Love's Cunning Ruse novel Chapter 162

Knowing about Albertine and Lionel's past fling, the thoughtful organizers purposely separated their seating arrangements.

But they were clueless about the beef between Kieran and Elliot. They thought these two guys were just partners, so they placed them together.

Upon learning that there was no awkwardness between Lionel and Albertine, Daphne began to stress about Julie.

She kept throwing glances in Julie's direction.

At that moment, Julie was making eye contact with Adeline. The host was delivering the opening speech. There seemed to be some sort of unspoken tension brewing between Kieran and Elliot.

The spat that happened outside earlier didn't sit well with Daphne. She wanted to ask Lionel to convince the organizers to reseat the four of them, but turned around to find Lionel and Albertine in deep conversation.

And Albertine's hubby, Mr. Farrell, was attentively listening to the host's speech.

In the end, Daphne could only look back at Julie, only to find Julie whispering to Adeline.

Maybe she was overthinking.

She was too far to hear what Julie and Adeline were chattering about.

Actually, Adeline was gossiping.

Probably because she was pissed at the rapport between Elliot and Kieran, she said to Julie, "When you remarried Mr. Hernandez, did you ever consider how your first love would feel?"

Adeline's comment silenced the three people present.

But Adeline acted as if nothing happened, telling Julie, "Doing this will upset my brother, you know!"

"Adeline!" Elliot's face turned sour. He shot Adeline a look, signaling her to zip it.

Although Adeline was a vengeful woman, she knew when to call it quits. Once Elliot spoke up, she shut her mouth.

The atmosphere among the four of them had now become awkward to the extreme.

Not far away, Lionel finally stopped his cheerful chat with Albertine. He glanced at Elliot, then asked Daphne, "If I remember correctly, you know the new Mrs. Hernandez, right?"

Lionel had a good memory. The last time Daphne interviewed him, Julie had shown up and seemed to be waiting for Daphne for a long time. From Daphne's attitude, he guessed she was trying to avoid Julie.

Daphne didn't expect Lionel to be so attentive. She nodded and replied with a smile, "We're great friends!"

After saying this, she suddenly felt she overshared. She was merely Mr. Lionel's date for the evening. He surely wasn't interested in her personal life.

So, Daphne felt embarrassed and let out a few awkward laughs.

Albertine also looked towards Julie. Having been an agent for many years, her observation and sensitivity were definitely not inferior to Daphne's. She immediately noticed the tense atmosphere over there.

Like an old friend of Daphne for many years, Albertine asked with concern, "Your friend isn't in trouble, is she?"

At first, Daphne was a bit worried, but seeing Julie sitting calmly not far away, she confidently said, "She'll be fine! Julie's never lost a fight since she was a kid!"

Lionel asked Daphne, "So, you guys grew up together?"

It took Daphne a moment to realize Lionel was asking about her relationship with Julie, so she replied with a smile, "We met at university."

"So how do you know she's never lost a fight since she was a kid? You two must be very close!" Lionel said, half-seriously, half-jokingly.

"Of course. Actually, I went to the same school as Julie in middle and high school, although we weren't in the same class. I didn't have the courage to get to know Julie then, or we might have become friends earlier. You should know that from middle school to university, Kieran and Julie were always well-known figures in school..."