Chapter 150: What She Wants
Julian Faulkner sensed the difference. Why? The message Ms. Shaw sent him read like a subordinate reporting to a superior—purely routine. However, the one she sent to Vivian Lowell felt much more like a message meant for family. How could that be?
Vivian observed Julian, catching the confusion in his eyes.
"PFFT."
Unable to hold back, Vivian burst out laughing. "Julian~ why do you look so upset?" she teased.
Julian looked up at her, his expression utterly serious.
Her lips curled upward into a continued smile. "It must be because you’re always so stern at home. To Ms. Shaw, interacting with you is probably no different from how Vance Wyatt interacts with you.
"That’s why I keep saying you need to smile more, Julian. Don’t you think?"
Julian nodded thoughtfully. It was true that he rarely smiled at home. His rare moments of gentleness were reserved solely for Grandma Faulkner. Was that why Ms. Shaw seemed so distant from him?
Smile more? He lifted his gaze to look at Vivian. Her smile right now was lovely, and the two little canine teeth peeking out were incredibly cute. Should he smile like her? That felt a bit difficult.
Vivian watched as Julian tried his hardest to mimic a "smile." Something felt terribly off. Unable to help herself, she patted his shoulder.
"Julian, maybe you should practice in front of a mirror first. To be completely honest, right now, you kind of look like... a zombie."
Hearing this, Julian instantly dropped his smile and turned to leave.
Was he angry? Vivian stared at his retreating back, scratching her ear as she gave a helpless shrug. It wasn’t like she did it on purpose. Since he was fuming right now, she figured it was best not to bother him. She would look for him later after he cooled down. Having made up her mind, she returned to the study.
After turning on her computer, Vivian dove straight into her work. Before she knew it, over an hour had slipped away, and it was almost midnight.
"YAWN."
Vivian yawned, her eyes feeling a bit dry. She leaned back against her reclining chair and closed her eyes to rest them for a moment. She had only gone through half of her emails. Most were from business partners, with a small fraction being job applications. The vast majority of these messages had flooded her inbox tonight, right after the press conference.
Clearly, the title of "Miss Nox of the International Designers Association" carried immense weight, drawing people in like moths to a flame.
At first, Vivian only intended to rest her eyes for a bit. But as she kept them closed, her head grew heavier and heavier, and her eyelids refused to open. She was so sleepy. She struggled for just a brief moment before giving up.
She thought, "I’ll just rest for a little while. Work is never-ending anyway. I’ll take a quick nap and continue when I wake up." With that thought in mind, she drifted off to sleep.
Evidently, it wasn’t a peaceful slumber. Since she was sleeping in a chair, her head had nothing solid to rest against. As she slept, her body unconsciously slouched, causing her head to bob up and down like a chicken pecking at grain.
Vivian felt a bit frustrated in her sleep, yet she was overwhelmingly exhausted. She debated whether she should move to the sofa to lie down for a bit, but she worried that if she did, she wouldn’t wake up until the next morning. What should she do?
Just as she was at a loss, her head continuing its rhythmic bobbing as she wondered if she should get up and wash her face to wake herself up, Julian’s voice drifted into her ear.
"Why are you sleeping here?" he asked, his tone laced with a hint of helplessness.
Hearing his voice instantly chased away Vivian’s drowsiness. She forced her eyes open, only to find Julian incredibly close to her. His face was right in front of hers, and his posture suggested he was trying to carry her back to her room to sleep.
Startled, Vivian nearly jumped out of her chair.
"Julian!" she cried out.
Julian paused his movements and looked at her. "You’re awake? Why were you sleeping here?"
After asking, he glanced at the computer screen in front of her. Knowing she probably hadn’t finished her work, he added, "No matter how important work is, you need to remember to rest.
"It’s late. Go to sleep first, okay? I’ve drawn a hot bath for you if you want to wash up."
Vivian couldn’t help but marvel at his thoughtfulness once again. After that little scare and seeing his face in such close proximity, she truly wasn’t sleepy at all anymore.
"Okay, I’ll go wash up then. I’m sorry for bothering you so late," Vivian said politely.
Julian simply shook his head without a word and turned to head back to his room.
Seeing him leave, Vivian breathed a sigh of relief. She then made her way into the bathroom, deciding a shower was the first order of business.
As soon as she stepped inside, she froze.
Huh? Where did her white bath towel go? It had been replaced by a pink towel featuring LinaBell. It was the limited-edition Disney one that had sold out on their official website in less than five minutes!
Where did this towel come from? Vivian was shocked. She remembered complaining about this very thing to Eleanor Rhodes on the phone while heading to the hospital that morning. She had grumbled about Disney’s artificial scarcity marketing. She had been busy the previous night and hadn’t had the time to snatch one up online. By the time she remembered, only five minutes had passed, yet when she logged onto the site, she found it was already sold out! She had been incredibly disappointed and gnashing her teeth in frustration at the time.
So... did Julian overhear her phone call with Eleanor and manage to get this towel for her?
Touched, Vivian was tempted to wrap the towel around herself and run out to ask him if that was what had happened. Fortunately, she held back. AHEM. She had already taken off her clothes. Striding out to question him like this would be far too awkward.
After washing up, she returned to the room. She knocked lightly on the door, pushing it open only after hearing Julian say, "Come in."
The room was dimly lit. At a glance, Vivian spotted the scented candle resting in front of her. It was another item from the limited-edition Disney LinaBell collaboration—something she had desperately wanted but failed to buy. And now, here it was, sitting right before her eyes!
No wonder. She had been wondering why she immediately caught a whiff of a sweet scent upon entering the room. It didn’t smell like Julian’s usual cologne. As it turned out, it was the fragrance of the scented candle she had been yearning for.
Did Julian...
Vivian looked toward him. Julian was holding a current affairs magazine. Sensing her gaze, he looked up as well.
At that exact moment, their eyes met.