Love’s Cunning Ruse

Chapter 171

Julie and Adeline looked at each other, the air between them thick with tension.

Finally, Adeline was the first to break the silence.

“You don’t have to glare at me like that! I promise, I’m not here to steal your man,” Adeline said, her

laughter filled with allure.

If anyone else wore that smile, Julie would have been put off. But on Adeline, it was nothing short of

captivating. It was strange how beautiful women seemed to have a certain privilege, regardless of their

audience..

With a smile, Julie turned to Adeline, “Shall we continue talking about Elliot?”

“Are you sure you want to discuss Elliot with me?” Adeline raised an eyebrow. She answered Julie’s

question, “I’d be more than happy to.” “Did you really mean it when you said you liked Elliot last time?”

Julie asked.

Julie believed Adeline’s confession from before. Even though Adeline had confessed her feelings for

Elliot in a rather nonchalant way, both intuition and logic told Julie that Adeline was telling the truth.

If Adeline didn’t really love Elliot, she wouldn’t have decided to run away from home, even knowing the

dangers. All this just for Elliot’s

sake.

In the face of Julie’s question, Adeline responded freely, laughing, “Absolutely! If I didn’t care for Elliot,

would I be concerned about you and Kieran getting back together? I sought you out for Elliot’s

happiness.”

Truth be told, Adeline hadn’t asked her to meet, she had just dragged her out without considering her

opinion.

“So, Ms. Sanches…”

“Don’t call me Ms. Sanches, I was never meant to belong to the Sanches family,” Adeline said, “You

can call me Adeline. Consider it a privilege for being so pretty.”

Julie fell silent.

“Alright, Adeline,” Julie looked at Adeline, conceding, “I don’t know how to answer your questions and I

don’t have the answers myself. Also, I don’t think I owe you any explanations, what do you think?”

“Do you really… not like Elliot at all? I mean, in the way between a man and a woman?”

Just as Julie was about to reply, the door to their private room was abruptly pushed open.

Both Adeline and Julie turned towards the entrance, finding Elliot standing there. Dressed in a well-

tailored black suit, his deep gaze focused on Adeline. He walked straight up to Adeline, and with a hint

of apology in his eyes, he turned to Julie, “Has she been causing trouble for you again?”

Seeing that Elliot was about to take her away, Adeline laughed, “We’re just having a friendly chat, how

can that be causing trouble! Right?, Juliebelle.”

Adeline thought, since she had made her intentions so clear to Julie, if Julie still acted like she didn’t

know her at all, it would be a clear sign of disrespect. And since she was here for Elliot, Julie should

feel a bit guilty. So, there’s no way Julie would let her down.

But before Julie could respond, Elliot had already walked over to her, saying, “I’ll give you a lift back to

your office.”

Not wanting to stay and answer Adeline’s question, Julie apologized to Adeline before leaving with

Elliot.

Just as Adeline was about to follow them, Elliot turned around and asked, “Adeline, do you want me to

take you back to the Sanches family?”

Upon hearing this, Adeline fell silent and stopped following after them.

Stepping out of the restaurant, Julie turned to Elliot with a smile, “Thanks, Elliot, but I can get back on

my own. You may go and comfort Adeline.”

“If I go back w, she might be upset. I’ll drop you off at your office, let her cool down.” Elliot looked at

Julie, adding, “I also have something to tell you.”

Not wanting to refuse him, especially since he had come mainly to help her out, Julie agreed.

“Julie, there’s something I haven’t told you.” Elliot suddenly turned to look at Julie, who was slowly

following behind him.

Julie, who had been looking down at her own feet, looked up at him in confusion when he spoke, “What

is it?”

Elliot fell silent for a moment, during which Julie could clearly see the change in his expression.

Thinking that he wasn’t going to say anything else, Julie walked silently beside Elliot without

questioning him further. However, she then heard his somewhat heavy voice, “Do you still love Kieran?”

Julie’s response was a long silence.

Julie wasn’t intentionally avoiding Elliot’s question, she was contemplating. If she were to answer

according to her initial gut reaction, she thought, the answer would be yes.

She had never denied the fact that she loved Kieran, but she couldn’t quite explain how much she

loved him.

Over the past years, she even had the extreme thought that all her miseries were because of her love

for Kieran.

Despite enduring so much pain, she was still unable to erase that initial spark of love for him from her

heart.

But Julie knew better than anyone that her love for him was mixed with many other factors. While she

loved him, she also hated him and blamed herself.

She wasn’t sure if this still counted as love.

So, she didn’t immediately answer Elliot’s question.

By the time she had figured out how to answer, Elliot no longer wanted to know it.

He said, “I should wish you happiness.”

Julie silently watched Elliot, lost in thought.

Elliot’s lips curled into a bitter smile. “I like you, admire you, love you, all from the heart. I want to marry

you, propose to you, all genuine. When I first came back home, I heard you were divorced. I really

thought about giving you a stable home. Maybe it wouldn’t be a passionate love, but at least I could be

with you through the mundane. But I know, love that is forced is not sweet…”

“I’m sorry…” Julie’s voice was low.

Elliot watched as the wind swept up Julie’s long hair, it reminded him of her short, neat hair when she

was in school.

Elliot laughed, “Loving someone doesn’t require an apology, and neither does not loving someone. I

remember when I first transferred

to your class, you had short hair. By the time I left, your hair had grown to your shoulders.”

Julie also laughed, “Back then, Bertha Stewart told me that boys like girls with long hair.”

“So, you grew your hair long to be the type Kieran liked?” Elliot and Julie both avoided mentioning the

deep topic of ‘love’.

Julie casually tossed her tied-up hair, her smile sweet.

Elliot glanced at Julie, “Actually, I find it a bit of a pity, the girl I liked was short-haired, independent,

unique, resilient Julie. You had the courage to love and hate.”

“Then your taste is terrible!” Julie’s smile was very carefree.

Elliot nodded in agreement, “I was young then, didn’t have good taste. Now I see clearly, the person

you like should be prettier.”

“You’re right.”

As they chatted, Elliot dropped Julie at her office.

Julie gave Elliot a smile, she thought Adeline was a good person, and Adeline’s personality was

somewhat similar to her in the past. She wanted to say something for Adeline in front of Elliot, but in

the end, Julie didn’t say anything, instead, she turned and left, parting ways with Elliot.

Throughout the journey, Julie and Elliot were chatting, unaware that Adeline had taken a taxi and was

slowly following them.

Adeline had just eaten with Julie at a restaurant not far from Simpo Building. Now, she gave the cab

fare to the driver, walked up to Elliot and said, “If I were you, even if she’s married and has entered

someone else’s home, I’d still snatch her and bring her back to my home.” “Isn’t your home my home?”

Elliot rolled his eyes at Adeline, then he looked down at what Adeline was wearing today, frowning,

“What’s up with you lately? Look at your clothes, might as well not wear any.”

“This

“This is the latest design from a famous designer, hollow lace, sexy and pretty, very charming. Don’t I

look like a celebrity going out? Elliot, what if I join the entertainment industry?”

“You want to be a princess throwing tantrums?” Elliot immediately hailed a taxi and shoved Adeline into

it.

Adeline pouted, “If I become a celebrity, I would work very seriously.”

“Don’t bother her anymore.” Elliot said.

Adeline knew of course that the ‘her’ Elliot was referring to was Julie.

“Getting protective before I even do anything? When Julie left just now, I should have taken a picture of

your longing gaze.” Adeline said disdainfully.

Elliot was silent for a while before saying to Adeline, “In one’s life, there are always some people that

are destined to be missed.” “Do you think Kieran loves Julie?” Adeline suddenly changed the topic, her

tone becoming serious from the previous frivolousness. Elliot frowned, “What do you mean?”

“If Kieran loves Julie, Julie wouldn’t be unhappy. If Julie’s marriage to Kieran is happy, you would be

able to let go, right?”

Adeline’s tone gave Elliot a bad feeling.

His frown deepened, he turned to look at Adeline, “What exactly are you trying to do?”