Love’s Cunning Ruse

Chapter 230

Standing at the door was a lady. She was wearing black seven-inch stilettos, a white shirt paired with a formal skirt suit. Her long hair hung straight from her head to her waist. She wore black-framed glasses, her eyebrows slightly furrowed as she stared at the crowd at the door.

“Who are you guys looking for?” the lady asked.

Dylan glanced behind her. “Isn’t Bruce here?”

“You’ve got the wrong room,” the lady responded coldly, but still managed a polite smile.

“But our check-in record shows that the guest is Bruce. Are you his…” the manager queried her.

The lady glanced at the manager’s badge, “Does your hotel always disturb guests like this? Tracy, could you double-check with the front desk? We just checked in ten minutes ago.”

“This…” The manager was somewhat taken aback, turning to look at Kieran.

“Go check,” Kieran told the manager, then gave Dylan a look.

Dylan got the message and left with the manager. As soon as they entered the elevator, he immediately called the general manager of the hotel, instructing him to lock down the entire hotel and monitor everything.

After Tracy called the front desk and confirmed, she turned to Kieran apologetically, “Mr. Hernandez, Bruce was indeed staying here earlier, but he checked out half an hour ago. Miss Lisa checked in ten minutes ago.”

“Do you guys have any other business?” The lady named Lisa politely nodded at Kieran.

Suddenly, a magnetic voice came from inside the room, “What’s going on, Lisa?”

Before Lisa could answer, a man wearing a black shirt and light-colored gold-rimmed glasses came out of the room. He was wearing white cloth slippers, his short hair looking neat and tidy.

He walked up to Julie and Kieran, then stopped.

Julie’s eyes darkened. She looked at the man, asking in disbelief, “Kyle?”

Kyle also appeared taken aback that Julie was at the door. He narrowed his eyes slightly, then a look of joy appeared on his face, “Joyce?”

“It’s me. Kyle, what are you doing here?” Julie looked inside the room, as if searching for something.

Kyle glanced at Lisa, “You can go back in.”

Lisa gave Julie and Kieran a look before turning to leave.

Kyle grinned at Kieran, “I’m guessing you’re Mr. Hernandez? We met years ago. Do you remember me?”

Kyle was now in his thirties. He looked mature and cultured, each word he uttered carried the air of a gentleman. The way he looked at Kieran and Julie was kind.

Kieran did remember this man named Kyle. In his second year of high school, the school organized a trip. Julie insisted on dragging him to the supermarket to buy some necessities for the trip. It was in that supermarket that Kieran and Kyle first met. It was also their only encounter.

Even though Julie and Kieran were neighbors back then, Julie’s so-called brother-in-law rarely visited Kieran’s house. He only heard about Kyle occasionally from Julie. In Julie’s eyes back then, Kyle was

the typical good boyfriend. From the details Julie used to tell him, he could tell that Kyle spoiled Sansa Abraham rotten!

He didn’t understand why they suddenly broke up, even canceling their engagement.

Kyle extended his hand to Kieran, indicating he wanted to shake hands.

Kieran put on a formal smile. He shook hands with Kyle, saying, “I was young then, can’t remember much.”

“Speaking of which, you and Julie were in high school then! Those were the wildest years,” Kyle opened the door, smiling at Julie and Kieran, “Come in and have a

seat?”

Julie nodded, then hooked her arm in Kieran’s, chuckling as they walked towards the room, “Why do you sound so mature now? You were only a few years older than us when you just graduated from college.”

“Apparently, there’s a generation gap every three years. We can be considered people from different generations,” Kyle set his phone on the coffee table, then pointed to the sofa across, “Please, sit. I just arrived at Whispering Pines. I was planning to contact you guys after settling down. What happened just now?”

Julie looked at Kieran, who responded with a smile, “We had an appointment with someone to discuss business here in this room. We got a bit delayed on the way here, so he might have left because he couldn’t wait. We didn’t expect you to be staying here as well

“What a coincidence,” Kyle looked at Julie and Kieran, starting to chat with them. After a while, he turned to look out the window. The lights outside were bright.

“Whispering Pines has changed a lot,” he said somewhat nostalgically.

Julie smiled and calmly responded, “You’ve changed quite a bit too.”

Hearing Julie’s voice, Kyle turned his head, his gaze sharp.

Kieran watched Kyle intently. Those familiar with Kieran knew he was, sizing up Kyle and the surroundings.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door Kyle furrowed his brows, gave Kieran a slight smile and said, “Maybe it’s the person you were supposed to do business

with

With that, Kyle stood up and opened the door.

Standing at the door were a few men in casual clothes. They showed their IDs, “National Security Agency.”

The people at the door completely ignored Kyle, entering the room to start their search. They didn’t find the person they were looking for, only saw Kieran and Julie sitting on the sofa.

Kieran stood up, arm around Julie’s waist, smiling at Kyle, “Seems like he won’t be coming back. Sorry for the disturbance. We’ll visit another time.”

Kyle smiled at Julie and Kieran, nodding his head.

Kieran, with Julie in his arms, stepped into the elevator, then pulled out his phone to call Dylan, “The folks from the National Security Agency are here.”

“I’ve already got the surveillance footage. I’m waiting for you guys downstairs,” Dylan answered.

Once Julie and Kieran were in the elevator, Kyle in the room turned his gaze to the few agents from the National Security Agency, “Anything I can help with?”

“Sorry, we got the wrong room.” After searching the room, the lead agent apologized to Kyle before leaving.

“Go get the hotel’s surveillance footage, see how Lucian left.”

The agent’s voice came through the closed door.

Kyle’s eyes were slightly narrowed. He removed his gold-rimmed glasses from the bridge of his nose, and his eyes became sharper, like those of a vulture… In the

car.

“Have you checked the surveillance footage?” asked Kieran to Dylan.

Dylan nodded, “I glanced through it just now. The footage hasn’t been tampered with. Someone did enter room 1423. It was a stranger who brought Lucian upstairs, and he was also the one who checked in. He’s probably Bruce. Looks like they’re not planning to keep things on the down-low. The car accident tonight probably wasn’t a coincidence.”

The car was filled with only Dylan’s voice, creating a certain silence.

Julie’s attention was fully on Kyle’s sudden appearance.

She suddenly pulled out her phone and started browsing the internet.

“What’s up?” Kieran asked.

As Julie typed ‘President of S&J International Law Firm overseas visit’ into the search bar, she answered Kieran’s question, “I have a feeling that Kyle has a special reason for coming back this time, but I can’t figure out what it is. I’m trying to search online to see if he came back for work or personal reasons.”

While driving, Dylan asked casually, “Kyle?”

“I once thought he would become my brother-in-law,” Julie replied.

Kieran explained to Dylan, “Kyle, the founder of S&J International Law Firm.”

“Kyle almost became your brother-in-law?” Dylan suddenly seemed a bit excited.

With a puzzled look, Julie raised her head and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Kyle’s back?” Dylan asked again.

Julie nodded.

“In a way, I can be considered Kyle’s schoolmate,” Dylan said, “We went to the same high school. In university, I chose to become a forensic scientist, while he chose law. He was pretty well-known in our school. He had a girlfriend named Jessica back then. Kyle was brilliant. Some said he was a rich second generation, others said his parents were government officials, but we didn’t know any details about his family. All we knew was that he was a good guy. Later we heard that because of his rigorous thinking, meticulous writing, and solid legal foundation, he finished all his major courses ahead of time and became a foreign affairs lawyer right after graduation. Of course, I heard all this from Kelly, my classmate and a big fan of Kyle.”

Julie found the most important information, “You said he had a girlfriend named Jessica? Did they break up after he became a foreign affairs lawyer?”

“I don’t know. I wasn’t interested in his personal life,” Dylan thought for a moment, “But I can ask Kelly.”

With that, he immediately pulled his phone out of his pocket, dialed Kelly’s international number, and asked straightforwardly, “Kyle used to have a girlfriend named Jessica, right? Are they still together?”

“Jessica committed suicide a long time ago due to depression, didn’t you know?” Kelly on the other end of the phone was obviously surprised that Dylan didn’t know about this.

Dylan, who had the phone on speaker, was also a bit surprised, “Jessica committed suicide?”

“Jessica’s last wish was to set up a law firm that would help poor people who couldn’t afford to go to court while making money. That’s why Stefan founded S&J International Law Firm. Stefan and Jessica, the initials of their names. Don’t you get it?” Kelly asked.

Dylan’s brow furrowed even more. He made brief small talk, then hung up the phone.

Julie looked a bit perplexed. She turned her head to look at Kieran, “If the woman Kyle has always been deeply in love with is Jessica, then what does my sister

mean to him?”