Love’s Cunning Ruse

Chapter 133

Ever since Daphne got to know Julie, she rarely heard Julie speak to her in a commanding tone. But

this time, she immediately knew she was in for some bad luck

So, she had no choice but to ask, “Do you remember that time when Annalise claimed she was Mr.

Hernandez’s girlfriend and Mr. Hernandez didn’t deny it?”

Julie remembered it vivi

Back then, Julie was in her senior year of high school. The school forum was filled with beautiful love

stones about Kieran and Annalise, with vanous versions popping up left and right

The whole thing started when someone wrote a love letter to Kieran, but for some reason, it ended up

in Annalise’s hands. Annalise returned the letter to the girl and openly told her, “Kieran is mine Please

stop bothering him.”

Annalise was the belle of the neighboring school and was extremely popular When she publicly made

this announcement in Julie’s high school, it naturally caused a sensation.

Even though Annalise and Kieran seemed like a perfect match, everyone thought of them as nothing

more than a pair of friends. They assumed that Kieran had just gained another admirer. However, the

next day. Annalise was waiting for Kieran at the school gate, and Kieran actually stood by her side

At that time, Julie had bought two ice creams and was eagerly looking for a reason to ride home with

Kieran. She didn’t expect to see Annalise on the back seat of Kieran’s bicycle. That was the spot she

had always longed for Seeing this scene, she was stunned with ice creams in her hand. The girl who

had been rejected by Annalise publicly blocked Annalise and Kieran She looked at Kieran with tear-

filled eyes and said, ‘Even if you’re going to reject me, I wish you could tell me yourself!”

Julie admired the girl’s courage because she only remembered standing there, not even having the

courage to step forward

Annalise’s long hair, delicate features, and beautiful eyes were beyond reproach

She sat on the back seat of the bicycle, clutching Kierans white shirt, peeking out from behind him, and

smiling at the girl, “Didn’t I tell you yesterday? This guy is mine. Don’t even think about taking him

away”

The girl’s face turned from red to green. She still looked at Kieran with hope and asked. “Are you really

hers?”

Julie remembered that Kieran nodded at that time.

From the other end of the phone, Daphne’s voice came, “Do you remember when you told me, quite

heartbroken, that you were done with Mr. Hernandez and would never love him again?

Of course, she remembered. She vividly remembered how Annalise, looking like a goddess, rode past

her with Kieran. And she, holding two melted ice creams, looked like a fool.

Julie said, “I remember”

“I knew you wouldn’t forget!” Daphne said decisively. “After that, you stopped pretending to bump into

him in the cafeteria. You would either leave school early or stay in the library for over two hours after

school to avoid Kieran. Then you told your family your wanted to live on-campus because of your busy

schedule. You avoided Mr. Hernandez for a whole half month, remember?”

“And then?” Julie of course remembered She remembered how many times she cried in her dreams,

how hard she had to resist the urge to go find him, even though she ultimately failed.

Half a month later, Lucian went on a business trip, and the Hernandez family’s servants all took a

vacation. Kieran was home alone, sick with a fever

Julie was living next to Kieran at the time. She took him to the hospital and took care of him all night.

It was probably after that incident that her relationship with Kieran became closer

She didn’t know why Daphne suddenly brought up this matter

Then she heard Daphne on the phone say, “I’m telling you Mr. Hernandez’s high fever was probably on

purpose”

“On purpose? Julie frowned, unconsciously raising her voice, “Can you get sick on purpose?”

“Of course you can! Whats more effective than playing sick?” Daphne said confidently

Julie was even more puzzled, “How do you know he was pretending to be sick?”

“That’s a long story” Daphne lowered her voice mysteriously. “Our editor in chief is greedy and wants to

do an exclusive interview with Mr Hemandez, so he gathered all the relevant information about Mr.

Hernandez Guess what I found!”

“You even have the nerve to play this suspense game at this time”

Daphne could imagine Julie’s sarcastic smile just by hearing her voice. She quickly said, “Can you not

threaten me? You’re acting just like Mr. Hernandez when you threaten me!”

Julie was speechless.

Daphne said, “I found out in the editor-in-chiel’s files that Mr. Hemandez used to have a small account

on an online forum. Then I went to search for that account and found that it only posted twice.”

“What does that mean?”

“One was in response to a question you asked online, and the other was a question he asked, soliciting

answers from netizens.”

Julie understood what Daphne meant when she said Kieran’s sickness was probably fake. It seemed

that the question Kieran asked online was most likely about how to pretend to be sick.

So Julie directly asked, “What question did he answer for me?”

That forum was one Julie often visited when she was younger. After so many years, she really couldn’t

remember what questions she had asked.

But Daphne remembered it very clearly. She said, “Didn’t you ask a question on the forum before,

‘What’s a way to publicly kiss a man you’ve liked for a long time?”

Julie immediately understood, “So Kieran left a comment there? And out of all those comments. I just

happened to pick his suggestion?”

“Cause his comment got the most likes… Daphne murmured.

Julie on the other end of the phone went silent for a long time, a very long time….

If it weren’t for the sound of her breathing. Daphine would have thought that Julie had hung up.

Finally, just as Daphne hesitated whether to break the silence, Julie’s voice suddenly came through the

phone, she said, “That’s all water under the bridge, it doesn’t matter anymore…

Anticipating Julie would hang up any minute now, Daphne quickly said, “Julie, I believe Mr. Hernandez

has his reasons for doing what he does, but whatever decision you make, I’ll back you up no matter

what. Love doesn’t come with an expiration date. Don’t lose faith in love just because of one

disappointment. Maybe in this world, there will be someone who thinks that you are his everything.

You’re a wonderful woman who deserves to be happy. I want you to be happy”

Usually, Daphne was a straight shooter, seldomly would she say such mushy stuff so tenderly and

considerately. But Julie knew that when the chips were down, Daphne would always be there for her.

She remembered how Daphne took her to the hospital when she was hospitalized with gastroenteritis

during their first year in college. even staying by her bedside all night while she was on a drip.

When she woke up the next morning, she was so moved that she held Daphne’s hand and said,

“Daphne, you’re a warm current in my

life…”

Daphne rolled her eyes, ‘A warm current? Are you comparing me to your period? If I’m your warm

current, then what’s Kieran to you?”

Julie gave it some serious thought, then looked at Daphne with a beaming smile, full of anticipation,

“He’s the sunshine in my life! He can light up all the darkness in my heart, just like the sunshine that

comes in from the window in winter! He’s my life’s goal Humans can’t live without the sun… so no

matter what, I have to keep pursuing him…”

Back then, Daphne just chuckled at her with a mix of disgust and affection, “You think you’re Icarus?

Chasing the sun? Do you know how Icarus died?”

Julie laughed back then. But thinking about it now…

Being too confident, wanting to reach the sun, but dying because you got too close. She was

stubbornly chasing after Kieran, but ended up falling flat on her face.

Kieran was like the sun that lights up the world, while she was like the overconfident Icarus. She was

such a fool.

After hanging up the phone, Daphne’s words were still echoing in Julie’s head. She won’t be having

any peaceful sleep tonight. After some hesitation, Julie took out the sleeping pills Dr. Brice had given

her and swallowed them before climbing into bed.

She thought she would sleep soundly, but ended up having a complicated dream.

In the dream, she was back to the day she publicly kissed Kieran.

It was a day in late autumn, with the leaves of the plane trees on the streets falling everywhere. Julie

was wearing a pair of white canvas shoes, stepping on layers of soft leaves, making a rustling sound.

She was in her school uniform, running fast, all because Kieran, as the captain of the school basketball

team, was participating in an interschool basketball league.

That day, Kieran’s team won the champlonship. Julie, in order to get close to Kieran, had pulled all the

strings to become the manager of the school basketball team,

To celebrate the victory of the basketball team and to create an opportunity to be alone with Kieran,

and more importantly, to carry out her kissing plan, Julie had sought advice online the day before,

made a detailed plan, and chose the method with the most-likes-lo

carry

but

eryon

That night, the basketball team’s coach treated everyone to dinner. As the manager, Julie naturally

joined the dinner. Everyone knew Julie and Kieran were neighbors, including the coach.

So that night, the coach asked Kieran to walk Julie home…

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