Aubrey was quite happy when she received the call. If Reginald took the initiative to contact her, it must mean he was interested in her. Aubrey dly epted the invitation.


    Meanwhile, Julian and Ste had gone shopping and returned hometer than Grandma Sterling and the others. Just as they arrived home, Julian received a call. Without much thought, he headed to the location Reginald specified.


    Aubrey arrived at the private dining room in the restaurant and took a sip of water while waiting. Shortly after, she cked out,pletely unaware of what had happened.


    On the other side of town, Reginald sat in a car parked by the riverside. He could see from his phone that Julian had arrived at the designated spot, which was right next to Aubrey’s room. When Julian didn’t see Reginald, he called him: “Reginald, where are you? You asked me toe here, and I’m already here.”


    “Julian, sorry about that. I’ve already found someone else to help me; it’s all sorted now,” Reginald said. “I’m heading home.”


    “Alright then,” Julian replied without much suspicion.


    As he walked out of the room, he saw a man supporting an unconscious Aubrey and leading her away. Sensing something was wrong, Julian followed them to the parking lot and realized Aubrey waspletely unresponsive.


    A woman being taken away unconscious was definitely a bad sign. Remembering that he wanted to introduce Aubrey to Reginald, Julian stepped forward: “Hey, put her down! Who are you to Aubrey? What’s wrong with her?”


    The man nced at Julian and said, “She drank too much.”Exclusive content ? by N?(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.


    Julian wasn’t easily fooled; he didn’t smell any alcohol and immediately saw through the lie: “You’re lying! She doesn’t look drunk at all. What did you do to her? I’m calling the police.”


    Hearing this, the man dropped Aubrey and ran off. Julian wanted to chase him but quickly went back to help Aubrey up from the ground.


    “Aubrey, Aubrey,” Julian called out just before feeling a sharp pain in his backside. As he turned to see what had pricked him, he cked out as well.


    The needle that pricked Julian wasced with anesthetic. Seeing Julian unconscious, a man emerged from the shadows-it was Damien. He had gone through considerable effort to bring these two together.


    Damien took Julian’s phone from his pocket and deleted recent call records, doing the same with Aubrey’s phone. The trap wasn’t sophisticated; Reginald had better ways to bring them together but chose to personally make the calls himself.


    Despite its simplicity, the trap achieved its intended effect. Reginald’s goal was to ruin Julian and Ste’s marriage and eliminate Aubrey as a threat. He wasn’t worried about them figuring out it was his doing once they regained consciousness.


    Julian and Aubrey were taken to a hotel room upstairs. Meanwhile, Ste received an anonymous message informing her that Julian was in a hotel room with another woman. She rushed over immediately.


    When Ste arrived at the hotel and opened the door to find both of them on the bed, she was furious. She fetched a bucket of water from the bathroom and dumped it on them.


    “Julian!” Ste roared in anger.


    Julian and Aubrey woke up in shock and confusion upon seeing their situation. Aubrey pulled back the covers and screamed when she realized her clothes were gone: “Ah! Julian, what are you doing here?”


    Julian was equally bewildered: “What is going on?”


    “You two can stop pretending,” Ste fumed as she moved forward to hit Aubrey. “You shameless woman! Seducing my husband!”


    Aubrey cowered under the covers while Julian protected her: “Ste, don’t hit her! Listen to me; it’s not what you think! I don’t know how we ended up here either.”


    “Julian, you’re still defending her? Do you think I’m a fool? I want a divorce!”