The Hartford family home was unusually quiet when Marcus and Quinn returned from Ocean Park. Too quiet. The kind of silence that preceded storms.Brandon and Karen sat in the living room, both wearing casual clothes despite it being a Thursday afternoon—when they should have been at work. Karen's eyes were red and puffy, her makeup smeared. Brandon looked haggard, his tie loosened, stress radiating from every line of his body."Mom? Dad?" Quinn stepped into the living room, immediately sensing something wrong. "Why aren't you at the office?"Karen's head snapped up, her expression shifting from distressed to defensive in an instant. "Quinn! You're home early! Why aren't YOU at work?""I asked first," Quinn said, her Saintess senses detecting guilt and panic radiating from both parents. "What's going on?"Brandon and Karen exchanged glances—a wordless communication that Quinn had learned to recognize over the years. They were deciding how to spin whatever disaster they'd caused."It's

Karen Ridge's face cycled through emotions so rapidly it was almost comical—shock, disbelief, rage, then settling into a mottled purple that suggested an imminent stroke."You RESIGNED?" Her voice hit a pitch that made windows rattle. "Do you have ANY idea what you've done? What you've thrown away?""I made a decision," Quinn said calmly, though her Saintess aura flickered with residual anger from the necklace confrontation. "One I should have made weeks ago.""A decision?" Karen's laugh was shrill and bitter. "You threw away a project manager position! A position that would have brought this family MONEY! Respect! I was finally going to get a decent car instead of that embarrassing Passat your father insists on driving! And you just—just QUIT?""The position wasn't worth the constant disrespect," Quinn replied. "Oliver's schemes, Grandfather's manipulations, the entire company treating me like—""Like WHAT?" Karen interrupted. "Like a Sacred Saintess who got promoted above her experi

Zachary Hartford sat behind his mahogany desk in Hartford Group's executive suite, a Cuban cigar smoldering in his ashtray, confidence radiating from every pore. Across from him, Oliver lounged on the leather sofa with the self-satisfied air of a man who'd already won."By this time tomorrow," Oliver said, unable to contain his grin, "Skyler Reed will be finished. Leonardo will have presented the evidence to Owen Cooper, Reed will be fired for misconduct, and the project head position will be mine.""Don't count your chickens," Zachary cautioned, though his own smile suggested he shared Oliver's confidence. "Leonardo hasn't called yet to confirm.""He will," Oliver said with certainty. "The evidence is ironclad. Reed lending company property to Quinn, their suspicious meetings, her inexplicable promotion—Cooper will have no choice but to terminate him.""And Quinn?""Will be humiliated," Oliver's smile turned vicious. "Once Reed's gone, she loses her only protection. We'll demote her

Karen Ridge paced the Hartford family living room like a caged animal, her phone clutched in one hand, her anxiety palpable. Every few minutes she'd glance at the stairs, then at her phone, then back to the stairs."I should call Zachary," she muttered for the tenth time. "Explain that Marcus forced Quinn to resign. Make him understand it wasn't her choice. If I can just shift the blame properly—""Mother," Quinn's voice came from the top of the stairs, cold and tired, "stop scheming. I resigned because I chose to. Not because Marcus forced me.""But if we just explain—" Karen started.A knock at the door interrupted her.Karen rushed to answer it, hope flaring in her chest. "Maybe it's Zachary! Maybe he's come to apologize and—"She flung open the door to find Oliver Hartford standing there, his face showing fresh bruising on top of the swelling from Marcus's earlier slap. Behind him stood three Hartford Group executives, all looking uncomfortable and uncertain."Oliver!" Karen's fac

Zachary Hartford stood in the narrow hallway, surrounded by hundreds of his employees, his face a mask of barely controlled fury. Behind him, Oliver nursed his bruised ribs, his expression oscillating between pain and vindictive anticipation."This is absurd," Zachary finally said, his voice carrying forced calm. "Quinn, you're my granddaughter. Marcus, you're family—however unfortunate that reality may be. We should discuss this privately, not in front of the entire company.""Why?" Marcus asked simply. "Embarrassed to have your employees witness how you actually treat family?""I'm trying to show RESPECT by coming here personally!" Zachary's voice rose slightly. "I brought the entire company as you demanded! Now stop this nonsense and let's resolve this like adults!""Adults," Marcus repeated, a slight smile playing at his lips. "You mean like when you and Oliver conspired with Leonardo Lancaster to destroy Skyler Reed? Was that adult behavior?"Several employees in the hallway pull