Chapter 173


    Chapter 173


    Kieran hung up the phone right after giving Hayden a heads up.


    Hayden stared at his phone, the one Kieran just hung up on, for a couple of seconds before he


    pocketed it and headed toward Julien’s


    room.


    Julien’s room was next door to Hayden’s. The door was shut but unlocked.


    Hayden knocked twice. No answer. So, he let himself in.


    He heard the sound of running water from the bathroom as soon as he walked in. He nced at the


    bathroom out of the corner of his eye, furrowed his brows, and then emotionlessly sat down on Julien’s


    bed.


    Across the bed was Julien’s bathroom. But because the room wasn’t an open floor n, he could only


    hear the sound of the water, not see the graceful figure of the woman inside.


    The bed was a hard wooden one with a thin mattress. The dark grey bedsheet matched Julien’s


    personality. On the bed was a dark blue silk pajama set, shirt-style. Something spongy was wrapped in


    the middle of it, with ck straps sticking out.


    Hayden took a quick look. His long fingers followed the straps and picked up the spongy thing. It was


    Julien’s bra, a modest deep ck, simple and elegant, but irresistibly seductive.


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    After her shower, Julien realized she’d left her pajamas outside. So, she just wrapped herself in a towel


    and stepped out of the bathroom, only to find Hayden holding up her bra by the strap, studying her dark


    undergarment.


    Their eyes met. Neither of them said anything.


    Hayden, still holding the strap, couldn’t decide if he should let go or keep holding it.


    “You do realize that’s my underwear, right?” Julien managed to talk a calm voice, her icy gaze fixed on


    Hayden.


    Hayden, back to his normal self, casually put down her bra, not avoiding another look, and then said,


    “You’ve grown a


    Julien didn’t respond.


    To her silence, Hayden added, “Ten years ago, you wore a size B. Now, you wear a C.”


    Indeed, ten years ago, Julien had willingly crawled into Hayden’s bed.


    Growing up, Julien had always been putting up with humiliation for her younger sister, silently growing


    up by Miles Simson’s side. She owed her life to a sentence from Hayden. Later, Hayden stood up for


    her in front of Miles, teaching her how to survive, how to fight, how to remain uncorrupted in a dark


    world.


    She used to think being by his side would make her feel safer and happier than being with anyone else.


    He was the only man she ever wanted to spend her life with, the only man she had ever loved with all


    her heart and soul, and the only man she had never gotten despite all her efforts.


    When she slept with him ten years ago, it went so smoothly that she thought she had finally won him


    over. But the day after their night together, he flew to another country to find the woman he loved.


    That’s when Julien realized how cheap her fantasy of love was.


    She reached out and grabbed her bra, not expecting Hayden, who had just let go, to-grab the other end


    of the strap again.


    “Let go!” Julien demanded.


    But Hayden wasn’t a man to take orders from Julien. So, naturally, he didn’t let go.


    Julien wasn’t a patient woman, either. She aimed a kick at Hayden’s head. But he was quick and


    caught her ankle with his other hand.


    She put all her weight on her one leg, pressing it against Hayden’s shoulder, pinning the hand that was


    holding her ankle to his shoulder as well.


    Hayden was still holding onto Julien’s ankle. He let go of her bra,ughed, and said, “Your flexibility has


    improved a lotpared with ten years ago/


    Julien threw her bra at Hayden’s head, “Why don’t you keep it as a souvenir? Maybe even frame it in


    gold!”


    Hayden rarely smiled, but today, his smile was even wider after hearing Julien’sment.


    He replied, “Sure.”


    Then, he let go of Julien’s ankle.


    Julien quickly pulled her leg back, only to hear Hayden suddenly ask, “Why don’t they match?”


    Just as Julien was trying to figure out what he meant, she looked up to find Hayden staring intently at


    the area below her belly button and above her thighs.


    Then she remembered that she’d just wrapped herself in a towel. The moment she did the splits, her


    target was Hayden’s face, so… The bra she threw at Hayden’s face was ck, but her panties were


    white. They indeed didn’t match.


    “Would you like me to change into a matching set for your viewing pleasure?” Julien kicked open the


    door to her walk-in closet and asked Hayden. Her face was as cold as ever.


    Hayden pulled out his phone, unlocked it, and tossed it to Julien, “Recent call recording.”


    The recording was the conversation Kieran had with him earlier.


    After listening to it, Julien’s face darkened a bit. She shook Hayden’s phone and said, “I’m going to call


    Mr. Hernandez back.”


    Hayden gave his permission, still sitting on Julien’s bed.


    The call connected.


    Julien asked Kieran, “How did you know I put a mini camera in Julie’s bag?”


    The reason why Julien did this was for Julie. Compared to Lucian, who was a ticking time bomb, Julie


    was just a fragile woman.


    Kieran respected Julie, so he would never do something like this. Before he remarried Julie, Kieran had


    people secretly protecting her. But after they remarried, Julie spent most of her time at thepany


    with Kieran during the day and stayed with him at night, so Kieran called off her secret protection.


    But Julien, being someone who was used to living under pressure and in danger, was naturally more


    cautious than Kieran. She didn’t care if Julie would hate her for her disrespect. Because as someone


    who lived in darkness, Julien knew better than anyone else that staying alive was the most important


    thing.


    Julie was her lifesaver and one of the few people she could genuinely consider as a friend. So, no


    matter what Julie thought, she had to do what she did.


    However, Julien was also a rational person. Even though she had installed cameras, she knew very


    clearly what she should not hear and what she should not see.


    For instance, when Mr. Hernandez was flirting with Julie at night, she didn’t watch the footage.


    But, on the other side of the phone, Mr. Hernandez didn’t exin how he found out about the cameras.


    Instead, he directly told her, “Give all the tapes to Julie, and then you exin it yourself. You’re


    adaptable, but I don’t think you’d want to live in the most deste ce forever.”


    “Are you threatening me?” Julienughed, “You’re funny.””


    Hayden got up, elegantly snatched the phone from Julien’s hand, and told her, “Go find Julie and


    exin everything.”


    It was amand.


    Julien didn’t argue, but turned around and dialed Julie’s number.


    But the phone was off.


    Julien tried again, but it was still off.


    She turned her head, took her phone back from Hayden, and asked Kieran, “Is she at the office now?”


    “Why do you ask?” Kieran questioned.


    “Her phone is off. You better check if she’s at the office.” Julien said as she headed towards the


    cloakroom, “You find her, and I’ll be right there.”


    Julie usually only turned off her phone when it ran out of battery, and she hadn’t charged itst night.


    So, Kieran figured her phone might be dead.


    It had been a while since they parted, and Julie should be calmer. Kieran, who grew up with Julie, knew


    that her mood swings were quick toe and go.


    So, if he showed up in front of Julie now, even considering the potential gossip, she probably wouldn’t


    avoid seeing him.


    Kieran felt that he should exin the camera situation. Since the major conflicts couldn’t be resolved,


    he decided to start with the minor


    ones.


    So, Kieran directly dialed the office number of Davina, the head of the legal department.


    But it was Teague, the assistant director, who answered.


    “Where’s Ms. Davina?” Kieran asked in a heavy tone.


    Teague hesitated for a long time before saying, “She went out to find someone…”


    “Who?” Kieran frowned, suddenly having a bad feeling.


    Seeing that the truth was about to be revealed, Teague nervously told Kieran, “She seems to have


    gone to find Attorney Abraham…” “What do you mean? Exin!” Kieran’s voice raised.


    Teague was sweating cold sweat. The wholepany was spreading rumors that Mrs. Hernandez had


    gained her position through her


    son, and that Mr. Hernandez didn’t like such a scheming woman as Mrs. Hernandez. But hearing the


    agitated tone of Mr. Hernandez on the phone, Teague suddenly felt that these rumors were baseless


    nonsense.


    Judging by Mr. Hernandez’s tone, if anyone said he didn’t care about Mrs. Hernandez, they’d be joking.


    Afraid that Mr. Hernandez would vent his anger on him, Teague hurriedly started exining, “After


    lunch today, Attorney Abraham didn’te back to work. More than half an hourter, Ms. Davina


    realized that Attorney Abraham hadn’t arrived, and she hadn’t taken a leave either. So, Ms. Davina


    tried to call Attorney Abraham to find out the situation. But she couldn’t reach her. Ms. Davina felt that


    Attorney Abraham wasn’t the type to casually skip work, so she was very worried and finally decided to


    go see if Attorney Abraham was still in the canteen…”


    Ms. Davina’s analysis was correct; Julie was not someone who would skip work for no reason.


    And now, not only did Julie skip work without reason, her phone was also unanswered, and she had


    lost contact with everyone. Kieran’s uneasiness was growing..