"Adele, if you believe me, you must be extremely cautious around him," Julia Bluen warned gravely. "Or, you can let us meet him; we're experienced and our judgment of people is better than yours."

"See what? I haven't agreed to anything," Adele Horne retorted, her face turning red again.

"You blush whenever he's mentioned. He's already managed to make waves in your heart," Julia said, seemingly teasing. If Adele had listened carefully, she would have detected the deep worry in Julia's voice.

If Adele truly developed feelings for him, and if Othiel Evans was indeed harboring a scheme, Adele would inevitably fall into his trap.

Those Evans siblings really wouldn't let Adele Horne go. The sister suffered a setback, and the brother immediately swooped in to take her place. Yet Adele, bless her heart, was too naive to see their true intentions.

"Stop asking! I'm not a child anymore; I can handle it. I'm twenty-two, an adult now," Adele said, pulling Julia up. "You should go back to bed. If my brother suddenly wakes up and doesn't see you, he might think I've spirited you away to my room! Because of you, my bank card has been frozen. Look around my room—there's nothing valuable left. I don't even have a single cent in cash!" She then started pushing Julia out, clearly unwilling to discuss Othiel Evans any further.

She trusted Orlando Evans, and she trusted Othiel Evans too.

She'd known Orlando for ten years; they had always been classmates and friends. She'd also known Othiel for several years. Even if they hadn't interacted deeply, they had at least met.

Since she was Orlando's best friend, Adele believed Othiel wouldn't toy with her affections.

At twenty-two, her heart had long been yearning for romance.

Now that Othiel was treating her so well, even though she hadn't immediately accepted his pursuit, she still wanted to savor the sweetness of a man's affection.

"Adele—"

Julia wanted to say more, but Adele didn't give her the chance. She pulled Julia along, pushed her out of the room, and then, BANG! The door slammed shut, leaving Julia outside.

"Adele, you must be careful! Sometimes, the person you trust most is the one who can hurt you the deepest," Julia couldn't help but call out through the closed door.

She didn't dare speak too loudly, afraid of waking other family members.

"Don't worry, I'm not an idiot! Do you think I'm like you, fooled by someone for three years?" Adele's confident voice drifted through the door.

So Adele somehow knew about her and Nicholas Coldwell.

"Adele..." Julia began, but was cut off.

Suddenly, a pair of familiar, strong arms wrapped around her from behind. Glades Horne's deep voice sounded, "I really don't like waking up in the middle of the night to find my wife gone!"

This man certainly found out quickly.

Julia turned, blinked her almond-shaped eyes at Glades Horne, and said playfully, "I was sleepwalking."

Glades bent, lifted her into his arms, and said in a low, husky voice, "Alright then. I must be sleepwalking too. Let's 'sleepwalk' back to our room together."

Julia chuckled, momentarily setting aside her worries about her sister-in-law.

"Glades, I feel that the concern your family members show for one another is a little lacking."

Back in their room, lying in bed and pillowed on Glades's arm, Julia spoke softly, already yawning as she did.

Glades pursed his lips, saying nothing, because she was right.

Normally, everyone was busy. They barely saw each other during the day, and in the evenings, everyone had their own activities. Unless something major happened, life just carried on this way.

"You might not care about the others, but Adele is your sister. You must pay more attention to her. I don't think Adele is inherently bad. Her awful temper might be a result of how you all spoiled her before. Now, it's probably just another way for her to vent her dissatisfaction. Your whole family, even though you all dote on her deep down, who among you has actually spent time with her? Who checks in on her daily? Even Mom hasn't managed that."

As Julia spoke, her words became increasingly indistinct.

She was so sleepy.

"Sleep now. As long as Adele stays away from Orlando Evans, she'll gradually change," Glades said in a low, gentle voice, stroking her short hair. "Tomorrow, I'll ask Dr. Lei to come and take your pulse. He's a very experienced physician." Another two or three days had passed; her pulse should be able to reveal if she was pregnant by now.

"Mm," Julia mumbled.

Julia mumbled in agreement and quickly sank into a deep slumber.

She was exhausted, simply too tired to stay awake and talk with Glades any longer.

Watching her sleep, Glades's expression softened. He gently stroked her face with a large, loving hand, then held her close as he too began to drift off.

「The next day.」

Glades Horne called Dr. Lei, the Horne family's physician, asking him to make a house call.

Anyone chosen to be the Horne family's physician was, naturally, exceptionally skilled.

When the matriarch saw Glades ask Dr. Lei to take Julia's pulse, she understood immediately. Mila Anderson, however, was surprised. Thinking Julia was ill, she asked with concern, "Glades, what's wrong with Julia? Is she feeling unwell? Wasn't she perfectly fine yesterday?"

Julia didn't look ill at all. Besides, her son's expression was quite composed. If Julia were truly sick, knowing how much he loved her, he would have been frantic with worry by now.

Julia's pretty face flushed slightly. Hearing her mother-in-law's concern, she quickly smiled and replied, "Mom, I'm fine. It's just a routine check-up."

She had assumed Glades would have Dr. Lei take her pulse privately, without the rest of the family knowing. She hadn't expected...

After Dr. Lei arrived, Glades put an arm around Julia as they sat on the sofa, and had the doctor check her pulse.

In the grand hall, early that morning, only the matriarch and Mila Anderson—who hadn't slept well and had risen early—were present. Everyone else was still comfortably tucked in bed.

Since that night, the strain in the relationship between the mother-in-law, Mila, and daughter-in-law, Julia, seemed to have lessened considerably. At least Mila no longer put on a different face for Julia when Glades wasn't looking. After all, Julia was a young woman she had watched grow up, and Mila knew there was nothing inherently wrong with Julia's character. Her past anger towards Julia had stemmed solely from Ruby Bluen's actions.