At this moment.
Imperial View Manor.
Durrell Landon stepped out of the room and saw Quiana Sutton absentmindedly fiddling with the leaves of a potted plant. Even though she wasn't smiling, she still gave off a light-hearted vibe, which inexplicably improved his mood too.
He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, silently watching her, momentarily forgetting about the passage of time.
Noticing a gaze on her, Quiana snapped back to reality and saw Durrell standing not far away. He wore a slight, casual smile, looking as if time itself had stopped for him.
This thought only lasted a moment. She knew very well that the calmness of time was not a term meant for the two of them.
She glanced at him briefly before quickly looking away.
Her indifferent attitude and the lack of warmth in her eyes made him frown slightly. Suppressing his discomfort, he asked,
"Do you have any plans today?"
Startled by Durrell's sudden question, Quiana paused her fiddling with the leaves, and after a while, she replied, "No."
Durrell said, "Then accompany me for a walk?"
Quiana continued her actions without slowing down, "Not interested."
Upon hearing this, a black cloud seemed to spread across Durrell's face, and a cold mist seemed to seep out from him: "You can accompany Alexander Skylane to an auction; why can't you come for a walk with me?"
At this, she finally stopped abusing the leaf, raised her head to look at Durrell, her eyes holding a deep and ambiguous smile:
"Because Alexander is my childhood friend, while you're the person I'm about to divorce, becoming my ex-husband."
Hearing this, Durrell's already displeased expression darkened further, the tone of his voice unable to mask his anger:
"Enough, I don't want to hear the word divorce again."
His sudden outburst was unexpected to Quiana. She looked at him, at this moment, his emotions seemed out of control, completely spilling over.
Oliver Gale stepped out of the room, keenly sensing the fiery tension between them.
He lazily yawned, his usual smile on his face as if nothing had happened, "Are you two arguing this early in the morning?"
Quiana came back to her senses, glanced sideways at Oliver, and replied indifferently, "No."
Durrell adjusted his clothes, walked towards Oliver, and, as he passed by, he replied coolly, "Don't overthink it. She hasn't got the skills to anger me yet."
Oliver helplessly spread his hands. These two were indeed complicated, not straightforward at all, but this young lady was something else; Durrell had always been good at hiding his emotions, but this was the first time he'd seen him this angry without admitting it. It's going to be tough in the future.
Durrell returned to the master bedroom, and the large living room was suddenly left with only Quiana and Oliver.
Oliver sat on the sofa, his eyes slightly stirring. Yesterday, he attended the welcome party Alexander held, who said something interesting about taking charge of the domestic branch for a particular person.
Everyone present was curious about who it was, and in a moment, Oliver thought of Quiana.
He leaned back lazily on the sofa, watching Quiana.
Even though she was used to being stared at, she got goosebumps now, "If you have something to ask, just ask. Don't beat around the bush, not like a man at all."
Oliver: "..."
This girl's tongue is quite sharp too.
He wasn't too annoyed, simply asked:
"Quiana, what exactly is your relationship with Alexander?"
"Childhood friends, I suppose."
"Childhood friends..." Oliver chuckled, "Being childhood friends with Alexander isn't ordinary; are you perhaps a young lady from a prominent family too?"
Quiana was silent for a moment, found a seat for herself, and sat down loosely, with a somewhat rogue attitude, "No, have you ever seen a family's lady like me? Even if she's unloved, she wouldn't just get married so casually."
Oliver thought about it and agreed.
He could do anything he wanted, but if he rushed into marriage without his father's approval, he'd likely be disowned by the Gale family.
Durrell returned to the master bedroom and called Charles Foote.
"Knight, have you pulled up Quiana Sutton's life records?"
"Only the records after age ten; before that, they seem deliberately erased."
"Send them to me."
Charles acted quickly, sending Quiana's entire life record to Durrell in less than a minute.
Durrell opened it and took a glance. Before age ten, there was nothing; after that, she grew up in an orphanage.
From middle school, she often got into fights, nearly getting expelled multiple times. Fortunately, her grades were good, and with the orphanage director's pleas, she graduated middle school in a year with top marks, high school was the same, graduating in a year and getting into Imperial Polytechnic.
She graduated from Imperial Polytechnic in just one year.
Within that year, a major event occurred: a noble young man publicly wooed her, resulting in her being bullied by the entire school of girls, forcing her to leave.
Not only did she not leave, but she graduated from Imperial Polytechnic in just one year.
He couldn't imagine what she was going through then. After graduating, she returned to the orphanage for two more years. During that time, she sold paintings and worked as a street performer, and the money she made was used to support the orphanage. Later, she saved Isabelle Somerville from a kidnapping, brought her back to the country, and after participating in a local reality show, began her fame in the entertainment industry.
Even after gaining fame in entertainment, she occasionally sent money back to that orphanage.
Attached below the records were several of Quiana's past drawings.
Though these drawings were ordinary sketches, their proficiency was evident.
Even compared to today's national painting master Wright Leaf, they were just as impressive.
If Master Wright found out such a talent was selling paintings on the street, he might burn down the gallery in anger.
Closing the file, he walked to the window, opened it, letting the breeze hit his face, softening his profile, the expression more tender than he'd anticipated.
Watching the wind for a while, he left the room and walked downstairs, noticing Quiana seemed to be chatting quite pleasantly with Oliver.
At least when facing Oliver, she didn't wear that icy indifference.
When she interacted with Julian Haworth and Charles Foote, though she didn't smile, she was at least gentle. Not to mention with Alexander Skylane; occasionally, there was even a hint of tenderness in her eyes. It was only with him that she was so cold, eager to sever ties immediately.
Realizing this fact suddenly made him feel extremely annoyed, even wanting to get rid of Oliver, so that her sight could only fall on him.
He hadn't imagined having such thoughts, and briefly, it shocked him slightly.