Love’s Cunning Ruse

Chapter 285

“Want some more?” Daphne offered her ice cream to Julien like it was a prized possession.

Julien, without hesitation, took it from Daphne’s hand and started eating it voraciously.

In all the years she had known Julien, Julie had never seen her indulge in a snack like this. It was truly a sight to see. But…

Wasn’t her eating manner a bit too aggressive? It was less of eating and more of stuffing her mouth.

Was this binge eating a result of some traumatic experience, perhaps?

Julie gently patted Julien’s back, concern lining her features. Julien, with a mouthful of ice cream, looked back at Julie with a confused expression, as if asking ‘why are you patting my back?’ through her gaze.

“You’re going to get a brain freeze if you eat ice cream like that,” Julie remarked, watching Julien’s eating frenzies.

Julien then handed the now-empty ice cream tub back to Daphne:

Daphne tossed it into a nearby trash bin and chuckled, “I always thought you were too high and mighty to enjoy such earthly pleasures. Turns out you also love vanilla ice cream, just like me.”

Julien looked perplexed, “What ice cream?”

“…So, you just ate half a tub of ice cream without even khowing what flavor it was? Daphne asked, the disbelief evident on her face.

“That’s vanilla, vanilla ice cream. The one you just ate,” she said, trying to suppress her laughter.

“Ah,” was the only response Julien gave.

Julie suddenly grabbed Julien’s shoulder, “Who are you, and what have you done to my Julien?”

Julien swatted Julie’s hand away, and turned to Daphne, “Give me the couch.”.

Daphne glanced at the couch beneath her, a grey piece of furniture that had been with her for a while now.

She patted the couch, speaking to it as if it were a pet, “My dear couch, the queen has taken a liking to you. It’s an honor really. She wants to take you away, but don’t miss me too much. I’ll come visit you occasionally.”

“I didn’t mean your couch,” Julien retorted, looking at Julie, “I meant, I’ll be sleeping on the couch tonight.”

“You’re not going home tonight?” Julie asked, looking surprised, “Won’t Hayden be looking for you?”

he be looking for me?” Julien countered, trying

God, are you pretending to be cute?

think Hayden’s feelings for Julien go beyond

“Yes, I think it’s love. How else could he put up with our queen?”

stood up and headed towards

going?”

a bed on the floor,” came Julien’s aloof reply from

stifle her laughter, leaning in to whisper to Julie, “Don’t you find her attitude adorable? I’ve thought of a nickname for my baby.”

is it?” Julie asked, merely curious, but not holding out much hope

with a triumphant grin, revealed, “I’ve decided to name

Daphne as if she had lost her mind, “What if

to her unborn child, “Sorry, baby.

Daphne’s shoulder sympathetically, “Don’t worry, Daphne. Your child has

exclaimed, grabbing Julie’s hand, “If it’s a boy, we’ll call him

Julie mentally said a

the bedroom to

made a makeshift bed on the

it’s a boy, we’ll call him ‘Prince’, and if it’s a girl, ‘Queen’. What do you think? Genius,

names, Julien asked her, “When are you

was unexpected!

heard Julien’s

Julien’s question is quite constructive, Julie agreed, turning to Daphne, “What

wealthy, complex family like Lionel’s. She says it’s like a deep, dangerous ocean, and with my intelligence, I might not survive. Not only would risk losing my child, but I might also lose my own life. You know those people in TV dramas who step on others’ bodies to climb to

mom is right.”

that Julien would

the ocean is deep and dangerous, you would not even try to swim? What about the lifeguard who is

the nail on the head with her metaphor. The world of the wealthy was an ocean, and she stood at its edge, wrestling with the decision to dive in. Her

question was,

answer was anything but simple. She turned to her friend, Julien, with a look of desperation, “What do you

question caught Julie off guard. For someone with little experience in matters of the heart, this was a

awkwardly at Julien, Actually…”

to

sense to her. Perhaps being an outsider gave Julien

The first thing Daphne needed to do was to understand her own feelings. The most important factor was Lionel’s actions and choices, whether he was reliable, and not

slumped onto the ground, grabbed Julien’s hand, and

frowned at Daphne, “You seem to have forgotten