Love’s Cunning Ruse

Chapter 228

“No worries.” Kieran took Julie’s hand, suddenly pulled her into his arms, then lowered his head to look

into her beautiful eyes. “There’s something I need to confirm.” “What is it?” She pushed against his

chest. “Put me down and we can talk properly.”

“I’ll tell you tonight.” With that, he took advantage of her distraction, leaned down to kiss her forehead

lightly, then stood up. “I have work to deal with. Need to take a trip to the office.”

Just as Julie was waving Kieran goodbye, she received a call from Ivan’s teacher. The last time she

picked Ivan up from school, she’d left her number with his teacher. As soon as she got the call from his

teacher, Julie rushed to the school.

Half an hour later, in Ivan’s homeroom teacher Andie’s office.

Ivan was sitting in a chair across from Andie, who looked at the test paper in his hand, then at Ivan.

“Did you complete this test paper on your own?”

Ivan shot Andie a cold look, replied, “I didn’t do it, my pen did.”

Andie was speechless.

There was no mistake in this answer. Just as Andie was about to speak, there was a knock on the

door.

“Come in.” Hearing Andie’s voice, Julie pushed the door open and walked in.

As soon as Ivan saw Julie; he sat much more upright. He looked at Julie with a big smile. “Mom!” Andie

naturally knew about the stir caused by Julie and Kieran’s wedding news. Seeing Julie, he immediately

stood up to greet her. “You must be Mrs. Hernandez?”

Julie nodded with a smile.

“Here’s the thing.” Andie handed two test papers to Julie. “This one is from the last exam, and this one

is from the most recent exam. Last time, Ivan scored only eight points, but this time, he scored full

marks. Ivan has always been one of the lowest scorers in the class since he started school. His sudden

improvement…”

“Do you suspect Ivan cheated?” Julie instantly grasped Andie’s implication.

Even though that was indeed what Andie was hinting at, seeing Julie’s expression, he chuckled

awkwardly. “I was just wondering, did you recently hire a tutor for Ivan? Of course, a child’s grades are

important, but the most important thing is character. Ivan may not always score well, but he’s very

smart and sharp. I believe as long as he studies hard, he can certainly achieve such results.”

Clearly, Andie doubted the authenticity of Ivan’s progress. Julie could understand. This was his sense

of responsibility showing.

Just as Julie was about to speak, Ivan suddenly stood up. “Yes! My mom is my tutor. Andie, look, isn’t

my mom both smart and beautiful?”

This was typical braggadocio! Andie glanced at Julie and immediately nodded in agreement, “Yes,

maybe I was overthinking.”

“Thank you, Andie.” Julie nodded at him, then patted Ivan’s shoulder. “Wait for me outside, okay?”

Having such a gentle and beautiful mom was indeed better than having a strict father like Kerry. Ivan

strutted out of the office with hands behind his back, pride plastered on his face.

Julie stayed behind to chat with Andie for a while and exchanged WhatsApp contacts with him so she

could keep up with Ivan’s progress. Only then did she leave

the office.

Andie looked at his phone, couldn’t help but comment to his fellow teacher Carmel. “See, mothers are

generally more attentive than fathers.”

Carmel couldn’t help but laugh. “Did you really expect Mr. Hernandez to add you on WhatsApp?”

Andie also laughed. “Good point. But look at Ivan! He did so well in this exam. If he’s got the talent,

why did he play dumb before?”

“You probably don’t know, do you? Apparently, Mrs. Hernandez has been pursuing Mr. Hernandez

since high school, but then Mr. Hernandez had an affair with a woman named Bertha Stewart. After Mr.

Hernandez and Mrs. Hernandez divorced, Ivan has been living with his father. Maybe the reason why

this child from a single-parent family pretended to be a poor student was to get his father’s attention!

Bertha committed suicide a while ago, so Mr. Hernandez and Mrs. Hernandez got back together.

Maybe they announced their marriage for the sake of the child!” Carmel seemed to know it all.

Andie was enlightened. “So, Ivan’s sudden progress was to make his mom like him?

Carmel looked out of the window. Julie was sitting next to Ivan, appearing to be patiently teaching him

something. Carmel shook her head and sighed, “Possibly! There might not be much love between the

couple, otherwise why wouldn’t they ever pick up their child from school together? Even if they are

busy with work, they

can’t…”

“Carmel…”

“What? Everything I said has a basis. No matter how busy, parents can’t be absent from their child’s

growth! Every family has its issues. Seems like the lives of the rich aren’t easy either!”

“No! Carmel, look outside.” Andie pointed out of the window.

Carmel followed his finger and saw the infamous Mr. Hernandez who had somehow appeared on the

school playground. He was holding Ivan’s hand with one hand and gently tucking Julie’s loose hair

behind her ear with the other.

Jutre caught his hand and smiled at him, saying something. They looked natural together.

Andie’s temple twitched. He looked at Carmel, “Seems like we can’t believe everything we read on the

internet…”

Carmel was speechless.

Outside of the door.

Julie asked Kieran, “Do you need to go back to the office later?”

“No need.”

“So we’ll go with Ivan’s idea and head to the food street in the south of the city! I’ll give Shannon a call

to let her know we’ll be home late.”

Ivan suggested getting some BBQ, but Mr. Hernandez shot that idea down straight away.

“We need to get home early today,” Kieran said seriously.

Ivan lifted his head, looking disappointed at Julie.

Ivan knew how to tug at Julie’s heartstrings. He knew if he pulled the puppy dog eyes, she’d be

softhearted.

Julie compromised. She tugged at Kieran’s sleeve, saying, “Let’s take him to the food street today! It

might not be the cleanest, but we’re not going every day. An

occasional visit won’t hurt.”

“Yeah, Kerry, I want to go to the food street!” Ivan whined, tugging at his dad’s sleeve. He looked up to

see Kieran’s cold stare, he gave a quick, clever cry, “Dad”.

“Don’t go!”

Julie thought for a moment, then mimicked Ivan, tugging at Kieran’s sleeve and pleading, “Kieran, I

want to go to the food street too!”

“Fine.” Kieran took Julie’s hand and started walking towards the car.

Ivan stood there in shock for a few seconds before scampering after his parents.

Ivan and Julie ended up sitting in the back seat together, but Ivan didn’t look happy. After a bit of

silence, he pouted at his mom, “Mom, tell me the truth. I’m not Mr. Hernandez’s real son, am I?”

“And how do you think you came about?” Kieran raised an eyebrow, asking.

“My classmates say some kids are given away when shopping, or found in trash bins, or fall from the

sky,” Ivan said seriously, counting off on his fingers.

From the front seat, Kieran’s deep voice chimed in, “Freebies from the mall are usually worthless.

Trash bins are for trash. If you fell from the sky, you’d be dead. Which one would you prefer?”

After a moment of thought, Ivan confidently turned to Julie, “Mom, I must be Kerry’s real son! I must

have inherited my bad habits from him!”

Ivan was being so ridiculous that Julie couldn’t help but laugh, “I agree with you.”

The food street was a bit far from Noblewood Retreat, but close to Julie’s university. It was full of local

snacks. Julie remembered coming here for spicy wings with Daphne when she was in college.

The wings place was still there. Julie held Ivan’s hand, asking, “When I was in college, I loved the spicy

wings from here. Dare to eat?”

Ivan patted his belly, “Real men aren’t afraid of chili!”

Howeyér…

Ten minutes later.

Ivan was wiping away tears while chugging a bottle of water. His little face was red from the spice,

making him look adorable.

Kieran picked up the remaining wing and took a couple of bites. Then he patted the still-panting Ivan,

saying, “Only a brave man like me is worthy of a hot woman like your mom. Got it?”

Ivan turned his head stiffly, continuing to gulp down water.

Julie chuckled, patting Kieran’s hand, “Are you a kid too?”

Kieran looked up and winked at her, “So you’re a pedophile?”

“Don’t talk nonsense! Eat your chicken wings.”

They spent this pleasant time together, chatting like an average family. After strolling around the food

street, they were ready to head home.

Ivan spotted an ice cream shop. Julie told Kieran, “You go start the car. We’ll get some ice cream and

wait for you at the intersection.”

Kieran nodded and went to get the car.

After buying ice cream, Julie led Ivan to the agreed place to wait for Kieran to drive up.

In the distance, a van without a license plate suddenly sped towards them…