Love’s Cunning Ruse

Chapter 308

Julie scrolled through her social media feed and chuckled as she saw Daphne’s selfie had gone viral, along with a snarky caption, “Looks like Lionel’s lost his touch. Tired of supermodels, so now he’s settled for some low-rent chick? A schemer who’s knocked up before the wedding, shamelessly replying to comments online. No shame, this parasite’s gotta have been orphaned early, that’s how she grew up with no proper upbringing.”

No wonder even Amanda thought the comment was out of line.

Daphne had clapped back in the comments, “Wishing you and yours all the happiness. parents, soon to be Mrs. Lionel.”

From the shameless, pregnant-before-marriage, schemer with very much alive

Julie gave Daphne a thumbs up and then logged onto her own social media to share Daphne’s response, “Here’s to the shameless, pregnant-before-marriage, schemer with very much alive parents, soon to be Mrs. Lionel. Wishing you happiness.”

As Kieran walked upstairs, he found the trio in high spirits. Wrapping his arms around his lady from behind, he asked, “What’s got you all laughing so much?” She waved her phone at him, “Wanna help out?”

Kieran read the post and immediately joined in, sharing it with his own addition, “To the man about to marry a shameless, pregnant-before-marriage, schemer with very much alive parents, Lionel, wishing you happiness.”

Daphne liked the post right away.

What started as a joke between Julie and Daphne soon sparked a wildfire of reactions. Even Flavia joined them. Surprisingly, Lionel’s supposed true love, Albertine, also shared the post.

Daphne covered her face, “Looks like I’m officially internet famous now!”

Kieran, phone in hand, turned to Julie, “Babe, mind explaining what’s going on here?”

Julie glanced at the phone and saw a paparazzi shot of Mr. Watson and Harding with handcuffs linking them together, magnified in the photo before they could get into their car. She recognized a blurry shadow in the photo as herself, and clearly, Kieran had already figured it out too, or he wouldn’t be asking.

She laughed nervously, “Well… it was a makeshift plan to get Daphne out of her apartment. Mr. Watson and Dr. Ladd were downstairs at Lionel’s request, so we used them as a distraction.”

“And the handcuffs?” he inquired.

“Looks like Mr. Watson wasn’t too keen on voluntarily helping with the diversion,” Julie said cryptically.

Only Julie could have come up with the handcuff idea.

Half an hour later, Lionel arrived to pick up Daphne. It was clear Amanda was fond of Daphne; despite being down all day, she personally saw Daphne to the door. Back in the bedroom, Julie sprawled out on the bed, exhausted.

sat up suddenly, a serious look

sat down beside her, attentive.

the past, but just now I remembered something odd. Rankin’s tombstone only had his photo

grave?” he

she replied.

not mandatory to have inscriptions, but

frowned, “In school, I never saw Rankin’s family. Some said he was an orphan, others claimed his mom visited once. The most widespread rumor was that he was raised by a wealthy single mom, always in designer clothes, yet so

was kept by a man.

the nature of the ugly rumors.

if he didn’t care about what people said. He told me something like, we can’t control where we come from, but we can shape our destiny. We can talk about others all we want, just like people

have Karl

cuddled, ready to turn in for the night, when a frantic knocking at the door startled

sat up,

Ma’am, Madam

of bed and dashed downstairs without even putting

butler’s already taken her to the

Amanda to Tranquil Care Hospital, the

her poor sleep had led to her fainting. Thankfully, it wasn’t anything serious; she just needed to be

Amanda

ཎ འ

here to look after me. I don’t need many people around. Imagine the fuss if Ivan wakes up and can’t find either of you.” Amanda waved her hand, signaling for Julie and Kieran to head home. In the end, only Shannon remained to care for her, with two nurses assigned to look after the

quiet in the dead

woke up feeling hungry. Being diabetic, she couldn’t afford to skip

Shannon exit the hospital doors, a man clad in a black

around

the man pulled off his hood and stood by her bedside, speaking softly, “Grandma, it’s

her eyes as

Amanda gazed at the tall, handsome man before her, her beloved

it really

09:57

Chapter 308

and nodding, “It’s me,