those years..."

Skyler Jones brushed a pitying kiss against Christine Quinn’s lips. "It’s not your fault... I was the one who didn’t know how to cherish you back then."

Christine Quinn smiled and didn’t say anything more.

Right now, there were only two roads lying before Christine Quinn...

One was to lay everything on the table with Skyler Jones, and then the two of them would face the fact that there was already someone else in his heart...

The other was to choose to hide it, to pretend to be clueless and muddle through with him like that all my life.

She knew very clearly that for everyone’s sake, the latter was the "right" path she ought to choose...

As long as they were fine, the family would be at ease, and Marie wouldn’t have to worry about her parents’ issues anymore.

But...

For her to really pretend to be crazy and dumb about it—she couldn’t do it.

No matter how deeply she loved a man, she still didn’t want him to force himself to stay with her till the end...

She was a woman who drew a clear line between love and hate. Love was love, not love was not love. If he truly already had another woman in his heart, what was the point of her guarding this empty city of a man? For the family’s sake—given time, they would eventually accept it... So even if she chose to lay everything bare with him, it wouldn’t be that big of a problem. After all, Marie was already grown, a child who understood how to respect the adult world.

Only, that was easy to say; how could she really lay everything bare with him without hesitation?

Once the words were spoken, the choices facing them would be to either stay together or break up...

If they stayed together, things between them would become awkward, and she would constantly be reminded that there was someone else in his heart...

If they broke up, how could she possibly be willing to accept that?

She had loved him for so many years, given him all her youth. What she’d hoped for was to grow old with him. Now that it could finally come true, she was the one who had to retreat at the final moment—how could she be willing? Most of all, she couldn’t bear to let go...

If they really did separate, in the end he would definitely go looking for Jennifer Douglas...

Eventually, he and Jennifer would be happy together, while she would live lonely and desolate in some corner of this world, watching from afar as he found his happiness.

It wasn’t that she was selfish...

If he liked another woman, she could choose to let go. It was just that, in a world without him, what meaning would her world still have?

Why was it that other people’s love stories could find their happy ending after going through so many trials, yet she couldn’t even hold on to the very first bit of love he’d given her?

Why did heaven have to be so cruel to her? She had never asked for much...

In the study, Skyler Jones stood quietly in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, a glass of red wine in his hand, his brows slightly furrowed as if deep in thought.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.

He said evenly, "Come in."

The next second, the study door opened and Rebecca Quentin walked in.

She asked, "Skyler, Aunt Helen said you were looking for me?"

Skyler Jones kept his eyes on the view outside the window as his calm, level voice floated out. "You’ve been with your sister a lot these last two days. Have you noticed anything off about her?"