Chapter 9

At the Azure Bay Hotel

Julia watched Henry's car disappear down the road.

She was worried he might come back, so she hung out in the coffee shop for another five minutes. Once she was sure he was gone, she called Caroline, "He's gone. He didn't give you a hard time, did he?"

Caroline let out a long, deep breath.

Meeting Henry just now was like a nightmare she would never forget.

How could someone be so terrifying?

Caroline still spoke with a hint of lingering fear, "Julia, my legs are still shaking. Henry is so scary! His presence is so overwhelming, I almost couldn't hold it together."

Julia could imagine the scene and felt a pang of sympathy for Caroline. "I don't even know how to thank you enough."

Caroline chuckled. "How about you join me for a drink tonight?"

"Sure."

Caroline packed up the food she had ordered from the Azure Bay Hotel and took it back to her villa in Neoville.

After making sure Joseph and Stephen were fed, Julia sent them upstairs to play.

Caroline took a few beers out of the fridge and set them on the dining table.

She opened one bottle and handed another to Julia.

"Julia, I don't get it. Didn't you guys get divorced? Why are you so scared to see him now? What happened six years ago?" Caroline even wondered if Julia had done something drastic to Henry, like attacking him out of revenge.

Otherwise, why would there be such deep animosity between Julia and Henry?

Henry had someone he liked.

Julia divorcing him should have been a favor to him, right?

He should be grateful to Julia.

The worst that could happen when they met would be that they were like strangers who once knew each other well.

"Well..." Julia hesitated for a moment before telling Caroline what she had done to Henry.

Caroline was stunned. "So, your kids were conceived that time?"

"Yes." Julia sighed, her eyes lowering slowly.

It was a cruel twist of fate.

Julia hadn't planned on coming back, so she had done things thoroughly.

Who would have thought that after six years, she would return, and with his children no less?

"I just don't want him to know about Joe and Steve. Plus, he definitely won't let what I did slide. If it were just me, I wouldn't be afraid of him at all. But now, I have Joe and Steve to think about," Julia said.

She paused for a few seconds, then laughed at herself. "Maybe I'm overthinking it. I probably don't matter to him anymore. He might have forgotten, and I'm the only one still hung up on it."

"You're right to be cautious!" Caroline thought for a moment and said, "Let me tell you how I felt. When he came in, he kept questioning me. I found his child, and he did a background check on me. He even found our private room. It felt like he was looking for you. Do you think he might have recognized your voice?"

It was possible because Julia had recognized his voice.

Thinking about Caroline's words, Julia's first reaction wasn't fear but a sharp pang in her heart.

Caroline saw Julia struggling and tried to comfort her. "Julia, try to think positively. It was just a feeling I had. And Neoville is a big place. It's not like you two are gonna bump into each other every day."

"Maybe," Julia replied, taking a sip of her beer just as Joseph and Stephen came running downstairs.

Joseph and Stephen could bathe themselves now. Their hair was still damp, and their flawless little faces looked like those of angels.

"Mommy! Aren't we great?"

"Yes, my babies are the best."

Caroline, who had always been against marriage, forgot her stance the moment she saw Joseph and Stephen.

She suddenly wanted to find a handsome man and have children right away.

"You two are so young and already so handsome. You're going to make me swoon." Caroline said as she pinched their cheeks and showered them with kisses.

Joseph and Stephen didn't dare move or resist.

Their expressions made Julia laugh.

Joseph and Stephen looked at Julia with pleading eyes, and she rescued them from Caroline's clutches.

Julia quickly changed the subject to distract Caroline.

"Caroline, I'm back for work, and you know I might be very busy. I can't always take care of Joseph and Stephen. Do you know any good preschools around here?" Julia said.

Caroline said, "There's a prestigious preschool in Neoville that's quite famous. I heard other preschools are bilingual, but this one teaches seven languages. And the teachers here are known to be very gentle."

"That sounds great." Julia immediately went online to check it out.

She wanted to see if the reviews matched Caroline's description.

While Julia and Caroline were researching preschools, Joseph and Stephen sighed simultaneously.

"Joseph, isn't going to preschool a waste of time?" Stephen asked, looking troubled.

Joe immediately put a finger to his lips and signaled for silence.

They were smart enough not to need preschool.

But to let their mommy work without worry, Joseph and Stephen would cooperate.

It was late at night.

A crescent moon hung in the sky, casting a soft glow.

The Hearst Mansion was adorned with colorful lights, making it look like a castle glowing in the night.

Inside the Mansion, Henry had just tucked his little princess into bed.

His usually sharp eyes were now filled with rare tenderness.

He quietly stepped out of the room.

Asher had been waiting for a while and spoke softly, "I checked. The surveillance at the Azure Bay Hotel was conveniently down during the time we were there. There's nothing."

"Oh?" Henry's eyes darkened. "Isn't that quite the coincidence?"

Asher had also found it suspicious, but sometimes life had these coincidences.

"Maybe it just broke down suddenly," Asher said. "We haven't had any news about Ms. Kennedy for years. She couldn't have just come back out of the blue."

Henry didn't respond, just glanced out the window.

The night was deep, and his eyes were even darker.

No one knew what he was thinking.

Asher didn't dare make a sound and stood still.

Thirty seconds later, Henry gave a faint nod, signaling Asher to leave.