Love’s Cunning Ruse

Chapter 286

“Are you laughing or crying? You’ve been chuckling nonstop.” Julie leaned in closer to Daphne, curious to know who was on the other end of the phone call. But Daphne handed the phone to Julie as if it were a hot potato. Her face, a picture of relief, left Julie puzzled.

Meanwhile, Julien was lying quietly on the carpet, lost in her own world, oblivious to the commotion between Julie and Daphne.

Until Julie suddenly cried out, “Hayden?”

At the sound of his name, Julien sprung up from the floor like a zombie, startling Julie who moved closer to Daphne for comfort.

Even though Julie had no idea what Hayden had said, she handed the phone to Julien, saying timidly, “Julien, it’s for you!”

Upon hearing Hayden’s name, Julien wanted to hang up. But when Julie handed her the phone, she immediately pressed the end call button and irritably tossed it back to Daphne.

Daphne’s admiration for Julien reached it peek point.

“Is it okay to just hang up on Hayden like that?” Julie asked, concerned.

Julien didn’t respond. This was the first time she had the audacity to hang up on Hayden. Usually, she would follow his orders without question.

Julie thought for a moment, then said, “Well, Hayden spoils you, so it should be fine, right?”

“Hayden spoils me? You are talking nonsense!” Julien coldly retorted, sitting up again!

Daphne clutched her chest. She couldn’t handle any more surprises from Julien.

Instead of answering Julien’s question, Julie turned to Daphne and asked, “Don’t you think Hayden treats Julien differently?”.

“It seems like it. Remember Ivan’s birthday party…”,

“What happened then?” Julie asked.

“We were having a barbecue in the garden, remember? Mr. Watson took me out there. Later, I went back to my room to get my phone and saw Mr. Dylan, Annalise Hansen, and Hayden…”

“And then what?” Julie asked, looking at Daphne curiously.

“Then Ms. Annalise tried to hold Hayden’s arm.”

“Heh!” An untimely sneer suddenly echoed, Julie and Daphne both looked at Julien.

Julien, however, acted as if nothing happened, and looked at Daphne coldly, “Why did you stop? Continue!”

Daphne forced a smile, then continued, “Hayden shook off Ms. Annalise’s arm and told her he would hit her even if she’s a woman. His expression was so serious and terrifying.”

Daphne hugged herself, pretending to be scared.

Julien grunted, “He would hit a woman. I’m lucky to be alive.”

Daphne initially thought this was funny, but then she looked at Julien and said, “Wait, Ms. Annalise asked Hayden why he didn’t hit you when you were close to him. Do you know what he said?”

“He said he wouldn’t want to dirty his hands by hitting me.” Julien replied emotionlessly.

Julie patted Julien’s shoulder in an attempt to comfort her.

Daphne burst into laughter, “Hayden only said to Ms. Annalise, ‘Because she’s my woman, you’re not. Even though he wasn’t talking to me, I felt my heart pounding when I heard that!”

“Do you know why he said that?” Julien seemed indifferent.

Daphne looked at Julie, innocent, “Isn’t it because Hayden likes Julien?”

Julie nodded, “Of course it’s because Hayden likes Julien. Why else would he say Jullen is his woman?”

“Or is it because I’m a good bodyguard?” Julien scoffed.

Daphne and Julie were stunned. Julien’s words seemed to make sense…

Suddenly, Julie remembered something important. She grabbed Julien’s arm, “Last time, when Hayden came to look for Kieran, Kieran and Payne were in the room discussing something. So, I spent some time with Hayden. Then he suddenly asked me a very emotional question.”

“Wow! What question?” Daphne asked, eyes wide with excitement.

“He asked me if I blamed Kieran for his past decisions. I told him that since it’s in the past, all I can do is to be there for Ivan. I can’t change the past and I don’t want to live in hate, so let it go. But when Hayden asked me that, I didn’t really get it. So, I jokingly said, ‘Of course I blame him! If he hadn’t kept it from me, we wouldn’t have all these problems!”

“But Hayden seemed dissatisfied with my answer. He argued with me, and it didn’t sound like he was defending Kieran. Instead, it sounded like he was defending himself.”

“So what happened next?” Daphne asked, on the edge of her seat.

Julie turned to Julien and said, “Then I remembered, Julien, after you confessed your feelings to Hayden, didn’t he mysteriously disappear? Isn’t that the root of all the tension between you two? Maybe, just maybe, Hayden’s stubbornness stems from some kind of secret he was carrying when he left?”

7

“Maybe, but what does that have to do with me?” Julien pulled a blanket over her head. “I only agreed to help him with his tasks, 1 didn’t sign up to be Adeline’s safety net.”

At this, Julie and Daphne exchanged a look. After a few seconds, Julie jumped off the bed and yanked the blanket off Julien’s head. “What do you mean, ‘Adeline’s safety net’? Are you implying that something’s going on between Adeline and Hayden?”

Daphne, despite being pregnant, couldn’t keep her excitement at bay. She rushed to Julien’s side and stared at her with wide eyes. “But Adeline likes Elliot, doesn’t

she? Why would you need to be her safety net? God, this is like a soap opera!”

“Do you two want to sleep tonight or not?” Julien sat up and patted the blanket. “Fine, I’ll explain what I meant by ‘being Adeline’s safety net’.”

Julie and Daphne sat in rapt attention, waiting for Julien to continue.

Julie spoke first. “If there really is something going on between Hayden and Adeline, then I’ve been wrong about Hayden. I’ll stand by you, no matter what.”

“Right, we’re backing you up!” Daphne raised her hand, almost as if she was swearing an oath.

Just as Julien was about to speak, the doorbell rang.

Daphne got up from the carpet. “Who could it be at this hour?”

“Mr. Lionel?” Julie asked. They didn’t think that someone as aloof and mysterious as Hayden would be knocking on their door in the middle of the night.

And yet, to their surprise, it was indeed Hayden on the other side of the door.

Hayden was standing alone outside, waiting for Daphne to open the door.

Even through the surveillance camera video, Daphne could feel a chill from Hayden’s gaze. She took a step back and looked at Julien. “My queen, he’s here for you!” Julien had not expected Hayden to come knocking. She had thought that after hanging up on him, he would spend the night plotting his revenge. But here he was, showing up at her door. Clearly, her actions had truly angered him.

Julien had only come to stay overnight at Daphne’s apartment. She didn’t mean to cause any trouble for Daphne, who was pregnant. But now…

“Don’t forget me if I die,” she said, patting Daphne’s shoulder. “Tell my friends that I died a hero.”

With that, she opened the door and quickly closed it behind her.

Julie and Daphne, who had been standing by the door, didn’t even get a chance to see Hayden. All they saw was Julien and Hayden calmly getting into the elevator. After they left, Julie hurriedly dialed Kieran’s number, “Honey, do you think Hayden is the type to keep a back-up girl?”

“What?” Kieran sounded groggy on the other end of the line. After a while, he replied, “Who? Hayden?”

“Yeah, do you think Hayden genuinely likes Julien?”

“I dropped you off at Daphne’s apartment, didn’t I?” Kieran remembered clearly that he had taken Julie to Daphne’s place because she had said she missed her. He thought Julie was calling about the

relationship between Daphne and Lionel, not Julien and Hayden.

Julie told him the truth. “Julien came to Daphne’s place in the middle of the night, but now Hayden took her away.”

“It seems like they said…”

“What?” Julie didn’t catch what Kieran said.

Kieran reassured her with a laugh, “Hayden will treat her well, don’t worry.”

“Should I ask why you’re so sure?” © 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

“Honey, men have their little secrets too.”

Julie didn’t press further, but smiled in response.