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

Vivian caught a hint of gentleness and exhaustion in Julian’s eyes.

It wasn’t what she had expected.

She had originally thought that since Julian put so much effort into preparing these things for her, he would at least say something—perhaps a "surprise!" or something along those lines.

But he didn’t.

His gaze was calm, and as he looked at her, only a faint smile graced the corners of his lips. It was gentle and irresistible.

"Did you prepare all this?" she asked.

"Mhm." Julian softly acknowledged, adding, "I heard you on the phone this morning. It just so happens that... the Faulkner Group has some collaborative projects with them. Since you like it, I had them send some over."

How straightforward.

Vivian couldn’t help but click her tongue in envy. She wondered if this was the power of being the ultimate corporate boss.

"Thank you," Vivian said politely. She then added, "I fell asleep in the chair just now. I’m so sorry you had to come over and wake me up."

"It’s fine." Julian didn’t mind. Sitting up straight, he placed the magazine he was holding into a nearby drawer and even helped Vivian straighten her covers. "Go to sleep."

With that, he slipped under the covers first.

"Okay," Vivian agreed. After doing a simple skincare routine at her vanity table, she went to bed.

It was a peaceful night.

The next morning, when Vivian woke up, the lingering scent of pleasant aromatherapy still hung in the air. She wiggled her nose, thoroughly enjoying the fragrance.

Today marked the third day of Grandma Faulkner’s hospitalization. According to what the doctor had said earlier, a five-day observation period was the most appropriate. If nothing unexpected happened, they would be able to bring Grandma Faulkner home in another two days.

That was wonderful. Vivian figured that as long as Grandma Faulkner was alright, she could finally put her mind at ease.

After getting up and quickly washing up, Vivian and Julian went downstairs together.

The moment they stepped out of their room, a rather strange smell hit them.

Vivian and Julian exchanged bewildered glances. They both immediately recognized the scent—it smelled like something was burning, and it was burning terribly.

Looking closely, they noticed the door to the first-floor kitchen was firmly shut.

"Julian, this..." Vivian looked toward the kitchen, her eyes filled with confusion. "Ms. Shaw should still be at the hospital taking care of Grandma, right?"

It definitely wasn’t Ms. Shaw. Moreover, given Ms. Shaw’s culinary skills, it was impossible for her to cause such a disaster.

"Yeah, let’s go check." Frowning, Julian’s expression turned somewhat grim. Together with Vivian, he walked toward the kitchen.

As they reached the kitchen door, Vivian clearly heard fits of coughing coming from inside. It was distinctly a woman’s voice.

While Vivian was still puzzled, Julian had already pulled the door open.

Thick smoke immediately billowed out. Vivian nearly choked and instinctively took a step back. Julian instantly stepped in front of her, using his body to shield her from the smoke.

"Stand back a bit. The smoke is too thick; it’s bad for your health and your skin. I’ll just go in and take a look."

Julian shielded Vivian behind him, and after speaking, he stepped into the kitchen.

Watching the smoke-filled room, Vivian remembered her allergic rhinitis and realized it truly wasn’t a good idea for her to go in.

Allergic rhinitis was incredibly bothersome. You never knew when you might suddenly encounter a strange allergen and end up with a runny nose for half an hour. It was pure agony. Furthermore, Vivian was exceptionally sensitive to cooking fumes. Thankfully, the range hood in Julian’s house was highly effective, or else she would never have dared to cook.

Through the haze, Vivian saw Julian’s silhouette vaguely moving about the kitchen. He first walked over to the floor-to-ceiling windows leading to the outdoor garden and pushed both large panels wide open.

Soon after, she heard the loud WHIR of the range hood turning on, followed by Julian’s questioning voice. "Rachel, what are you doing in here?"

Rachel? Rachel Faulkner?

Vivian was somewhat taken aback. As far as she remembered, Rachel didn’t know how to cook. So the person making such a massive racket in the kitchen this morning was Rachel?

She wondered what Rachel was trying to do. It completely baffled her.

At that moment, another bout of coughing echoed from the kitchen. Rachel sounded quite miserable as she sobbed out, "Julian.

"I know what happened before was all my fault. If I hadn’t suddenly needed to go to the washroom and taken Ms. Shaw with me, Grandma wouldn’t have left that spot. She wouldn’t have run into Annie, and she wouldn’t be in the hospital now.

"Julian, you haven’t let me go see Grandma these past few days, and I’ve been so worried.

"Being stuck at home all alone, I had nothing to do. I thought about how, when Ms. Shaw was here, she always had breakfast ready for you two, so I wanted to help out and make breakfast for you as well.

"Julian, I just feel like I’m so useless. I wanted to do something to help. But as you can see, I even managed to mess up making breakfast. I’m sorry."

Standing outside the door, Vivian heard every single word Rachel said.

To be honest, Vivian wasn’t sure if it was because she had witnessed too much ugliness in people’s hearts lately, but surprisingly...

After hearing Rachel’s "pitiful" confession, her very first reaction was sheer disbelief.

Vivian figured that anyone with an ounce of common sense wouldn’t wreck a kitchen like this just by making breakfast. Rachel was a pampered heiress who had never done a single chore since childhood, but even she couldn’t be so clueless as to leave the windows shut when the smoke was this thick.

It really felt a bit fake. However, Vivian also knew that given the current situation, it wasn’t appropriate for her to intervene. It was better to let Julian handle it himself. She completely trusted his judgment.

Inside the kitchen.

Vivian heard Julian sigh. "I sent you home hoping you’d get some good rest. Besides, someone needs to manage things at the company.

"Grandma’s condition isn’t serious. That Annie woman is very strange; with you not there, she won’t be able to latch onto you. I was just worried you wouldn’t be able to handle her.

"Alright, you don’t need to worry about breakfast. Vivian and I can just eat at the hospital when we go visit Grandma.

"Rachel, it’s still early. Go back and rest for a bit, then head straight to the company later.

"If nothing unexpected happens, Grandma should be able to come home in a couple of days. If you’re truly worried about her, just spend more time with her at home from now on, alright?"

Julian’s words sounded as though he genuinely had Rachel’s best interests at heart.

Yet, Vivian noticed something wasn’t quite right.

Huh. Putting it this way, Julian still hadn’t relented.

It seemed he definitely thought Rachel was acting very strange too, right?