Love’s Cunning Ruse

Chapter 166

Kieran glanced back at Julie, figuring she had something important to say since she was holding onto

him so intently. But to his surprise, before Julie could even open her mouth, a strange sound echoed

from her stomach.

If he wasn’t mistaken, it was…

“Sorry, I didn’t eat anything at the party…” And to make things worse, she hadn’t eaten enough at lunch

because Kieran had suddenly shown up in the cafeteria, so…

Her hunger was totally justified.

Seeing Julie’s innocent expression, Kieran couldn’t help but feel a bit helpless.

Getting up, Kieran started walking towards the villa without holding Julie’s hand. Whatever Julie had

intended to say was forgotten. She stood there, staring blankly at the gravestone before finally shifting

her gaze to Kieran’s retreating back.

He turned around and asked her, “Why, do you need me to carry you?”

Julie followed Kieran into the villa.

“Your rooms are ready” Helga said, looking at Julie and Kieran as they returned.

Kieran nodded, telling her, “You should get some sleep.”

Respectfully, Helga nodded at Julie and Kieran before heading to her own bedroom.

Just as Julie was about to check what food was available in the refrigerator, Kieran beat her to it. He

glanced at the food inside and asked Julie, “What do you feel like eating?”

“I’ll make something myself,” Julie said, pointing to the beef and tomatoes in the fridge.

With practiced ease, Kieran took out the beef and tomatoes, then suggested, “How about spaghetti

with tomato and beef sauce?”

While Kieran hadn’t burnt down the kitchen the last time, Julie still had her doubts about his cooking

skills. Her expression was skeptical.

Under Julie’s doubtful gaze, Kieran placed the beef and tomatoes on the counter, “Let me try and see if

I can make something you like.”

“I can take care of my own stomach, thank you very much.”

Standing so close to each other, Julie had to look up at the towering Kieran.

He looked down at the woman beside him, saying seriously, “I can definitely make spaghetti with

tomato and beef sauce.”

“But…”

Before Julie could say anything else, Kieran suddenly pulled her into his arms, lifting her onto the

counter. The sudden change took. Julie by surprise. Instinctively, she gripped his shoulders.

He had her sitting on the counter, his hands on either side of her, trapping her in his arms. Then he

sighed dramatically, “Why do you only grow boobs and not height?”

Being so close, Kieran’s breath tickled Julie’s ear.

Was he complaining about her height? She remembered being an inch taller than him when they first

met….

She held her breath, pushing his shoulders and finally gave in, “You do it!”

His deep, sexy voice asked, “Do what?”

2

“Do what?” Julie echoed, finally realizing the double entendre in Kieran’s question.

It wasn’t that she was overthinking, but rather Kieran, the horn-dog, leading her astray.

Her cheeks flushed instantly, and she quickly averted her gaze from his muscular legs, yelling in a

hushed voice, “I meant cook the damn food!”/

With that, she pushed Kieran away, hopped off the counter, and darted out of the kitchen.

Kieran leaned on the counter, a slow smile spread across his face.

Julie sat down on the living room couch and logged into her long-neglected Facebook account. She

was surprised to find that the media was up-to-date. Photos of her and Kieran attending the party

together had already become a hot topic.

Daphne and Lionel were also being discussed enthusiastically by fans. Not having had a chance to

chat with Daphne at the event, Julie thought Lionel and Daphne looked quite good together from what

she could see in the photos.

However, a while later, she noticed people were frantically searching for anything related to Daphne,

even bringing up old magazine interviews.

Some praised Daphne’s interviews for their depth, while others criticized her for being overly

flamboyant. Given that Daphne had drawn media attention because of Julie in the past, many netizens

began questioning Daphne’s educational background on Julie’s page.

Julie was a bit confused. Lionel had made it clear that he and Daphne were close friends, so why were

people so curious about her?

Thinking it over, she reached for her phone to call Daphne and give her a heads up, but just then,

Kieran walked out of the kitchen with the spaghetti.

Putting off the call, Julie sent Daphne a quick message before heading over to the dining table.

Looking at the beautifully presented spaghetti, Julie couldn’t help but look up at Kieran in surprise, “Are

you sure this fancy dish is spaghetti with tomato and beef sauce?”

Kieran grinned, pulling out a chair for her, “Thanks for the compliment.”

The moment Julie sat down, the aroma of the spaghetti hit her, instantly making her mouth water.

Kieran handed her the cutlery, “Try it.”

As it turned out, she had seriously underestimated Kieran’s cooking skills. The spaghetti tasted way

better than she had imagined, it was really good. It turned out that not only had she grown over the

years, but so had the man sitting across from her in certain ways.

Just as she finished her spaghetti, she heard a clear, deep voice from across the table, “Did you like

my spaghetti?”

Julie was about to say yes, but then she hesitated. Why did such a simple question make her

overthink?

After a few seconds of silence, Julie realized that there was no right answer.

Did she like his spaghetti?

Did she not like his spaghetti?

Was his spaghetti just okay?

After half a minute of silence, Julie noticed the man opposite her was waiting for her response with a

curious expression.

Finally, Julie gave him a smile and replied, “A bit too soft for my liking!”

Kieran was speechless.

The utensils in his hand trembled slightly, then he regained his composure and said to Julie, “I’ll make it

harder next time.”

She decided to put an end to the topic, once and for all.

So Julie quickly packed up the utensils and headed for the kitchen, leaving just one sentence behind,

“I’m doing the dishes.”

Kieran watched Julie’s escape like expression leisurely, the smile on his lips becoming more evident.

Just as Kieran was about to help with the dishes in the kitchen, his phone’ in his pocket suddenly rang.

He took out his phone and saw the caller ID was Ivan Hernandez, so he hit the answer button.

On the other end of the phone, Ivan’s voice sounded a bit guilty, “Kerry, is Mama Julie okay?”

Kieran glanced at Julie in the kitchen, switched his phone to speaker mode, then walked into the

kitchen and handed it to Julie, “Helga will do the cleaning tomorrow.”

Ivan’s concerned voice came over the phone, “Mama Julie, I had no idea you were allergic to Coco…”

Ivan sounded quite guilty, Julie felt the need to soothe him, so she took the phone and said to Ivan, “I’m

fine.”

“But why didn’t you pick up my calls?” Ivan asked innocently.

Julie looked puzzledly at the phone on the couch, then walked over to it, looked at it and sure enough,

there were missed calls from

Ivan.

She had put her phone on silent at the banquet and forgot to turn the sound back on after getting a

scare from the dog.

After turning the sound back on, she explained to Ivan, “I accidentally turned it on silent. Why are you

still awake this late?”

“Oh! Right, Mama Julie, I called to tell Kerry about this!” Ivan replied as if he had just realized

something.

Julie glanced at Kieran standing next to her, Kieran asked Ivan, “What is it?”

“Kerry, we received a package and it says it must be opened by Mama Julie herself.”

“A package?” Kieran asked Julie, “Did you order something online?”

Julie looked at Kieran in surprise, shaking her head to indicate she had no idea where the package

came from.

“Send me a picture.” Kieran said.

He hung up and a few minutes later, Ivan sent the picture.

The package had no sender information, only the address of Noblewood Retreat and ‘For Julie’s eyes

only’.

Perhaps it was from watching too much TV, Julie couldn’t help but think of some unpleasant

possibilities when she saw this mysterious package.

She looked at Kieran, “Could it be a bomb?”

Julie immediately called Ivan, “Ivan, get everyone away from the package!!”

Although confused, Ivan on the other end of the phone yelled at Noah, “Mama Julie says everyone

needs to stay away from the package!”

Noah’s voice came over the phone, “Don’t worry, the package has been scanned, there’s no danger.”

Julie was silent.

How could she forget Noah’s previous profession? And since Noah is primarily responsible for

protecting Ivan, he would definitely check the safety of the package first…

Since it’s not dangerous, what could be in the package, Julie really couldn’t figure it out.

After a moment of silence, she said to Noah over the phone, “Noah, I’ll facetime you!”

chat

With that, Julie hung up and sent a video chat request to Ivan.

The moment the chat connected, Ivan showed the package to Julie, “Mama Julie, look, this is it.”

The package wasn’t big, Julie couldn’t guess what was inside, after glancing at the ‘For Julie’s eyes

only’, she directly said to Noah, “Noah, could you please open the package and see what’s inside…”