Love’s Cunning Ruse

Chapter 210

Not long after Kieran hung up the phone, Tina pulled up in front of Julie in her car. She got out and

courteously opened the passenger door, saying respectfully, “Hop in, Mrs. Hemandez.”

Julie got in the car, then laughed, saying to Tina, who was driving, “Just call me by my name.”

“Mrs. Hemandez, you’re really a good person, Tina praised.

“Why’s that?”

“You are not arrogant at all, but very close to the people, and also very kind. You and Mr. Hernandez

are a great match,” Tina said with a grin.

Julie could tell that Tina was sincere.

Julie responded with a smile, “You’re the exception on the company forum.”

“Do you also read the company’s forums?” Tina asked, a little embarrassed, as she scratched her chin.

“Simpo Co. has an official forum where everyone posts under their real names, mainly discussing work.

But there’s also a gossip forum where everyone posts anonymously. Which one do you usually to

read?”

Of course, Julie was on the anonymous one.

“There was a time when I showed up in Kieran’s office with Annalise. I heard about the company’s

anonymous gossip forum, so I logged in and checked it out. I found out that 98% of the people were

rooting for Kieran and Annalise. People even voted, K&A Couple versus K&J Couple, right?”

“Mrs. Hernandez, you sure know what’s up…” Tina thought, relieved that she hadn’t badmouthed Julie

on the forum.

At that time, the overwhelming majority supported the K&A Couple, and only a few people supported

the K&J Couple. Julie remembered a post firmly supporting the K&J Couple. She looked at Tina and

asked, “The person with the username ‘IN’ who posted on the forum supporting the K&J Couple, that’s

you, right?”

That user had posted a tirade supporting her and Kieran. Julie’s first thought was, this person must be

Tina.

However, Tina denied it, saying, “No, my username is…”

At this, Tina fell silent, a little bashful.

“You’re not iN?” Julie looked at Tina, puzzled, and asked, “Doesn’t iN mean the middle two letters in

Tina? From the tone and content of that post, it seemed like the poster knew Kieran well…”

Tina shook her head awkwardly, “Um… my username is ‘KickYourDick”.”

Julie went silent.

Now that’s… quite imaginative.

Then who is this iN who seemed to know Kieran so well?

Tina dropped Julie off at the entrance of Feliz Gastro House. The person who opened the door for Julie

was… Karl!

He was still dressed in his waiter uniform.

Julie was surprised to see Karl standing before her. He managed to pull off a butler’s air with his vest

and bow tie. She couldn’t help but approach Karl and ask, “Karl, can Simpo Co. employees moonlight?”

Karl was speechless.

“Mrs. Hernandez, please come in.”

“Are you role-playing?” Julie continued to ask.

Karl’s face turned even redder. Before it was just Mr. Hernandez messing with him, and now there was

Mrs. Hernandez…

“If you’re really role-playing, you should wear a waitress uniform. That would be more appealing,” Julie

seriously suggested to Karl.

At this moment, Karl just wanted to hand Mrs. Hernandez off to Mr. Hernandez as quickly as possible.

But Mrs. Hernandez stopped suddenly after walking a few steps, then turned around and looked at him

seriously.

Karl stepped back in fright. He put his hands to his chest, saying earnestly, “Mrs. Hernandez, I swear I

won’t cross-dress. Please spare me…”

“I don’t want you to cross-dress. I just want to ask you a question,” Julie said.

Relieved, Karl quickly dropped his hands and regained his professional demeanor, “What’s the

question?”

“Do you visit the Simpo Co. gossip forum?”

Karl nodded, then hurriedly explained, “Mrs. Hernandez, I swear I only go on the forum after work. I

never chat online during work hours.”

“I didn’t ask you that. What’s your username?” Julie asked.

Karl found the question a bit odd.

your username IN?”

Karl shook his head.

“What is your username?” She asked again.

Just as Karl was considering whether to answer, Julie suddenly said, “Karl, do you really want to cross-

dress?”

“My username is hot secretary!” To refuse the cross-dressing, Karl answered Julie’s question almost

without thinking.

It took Julie a moment to recover after hearing Karl’s answer. She gave Karl a meaningful look and

said, “I see, hot secretary….

Mrs. Hernandez made that name sound a bit provocative.”

Karl decided, it was time to take her to see Mr. Hernandez!

Julie entered the restaurant. It was supposed to be peak dining hours, but the place was deserted. She

looked at Karl, puzzled, and asked, “Did Mr. Hernandez book the entire restaurant?”

“Mrs. Hernandez, we’re here,” Karl pointed to the dining table across from Julie and told her.

Julie looked at the dining table. Kieran was seated there. He was wearing a dark blue shirt with two

buttons undone at the collar. He was reclining in his chair, on

the phone.

Karl stepped forward to pull out a chair for Julie.

Julie settled in. Karl fetched a bottle of well-decanted red wine. Judging by the vintage, it was a pretty

penny.

After pouring the wine into two lovely glasses, Karl clapped his hands. Immediately, dish after dish of

exquisite food was wheeled over on a cart. The variety was enough to make Julie’s head spin.

Julie decided to stop eyeing the dishes and instead focused on Kieran, who was seated across from

her. He was on the phone, seemingly discussing work matters.

When he caught her gaze, he flashed her a smile, acknowledged her, and then quickly ended the call.

Karl nodded at the pianist. The sheet music was set aside, and the pianist’s fingers began to dance

across the keys.

The white grand piano filled the room with the beautiful melody of Greensleeves. Julie had fond

memories of this tune. It was a classic and elegant folk melody, melancholic and melodious.

“Did you book out the whole restaurant?” she looked around and asked Kieran.

“Nope,” he replied.

“Then why…”

“Try these three dishes,” he pointed at three exquisite plates on the table.

Julie took a closer look. The three dishes were identical, just plated differently.

“Do you want me to spot the difference?” Julie asked while picking up her fork, but she complied and

tasted each dish. Then she asked, “Did you bring me here to be your taste tester?”

“You could say that,” he said, raising an eyebrow, giving an ambiguous response.

“Why did you ask the pianist to play such a sad song like Greensleeves?”

“Didn’t you want to play this song for me back then?” He pointed at the dishes and asked Julie, “Which

one suits your taste the most?”

“Maybe the second one. What do you think?” Julie frowned, “Back then, it was just me being hopeful. In

the end, you didn’t even hear me play Greensleeves, did you?”

She felt incredibly embarrassed. She had been such a fool back then.

Kieran turned to Karl, who was standing by, “Reassign the other two chefs to other restaurants.”

Julie looked up at Kieran with a piece of broccoli still in her mouth.

“Give the main course a try,” Kieran pointed to three identical dishes.

“What’s the real reason you want me to taste test?” Julie asked, becoming wary.

“To better cater to our customers’ tastes.”

“I can only represent my own taste. I’m not a food critic, I can’t represent everyone,” Julie put down her

fork, saying earnestly.

“As long as it suits your taste,” he cut a small piece of steak and offered it to her, “Give it a try.”

In the end, Julie took a bite.

From the appetizers to each subsequent dish, Julie tasted them all. Eventually, she was so full she had

to wave her hands, “I can’t, I’m stuffed.”

“Karl,” Kieran called.

Karl pulled out his tablet and tapped a few times.

Suddenly, a white screen dropped from above behind Julie. The piano music reached its climax. The

curtains of the restaurant’s floor-to-ceiling windows also descended. The whole restaurant instantly

plunged into darkness, with only the piano music echoing.

When everything turned dark, one’s hearing and smell would suddenly become sharper.

Just as Julie was about to speak, a warm yellow light flashed by. Then, the restaurant was once again

engulfed in darkness.

On the white screen that had just dropped behind her, a video started playing. The pianist who had just

finished playing had already left the white grand piano under the dim light.

Karl, dressed as a waiter, pressed a button, and the projector started.

A huge image was suddenly projected onto the white screen.

On the screen, applause thundered. A black grand piano sat on the huge stage. The champagne-

colored curtain made the black piano even more elegant. The words “Graduation Party” hung on the

curtain, shimmering in gold.

In the frame, Julie was dressed in a white long-sleeve chiffon blouse with an elegant bow at the front,

paired with a light blue pleated skirt. She wore a pair of white canvas shoes. Her pure and serene look

was almost completely different from the little girl who was once obsessed with superheroes.

She stood on the stage, bowed respectfully to the audience below, and then slowly walked towards the

piano.

Sitting at the piano, her long hair draped over her shoulders, her slender fingers lightly jumping on the

black and white keys…

“How did you get this video?” Julie turned around in surprise to ask Kieran, only to find that all the

restaurant staff had disappeared. Kieran had also stood up without her noticing and had quietly moved

to her side. As she turned, he gently landed a kiss on her lips.