Love’s Cunning Ruse

Chapter 216

Adeline and Julien, both bombshells, showed up wearing the exact same outfit. Julie was having a hard

time telling who looked better. Everyone knew Adeline had a thing for red, but for some reason, Julien

also showed up in an all-red outfit today.

Kieran turned to greet Mr. Watson and Harding. Adeline glanced at Julie, looking a bit guilty.

But Julie took the initiative to walk up and gave Adeline a hug, “Next time you want to talk, just hit me

up. No need to kidnap me anymore.”

i

The atmosphere lightened up. It was like they found their old groove.

Adeline nodded seriously at Julie, “Next time I want to kidnap someone, it’ll be Mr. Hernandez, not

you.”

“You might as well kidnap me…” Julie rubbed her forehead.

Almost everyone had arrived. Everyone started to head inside.

In the living room, Ivan was showing Julien a puzzle he had completed. The puzzle was a picture of

Julien, he got it from god knows where. Even though Julien was poker-faced, Ivan was still excitedly

chatting her up.

Payne obviously still wanted to get close to Julien, but Hayden occupied the seat next to her.

Annalise came up to Hayden with a rose, “Even if you’re trying to avoid me, you didn’t have to fly all the

way back from abroad, did you? This is for you. I haven’t seen you in a while.”

Julien glanced at Hayden and Annalise, gave Ivan a hug and moved away a bit.

Ivan was over the moon because Julien hugged him.

Seeing the gap between Julien and Hayden, Payne quickly slid in between them.

Hayden gave Payne a cold stare, full of murderous intent. Payne felt like he could be killed by Hayden

any second. He just wanted to compete with him! He didn’t want to die!

“Julien, what do you want to eat? I’ll grab some snacks for you.” With that, Payne stood up and headed

for the kitchen.

Hayden shifted towards Julien, avoiding Annalise.

Annalise moved closer again, still holding the rose, “Why? You can’t even accept my flower?”

“Who are you?” Hayden asked.

Dylan burst out laughing and said to Hayden, “This is Annalise, Kerry’s aunt.”

“Oh, Hello Ms. Annalise.” Hayden replied, then turned to Julien, “Kerry and I are like brothers, so she’s

my aunt too.”

Julien replied, “What does that have to do with me?”

The relationships between these people were too complicated, Julien didn’t want to get involved.

Dylan quietly analyzed. In this room, the only woman who could stand up to Hayden was Julien.

Unexpectedly, Hayden didn’t get angry, he calmly said to Julien, “Of course it involves you. Since she’s

my aunt, she’s your aunt too. Say hello to your aunt.”

When Hayden spoke to her in that tone, it always took her back to their childhood. Julien suddenly felt

that he was still the boy from her past, and she was still the little girl he protected.

Julien didn’t want to prolong the conversation with him, so she emotionlessly said to Annalise, “Hello

Ms. Annalise.”

Annalise’s face turned red because of her suppressed anger, “If I’m your aunt, then Hayden is your

uncle!”

Without hesitation, Julien turned to Hayden and respectfully said, “Hello, dear uncle.”

Hayden’s eyes suddenly turned cold. He squinted at Julien, with a hint of threat.

Annalise had heard of Julien, but she didn’t expect Julien to go along with her game!

“You’re surprisingly well-behaved!” Annalise said, bypassing Hayden, trying to pat Julien’s shoulder, but

Hayden suddenly stopped her.

“Why? Who is she to you? I can’t even touch her?” Annalise looked displeased at Julien, then at

Hayden. Her lips tightened, clearly unsatisfied.

Just then, Julie came in with Adeline and Elliot.

In the living room, everyone’s gaze shifted to Julie. They all looked at Adeline, then their gaze bounced

between Adeline and Julien.

“What a coincidence with so few people?” Dylan looked at Hayden and Julien.

Julien just glanced at Adeline, seemingly indifferent. She looked down again, silently watching Ivan

play with the puzzle.

As soon as Adeline walked in, she saw Julien. The red chiffon jumpsuit looked flirty and elegant on her,

but it looked mysterious and competent on Julien. That style was actually what Adeline preferred.

“Miss, we are wearing the same outfit!” Adeline walked straight to Julien and sat next to her, elbowing

Hayden aside.

Dylan retracted his previous analysis. It seemed that there was another woman who dared to confront

Hayden head-on…

Julien ignored Adeline completely, but Adeline seemed particularly interested in Julien. She waved her

hand in front of Julien, then repeated, “Miss, we’re wearing the same outfit! Don’t you have any

comments?”

Julien glanced at Adeline, “You look beautiful.”

Adeline immediately brightened up. She turned to Julie and asked, “Dear, is this your friend?”

Julie really admired Adeline. She just straight-up split Hayden and Julien apart, and boldly showed her

curiosity towards Julien, totally ignoring Hayden right there… Elliot stepped up and pulled Adeline

away, saying, “There are plenty of empty seats. Why did you have to sit in between them?” He kept his

voice low, so only Adeline could hear.

Adeline picked up on Elliot’s tone, as if he knew the two. She remembered having met the beautiful

woman once when Julie was kidnapped. At that time, the beauty seemed to hold some grudge against

her, probably because Julie’s kidnap was due to her fault. She could feel that the woman cared a lot

about Julie.

Turning her head towards Elliot, Adeline nodded, “Got it.”

With that, she enthusiastically extended her hand towards Hayden, “Sir, I’m sorry for accidentally

separating you and your girlfriend! Your girlfriend is so gorgeous, I couldn’t control myself!”

“Girlfriend?” Annalise’s eyes widened. She immediately stood up, pointing at Hayden, I am his

girlfriend!”

Adeline was taken aback, then she looked at Hayden and said, “Sir, you’re not doing it right! You’re

supposed to enjoy two women…”

Before she could finish, Elliot covered her mouth. He apologized to Hayden, “My sister can be a bit

cheeky. Mr. Simson, don’t mind her.”

Julie stepped forward and introduced Adeline, “This is my friend Julien. This is Kieran’s good friend,

Hayden. And this is Annalise.”

“Ms. Annalise from the Hansen family?” Adeline asked, suddenly realizing.

Annalise raised an eyebrow, “That’s me.”

“So you’re the one who plays with mud?” Adeline asked curiously.

Elliot frowned and tugged at Adeline’s sleeve, “She’s a pottery master!”

“A pottery master is a mud player, right?” Adeline retorted.

Dylan, who was standing by, couldn’t help but laugh, “You got that right!”

Adeline then asked, “So what’s your relationship with this gentleman…”

“He’s my boss.” Julien took over without hesitation.

Adeline nodded, “So your relationship is pure?”

Elliot tugged at Adeline again. It seemed like she came specifically to stir up trouble.

Kieran came in with Marion Watson and Harding. He noticed the awkward atmosphere in the living

room, frowned, then wrapped his arm around Julie’s waist and asked her, “What happened?”

“Nothing. Julie replied with a smile. She knew that with such a large crowd, there were bound to be

some minor conflicts.

Adeline was chatting with Julien, and Mr. Watson was giving Julien flirty looks, “Why are you two

wearing the same clothes?”

To prevent the situation from escalating, Kieran said straight away, “Today’s plan is a barbecue in the

garden. The food is all prepared, but… we didn’t hire any chefs or waiters today. My son said everyone

should serve themselves, so if you don’t want to starve, get grilling.”

Dylan immediately got up from the sofa, “You’re such a lousy host!”

“And you’re no great guest.” Kieran patted Dylan on the shoulder, then led Julie towards the garden.

Ivan happily took Julien’s hand and ran towards the garden. Payne followed with a piece of brownie

cake, “Julien, wait for me!”

Marlon stepped forward, wrapping his arm around Daphne’s shoulder, “Come on, if you get drunk later,

I’ll take you to a hotel.”

Lionel looked at Harding with a frown, “Aren’t you going to do anything?”

“I’m a doctor. If Mr. Watson gets sick, I’ll treat him.” Harding said with a laugh, patting Lionel on the

shoulder, “Let’s go, my friend.”

To avoid any further trouble from Adeline, Elliot quickly pulled her away.

Dylan approached Hayden, “Hayden, you know I can only cut up corpses. I don’t know how to grill!”

“And all I know is how to play with mud!” Annalise shot Adeline a glare, then clung to Hayden’s other

arm.

Hayden glanced at her, “I only know how to slap women.”

Annalise weakly let go of him, pouting unhappily, “When Julien was so close to you just now, why didn’t

you slap her?”

“Because she’s my woman, and you’re not.” He turned around coldly, without a second glance.

Hayden just took off, leaving Dylan and Annalise behind.

Annalise stood there, unsure whether to stay or go.