Love's Cunning Ruse novel Chapter 171

Julie and Adeline looked at each other, the air between them thick with tension.

Finally, Adeline was the first to break the silence.

"You don't have to glare at me like that! I promise, I'm not here to steal your man," Adeline said, her laughter filled with allure.

If anyone else wore that smile, Julie would have been put off. But on Adeline, it was nothing short of captivating. It was strange how beautiful women seemed to have a certain privilege, regardless of their audience.

With a smile, Julie turned to Adeline, "Shall we continue talking about Elliot?"

"Are you sure you want to discuss Elliot with me?" Adeline raised an eyebrow. She answered Julie's question, "I'd be more than happy to."

"Did you really mean it when you said you liked Elliot last time?" Julie asked.

Julie believed Adeline's confession from before. Even though Adeline had confessed her feelings for Elliot in a rather nonchalant way, both intuition and logic told Julie that Adeline was telling the truth.

If Adeline didn't really love Elliot, she wouldn't have decided to run away from home, even knowing the dangers. All this just for Elliot's sake.

In the face of Julie's question, Adeline responded freely, laughing, "Absolutely! If I didn't care for Elliot, would I be concerned about you and Kieran getting back together? I sought you out for Elliot's happiness."

Truth be told, Adeline hadn't asked her to meet, she had just dragged her out without considering her opinion.

"So, Ms. Sanches..."

"Don't call me Ms. Sanches, I was never meant to belong to the Sanches family," Adeline said, "You can call me Adeline. Consider it a privilege for being so pretty."

Julie fell silent.

"Alright, Adeline," Julie looked at Adeline, conceding, "I don't know how to answer your questions and I don't have the answers myself. Also, I don't think I owe you any explanations, what do you think?"

"Do you really... not like Elliot at all? I mean, in the way between a man and a woman?"

Just as Julie was about to reply, the door to their private room was abruptly pushed open.

Both Adeline and Julie turned towards the entrance, finding Elliot standing there. Dressed in a well-tailored black suit, his deep gaze focused on Adeline. He walked straight up to Adeline, and with a hint of apology in his eyes, he turned to Julie, "Has she been causing trouble for you again?"

Seeing that Elliot was about to take her away, Adeline laughed, "We're just having a friendly chat, how can that be causing trouble! Right? Juliebelle."

Adeline thought, since she had made her intentions so clear to Julie, if Julie still acted like she didn't know her at all, it would be a clear sign of disrespect. And since she was here for Elliot, Julie should feel a bit guilty. So, there's no way Julie would let her down.

But before Julie could respond, Elliot had already walked over to her, saying, "I'll give you a lift back to your office."

Not wanting to stay and answer Adeline's question, Julie apologized to Adeline before leaving with Elliot.

Just as Adeline was about to follow them, Elliot turned around and asked, "Adeline, do you want me to take you back to the Sanches family?"

Upon hearing this, Adeline fell silent and stopped following after them.

Stepping out of the restaurant, Julie turned to Elliot with a smile, "Thanks, Elliot, but I can get back on my own. You may go and comfort Adeline."

"If I go back now, she might be upset. I'll drop you off at your office, let her cool down." Elliot looked at Julie, adding, "I also have something to tell you."

Not wanting to refuse him, especially since he had come mainly to help her out, Julie agreed.

"Julie, there's something I haven't told you." Elliot suddenly turned to look at Julie, who was slowly following behind him.

Julie, who had been looking down at her own feet, looked up at him in confusion when he spoke, "What is it?"

Elliot fell silent for a moment, during which Julie could clearly see the change in his expression.

Thinking that he wasn't going to say anything else, Julie walked silently beside Elliot without questioning him further.

However, she then heard his somewhat heavy voice, "Do you still love Kieran?"

Julie's response was a long silence.

Julie wasn't intentionally avoiding Elliot's question, she was contemplating. If she were to answer according to her initial gut reaction, she thought, the answer would be yes.

She had never denied the fact that she loved Kieran, but she couldn't quite explain how much she loved him.