Chapter 210


    Chapter 210


    Not long after Kieran hung up the phone, Tina pulled up in front of Julie in her car. She got out and


    courteously opened the passenger door, saying respectfully, “Hop in, Mrs. Hemandez.”


    Julie got in the car, thenughed, saying to Tina, who was driving, “Just call me by my name.”


    “Mrs. Hemandez, you’re really a good person, Tina praised.


    “Why’s that?”


    “You are not arrogant at all, but very close to the people, and also very kind. You and Mr. Hernandez


    are a great match,” Tina said with a grin.


    Julie could tell that Tina was sincere.


    Julie responded with a smile, “You’re the exception on thepany forum.”


    “Do you also read thepany’s forums?” Tina asked, a little embarrassed, as she scratched her chin.


    “Simpo Co. has an official forum where everyone posts under their real names, mainly discussing work.


    But there’s also a gossip forum where everyone posts anonymously. Which one do you usually to


    read?”


    Of course, Julie was on the anonymous one.


    “There was a time when I showed up in Kieran’s office with Annalise. I heard about thepany’s


    anonymous gossip forum, so I logged in and checked it out. I found out that 98% of the people were


    rooting for Kieran and Annalise. People even voted, K&A Couple versus K&J Couple, right?”


    “Mrs. Hernandez, you sure know what’s up…” Tina thought, relieved that she hadn’t badmouthed Julie


    on the forum.


    At that time, the overwhelming majority supported the K&A Couple, and only a few people supported


    the K&J Couple. Julie remembered a post firmly supporting the K&J Couple. She looked at Tina and


    asked, “The person with the username ‘IN’ who posted on the forum supporting the K&J Couple, that’s


    you, right?”


    That user had posted a tirade supporting her and Kieran. Julie’s first thought was, this person must be


    Tina.


    However, Tina denied it, saying, “No, my username is…”


    At this, Tina fell silent, a little bashful.


    “You’re not iN?” Julie looked at Tina, puzzled, and asked, “Doesn’t iN mean the middle two letters in


    Tina? From the tone and content of that post, it seemed like the poster knew Kieran well…”


    Tina shook her head awkwardly, “Um… my username is ‘KickYourDick”.”


    Julie went silent.


    Now that’s… quite imaginative.


    Then who is this iN who seemed to know Kieran so well?


    Tina dropped Julie off at the entrance of Feliz Gastro House. The person who opened the door for Julie


    was… Karl!


    He was still dressed in his waiter uniform.


    Julie was surprised to see Karl standing before her. He managed to pull off a butler’s air with his vest


    and bow tie. She couldn’t help but approach Karl and ask, “Karl, can Simpo Co. employees moonlight?”


    Karl was speechless.


    “Mrs. Hernandez, pleasee in.”


    “Are you role-ying?” Julie continued to ask.


    Karl’s face turned even redder. Before it was just Mr. Hernandez messing with him, and now there was


    Mrs. Hernandez…


    “If you’re really role-ying, you should wear a waitress uniform. That would be more appealing,” Julie


    seriously suggested to Karl.


    At this moment, Karl just wanted to hand Mrs. Hernandez off to Mr. Hernandez as quickly as possible.


    But Mrs. Hernandez stopped suddenly after walking a few steps, then turned around and looked at him


    seriously.


    Karl stepped back in fright. He put his hands to his chest, saying earnestly, “Mrs. Hernandez, I swear I


    won’t cross-dress. Please spare me…”


    “I don’t want you to cross-dress. I just want to ask you a question,” Julie said.


    Relieved, Karl quickly dropped his hands and regained his professional demeanor, “What’s the


    question?”


    “Do you visit the Simpo Co. gossip forum?”


    Karl nodded, then hurriedly exined, “Mrs. Hernandez, I swear I only go on the forum after work. I


    never chat online during work hours.”


    “I didn’t ask you that. What’s your username?” Julie asked.


    Karl found the question a bit odd.


    your username IN?”


    Karl shook his head.


    “What is your username?” She asked again.


    Just as Karl was considering whether to answer, Julie suddenly said, “Karl, do you really want to cross-


    dress?”


    “My username is hot secretary!” To refuse the cross-dressing, Karl answered Julie’s question almost


    without thinking.


    It took Julie a moment to recover after hearing Karl’s answer. She gave Karl a meaningful look and


    said, “I see, hot secretary….


    Mrs. Hernandez made that name sound a bit provocative.”


    Karl decided, it was time to take her to see Mr. Hernandez!


    Julie entered the restaurant. It was supposed to be peak dining hours, but the ce was deserted. She


    looked at Karl, puzzled, and asked, “Did Mr. Hernandez book the entire restaurant?”


    “Mrs. Hernandez, we’re here,” Karl pointed to the dining table across from Julie and told her.


    Julie looked at the dining table. Kieran was seated there. He was wearing a dark blue shirt with two


    buttons undone at the cor. He was reclining in his chair, on


    RêAdt??St chapters at Novel(D)ra/ma.Org Only


    the phone.


    Karl stepped forward to pull out a chair for Julie.


    Julie settled in. Karl fetched a bottle of well-decanted red wine. Judging by the vintage, it was a pretty


    penny.


    After pouring the wine into two lovely sses, Karl pped his hands. Immediately, dish after dish of


    exquisite food was wheeled over on a cart. The variety was enough to make Julie’s head spin.


    Julie decided to stop eyeing the dishes and instead focused on Kieran, who was seated across from


    her. He was on the phone, seemingly discussing work matters.


    When he caught her gaze, he shed her a smile, acknowledged her, and then quickly ended the call.


    Karl nodded at the pianist. The sheet music was set aside, and the pianist’s fingers began to dance


    across the keys.


    The white grand piano filled the room with the beautiful melody of Greensleeves. Julie had fond


    memories of this tune. It was a ssic and elegant folk melody, mncholic and melodious.


    “Did you book out the whole restaurant?” she looked around and asked Kieran.


    “Nope,” he replied.


    “Then why…”


    “Try these three dishes,” he pointed at three exquisite tes on the table.


    Julie took a closer look. The three dishes were identical, just ted differently.


    “Do you want me to spot the difference?” Julie asked while picking up her fork, but sheplied and


    tasted each dish. Then she asked, “Did you bring me here to be your taste tester?”


    “You could say that,” he said, raising an eyebrow, giving an ambiguous response.


    “Why did you ask the pianist to y such a sad song like Greensleeves?”


    “Didn’t you want to y this song for me back then?” He pointed at the dishes and asked Julie, “Which


    one suits your taste the most?”


    “Maybe the second one. What do you think?” Julie frowned, “Back then, it was just me being hopeful. In


    the end, you didn’t even hear me y Greensleeves, did you?”


    She felt incredibly embarrassed. She had been such a fool back then.


    Kieran turned to Karl, who was standing by, “Reassign the other two chefs to other restaurants.”


    Julie looked up at Kieran with a piece of broli still in her mouth.


    “Give the main course a try,” Kieran pointed to three identical dishes.


    “What’s the real reason you want me to taste test?” Julie asked, bing wary.


    “To better cater to our customers’ tastes.”


    “I can only represent my own taste. I’m not a food critic, I can’t represent everyone,” Julie put down her


    fork, saying earnestly.


    “As long as it suits your taste,” he cut a small piece of steak and offered it to her, “Give it a try.”


    In the end, Julie took a bite.


    From the appetizers to each subsequent dish, Julie tasted them all. Eventually, she was so full she had


    to wave her hands, “I can’t, I’m stuffed.”


    “Karl,” Kieran called.


    Karl pulled out his tablet and tapped a few times.


    Suddenly, a white screen dropped from above behind Julie. The piano music reached its climax. The


    curtains of the restaurant’s floor-to-ceiling windows also descended. The whole restaurant instantly


    plunged into darkness, with only the piano music echoing.


    When everything turned dark, one’s hearing and smell would suddenly be sharper.


    Just as Julie was about to speak, a warm yellow light shed by. Then, the restaurant was once again


    engulfed in darkness.


    On the white screen that had just dropped behind her, a video started ying. The pianist who had just


    finished ying had already left the white grand piano under the dim light.


    Karl, dressed as a waiter, pressed a button, and the projector started.


    A huge image was suddenly projected onto the white screen.


    On the screen, apuse thundered. A ck grand piano sat on the huge stage. The champagne-


    colored curtain made the ck piano even more elegant. The words “Graduation Party” hung on the


    curtain, shimmering in gold.


    In the frame, Julie was dressed in a white long-sleeve chiffon blouse with an elegant bow at the front,


    paired with a light blue pleated skirt. She wore a pair of white canvas shoes. Her pure and serene look


    was almostpletely different from the little girl who was once obsessed with superheroes.


    She stood on the stage, bowed respectfully to the audience below, and then slowly walked towards the


    piano.


    Sitting at the piano, her long hair draped over her shoulders, her slender fingers lightly jumping on the


    ck and white keys…


    “How did you get this video?” Julie turned around in surprise to ask Kieran, only to find that all the


    restaurant staff had disappeared. Kieran had also stood up without her noticing and had quietly moved


    to her side. As she turned, he gentlynded a kiss on her lips.