Love’s Cunning Ruse

Chapter 141

Julien reckoned that Kieran didn’t value Julie, because after their divorce, he didn’t give her any

support in life.

If Kieran really cared about Julie, even if they were divorced, he wouldn’t have let the woman he loved

suffer, let alone run around for a living.

Julien saw with her own eyes how Julie worked day and night to pay for Sansa’s medical expenses.

She didn’t know that Kieran was Julie’s ex-husband, nor did she know about their past.

However, Julien’s impression of Julie’s ex-husband was always bad, until she met Daphne…

Ivan was born prematurely, otherwise Julie wouldn’t have overlapped with Bertha’s due date. The

reason for Ivan’s premature birth was a car accident.

This accident was planned by Lucian, targeting Julie’s life. By rights, Julie was the person Kieran loved

the most, and Kieran was Lucian’s cherished brother. Moreover, Julie was carrying Kieran’s baby. Julie

and her child were Kieran’s family and could bring him happiness. Lucian had no reason to hurt Julie,

But the accident did happen. To be exact, it was Bertha who saved the lives of Julie and Ivan. From the

surveillance footage, there was indeed a figure similar to Lucian in the passenger seat of the accident

vehicle.

At that time, Julie was crossing the road, preparing to go to the hospital for prenatal check-up. The car

was heading straight for her.

At that moment, Bertha suddenly rushed out, seemingly frightening the person in the car, causing the

car to slow down.and leave brake marks.

When Julie was knocked down, the car had already slowed down. If Bertha hadn’t suddenly run in front

of Julie, Lucian’s car would probably have run over Julie directly.

Bertha immediately took out her phone, dialed Kieran’s number, and then she and Julie were taken to

the hospital.

Bertha said that since the plane crash, Lucian’s personality had changed drastically. He made Bertha

feel strange and scared.

Julien remembered that Hayden once told her that Bertha confessed everything to Kieran before she

gave birth.

Julien looked at Kieran and said, “If I hadn’t burst in just now, were you going to tell Bertha everything

she told you before she gave

birth?”

“It seems I should find a way to shut Hayden up. He knows too much.” Kieran looked at Julien and

responded calmly.

With Julien’s questioning, Kieran’s thoughts gradually drifted back to the moment when Bertha

confessed to him.

At that time, Bertha was pregnant, but Dylan firmly said that her child was not conceived through

artificial insemination. When Kieran found Bertha and was about to ask her about the child, Bertha

suddenly told him, “Your brother is still alive…”

Kieran’s expression at that time, he might not remember clearly. He only remembered asking hesitantly,

“What do you mean?”

“You’ve found out, haven’t you? The child in my stomach is not conceived artificially, but left by him.

He’s still alive. He didn’t die in that–

accident.”

“Why didn’t he come back then?” Kieran asked Bertha in a deep tone.

Bertha was silent for a long time before she answered, “He’s changed. Do you remember the day of

your birthday when you were drugged and had to marry Joyce?”

Kieran nodded. That was the day he first slept with Mrs. Hernandez. How could he forget?

Bertha sneered, “He thought I’ve been in love with you all these years, so he drugged you, hoping to

get your attention. He said if it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t have been forced to marry Joyce. He

thought I and Joyce had hindered your free life, so he hated me, so he wanted to punish me…”

Looking down at her pregnant belly, Bertha’s eyes turned red, “He wanted to punish me this way…”

Bertha didn’t say that she didn’t love Kieran, because the person she loved was always Lucian, the

father of the child in her belly.

She loved Lucian, always had. Before the accident, Lucian treated Bertha as Julie’s good friend and

took care of her carefully.

He was like a ray of sunshine that quietly lit up her heart a long time ago.

Bertha was an orphan. Her only sister disappeared when she was ten. Over the years, she had been

looking for her sister, but to no avail. In her heart, she treated Julie as her own sister. If it wasn’t for her

sudden pregnancy…

Thinking of this, Bertha’s face showed sadness.

She said to Kieran, “The only thing that hasn’t changed about him is that he still loves you and cares

about you like before. The reason why I made that agreement to threaten you and deceive Joyce was

actually to make Lucian think the child in my stomach was yours. Only you can protect me and the

child. I know I betrayed Joyce, but I had no other choice. I want this child. I want to give birth to this

child safely. I don’t want to be forced by Lucian to abort.”

Although Lucian had become a stranger, Bertha, as an orphan, knew the pain of being abandoned by

her parents, so she desperately wanted to have this child.

She told herself that if she could successfully give birth to the child, she would be a good mother, so…

she didn’t hesitate to betray the kind-hearted Julie, betray the good friend who always treated her as a

family member.

She knew that Lucian and Kieran were close brothers, so Kieran would agree to her proposal to protect

Lucian’s only descendant. If Lucian thought the child in her belly was Kieran’s, then he had no right to

force her to abort.

That was what Bertha originally thought, but…

“I overheard Lucian on the phone. He was saying that Joyce’s kid ain’t yours, but some other guy’s. He

was also talking about getting revenge for you… I don’t know what the hell Lucian might do when he’s

in a fit, but Joyce is definitely in danger!” Bertha blurted out to

Kieran.

Kieran just stared at her coldly and asked, “Why should I believe you?”

“Because I care about my own kid and Joyce’s life too!” Then, Bertha handed Kieran the recording of

Lucian’s call she had risked her life

to get.

Julien found out from Hayden that Kieran eventually believed Bertha. But he didn’t expect Lucian to act

so quickly. If Lucian hadn’t slowed down his car thinking that Bertha’s kid might be Kieran’s, that car

could have run over Julie.

Lucian had no idea why he wanted to hurt Julie. But from the recorded call, he was hell-bent on the

idea that Julie’s kid wasn’t Kieran’s.

Lucian resented that Julie and Bertha had stolen the free life that Kieran should have had. Bertha said,

“In Lucian’s eyes, all this is about getting back at them for you.”

At that time, Lucian was in the shadows, and Kieran was in the open. Lucian’s attempts to harm those

close to Kieran were like taking candy from a baby, while Kieran finding Lucian was like looking for a

needle in a haystack.

The only feasible plan was to make Lucian believe that Kieran didn’t love Julie. The only way to make

Lucian stop was to have Kieran hurt Julie himself.

He knew how much Julie loved him and how hard she had tried to win him over. Because he knew that

Julie loved him more than her own life, Kieran deliberately let Julie overhear him say “save Bertha”

outside the operating room, to make her give up hope.

He told Julie that their child had died on the operating table because he knew that once Julie knew the

truth, she would prioritize his and their child’s lives.

By then, Julie, the silly woman, would surely rush to the front line to take a bullet at the slightest

danger. To protect her, Kieran lied.

Lucian could appear at any moment, threatening Julie’s life.

So when Julie asked him expectantly if he would be heartbroken if she died on the operating table, he

said “no” without hesitation.

So he later made it difficult for Julie to find a job, forcing her to run around for a living.

This was why Julien thought that Kieran didn’t cherish her.

A man who truly cherishes his woman wouldn’t make her suffer.

It wasn’t until Julien met Daphne that she realized she had been wrong…

Kieran had kept Daphne by Julie’s side!

Daphne was someone who would abandon all principles for Julie. Since meeting Julie, she had been

her best friend.

Kieran was indeed torturing Julie. Over the years, due to his deliberate obstruction, Julie never had a

decent job.

In fact, she initially wanted to work in a law firm, because that was her profession. The Julie back then

didn’t deliberately avoid this profession because Kieran had helped her get her professional

qualification, but because all the law firms in Whispering Pines didn’t want to hire her.

So, she completely gave up the idea of being a lawyer.

Under Kieran’s secret oppression, for Sansa’s medical bills, Julie ran around, even doing several part-

time jobs a day.

However, Kieran indirectly created excellent conditions for Daphne..