Love’s Cunning Ruse

Chapter 142

Daphne didn’t have a rich family. She and her parents weren’t exactly earning much. But Kieran, doing his best, did everything he could to help the Flores family climb up the ladder. Daphne had a thing for lottery tickets, so Kieran would even let her hit the jackpot sometimes.

Kieran knew that whenever Julie was in a pickle, Daphne would be the first to back her. She’d be the one to give her a hand, to be there for her.

Julien was a bit stumped. She looked at Kieran and asked straight-up, “You’ve been bending over backwards for Julie, even using Daphne as a roundabout way to help her. Why don’t you just spill the beans to Daphne? Wouldn’t it be easier for her to protect Julie then? You’ve let Daphne and Julie be pissed at you for years. Doesn’t that get under your skin?”

Julien wasn’t one for chitchat. Kieran was a tough nut to crack, and Julien knew he probably wouldn’t answer.

But when she asked, she saw a deep emotion in Kieran’s eyes.

She’d seen that same kind of deep, burning emotion in her brother-in-law, Kenton Jenkins, when he looked at Flavia. Kenton and Flavia had been through hell and back before they ended up together.

The passion in Kieran’s eyes didn’t seem any less than Kenton’s.

Surprisingly, he answered her. He said, “What Julie needs is a partner in crime. Someone to laugh with her when she’s happy, curse me with her when she’s not. Daphne’s perfect for that.”

As he finished, a small smile tugged at his lips.

As Kieran turned to leave, even the normally aloof Julien couldn’t help but feel moved.

Kieran knew that after the divorce, what Julie really needed wasn’t a financial crutch, but emotional support. And Daphne was the one who could stand by Julie’s side, to fight him together.

Instead of having Julie risk her life because of the love for him, he’d rather have her live each day safely, even if she hated his guts.

It would be easy to let Julie die with loving him. But how much courage did it take for him to let the woman he loved hate him, to bear the misunderstandings of everyone, and to paint himself as a scumbag?

Julien’s brow furrowed. She flicked her short hair, took a small recorder from her ear, and a small smile curled her lips.

When Kieran returned to Julie’s room, she was already asleep.

Daphne held Julie’s hand, carefully keeping her company.

When Kieran walked in, Daphne stood up nervously, “Mr. Hernandez!”

Daphne was a bit uneasy. Julien had told her everything, including how Mr. Hernandez had been helping her and supporting her family behind her back.

Remembering how she had once loudly condemned Mr. Hernandez as a heartless bastard, Daphne felt her face heat up…

In the past, she had done many things she wasn’t proud of, so now she couldn’t even lift her head when she saw Kierany

Seeing Daphne’s embarrassment, Kieran kindly said, “You’ve done enough. I’ll take it from here.”

Daphne nodded nervously, “The medication may include some sedatives. I… Julien and I will go.”

Wanting to hide somewhere, Daphne quickly grabbed Julien and bolted.

When they were finally outside the room, Daphne sighed in relief.

“Let me go!” Julien said coldly.

Daphne held onto Julien’s sleeve with one hand, patting her chest with the other to calm herself.

Julien looked at Daphne’s hand on her arm. Her gaze was so fierce that Daphne felt like her wrist was about to be snapped.

She quickly withdrew her hand, straightened her clothes, and grinned foolishly.

“Do me a favor,” Julien said straight to the point.

Daphne loved Julien’s cool demeanor!

She replied with a smile, “I’ll give it all I’ve got!”

When Julie woke up again, it was already night.

Beside her bed was only Ivan.

Ivan sat on a high stool, swinging his legs. He was obviously very sleepy, but when he saw Julie’s eyes open, he immediately ran to the

couch, shouting. “Kerry, Kerry! Your wife is awake! Come over here!”

Julie was speechless.

Thanks to Ivan’s shouting, she was wide awake!

She didn’t have time to react, so she couldn’t pretend to still be asleep.

Although Ivan was short, he was very quick. He excitedly pulled Kieran in from outside, then pointed at Julie on the bed and eagerly said to Kieran, “Kerry, did you tell her I’m her son yet?”

“Yep,” Kieran replied.

Ivan immediately looked very hurt. “If you told her, why didn’t she run over and hug me like other mothers do when they find their children? The mothers on TV always cry and hug their children!”

Kieran flicked Ivan’s head lightly, “Watch less TV,” he said.

Ivan looked at Kieran sadly, “Oh no, Kerry, she still likes your abs more than my belly!”

Julie was speechless again.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to hug the adorable Ivan, she just couldn’t believe that Ivan was her son. He was the child she never even dreamed would survive. Original from NôvelDrama.Org.

He was a miracle, a miracle in her life.

Julie just stared at Ivan, not daring to blink, afraid that the blink might wake her from this dream and bring her back to reality.

She couldn’t bear heartache of losing a child once more.

She suddenly remembered what Daphne just said, “We all need hope! Ivan is your hope… How nice…”

Yeah, how nice…

Julie suddenly pulled back the quilt, knelt in front of Ivan, and embraced him tightly

She didn’t even know how hard she was hugging. Her heart was racing like a wild horse.

After a while, Ivan couldn’t take it anymore and said, “Kerry… Help me. My mom is choking me… Mom, can you spare my life, or hug Kerry instead?”

Julie quickly let go. She awkwardly glanced at Kieran, but her little trick was seen through by him.

But he didn’t embarrass her, instead, he turned around to bring in the dinner, then walked to the table and said to Julie and Ivan on the floor, “Come and eat.”

At this moment, Julie didn’t want to think about complicated things. She just wanted to share this moment of happiness with Ivan.

Ivan grabbed the forks and quickly went to wash them.

The room was left with Julie and Kieran.

After a two-second silence, Julie gathered her courage and said to Kieran, “Kieran, thank you.”

Thank you

for saving Ivan back then.

Thank you for letting him grow up healthy.

Thank you for giving me a chance to see him, to touch him.

And thank you for filling my life with hope again.

All her gratitude was condensed in this sentence.

Tonight, she put aside all hatred and trivial matters, watching Ivan who was eating happily with his mouth full of grease. The emptiness in her heart seemed to be filled in an instant….

She still couldn’t believe that this cute, happy, and obedient child was her son with Kieran…

Julie forked a piece of carrot for Ivan. Ivan looked at the carrot in his bowl with some dislike, then suddenly came up with an idea and put the carrot back into Kieran’s plate, “Kerry, my mom gave you her favorite dish! You have to finish it!”

Kieran’s least favorite food is carrot, and Julie’s favorite is carrot.

The carrots tonight were prepared for Julie.

From Ivan’s reaction just now, it’s clear that his taste is very much like his dad’s.

With this thought, Julie looked at Ivan sitting across from her.

Although this child was her own, why did she feel that he didn’t look like her at all? Instead, he looked more like Kieran.

Kieran cooperatively ate the carrot, and then seriously said to Ivan, “Don’t be picky. Eat whatever your mom gives you. You need a

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balanced diet, got it?”

Ivan obediently nodded his head.

He forked another piece of carrot for Kieran, then proudly turned his head to Julie and said, “Mom, look, my dad isn’t picky at all.”

Julie went silent.

If Kieran isn’t picky, then there probably wouldn’t be any picky eaters in this world.

Ivan looked at Julie with a big smile and said expectantly, “Mom feeds dad, then dad feeds me. From now on, we’ll be a happy family!” Every word he said was like stabbing Julie’s heart.

Julie never thought that she would be able to experience such happiness in her lifetime…

After dinner, Ivan was afraid that Julie would sneak away again, so he lay on the sofa and refused to leave the hospital. Perhaps because he was too tired, he soon fell asleep…

Kieran took off his coat and covered him. Julie squatted next to the sofa, holding Ivan’s hand.

“Kieran, are you tricking me? Is this really my child? Why does he not look like me?” Julie had been wondering about this during dinner, and finally asked out loud.