Evan chose a restaurant specializing in Veridia cuisine.
Raine Kane sent Juliana a message, informing her that Elias had been to the café after they left.
Juliana didn’t reply.
After looking over the menu, she ordered two light vegetarian dishes. Evan smiled and asked, "Why have you turned into a rabbit?"
He added a few dishes she used to favor and two new sweet and sour ones.
Once the dishes were served, the sweet and sour ones suited Juliana’s taste; she had some vegetarian dishes too, but not much.
She ate quietly, with a trace of worry lingering between her brows.
"Worried Elias will come looking?" Evan put down his wine glass, jokingly asked.
Juliana didn’t respond, and Evan said plainly, "Relax and eat. Since I’ve brought you here, naturally I have things under control..."
He smiled.
"If it were the Elias of the past he might have been worth some concern, but the man he is now is not worth mentioning."
Juliana still didn’t respond, slowly wiped the corner of her mouth.
Evan glanced at her dining manner without addressing it.
After the meal, he didn’t insist on keeping her but drove her home himself.
As they approached a street away from Darroway Street, Juliana requested to stop.
Evan pulled over at the roadside but didn’t unlock the door.
"Juliana," he turned to her, his gaze focused and earnest, "Everything I said at the café was from the heart. I was wrong before, but if you’re willing to turn back now, no matter what you’ve been through, even..."
He paused.
"Even if you have someone else’s child, I would treat them as my own and regard you as I always have. As long as you turn back."
Instead of feeling touched by his words, Juliana felt a jolt.
He spotted I’m pregnant?
"Evan," she said coldly, her voice devoid of any fluctuation, "First of all, stop speculating about my physical condition without cause. It’s very impolite and unnecessary. Secondly..."
Her indifferent gaze became meaningful.
"Don’t ask if I can turn back. If Nathan Carter is Stella Windsor, tell me, what would you do? Keep asking me to consider your overall situation, forced to accept your helplessness, endure the pain of being sacrificed time and again, or show me something different?"
Waiting for Evan’s response for two seconds, she raised her brow and added, "Remember, Nathan Carter’s backing now is Dylan Paxton."
If you move against him, Evan won’t fare well.
And Evan’s reaction indeed didn’t exceed Juliana’s expectations.
He fell silent, and she saw the turbulence and concern in his eyes.
Juliana laughed and unlocked the door herself.
"So between us, there’s no ’as before’ anymore. Whether it’s you, Elias, or anyone else, I trust only myself, and what I can hold in my hands now!"
Having said that, she unbuckled the seatbelt and got out of the car.
There was still quite a distance from this street to Darroway Street. After getting off the car, Juliana walked a bit, and Raine caught up.
"Nathan Carter’s hair has already been delivered to Nivoria Appraisal Center, and the police have Stella Windsor’s DNA data. Once the results are out, they can be compared. But I have some bad news here."
Juliana looked at the small goods displayed on the roadside and spoke without lifting her head: "Go ahead."
"The special equipment technology access permit application from ’Genesis’ was rejected again."
This was an anticipated result, and Juliana’s emotions were unaffected.
"Dylan Paxton is determined to succeed, the application will definitely not pass—but once it comes to light, this account might become a catalyst for his downfall..."
Juliana stopped abruptly.
Her gaze fell on a box of small tangerines placed at the entrance of a fruit store.
The sign said half off.
Juliana asked the owner, "Why so cheap?"
The owner frankly said: "Ordered wrong stock, very sour."
Juliana and Raine each tasted half.
As soon as the tangerine entered her mouth, Raine’s face turned sour as if creating a meme, but Juliana found the taste just right.
She bought two pounds, asking the owner to pack them in an opaque paper bag.
The two walked back to the courtyard.
Upon entering, Elias stood alone in the yard, back to the moonlight, face in shadow, exuding coldness.
Juliana said to Raine, "I probably won’t go out tonight, you should rest too."
Raine nodded and left.
Juliana returned eating the small tangerines, holding the paper bag in one hand, and two more in the other.
As she walked the path, she headed towards the side room.
"Back?" Elias’s tone wasn’t high, but obviously displeased.
"Mm, you haven’t rested?"
Juliana’s tone was flat, not stopping as she passed him.
The next second, he grabbed her wrist and yanked her back.
Juliana was caught off guard, gasping as she stumbled backwards.
She didn’t care that the two tangerines rolled to the ground, clutching the paper bag, she fell into Elias’s arms.
The man appeared to confine her, but was in fact holding her, keeping her from falling.
"What are you doing?"
Juliana looked up at him, face tinged with a blush from shock and slight anger.
"Disappeared all day, where you went, whom you were with, don’t you owe me an explanation?"
Juliana saw no anger but a hint of anxiety on his face, without needing to observe knowing Iris was probably watching them quietly from a nearby corner.
A fleeting thought crossed her mind and she retreated from his arms, hanging unabashed anger on her flushed face.
"Don’t you already know whom I’m with? Elias, under our agreement, I’m not obligated to explain anything to you."
"Juliana!" Elias’s persona lacked patience, easily provoked by her, "Don’t challenge my limits, don’t think of cheating on me, stay away from him."
However, Juliana laughed.
"So you’re allowed to bring back a mistress, and I’m forbidden from speaking to my ex-husband? You challenged my limits first, what gives you the right to ask me to stay away from Evan now?"
Elias stepped forward, hand clenched into a fist.
"We’re still married now, I have the right to demand your loyalty."
"Loyalty?"
Juliana went all out with her act, displaying a mixed expression of resentment, vengeful delight, and deliberate flaunting.
"You demand from me something you yourself haven’t done. Ha, do you honestly think you’re still capable as before? Let me tell you, the reason you can stand here now, holding your current status, is because you’re still my husband. If Evan were the one standing here today, as soon as I wish, the outcome would be the same."
Elias didn’t expect that she would speak so fiercely for that man against him.
"You’re comparing him to me?"
"Why can’t he be compared to you? You think marrying Iris will earn you benefits from Dylan Paxton? Believe it or not, with ’Genesis’ technology now, getting Evan to Dylan Paxton’s side combined with his own financial capacity, would absolutely make Old Mr. Paxton discard you like a stray dog!"
Rage surged in Elias’s eyes.
Juliana was momentarily intimidated by the madness in his gaze but the confrontation was on and couldn’t stop.