Love’s Cunning Ruse

Chapter 256

Basil handed Julie a glass of orange juice, which she took in one gulp.

From outside the door came Julien’s voice, “Amanda, is Joyce here? I need to talk to her.”

Julie really wanted to respond with ‘I’m here’, but with Basil and Bolt on either side of her, she could only stay silent.

Perhaps Kieran was still not completely at ease with Julie and Amanda at home, so he sent Julien to check on things.

Amanda’s voice came from outside, “I sent Joyce out to get me some stuff. She might not be back for a while. What’s up?”

“In that case, I won’t bother you.” Julien nodded to Amanda and exited gracefully.

How direct. That was so Julien.

Bolt looked at Julie and said, “Mrs. Abraham, shall we continue?”

Julie handed the glass to Basil, not seeming to have any other choices.

She had a strong feeling that Amanda was not only trying to train her, but also seemed to have no intention of letting her go out, as if wanting her to focus on training here.

Julie got up with a frown, as her cooperation surprised Bolt and Basil.

Basil turned and went back to the door while Bolt stood in front of Julie, about to speak, when suddenly a figure flashed by the window. Bolt frowned, quickly stepped forward, pulled the curtain of the French window closed, and locked it.

Julie already suspected that the person outside was Julien, so she yelled at Bolt, “Bolt! I can’t do push- ups!”

Julie’s sudden shout startled Bolt.

Even though the glass window was soundproofed, Julie’s high decibel shout still got out. Even Basil at the door heard it. He opened the door and looked at Bolt, “You okay?”

Julie shook her head, laughing, “I was asking Bolt how to do push-ups. I have no arm strength.”

Basil saw a confirming look on Bolt’s face, so he left, closing the door behind him.

And at this moment, the locked French window was easily pushed open from the outside by Julien. Bolt had his back to Julien, and as he turned around, Julien kicked at him.

Bolt bent over, turned around and threw a punch at Julien. Julien grabbed Bolt’s arm, pulled him in, and they passed each other.

“Go Julien!” Julie watched them, sitting on the ground, looking up at Bolt and Julien, not forgetting to declare her standing.

However, the expected fight didn’t happen. They only exchanged a couple of punches before stopping.

“Bolt?”

“Teacher?”

They looked at each other, stopping their attacks.

“You know each other?” Julie clapped her hands, standing up and walking between them.

“This is my teacher.” Bolt pointed to Julien.

“Your student?” Julie looked surprisedly at Julien.

Julien nodded, “It’s a long story.”

“How did you get here?” Julien asked Bolt,

Bolt answered, “Amanda asked me to teach her some self-defence techniques.”

“So you’ve been with Bolt at home this morning?” Julien asked Julie.

Julie looked at a bunch of training equipment, replying, “Yes, doing strength training. But why are you here?”

“Mr. Hernandez was worried you might be having a hard time at home, so he sent me to check on you.”

Just as Julie expected.

“Amanda did this for what?” Julien seemed confused.

Julie shook her head, “Not sure, but at least her intentions are good. Open attacks are easy to defend against, who knows how many people are coveting in secret. But… Amanda took my phone and doesn’t seem to want me to go out.”

“What did Amanda tell you?” Julien asked Bolt.

Bolt was very honest to Julien, “Amanda indeed wants Mrs. Abraham to train at home.”

“What do you want me to tell Kieran?” Julien asked Julie.

Julie was thinking for a moment, “I’ll tell him myself tonight. Whatever Amanda said, just tell him that.”

Julien nodded. She was very confident in Bolt, so she patted Bolt’s shoulder, “Go easy on her, don’t train her like you trained my sister.”

Bolt nodded, “Yes! Are you leaving through the front door?”

Julien pointed to the window, “I broke the door lock, fix it. I’m leaving.”

Julien opened the French window, walking out.

Just then, a security guard walked by.

“Shh!!” Julie stepped forward, waving her hand at him, “Did you see anything?”

“Ms. Julien…climbed out the window…”

“Do you want to lose your job?” Julie raised an eyebrow.

The security guard instantly got it, “I… I didn’t see anything…”

“Good, go on with your work!” Julie waved at the guard with a smile.

She turned to Bolt, “Julien is your teacher?”

“I’m not going to tell you why.” Bolt patted the floor, “Do push-ups.”

Julie rolled her eyes.

She got down on the floor to get ready, “Did you ever train Julien’s sister?”

“Yes.”

“Her name is Flavia, right?”

“Yes.”

“So, is she really excellent now?” Julie looked at Bolt expectantly.

Bolt went silent.

After leaving the mansion, Julien called Kieran, telling him what Julie asked him to say. Kieran was silent for a while before saying “Thank you.”

Julie didn’t expect the training load on the first day to be this heavy. She couldn’t even imagine how she was going to get through the following days.

It was not until half an hour before Kieran got off work that Amanda let Julie go back to rest. Julie, who was taking a shower and lying in bed, was exhausted.

Before she knew it, she fell asleep. Not sure for how long, she was woken up by a muffled voice.

“Kerry, why did Julie catch a cold? Did you hog the blanket last night?”

“You know I always sleep like a baby. I take after you. Do you think I’d be the type to steal blankets?”

“Tonight, let me sleep with mom.”

“No.”

“You’re selfish, heartless, and bossy!!”

Ivan felt wronged-

“You’re right. I am selfish, heartless, and bossy. Those are all my faults. Don’t you dare take after me.” Kieran lovingly patted Ivan’s head.

Ivan felt like he’d swallowed a bitter pill, too bitter for words. He blurted out, “Kerry, if you’re so tough, go bully someone else’s kid! What’s so great about picking on me?”

Julie, who was asleep, couldn’t help but burst out laughing and opened her eyes.

“You awake?” Kieran was about to touch Julie’s forehead to check if she had a fever.

But before his hand could reach Julie, Ivan leaned his face toward Julie and pressed his forehead against hers, proudly announcing to Kieran, “Mom’s not running a fever,”

Kieran bent down to kiss Julie’s forehead, “Do you want to eat downstairs or should I have someone bring food up?”

“I’ll go downstairs,” Julie sat up.

Ivan quickly fetched Julie’s slippers and looked at his dad Kieran expectantly, waiting for praise.

Just as Julie was about to thank Ivan, Kieran pulled back the blanket and scooped her up.

“Bring your mom’s slippers.” Kieran carried Julie downstairs.

To avoid falling, Julie quickly wrapped her arm around Kieran’s neck, “I can walk by myself. Put me down before Amanda sees…”

Before she could finish her sentence, Amanda was standing at the foot of the stairs, staring at Julie and Kieran.

Feeling a bit awkward, Julie scratched the back of Kieran’s neck and whispered in his ear, “Quick, put me down…”

“Grandma Kieran smiled at Amanda, “Isn’t Julie too skinny?”

Surprisingly, Amanda didn’t express any dissatisfaction with Kieran holding Julie. Instead, she scrutinized Julie from head to toe, then said, “A bit skinny. Young people need to keep in shape. Picky eaters like her are bound to be skinny. A gust of wind could knock her over.”

“What Amanda is saying is that you should eat more,” Kieran whispered gently to Julie in his arms.

Amanda had already turned and left. Ivan ran downstairs, placed Julie’s slippers on the floor, and looked up at Julie, “Mom, when I grow up, Kieran won’t be able to carry you anymore.”

“Only a non-biological son could say something like that, Kieran put Julie down and gently tapped Ivan’s head, “Go say hello to Amanda.”

Kieran had picked Ivan up today. As soon as Ivan heard Julie had a cold, he dashed straight to the master bedroom after coming home, not having a chance to greet Amanda.

Ivan warmly greeted Amanda, who was very fond of him.

At mealtime, Amanda personally ladled a bowl of soup for Julie.

Julie, feeling honored, quickly accepted it.

Kieran handed Julie a fork and asked, “Did you two get along like this today?”

Julie nodded, “More or less.”

To be precise, she spent less time with the old lady today than with Bolt.

Kieran looked deeply at Amanda, then at Julie, “Why don’t I believe it?”

Julie didn’t tell Kieran it was because he was too smart.

She chuckled and put some food on Kieran’s plate, then leaned in to whisper, “I’ll explain everything tonight.”

Kieran accepted her words.

After dinner, Kieran, holding Julie’s hand, told Amanda, “I’m taking Joyce out for a walk.”

“No way!” Amanda said without hesitation, “What’s the point of a walk late at night? What if something happens… Absolutely not!”