A Night of Desire

Chapter 261 - 258: He’s Glad She Threw a Tantrum and Ran Away

But when he got downstairs, he stopped abruptly. ’I’m being too impatient,’ he thought. ’I just dropped her off at the set. She’s probably resting or asleep right now. If I go now, won’t I just be disturbing her sweet dreams?’

Seth Quinn glanced at the brocade box in his hand. ’Forget it,’ he decided. ’I’ll wait a few more days to give it to her.’

He gazed at the brocade box in a daze for a long moment before heading back upstairs and placing it in his drawer.

It suddenly occurred to him that he had never proactively bought a gift for any woman. This was the first time he had put so much thought into buying a gift for a woman, just to make her happy.

Not even for Autumn Shelby. They had been engaged, on the verge of marriage, yet he had never once thought of buying her a gift, let alone trying to make her happy.

Back then, just as their wedding day was approaching, Autumn Shelby had suddenly fled the country.

The Shelby Family’s explanation was that Autumn had a case of pre-wedding jitters and had gone abroad to clear her head.

He, however, suspected otherwise. He didn’t think Autumn’s sudden trip abroad was really because of pre-wedding jitters. It was more likely she felt neglected and was throwing a tantrum.

After all, she had complained to his face on more than one occasion that he didn’t value her, didn’t care about her, didn’t love her!

And in truth, he knew he didn’t value her enough, care about her enough, and certainly didn’t love her enough.

The Shelby Family had probably intended to latch onto the Quinn family from the very beginning, which was why, under Evan Shelby and Yvette Zimmerman’s meticulous arrangements, he and Autumn Shelby had known each other since childhood.

Even as a child, his personality was cold, and he treated Autumn with indifference. But from the moment she first saw him, Autumn became his little shadow, constantly trailing after him.

As he grew up, he remained indifferent toward women, and since Autumn was the only one ever by his side, everyone mistakenly assumed he was fond of her.

So, in the end, their families arranged for them to be engaged.

Seth hadn’t resisted the arrangement too strongly—at least not openly. He figured marrying one woman was the same as marrying any other, and it was better to go with someone familiar. So, Autumn it was.

But even after she became his fiancée, he had never been intimate with her. They had only held hands a few times, and even then, Autumn had always been the one to initiate it.

He never felt any physical desire for her, not even when she deliberately tried to provoke a reaction.

Later, after he announced their engagement was off, he never mentioned her again. In his mind, she had completely vanished from his life, and there was no need to bring up a stranger. It was as simple as that.

But others didn’t see it that way. Everyone, including his own family, assumed Autumn Shelby had broken his heart and that his silence meant he couldn’t let her go. Eventually, her very name became a taboo topic around him.

He’d found their assumptions amusing but had never bothered to correct them. There was simply no need.

It was only after meeting Clara Grant that he realized he wasn’t uninterested in women; he simply hadn’t met the one who could spark his interest and desire.

And thinking about it now, he was incredibly grateful that Autumn had willfully run off at the last minute. Otherwise, he would have missed his chance with Clara Grant!

At the mere thought of Clara Grant, Seth Quinn’s expression softened instantly. He gazed at the brocade box as if he were looking right at her, his eyes filled with gentle, doting affection.

...

Yvette Zimmerman, fuming and trembling with anxiety, rushed to the office to see Evan Shelby. The moment she burst into his office, she cried out, "Evan, this is a disaster!"

Evan Shelby’s brow furrowed almost imperceptibly. "What is it?"

"Seth Quinn might have another woman! It’s that... that girl Sarah mentioned to you last time. What’s-her-name... Clara."

"Clara Grant?" Evan Shelby recalled the name after a moment’s thought. It wasn’t because his memory was particularly good, but because Sarah was constantly showing him Clara’s photo, pestering him to introduce her to directors and find her industry resources. And besides, Clara Grant was exceptionally beautiful, which was why her name stuck with him.