CHAPTER 114: CHAPTER 114: MAKE YOUR BROTHER A WIDOWER IN THREE DAYS

"This bottle is fruit-flavored, perfect for ladies."

The manager said as he walked over to Juliana.

"Mrs. Grant, please accept it with a smile."

The manager’s voice fell, causing an uproar among the crowd.

A woman in a dress couldn’t believe it, "You must be mistaken, isn’t Mrs. Grant right here?"

She pointed at Yvonne.

The manager handed the wine to Juliana, looking at her disdainfully, "Where did you crawl out from? I deal with dignitaries and nobility every day, how could I be mistaken?"

"Mrs. Grant is this lady, and as for little Yvonne..." Quentin Quinn’s old friend suddenly felt he couldn’t process it.

Juliana smiled faintly, "Mistress, understand? If not, how about ’the other woman’?"

All at once, except for the riffraff Yvonne brought, everyone’s gaze towards her shifted.

One guy still refused to give up, "What proof do you have that you’re Mrs. Grant?"

Juliana sneered and looked at Evan, "Why don’t you tell them who I am?"

Evan’s face turned incredibly dark, "Enough, this farce ends now."

He was just about to walk away when Juliana slammed a medicine box at his feet with a "bang."

"You’re waving flags everywhere, and you think you can just call it quits when you want to!"

Everyone present was taken aback.

No one needed more proof now.

Who else would dare throw things in Evan Grant’s presence, if not Mrs. Grant?

Evan held back his anger, giving her a warning look.

But Juliana said, "Evan Grant, I don’t want you or this filthy marriage anymore. Hurry to the civil affairs office for a divorce certificate, stop shamelessly delaying it!"

Then she turned to the riffraff Yvonne brought along.

"Back when you bullied poor students in the cafeteria, now you’ve put on tech company uniforms and dare to call yourselves elites? Upper class, did your boss let you drink foot champagne?"

Their mouths seemed sealed with cement; they couldn’t open them.

Meanwhile, Quentin Quinn and his daughter fell from high heavens into the mud, quite dazed.

Juliana, after throwing her verbal punches, turned back, taking advantage of Yvonne’s unguarded moment, and slapped her.

Unable to keep her balance, Yvonne staggered back into her father’s arms.

"What gives you the right to hit people?" Quentin Quinn struggled to keep his composure.

"I’m still the legitimate wife, can’t I hit her? Your daughter and Stella Windsor studied in Aldoria to become mistresses, didn’t they? The Eldest Miss Quinn is infatuated with being a mistress; your Quinn family’s fine traditions certainly run in the blood."

Quentin Quinn’s lips trembled, speechless.

A naive bystander whispered, "That’s enough talk, don’t..."

Juliana turned her gaze to the person, "You’re so kind-hearted, I wish every teacher you meet is named Quentin Quinn, every affair you encounter is named Yvonne, and every man you marry is named Evan, Grant!"

The person, "..."

The three people involved, "......"

Juliana’s outburst left the Quinn father and daughter completely disgraced.

Back in the private room, Yvonne grabbed a wine glass and slammed it against the wall, wishing she could strangle that woman.

Stella wanted to use her anger to her advantage and quickly calmed her, "Don’t fall for it, we..."

Slap!

Yvonne interrupted her words with a slap.

"You liar, didn’t you say you knew your brother inside out, that I would surely win him over? I lost face because of you. If you don’t do something to make me happy, I’ll tell your brother what you did in Aldoria!"

Stella was startled, "Yvonne, I sincerely wish you to be my sister-in-law."

A flicker of cunning crossed Yvonne’s eyes; she reached out to grab Stella by the throat.

"Stella, if you dared to find me, you’d better clear the way for me. Make sure your brother becomes a widower in three days, or face the consequences yourself!"

Stella stood frozen.

She never imagined she’d invite a wolf in, failing to bring down Juliana, only to be bitten first.

...

Juliana not only refused to change Evan’s medicine today; she wouldn’t go tomorrow or the day after.

She was incredibly busy.

Old Man Linton was going to pay respects at Aidan Linton’s grave and wanted to stay in his hometown for a few days. But the old house had long been demolished, so she had no choice but to rent a farmhouse nearby, personally overseeing its cleaning inside and out.

She returned to Celestial Vista quite late.

Rosalind Linton was still awake. She had sprained her ankle and couldn’t go, so she was folding clothes for the old man.

Seeing Juliana enter, she paused her actions.

"You’ll spend the next few days in the countryside with the old man, pay close attention to his mental state."

Juliana sat across from her, "How’s Grandpa?"

Rosalind said, "He has been preoccupied with something for many days now, but when I ask him, he won’t say. Today, while sunning himself downstairs, a woman spoke with him briefly, and when he returned, he was even more downcast."

"Do you know who that person was?" Juliana asked.

Rosalind glanced at her own foot, "I tried to catch up but couldn’t see clearly and ended up spraining my ankle."

Juliana furrowed her brows.

...

In the morning, Juliana returned carrying fruit, and the old man was already up, sipping his morning tea.

"Grandpa, which offerings and candles should I buy?"

The old man waved his hand, "No need, he might...not receive them."

Juliana hesitated, seeing the calm gaze in the old man’s eyes, she swallowed her doubts.

Then they set off for the Linton Family cemetery.

The old man looked at Aidan Linton’s tombstone, his withered hand repeatedly caressing Aidan’s photo, occasionally telling Juliana that a cenotaph couldn’t bring back Aidan’s spirit and wanted to dismantle it. Then he’d remark that he was muddled and couldn’t make sense of things, causing Juliana to worry about his mental state.

At noon, the old man personally made sweet potato rice and grilled a plate of peppers.

Juliana’s thoughts instantly returned to when she first arrived at the Linton home.

During the time when the Linton Family had just adopted her, the conditions at home were so poor that even the daily rice consumption was rationed.

With another mouth to feed, her grandpa went to other people’s harvested fields to collect unwanted sweet potatoes and potatoes, mixing them into the meals so that everyone could eat to their fill.

Juliana didn’t know if she had a happy family before she was thirteen, but in the half-year she spent in memory-laden wanderings, she slept near garbage cans daily. During thunder and rain, she could only run to the streets for shelter.

But under the storefront awnings, there were always people who found her dirty and drove her away like a stray dog. When that happened, she’d just have to wrap her shivering body and keep walking in the rain until she reached shelter or it stopped raining.

There was no medicine for colds and fevers; she got through them on her own, time and again.

Later, Aidan Linton brought her home, and the Linton Family gave her the warmth she desperately longed for.

Even to this day, her ties to the Linton Family run deep, hard to sever.

"It still tastes the same. Grandpa’s cooking is delicious," Juliana smiled, taking a bite of the pepper.

"If you like it, eat more. Grandpa’s old now; I don’t know how many more times I can cook for you all."

"Us?"

Seeing Juliana’s surprise, Grandpa chuckled, "My mind is muddled; I always feel Aidan is still here."

A sense of sorrow welled up inside Juliana.

She dearly wanted to tell the old man that Aidan was alive, but doing so might bring danger to Adrian Langley, something the old man couldn’t bear to see either.

She swallowed back her words.

"Girl, after lunch, head to Uncle Chang’s fish pond to buy two fish. Aidan loved their fish without the muddy taste; I’ll make it for him again."

Juliana choked up, and could only reply with a quiet "okay."

In the afternoon, after the old man instructed Juliana on the path to Uncle Chang’s fish pond, he sat at the stone steps by the farmhouse, watching her leave.

Not long after, a few people arrived.

A man with three scars on the back of his hand placed it on the old man’s shoulder, staring into his eyes, "Old man, where’s Juliana?"

The old man met his gaze with cloudy eyes, took a few seconds to react, then pointed towards the village entrance, speaking feebly, "She just left, went home to get me medicine."

"Big brother," complained a tattooed man, "that woman didn’t give us timely information. I said we shouldn’t trust her, and you’re still hiding it from Isaac..."

"Shut up, hurry and chase."

The man forcibly squeezed the old man’s shoulder and left with his people.

After a few steps, he stopped again, slowly turning around, casting a sinister gaze on the hunched figure of the old man.

The next moment, he abruptly walked back, raised his foot, and kicked towards the old man...