Kicked Out, Flash-Married, and Now He Won't Let Me Go

Vivian Lowell hadn’t expected Julian Faulkner to suddenly speak.

Vivian jumped, her body trembling with guilt. She could barely speak clearly as she asked, "Wh-when did you wake up?"

Julian’s eyes still looked groggy with sleep.

He was still drowsy, and his voice was a bit fuzzy. "I woke up right when you touched me," he said. "Vivian Lowell, hmm? What were you trying to do?"

His deep voice, combined with his weary tone, threw Vivian’s heart into even greater disarray.

’What was I trying to do?’

’I wasn’t trying to do anything!’

She’d just noticed how smooth Julian’s cheeks looked, and while she was wondering how they’d feel, her hand moved on its own and touched him.

"I..."

Vivian knew Julian was asking a question he already knew the answer to. Since it was just the two of them in the room, she decided she might as well be brazen about it.

"I wasn’t trying to do anything."

Vivian said, "I was just touching you. What, is that not allowed? It’s not like it felt that great anyway. Geez, so stingy!"

After saying her piece, Vivian, afraid Julian would get angry, quickly turned to get out of bed and leave before he could speak.

But.

Vivian had barely started to move when Julian grabbed her wrist.

Julian’s grip was strong.

Vivian twisted her hand, but she couldn’t break free. She could only glare at Julian, her cheeks puffed out in a huff.

"Let me go!"

Vivian looked at Julian like a flustered rabbit.

But Julian just chuckled softly. After letting Vivian go, he said, "Since you know to be scared, you’d better think about the consequences before you try to provoke me again, understand?"

’Consequences? What consequences?’

Vivian didn’t understand. She gave Julian a confused look.

Julian sighed, looking a bit helpless.

’A man has certain... urges in the morning, and he has to hold them back. And here was Vivian, repeatedly testing his limits... he...’

The two of them were at a standstill for a moment.

Seeing that Julian seemed to be getting up too, Vivian said, "I’ll go wash up first. You can get dressed. Um... I have to go back to the pet hospital later."

"I’ll go with you."

Julian said, then added, "This is your official reopening after the whole raincoat man incident. It’d be better if I went over to take a look."

Vivian thought about it and agreed.

Julian had seen his share of major events and was a very meticulous person. Having him come along could help spot any issues they might have missed.

But...

Vivian remembered something else and asked, "What about Rachel starting her job?"

"Vance Wyatt will handle it." Julian didn’t seem too concerned. "She’s just coming to the company for a cushy, unimportant job."

"Just remember what I told you before."

’What Julian had told her before.’

Vivian knew what he meant.

If Rachel Faulkner approached Vivian, said anything strange, or tried to fish for information, she was to tell Julian.

Vivian had remembered that.

Rachel hadn’t sought her out during this time. When they saw each other at the Faulkner Family’s villa, they just exchanged a few pleasantries and never discussed anything of substance.

Rachel was very busy herself.

After returning to the country, she had made many friends in Aethelburg’s high-society circles. She was constantly going out shopping, to karaoke, or to bars, and didn’t seem to pay much attention to the Faulkner Family’s affairs.

’That’s strange.’

’If she loves going out so much, why the sudden whim to come work at Faulkner Group?’

’She doesn’t seem like the ambitious type, does she?’

Vivian couldn’t reach a conclusion, so she couldn’t be bothered to think about it anymore. In any case, Julian would be keeping an eye on these things himself. She would just help out where she could.

A little after seven, after eating breakfast, Vivian left with Julian and Rachel Faulkner.

When the driver stopped the car in front of Tanya’s Pet Hospital, Rachel Faulkner glanced at the sign with some surprise.

"Julian, Vivian, aren’t you going to the office first today? This pet hospital... has the whole online incident been dealt with?"

Rachel put on a concerned expression, then said regretfully, "It’s a shame I’m allergic to cat hair, or I’d want to adopt a cat to take home."

"’Adopt, don’t shop,’ and reduce the number of strays in the city. Vivian, that’s a great philosophy. You know, when I was abroad, there was an organization like that there, too."

"It’s just that..."

As she spoke, the smile on Rachel’s face suddenly vanished. Her eyes fixed on Vivian, her expression earnest, as if she’d just remembered something.

For a moment, her gaze turned complicated, and she seemed to freeze on the spot.

!?

Vivian’s sixth sense had always been very sharp.

When she saw Rachel suddenly trail off mid-sentence like that, her first instinct was suspicion.

’Rachel was a bit of a schemer.’

’Could she be putting on an act to make me curious about what she was going to say?’

But after a closer look, Vivian realized that wasn’t it.

Rachel seemed to have recalled something that surprised her, but it was also something unpleasant, which was why her smile had disappeared.

Vivian wasn’t particularly interested in the foreign organization she mentioned, so she just said, "Rachel, if you’re allergic to cat hair, there’s nothing to be done about it."

"But as long as you have a loving heart, it’s wonderful even if you don’t adopt an animal."

"I think it’s a good cause, so naturally, people are willing to do it both here and abroad. Don’t you think so, Rachel?"

Rachel snapped back to reality and nodded faintly. She then turned to Julian and said, "Julian. Since you two have business at the pet hospital, I’ll head to the company by myself."

"Should I go there directly now?"

"Yes." Julian nodded, glanced at the driver, and said, "When you get there, Vance Wyatt will arrange everything for you. If you have any questions, just tell him. He’ll take care of it."

"Okay."

Rachel agreed and turned to leave.

Watching the car drive away, Vivian finally said to Julian, "Rachel’s expression was a little strange just now when she mentioned that organization abroad."

At the mention of this, a cold glint flashed in Julian’s eyes.

"Yes."

Julian said coolly, "Her scumbag ex-husband has a distant relative in politics. In that state abroad, they established an Animal Protection Society."

"It’s a huge organization, covering not just cats but also some endangered species. Speaking of which, they’re also of Chinese descent, having emigrated abroad in their early years."

"The whole family is involved—some in environmental protection, some are veterinarians, and others are zoologists. In short, their contributions to academia are significant, so their family’s social standing is very high."

"They also made a lot of money from their patented technologies. They had status and standing. That was probably what Rachel saw in that man back then, which is why she wanted to marry him."

"She just didn’t expect that while this family was so accomplished and seemingly so kind-hearted, her ex-husband, as a distant relative, bore no resemblance to them whatsoever."

"..."

Vivian nodded.

’A dragon has nine sons, and each is different.’

’Even siblings born of the same mother can have many differences, let alone distant relatives.’

’They weren’t raised in that kind of family environment, so it’s normal for their temperaments and personalities to be different.’

As for Julian...

After he finished explaining all this, another matter came to his mind.

’Come to think of it...’

’Something major happened with that family over twenty years ago.’

’They had a biological research company abroad. The president was a fifty-year-old man of Chinese descent, and his daughter and son-in-law were also of Chinese descent.’

’At the time, there was a project involving some animal research within Veridia that had sought their support. The president’s daughter and son-in-law came to the country to help advance the scientific research.’

’But who would have thought...’

’That couple met with an accident.’

’The president’s daughter was already more than nine months pregnant. A family of three all died in Veridia.’

’Abroad, the president of the biotech company was devastated when he learned of the deaths of his daughter, son-in-law, and unborn grandson. The state media even reported on it extensively.’

’Julian was still very young when it happened. He remembered that his mother was supposed to take him to the marine park that day.’

’When the news broke, his mother was deeply saddened. When they took a photo together at the marine park, Julian felt bad for his mom and didn’t want her to be unhappy, so he went to buy her some candy.’

’But he was careless and dropped his coin into a manhole.’

’He was frantic and tried to retrieve it, but his hand couldn’t fit. He tried several times, scraping his arm until it nearly bled.’

’Fortunately, the young lady selling candy thought he was cute and gave him some anyway. That’s why, even though Julian was very young when it happened, he always remembered it.’

’After that incident, it seemed some things happened within the biotech company, but Julian wasn’t very clear on the details.’

Later.

The biotech company continued to develop well. In contrast, the Faulkner Family, under the management of Julian’s father, was in steady decline. It wasn’t long after that Rachel Faulkner became pregnant out of wedlock and insisted on getting married.