Chapter 239: Relationship
The moment Julian called out to Vivian, she felt the urge to turn around and walk away.
She really didn’t want to jump to conclusions, but this recent string of events was making it hard for her to think rationally.
Perhaps all couples who are deeply in love are prone to such problems.
Just as Vivian was about to turn away, the foreign woman spoke first, greeting her in very broken Chinese.
"Are you Mrs. Faulkner? Julian mentioned you to me. Hello, my name is Una Young."
Una politely extended a hand to Vivian, offering a handshake.
Unable to turn away now that Una had addressed her, Vivian glanced at the woman’s white-gloved hand and then her Western-style cocktail dress. ’She looks just like a Princess.’
’So Una knows I’m Julian’s wife.’
On some strange impulse, Vivian shook Una’s hand. Julian finally saw his chance to explain. "Una is my cousin," he said.
"She’s always lived abroad. She came to Veridia this time for a combination of tourism and research."
’His... his cousin?’
Vivian stared, stunned. Looking at Una’s distinctly Western features, she could hardly wrap her head around it.
Seeing her confusion, Una elaborated, "My mother was the older sister of Julian’s mother, which makes us cousins. But my mother died young, and my father was a womanizer who drank all day."
"I have many siblings, and I wasn’t exactly the favorite. In that respect, I’m nothing like Julian."
"My father is from Gallia, and I take after him. I don’t look like my mother at all. I’m sorry for the misunderstanding. Julian and I are truly blood-related cousins."
𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺
"I came to Veridia this time as the head of a certain cosmetics brand, wanting to survey the market here! That’s why I came to Cyrina—to check out the selection at the duty-free shops!"
Una’s Chinese was admittedly poor and her accent was thick, but she had a surprisingly large vocabulary and managed to get her points across fluently enough.
Vivian suddenly felt awkward, her face flushing red. Una continued, "When we were passing by just now, Julian told me you designed all the jewelry for this brand."
"I thought, ’My goodness, my sister-in-law is so talented!’ So I asked Julian to bring me inside for a look. I just didn’t expect you to show up so suddenly!"
"Are you here shopping at the duty-free stores today, too?"
Vivian nodded instinctively. As her mind finally caught up, she realized something wasn’t right.
’Wait!’
’The staff member who stopped me just now clearly said that Julian had something for me and that I should come get it.’
’But when I got here, Julian was obviously surprised to see me. That must mean he never sent anyone to get me!’
’In other words, whoever sent me that picture message had bad intentions from the start. They must not have known who Una really was!’
’They just assumed Julian was cheating and wanted to destroy our relationship!’
’A few minutes ago, that person must have seen Julian and Una come to the jewelry store. Thinking they could make us have a huge fight, they had a staff member lure me over!’
’If Una and Julian had really been having an affair,’ Vivian thought, ’I know myself. I would never have forgiven him.’
’When it comes to cheating, it’s either never, or it’s countless times!’
’It’s unforgivable. If my partner ever did something like that, I’d cut them out of my life without a second thought!’
"Julian, Una, there’s something I need to tell you."
After a moment of consideration, Vivian decided to tell Julian and Una everything that had just happened.
Una was shocked.
She couldn’t believe someone had been taking secret photos of her. She looked furious. "That’s a violation of my privacy! It’s against the law!"
Julian, however, was perfectly calm. Looking at Vivian’s phone, he asked, "Vivian, do you know whose number this is?"
Vivian shook her head. The number was registered locally in Cyrina, but she didn’t know anyone here, so she had no idea who could have done it.
Most likely, the person didn’t want to reveal their identity and got a new number after arriving in Cyrina.
"Since we don’t know... then... Vivian, I have an idea. It might require a bit of help from you, though."
"It’s no trouble." Vivian smiled, not minding at all.
’They were a married couple, after all. They should help each other when things get tough!’
The photo really was just a trick of the angle.
Una was wearing very high heels and had stumbled a moment ago, twisting her ankle and nearly falling.
The bodyguards surrounding Una were not just for show; they instantly caught her. Julian had only looked over to ask if she was all right.
Once he knew she was fine, there was no further contact between them!
As for what happened at the jewelry store, Julian had already explained everything to Vivian.
After Julian and Vivian finished discussing it, they concluded that the culprit was definitely trying to destroy their marriage.
This person was hiding in the shadows, their identity and ultimate goal a complete mystery. It was all highly suspicious!
So, Julian decided to lure the snake out of its hole.
Whoever it was had planned this extensively, even hiring people to tail Julian and Vivian. It must have taken a lot of effort to get that one misleading photo.
Since that was the case, how could Julian let all their "hard work" go to waste?
He’d play along with their little scheme and see what they were really after.
「A few minutes later.」
Vivian smashed a display case in the jewelry store. Cursing while wiping away tears, she stormed out, with Eleanor Rhodes and Finn following, their faces full of righteous anger.
As she was leaving, Vivian even screamed that she wanted a divorce from Julian.
Julian didn’t chase after her. He just stood at the entrance of the jewelry store, quietly watching her go. Una stood beside him and gently straightened his collar.
After a moment, Julian and Una went back into the store and resumed shopping for jewelry.
It was as if...
...after this incident, Vivian and Julian had truly, irrevocably split.