Love’s Cunning Ruse

Chapter 117

“Cough, cough… Julie nearly choked when she heard Annalise’s blunt words.

Quickly, Annalise handed Julie a cold drink out of kindness before continuing, “Although my nephew Kieran seems aloof, he’s actually really warm-hearted!”

Julie gazed at Annalise in surprise, finally convinced that she truly was Kieran’s aunt. Who else could have known him so

well?

Finally recovering from her coughing fit, Julie took a sip of her drink. She was taken aback to see Annalise getting even more excited. While munching on fast food, she said, “You remember that time you let the air out of his bike tires, don’t you?”

Stifling another choke, Julie tried to steady herself before responding, “Let’s not bring that up again!”

At that time, it was Daphne who had suggested the idea. Only then had Julie gone to Futuro Business College to deflate Kieran’s bike tires.

Kieran disliked receiving special treatment and detested having the house staff pick him up. So, he cycled home almost every day.

Inspired by a romantic TV show, Daphne had said, “I learned a trick today that will guarantee you snag Kieran.”

Then, she handed Julie a baseball cap and face mask and said, “Deflate Kieran’s bike tires, then make it look like a chance encounter. You can offer him a ride. After all, you guys live next door, no biggie!”

“Deflate his tires? Julie quickly handed the wrench back to Daphne, “I can’t do that!”

“Just picture it under the setting sun, you two riding so close; you are pedaling, and Kieran is behind you. If you purposely wobble the bike, Kieran will have to hold your waist, thus he would be obliged to take responsibility for you. Isn’t that great?” Julie thought she must have been crazy to actually go through with deflating Kieran’s tires.

But she did it!

Julie skipped her last class, donned the baseball cap and mask, and went to Futuro Business College. She found Kieran’s bike and successfully deflated his tires.

When Kieran finally finished school, she proudly rode her bike named “Little White Horse”, and pretended to bump into Kieran, casually saying, “Kieran, school’s over. Why are you still here?”

“Waiting for you.” Kieran, dressed in a white shirt and black casual pants, sat on his bike and looked at Julie with an expectant expression.

Caught off guard, Julie looked at Kieran in surprise and excitement, “Waiting for me?”

Just as she daydreamed about the possible romantic outcome, Kieran took out his phone, opened a video, and handed it to her.

Upon seeing the video, Julie’s face gradually darkened.

The video showed her secretly deflating Kieran’s bike tires.

Kieran casually watched her and said, “I played basketball with some friends this afternoon. On my way back, something interesting happened, so I recorded it…”

Although Julle grumbled about Kieran in her heart, she still tried to keep up a smile and said, “Clearly, the person in the video isn’t me!*

But her explanation failed to convince Kieran.

Kieran glanced at the video, then at her. His deep gaze seemed to penetrate Julie’s heart.

“You are the same height and have the same figure, wearing the same clothes, and even have the same hairstyle. Are you telling me she’s your twin sister?” Kieran asked, sitting on his bike.

Finally, Julie admitted defeat and said, “I was wrong. I’ll give you my bike, ‘Little White Horse’ as compensation. Please take good care of it.”

She reluctantly handed her bike over to Kieran.

However, Kieran unexpectedly asked, “What about my bike ‘Don Quixote’?”

He glanced back at the bike Julie had deflated.

Julie was speechless. Content protected by Nôv/el(D)rama.Org.

In the end, Kieran rode her bike, leading the way, while she was forced to push his bike behind him.

Her imagined romantic scene-the two of them on one bike, him holding her, her demanding he take responsibility-all

shattered.

All that was left was the image of him riding ahead in the sunset with her running behind him.

Julie felt she was so naive back then.

Watching Julie lost in her memories, Annalise asked, “Do you know why he named his bike ‘Don Quixote’?”

“He’s mocking my “Little White Horse’, isn’t he?” Julie grumbled about Kieran in her heart.

However, Annalise looked at Julie in surprise and asked, “You really don’t know Don Quixote rides a white horse?”

Julie was taken aback.

“Don Quixote rides a white horse.” the line repeated in her head.

Julie felt as if Annalise had opened a new perspective for her.

She now realized that what she firmly believed could be interpreted differently. But she didn’t know if she could trust Annalise’s words.

Perhaps Annalise had sensed her doubts, so while enjoying her food, she said to Julie, “If you don’t believe me, you can go check his garage at Noblewood Retreat. Your bike and his ‘Don Quixote’ are still there.”

Although Julie didn’t want to delve deep into Annalise’s words, she couldn’t help but think back to Daphne’s behavior that morning.

After Daphne abruptly hung up the call, despite numerous attempts, she never picked up.

Coupled with the sudden change in her attitude towards Kieran that morning, Julie suspected Daphne knew something she didn’t.

So, while Annalise was savoring her food, Julie dialed Daphne’s number again.

“Do you have another date after this?” Annalise asked.

Julie blinked, then responded, “What?”

“If you’ve got plans this afternoon, we can catch up another time!” Annalise pulled out twenty dollars and a business card from her wallet, telling Julie, “Next meal is on you. And do me a solid; if you see Hayden, give me a heads up, alright?”

With that, Annalise gave Julie a wave, a ‘see you later’ gesture, and then turned to leave. She was surprisingly calm about the whole thing.

Julie had figured Annalise would grill her for information on Hayden before taking off, but instead, she just bounced.

Calls to Daphne still went unanswered. So, Julie scooped up the cash on the table and paid the bill, feeling thankfu! Annalise had left the twenty.

Since her wallet was still with Karl, Julie had no choice but to take the subway to Gentlemen magazine with the little cash she had left/

Daphne was being vague, she felt. But when she got to the magazine, she was told, “Ms. Daphne’s out on a field assignment; she should be at Crown Entertainment right now.”

Luckily, Crown Entertainment was just a couple of blocks away from the magazine.

Julie made a beeline for Crown Entertainment across the street. With a lot of big-name stars under their umbrella, they wouldn’t just let anyone in to protect the privacy of their talents.

From the magazine, Julie found out that Daphne’s assistant, Wennie, was also at Crown Entertainment to help with the interview. She had kept Wennie’s number from the last time she asked for her help with an interview with Elliot. It came in handy then.

Wennie knew about Daphne and Julie’s relationship, but since Daphne was in the middle of reviewing a draft, Wennie didn’t

dare disturb her and decided to go downstairs to meet Julie instead.

Once they were in the elevator, Julie asked Wennie, “Has Ms. Daphne been busy all morning?”

Wennie nodded right away, “Yes, she’s been at it all morning; she didn’t even have time to drink water.”

At first, Julie thought Daphne was deliberately not picking up her calls, but it seemed that wasn’t the case; Daphne really was swamped.

Julie furrowed her brows and asked Wennie, “Is the person she’s interviewing important?”

“Lionel is a famous actor; of course he’s influential.” Wennie couldn’t help but look adoringly when Lionel was mentioned, *Years ago, even before King Marlon retired, Lionel was already hailed as the most popular young actor. Recently, he won a bunch of awards for his role in The Morning After, the one Mr. Farrell starred in. Our magazine went through hell to arrange this interview. The editor-in-chief has been working on it for quite a while, all for today!”

Julie knew Lionel.

Lionel’s ex-girlfriend was Babur Farrell’s current wife, as was Ivan Hernandez’s classmate, Amora Farrell’s mother, Albertine.

Albertine was originally Lionel’s agent, but she quit her job to join the entertainment industry. After a stint as a model, she switched to acting.

Albertine was supposed to be the lead actress in The Morning After, but she dropped the role for some reason, perhaps because her ex-boyfriend was the lead actor. Not long after, news came out that she had married Mr. Farrell.

Daphne’s idol was the retired King Marlon. Her former boss Flavia’s good friend was Albertine, so Daphne often talked about the industry to Julie.

But the entertainment industry was complicated; Julie knew that all too well, so she just kind of tuned it all out. Wennie led Julie into the photo studio, where Lionel was posing for the magazine’s cover. Surprisingly, Daphne was doing something that wasn’t her job-she was helping Lionel with his clothes, completely oblivious to Julie’s presence.