Love's Cunning Ruse novel Chapter 114

"Do you think you've totally ironed out the issues with Creative Nexus Media?" Kieran asked, lounging on the couch, giving Julie an icy look.

Julie moved closer to Kieran, nodded confidently and responded, "Sure, the court has already..."

She stopped mid-sentence, frowning at Kieran, as if a thought suddenly struck her. Then she asked, "What are you implying?"

Suddenly, Kieran grabbed Julie's wrist, pulling her onto his lap.

Caught off guard, Julie ended up plopping down on Kieran's lap, both sinking into the couch.

Just as Julie was about to struggle, Kieran grabbed the remote and turned on the TV.

On the screen, Nexus, the head of Creative Nexus Media, was making a bold announcement. Kieran didn't have her watching the TV just to see Nexus declare bankruptcy.

Sure enough, Nexus was telling the media that he was appealing against the court's decision, demanding a retrial against Kieran.

Watching the press conference, Julie thought Nexus must have lost his marbles!

Or there was another possibility.

"What a coincidence! Just yesterday I mentioned terminating the contract, and today Nexus is appealing. Nexus is publicly opposing you; why do you think he's doing that?" Julie glanced back at Kieran, hinting at something.

Kieran, feigning innocence, replied in a serious manner, "After all, people do crazy things when they're cornered. Maybe you've backed Nexus into a corner?"

"Mr. Hernandez, you're so low!" Julie pushed Kieran away, her delicate face flushing with anger.

But the man on the couch just chuckled nonchalantly, "If I'm so despicable and low, what did you see in me in the first place?"

"I must have been blind back then!"

"And now?"

"I can see clearly now!" Julie blurted out, heading straight for Kieran's desk, furiously rummaging through his drawers, refusing to believe she couldn't find the contract.

Clearly, Kieran was messing with her. No wonder his secretary had disappeared after dropping them off at the hotel the previous night.

Julie finally figured out what Kieran had his secretary do; he must have threatened Nexus.

Kieran just sat on the couch, watching Julie go through all his drawers.

Julie had always been complaining in front of him, mostly going along with his wishes. He had seldom seen her lose her temper, let alone get furious like that.

Only once at the fast-food joint had Julie exploded like that.

Kieran had to admit that he found her quite adorable when she was angry. He preferred this passionate Julie over the extremely indifferent one.

Despite turning the office upside down, Julie still couldn't find the contract.

She knew all along that if Kieran could sit there watching her rummage through the drawers, the contract wasn't there. Julie was just venting her anger.

Only when she finally stopped, panting, did Kieran calmly stand up, key in the lounge's password, and tell Julie, "Sweetheart, tidy up a bit, or my employees might misunderstand our relationship."

Julie thought, "Isn't our relationship obvious enough? It's already in the papers!"

Ignoring Kieran's offered handkerchief, Julie glared at him, "You purposely said that last night, didn't you?"

"I said a lot of things last night; which one are you referring to?" Kieran feigned ignorance.

Julie took a deep breath, patiently looking at Kieran, "If you hadn't said I was your woman last night, I wouldn't be on the front page today!"

"Oh, my bad. I forgot to say 'once'. I've asked Karl to prepare a press release; a correction will be published soon." He leaned against the door, speaking in a serious tone.

Upon hearing him say that, Julie truly had a headache.

Adding 'once' to that sentence meant she was once his woman, right?

Then he wanted Karl to issue a press release to correct it? Did he want the whole world to know about their past marriage?

Julie was so angry she was speechless, finally uttering, "You're ruthless!" before storming out of the office, bumping into Tina, who was holding a cup of coffee.

"Have you seen Karl?" Julie asked Tina.

Tina, nearly dropping her coffee in surprise, could only reply, "He's in the PR department."

"Thanks." Finishing, Julie headed straight for the PR department.

Tina then knocked on Kieran's office door.

"Come in." Kieran's voice came from inside.

Julie patted her chest, "Good, Mr. Hernandez sent me over; he wants to cancel the press release."

"Mr. Hernandez?" Karl looked incredulous.

Given Mr. Hernandez's protective nature towards his wife, how could he allow rumors to continue to spread?

Seeing Karl's disbelief, Julie nodded emphatically, pushing Karl towards the PR department. "This is really Kieran's idea; don't you believe me? I'm also involved in this matter. Kieran said he has other arrangements and asked to delay the press release. Go and tell the PR department.”

"But..."

"I told you it's Kieran's idea; why don't you believe me? If anything goes wrong, you can just blame it on me!" Julie impatiently pushed Karl into the PR department.

Karl insisted; he really was trying to cooperate, but that press release was an issue.

"Did Mr. Hernandez really order its cancellation?" Karl’s voice was a bit loud, mainly for Kieran on the other end of the line, but it startled Julie.

After a minute or two, Mr. Hernandez didn’t call back, which, according to Karl's years of tacit understanding with him, almost clarified Mr. Hernandez's intentions.

So Karl cooperated with Julie and walked into the PR department. He then told the head of the department, "The press release I asked you to prepare, don't bother anymore, we won't be holding a press conference for now, cancel all other activities, Mr. Hernandez has a new plan, that's it."

Despite their confusion, they had no choice but to follow Karl's instructions.

Seeing this, Julie finally breathed a sigh of relief and patted Karl on the shoulder, "Thank you, Karl."

Karl managed a weak smile, "I should report to Mr. Hernandez..."

"No need, I'll do it!" And with that, Julie disappeared into the elevator.

Once Karl realized what happened, he put the phone back in his ear and said, "Mr. Hernandez..."

"Mmm, you performed well," Kieran said with a hint of mischief in his voice, then hung up.

Some office workers noticed Julie rushing into Kieran's office again, and just as they were about to start gossiping, the elevator doors opened once more.

Annalise Hansen appeared at the elevator entrance in a white lace dress, smiling, greeting everyone, and distributing the pastries she brought.

Then, she gracefully smiled at Tina and casually asked as she walked towards Kieran's office, "Is Kieran in the office?"