Love's Cunning Ruse novel Chapter 87

"Julien?" Julie was taken aback, her face filled with disbelief at running into Julien here.

Julien gave a slight nod, "Hop in."

Quickly, she spun around and hopped into the passenger seat. Their meeting was rather unconventional.

Surprised, Julie asked, "When did you get back?"

"Just recently, where you headed?" Julien asked.

Julien had short black hair, no makeup, but her smooth skin was radiant. She was dressed in a black top and pants, a sleek black watch rested on her slim wrist, perfectly matching her cool demeanor.

Julie looked at Julien but didn’t answer her question, instead, she asked, "Are you free?"

"What's up?" Julien asked.

"I’ve had a bit of a fallout with my landlord, who’s now in the hospital because of me. They're asking for five thousand bucks for medical expenses and compensations. I want to visit the hospital, but I'm afraid they might do something rash." Julie said.

"Which hospital?" Julien cut her off.

Julie grinned at her, "Hope Hospital."

Julien set the GPS to Hope Hospital, then turned to Julie, "I've been to your rental place."

"I moved out after the fallout with the landlord. Why did you suddenly come back? How long are you planning to stay?" Julie asked out of curiosity.

Julien answered nonchalantly, "Not sure."

Julie and Julien first met in Milan, Italy. Back then, Julie was the daughter of the Abraham family. She planned to attend Milan Fashion Week with Bertha, but to her surprise, Bertha stood her up.

Since she had already booked the tickets, Julie decided to stick to the original plan and headed to Milan alone. She booked a room at the Armani Hotel right in the heart of Milan.

It was Halloween. In Milan, people usually brought white or yellow chrysanthemums to cemeteries to honor the dead. Young Italians also started to participate in various Halloween celebrations. During Halloween, there were amazing live performances, stage magic, realistic zombies and ghosts, as well as horror movie screenings everywhere. Especially in a big city like Milan, there were many Halloween-themed costume parties every year.

That night, Julie strolled around the city center. After having her fill of fun, she decided to head back to the hotel.

But on her way back, she came across Julien, who was lying in a pool of blood. Despite the darkness, the dimly lit alley, and the snow falling down, Julien was lying in her pool of blood, incredibly noticeable.

Julie was terrified; she thought Julien was dying. Her immediate reaction was to dial 911, but to her surprise, a barely conscious Julien suddenly pointed a gun at her, warning weakly, "No cops!"

Naturally, Julie didn't think Julien was bluffing, she was so scared that she even dropped her phone.

"I won't call the cops. Please, I'm just a passerby." Julie said.

In the dim light, Julie couldn't see Julien's face clearly. What surprised Julie was that Julien eventually let her go. By the time Julie reached the hotel, panting heavily, she realized her legs were trembling.

She had just narrowly escaped danger, but for some odd reason, Julie remembered the picture of her and Kieran in her phone.

So, half an hour later, she went back thinking that Julien might have got help already, but only to find out she was still lying there, lifeless.

Julie mustered courage, disarmed Julien and checked her pulse. She was expecting to confirm that Julien was dead. But to her surprise, a dagger was suddenly pressed against her neck.

How could naive Julie have guessed that Julien, a woman, would not only carry a gun but also a dagger? And how could she have expected that a woman on the brink of death would still threaten others?

In the end, under Julien's coercion, Julie took her to her suite at the Armani Hotel. Since it was Halloween, people were everywhere, covered in fake blood, so no one paid much attention to the blood-soaked Julien. They thought she was just in a costume.