Love’s Cunning Ruse

Chapter 250
The pot lid next to them started to make noises, and Julie immediately nudged Kieran away, turning around to lift the lid and
check on the meat stewing inside.
“What’ve you got stewing?” The man edged closer, looping his arms around her waist, and resting his head on her shoulder,
planting a little kiss on her earlobe.
Julie felt ticklish and slightly craned her neck, looking at the food in the pot and telling Kieran, “It’s Mexican birria.”
She scooped up a spoonful of sauce, blew on it to cool it down, and brought it to his lips. “Give it a taste. Haven’t cooked in a
while, so not sure if there’s enough
salt.”
Blowing on the sauce to cool it down, her puckered lips looked irresistibly cute. Kieran took a sip and slightly furrowed his brow.
Seeing his expression, Julie felt a bit nervous. She frowned slightly and cautiously asked, “Does it taste bad?”
He shook his head. She asked again, “Then what’s wrong? Spill it...”
As she was about to turn around and give it a taste herself, Kieran grabbed her wrist. She turned around in surprise. “What’s
up?”
“Honey, do we have any salt left at home?” he asked.
Julie glanced at the saltshaker and nodded. “Yeah, we do. What’s up? Does it taste bland?”
The man glanced in the direction of the saltshaker and had a sudden realization. “Oh So there’s still salt left. I thought you
dumped all of it in there!”
Julie looked at him with an embarrassed expression and asked uncertainly, “Is it really that salty? I didn’t put that much salt in...”
“Yeah, it’s salty. Wanna give it a taste?” he asked.
Julie reluctantly turned around and picked up a spoon, ready to taste the food. But the moment she turned around, Kieran pulled
her back. He lowered his head to kiss her lips, lightly biting her soft lips. After the passionate interlude, he gently wiped her lips

with his fingertip, a tender smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
She playfully punched him and brushed his finger off her lips. But he just asked her with a smile, “Did you taste it? Isn’t it super
salty?”
Such a clever excuse to steal a kiss! Julie glared at him and snapped, “It wasn’t salty. It was sweet!”
He was pleasantly surprised by Julie’s sweet reaction. As she turned to serve the food, he embraced her from behind and lifted
the pot lid. “So sweet, I wonder if you’ve put candied fruits in it.”
She slapped his hand away and said, “No candied fruits, just arsenic.”
“I’d eat it even if you were the one who put it in.”
“Actually, it’s witch’s brew. Haha...” her laughter filled the room,
Kieran was torn between laughter and tears. What on earth did he see in this silly wife of his in the first place?
“By the way, I have a surprise for you tonight.” She turned around and draped her arms around his neck.
A surprise? The word ‘surprise’ already gave Kieran anxiety. Nevertheless, he had to maintain a smile and pretend to be excited,
asking her, “What surprise?”
“If I tell you, it won’t be a surprise anymore.” Her words were full of mystery.
Kieran could only feel a headache coming on. Now, every time he heard the word ‘surprise, his reaction was almost like a
conditioned reflex, immediately reminding him of that night, making him feel uncomfortable.
“Honey, I think I might be feeling a bit weak recently...”Kieran’s voice was very low, so Julie didn’t hear him clearly.
She turned around to look at him. “Where are you feeling weak?”
“Why don’t you try the dish and see if it’s too salty?” He suddenly interrupted Julie.
Julie didn’t think much of it and started tasting the food, only to find....
“It’s not?” She turned around to explain to Kieran, only to find that he had already left, his speed even surpassing that of a rabbit.
Shannon came to help, and soon they had all the food on the table.

At the table, Ivan and Kieran were making eye contact.
“Dad, you can’t fight with me over mom, that’s basic morality for you as my father!” The little guy said seriously.
Only to get a reply from Kieran, “You can’t fight with me over my wife. That’s a basic requirement for you as my son.”
Julie handed out the utensils to the father and son duo and laughed helplessly.
Shannon, pulling Noah, said, “A family should be like this, peaceful and happy. If only Mr. Lucian were here...”
Before she could finish her sentence, Noah quickly covered Shannon’s mouth, even though they knew that Kieran and Julie
couldn’t hear them from this distance.
Despite their banter, Kieran and Ivan finally managed to finish their meal peacefully.
After the meal, Shannon went to clean up the table. Ivan tugged at Julie’s arm, asking her to teach him to play the piano. Julie
hadn’t played the piano in a long time. She shook her head and said, “Let your dad teach you! Your dad used to be a gold
medalist at the Chopin International Piano Competition.”
A big deal award?” Ivan turned to look at Kieran, who was reading the news on the sofa.
Julie nodded. “Yeah, of course, it’s a big deal. He used to be my idol!”
Kieran, who had been engrossed in the news just a moment ago, heard this and immediately responded, even though he hadn’t
taken his eyes off the screen, “So, I’m not your idol anymore?”
“I’m now the pride of my mom!” The little guy stretched out two chubby fingers, making a heart shape, and winked at his mom.
“Mom, I love you!” Kieran put down his tablet, stood up, and walked towards Ivan. The little guy quickly hid behind Julie, hugging
her leg with a defensive look on his face.
In one swift move, Kieran picked up Ivan from behind Julie. He looked down at his son with a smile, “You’re my son, so I won’t
treat you badly. If you want to learn piano, I’ll find you the best teacher. Whatever you want to do, I’ll fulfill it. Am I good to you?”
“You liar. When I was little, I said I wanted to go to the moon, and you took me on an airplane at night. When I said I wanted to
touch the sun during the day, you took me on a hot air balloon. Now I want to go to space, and I bet you’re going to lie to me
again!”
Julie couldn’t help laughing, looking at Kieran. “Is this how you fool your son?”

Ivan nodded his head seriously.
In the end, Julie sided with Kieran, saying, “I think it’s better for your dad to find you a professional teacher, and I agree with
that.”
“Well then...” Ivan seemed to ponder for a while before reluctantly saying, “Alright, find me a teacher!” Having said that, Ivan got
down from Kieran’s arms and obediently ran towards his room.
As Kieran carried Julie upstairs, he said, “I didn’t expect the little guy to show interest in something, and it turns out he likes
piano.”
“He might have inherited it from you, Julie seriously replied, taking his hand, and examining it. His long fingers, with knuckles like
carved ivory, were very beautiful Watching him play the piano was also a pleasure to others.
However, he held her hand and said, “He probably got it from you.”
“I never won any gold medals,” she said.
“Didn’t you say you like boys who play piano? You said boys who play piano are the most handsome, wearing white shirts and
black tailcoats, their fingers tapping the keys, elegant and good-looking.”
Julie looked at Kieran in surprise. “Did I say that?”
“What do you think?”
“You did start learning later than me!” Julie realized. “I’ve been forced to learn piano since I was a child, but you started learning
later”
“When I was young, I didn’t understand whether I liked it or not. I only knew that every day when I saw your mom sitting behind
you with a teaching stick supervising you, I thought, what’s so hard about this piano, why is it so hard to learn. I also thought,
why is the teacher so stupid that he can’t even teach piano. So, later, I joined a school club, and after I learned to play the piano,
I realized... it’s not that the teacher is stupid, it’s that you’re dumb.”
“Watch your mouth! That was because I wasn’t putting my mind into learning the piano, I was focused on practicing Brazilian Jiu-
Jitsu!” She shook off his hand and walked towards her room.

Kieran followed Julie and stood at the door. “Honey, let’s change to a three-meter wide bed tomorrow! Let’s get rid of this bed in
your room.”
“My room is so small. If you put a three-meter bed in it, we might as well live separately!”
Kieran glanced at Julie’s bedroom and then at his own. Even though the two rooms were no longer separated, the two beds
gave the impression of living separately. Julie thought for a moment, lifted the quilt, and took out her pillow. She threw her pillow
onto Kieran’s bed, and then patted the quilt, turning around to smile at him. The sweet smile on her face made the corners of
Kieran’s mouth curve up.
“You go take a shower,” she said.
Kieran didn’t refuse and headed for the bathroom.
Julie quickly ran back to her room, then opened the suitcase she brought when she moved in and took out the camera hidden
inside. Holding the heavy camera, she seemed to struggle for a long time in her heart, then, took a deep breath and lightly
slapped her flushed face.
Then she took the camera back to Kieran’s bed and waited quietly. She turned on the camera, found the video from that night,
and imagined what Mr. Hernandez’s
reaction would be if he saw this.
Kieran was taking a shower in the bathroom at that moment and didn’t look relaxed at all. He turned on the showerhead, the
sound of water echoed in the bathroom, but he stood far away from the showerhead and took out his phone.”
After a moment of silence, he unlocked his phone, opened WhatsApp, found his therapist Taylor, hesitated, and sent a message.
After waiting for three or four minutes, Taylor finally replied. Just as Kieran was about to read it, Julie’s voice came from outside.
“Honey, are you done showering?”
Startled, Kieran’s hand slipped, and his phone fell straight into the toilet.