Love’s Cunning Ruse

Chapter 246

“That’s why he had to treat Daphne special,” Kieran told Julie.

Who knew Mr. Lionel had such a big secret up his sleeve? No wonder he couldn’t make a promise to

Daphne at first.

Julie turned to Kieran, “Is Mr. Lionel still planning to fulfill the contract?”

“After leaming from our mistakes, Lionel won’t be making any rash decisions like I did. He might tell

Daphne the truth, and they’ll face the issues together,” he said.

As Mr. Hernandez admitted his own faults, Julie began to reflect, “I was also too sensitive.”

Speaking of sensitivity, Julie suddenly remembered something that happened one drunken night….

Thinking of that scene, for some reason, she felt guilty and her mouth went dry.

After a mental struggle, she finally gathered the courage to say to Kieran, “Honey, there’s something…”

“Lionel is pretty sharp, he could still recognize Daphne all wrapped up like that!” Ivan pointed at the TV

screen, somewhat excited.

Before Julie could finish her sentence, she quickly followed Kieran’s gaze to the TV.

On screen, Daphne had almost completely covered her face, yet Lionel recognized her right away.

Daphne tried to leave with her parents, but was stopped by Lionel.

“Daphne? Where are you going?” Mr. Lionel just finished his sentence when Alaric stepped forward,

grabbed Lionel’s hand, and threw him to the ground.

Lionel clearly didn’t expect Alaric to make a move, he was completely unprepared and fell hard to the

ground.

The director was so scared he shouted, “Cut, cut, cut! Turn off the camera now!”

Lionel’s assistant rushed up to help him up. His stylish black suit was now covered in dust.

Daphne realized things had gotten out of hand and quickly grabbed Alaric’s hand, whispering into his

ear, “Dad… we’re live on air!”

That’s when Alaric snapped back to reality, noticing several cameras pointed at him.

Alaric had a temper, and even though he felt embarrassed for a moment, he couldn’t swallow the fact

that Lionel had irresponsibly gotten his daughter pregnant.

After hearing the director’s order to turn off the camera, he grabbed Lionel by the collar, “You, come

here!”

Daphne had never seen her dad so angry before. She was so scared she grabbed Edda’ hand, “Mom,

his face is really valuable!”

“It’s okay, your dad won’t hit his face,” Edda said.

The cameramen and assistants were all scared, they quickly followed the director with their equipment

towards Lionel.

Daphne was also anxious and quickly followed them out.

Alaric took Lionel into the bathroom, Vicente, Lionel’s manager, was worried things would get worse.

If the director’s cameramen accidentally started filming, things could get even harder to handle, so he

stopped the director.

Seeing Alaric’s size and strength, the director didn’t dare to follow. Instead, he quickly pulled out his

phone to call the police.

Edda was decisive. She grabbed the director’s phone and hung up, then slapped him on the chest,

“This is a family matter, calling the police won’t help!”

Although Edda was wearing a hat, Vicente clearly recognized her. He had heard Lionel mention

Daphne before.

So he quickly stepped forward and grabbed Edda’s hand, “Mrs. Flores, we can talk this out, Lionel…”

“Who are you?”

Vicente said with a smile, “I’m Lionel’s manager, Vicente, Mrs. Flores…”

“I don’t know you?” Edda stared at the overly dramatic manager.

Just as Vicente was feeling awkward, a loud noise came from the bathroom.

“Ah!” Vicente quickly pushed Edda aside and ran inside. Daphne, who had just arrived, also quickly

followed him in.

They saw Lionel lying on the ground, clutching his waist..

Alaric had clearly promised not to hit his head, but now Lionel had blood on the corner of his mouth.

Daphne understood her father’s protective feelings, but if this continued….

She suddenly had an idea and quickly crouched down clutching her stomach, “Oh, dad, my stomach

hurts… the pain is killing me…”

Hearing Daphne’s voice, Alaric immediately stopped what he was doing.

Lionel, who had been lying on the ground, immediately jumped up, ran over to Daphne, picked her up,

and ran out of the bathroom.

“Vicente, get the car!” Lionel shouted, scaring Vicente into running out.

At the Noblewood Retreat, Julie and Kieran were engrossed in the live broadcast. Suddenly they heard

the director shout, “Cut, cut, cut! Turn off the camera now!”

Then the live broadcast was paused, probably the biggest live broadcast accident in history.

Julie suddenly turned to Kieran, “You have Lionel’s phone number, right? Call him!”

Of course, Kieran had Lionel’s number, but in this situation, it was impossible to get through.

Although Seasons of Love was halted shortly after it started airing, the views were very high.

Fans found out Alaric’s identity through online searches. Even though Alaric was wearing a baseball

cap, it didn’t prevent them from recognizing him.

Within two hours, some radical fans were already at the door of Alaric’s judo dojo demanding an

explanation.

Now that they couldn’t reach Daphne, Julie, who was aware of the situation, had to go to the dojo to

calm things down.

Alaric was Julie’s family. When Julie needed help the most, the Flores family cared for her like their

own, so Julie couldn’t just stand by and let irrational fans ruin Alaric’s livelihood at the dojo.

Kieran had Tina bring some people to the judo gym, and the chaos there was quickly quelled.

At this time, Daphne was taken to the car by Lionel, heading straight to the hospital.

Edda and Alaric also anxiously got in the car. Throughout the process, Alaric was pissed at Lionel.

In Alaric’s eyes, regardless of Lionel’s identity and status, if he messed with his daughter, he deserved

a beating.

Vicente told the director and others to go back to the hotel first and wait for news. Then he got in the

car and drove to the hospital.

Daphne, seeing the situation stabilize, sat up and said, “I’m fine.”

In fact, with Daphne’s terrible acting, Lionel knew from the moment he let Vicente come over that she

was faking it.

“Dad, you can’t lay a hand on him.” Daphne grabbed Alaric’s arm, pleading him with her eyes.

“Let go!” Alaric shook off Daphine’s hand disapprovingly, but still kept his anger in check.

He directly asked Daphne, “Tell me, is the baby in your belly his?”

This sudden question made Daphne put her hand on her belly while thinking about how to answer.

But before she could speak, Lionel’s voice came from the side, “It’s mine.”

Alaric raised his hand, and Daphne quickly hugged him.

“Dad, it’s not his fault…”

“Not his fault? This irresponsible guy definitely has done something wrong! He wants a baby but

doesn’t want to get married. I should have taught him a lesson just now!” Alaric said angrily.

Even though Edda usually made decisions at home, when it came to big issues, Edda wouldn’t stop

Alaric when he’s angry.

Even though she had always been on Lionel’s side, even though she acted like a young fan girl for

Lionel.

Daphne knew she had ruined Lionel’s image in front of her parents. She thought her parents wouldn’t

see Lionel so soon. She planned to explain to her parents when she figured out what to do with the

baby in her belly.

But things didn’t go as she wished.

Just when Daphne wanted to apologize, Lionel suddenly turned his head and looked at Edda and

Alaric seriously, “Mom, Dad, I want to marry Daphne. I’ll do everything I can to protect her and the

baby.”

Edda should have been moved by this sincerity because she liked Lionel from the start. But now, Edda

just scoffed, “Fake marriage, right? You just want the baby and not the mom, right? Let me tell you, we

the Flores family may not be wealthy, but no one bullies a child of the Flores family!”

Edda suddenly slapped the seat, which even startled Alaric, who had been calm all along.

Alaric tried to gently tug his wife’s sleeve, but his hand was swatted away by Edda, “Don’t pull me. You

men don’t understand how important a girl’s reputation is! Today I’m going to teach you a lesson…”

Before Edda could finish her words, she saw her daughter reach out and touch Lionel’s forehead. After

confirming that Lionel didn’t have a fever, she looked a bit lost, then turned to her father, “Oh no, Dad,

did you hit Lionel too hard and knock him silly?!”

Lionel was speechless.

Edda lightly touched her forehead, thinking silently, this fool is my child, I can’t blame anyone else!

“Let’s get married and have this baby. I want both the baby and you.” Lionel took Daphne’s hand off his

forehead and said, “I’ve thought it through, Daphne, I’ll take responsibility for you, now and in the

future.”

The situation changed so quickly that Edda and Alaric couldn’t keep up.

Daphne, however, looked at Lionel and asked, “Did you accidentally get some water in your ear when

you washed your hair this morning?”

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