CHAPTER 202: CHAPTER 202: WHEN THE TIME COMES... YOU’LL MARRY ME, RIGHT?

Looking over, the car window beside the driver’s seat was covered with spiderweb-like cracks, Jared Langley’s knuckles were red, his head resting on the steering wheel.

This was bulletproof glass, just how much strength did he use!

"What are you doing, are you crazy?"

Juliana returned to the car, knelt on the seat, and held him.

All along, she thought Jared Langley’s interest in her mostly came from physical attraction, never daring to hope she held any substantial place in his heart.

But upon learning she didn’t have long to live, he had such a reaction...

Juliana’s heart felt both sour and swollen, as if something fiercely filled and then tore it apart.

"Weren’t you supposed to be my support? Now you’re losing your cool, what does that mean?"

Jared Langley stroked her back, forcefully suppressing the surge of emotions.

"I’m sorry, I lost my composure."

Juliana buried her face in his neck, trying hard to make her tone light, "This window is expensive, isn’t it? If the repair can’t go through insurance, will you reimburse it?"

Her words pierced through his heavy mood just a little, "The car is my private property."

"Then why are you wasting it?"

"Hmm, it won’t happen again."

His arms gradually tightened around her.

"Juliana, what do you want most, to find your family, or...?"

"I want Summer to wake up."

Family wasn’t important to her anymore.

A pang hit Jared Langley’s heart, and he deliberately hummed in a jealous tone, "Did you not think about me at all?"

Juliana heard this and chuckled.

Her fingertips unconsciously traced his nape.

"You have a three-year engagement. I’m twenty-six this year, aren’t I not supposed to live past thirty? So we have a year to be together openly, and then...will you marry me?"

Jared Langley trembled all over.

"Why wait for the future, we can do it now."

He released her, letting her sit back in the seat.

Juliana became nervous, "Are you sure you can handle everything now?"

One sentence snapped Jared Langley back to reality.

Just as he was about to start the car, his hand paused.

Juliana took the opportunity to open the car door.

"So why do you hate marrying so much? Hurry and get the car fixed, I have to go to work."

With that, she got out of the car and jogged into the company.

...

At only four in the afternoon, Jared Langley came to her office to pick her up from work.

"I’m working overtime tonight," Juliana said.

"But we have important guests at home, you are my fiancée, you need to come back early."

Juliana paused, thinking it might be the Second Miss Sinclair from the Sinclair Family, so she bid farewell to Caleb Shaw and left with Jared Langley.

On the way, she noticed Jared Langley’s hand was trembling.

"What’s with your hand?" she asked.

Jared Langley said helplessly, "It’s from a check-up, the doctor said it’s an individual adverse reaction, it’ll be fine in a few days."

Juliana blinked.

This hand strangled her neck yesterday...

Upon entering the living room, she saw the usually shrewish Leona Sheridan lovingly holding a woman’s hand.

"I just regret not having a daughter, I was so thrilled to see you, make yourself at home here, don’t be a stranger."

Jared Langley chimed in at the right moment, "Mom, once you have a daughter-in-law, it’s like having a daughter, right?"

That woman turned her head at the sound, her gaze lingering on Juliana for two seconds, and then said with a graceful smile, "Indeed, Eldest Young Master Langley is right. With such fortune, Mrs. Langley will surely enjoy daughter-like filial piety from her future daughter-in-law."

However, as her words finished, Leona Sheridan clutched her chest.

"Please don’t say that, Isabelle must have told you, right? Just look at her..."

She casually pointed at Juliana, as if indicating an object.

"Not having parents to teach her is just terrible, her conduct is vulgar, not presentable, compared to you she’s like dirt compared to clouds."

Florence Sinclair modestly lowered her gaze, "Mrs. Langley, you’re too kind."

Then she looked Juliana over carefully, changing her tone, "However...she does bear some resemblance to my mother.

"Ah?" Leona Sheridan was shocked.

Though the Langley and Sinclair families had a close connection, Leona Sheridan hadn’t met Mrs. Sinclair due to certain reasons.

Florence Sinclair was surprised, "Didn’t Chairman Langley tell you? His first love..."

Suddenly, she realized some things were better left unsaid, and smiled vaguely, "But since Miss Jacobs is the Eldest Young Master Langley’s fiancée, then my brother-in-law must have checked her out, she’s not the one our family is looking for."

Upon hearing this, Leona Sheridan breathed a sigh of relief.

If Juliana was from the Sinclair family, the things she had done to her would not excuse the Langley Family from facing a bleak future.

"Look at her, lacking luck, she surely isn’t the Sinclair family’s precious pearl."

The two of them appraised Juliana without restraint, while her "fiancé" watched silently.

Luckily, the engagement was just an act, or Juliana would truly cry for having stepped into the fire pit a second time.

"Since there’s nothing here for me, I’ll excuse myself." Juliana turned to leave.

"Miss Jacobs," Florence Sinclair suddenly called to her with a smile, "about my younger sister, grandfather indeed thought she was in the wrong. Could we talk privately?"

Since entering, the Second Miss Sinclair hadn’t formally greeted her, a clear sign of disregard. This sudden warm invitation surely had ulterior motives.

Juliana decided to avoid any deep conversation before Jared Langley returned, so she declined, "But I’m a bit tired."

Unexpectedly, Jared Langley spoke first before Florence Sinclair could respond, "Dinner will be ready soon, and you can rest after eating. In the meantime, just chat with the Second Miss Sinclair."

He put it this way and Juliana had no choice but to comply.

Fortunately, Florence Sinclair did not require them to go out; the two of them just strolled toward the Langley family’s back garden.

"Since Miss Jacobs also has no parents, have you looked for them?" Florence Sinclair asked.

"Does it concern you if I’ve looked or not?" Juliana replied.

Florence Sinclair laughed, "I’m not Isabelle Sinclair, Miss Jacobs needn’t have such hostility toward me."

Juliana looked away, "I always believe in ’a family that doesn’t belong together shouldn’t stay together.’

Florence Sinclair’s mouth twitched, and she simply dropped the pretense, taking out her phone and showing her a photo.

"This is my sister, who disappeared when she was twelve. Isn’t she beautiful?"

Juliana glanced at it; her first reaction wasn’t amazement but rather noticing the slight resemblance between the photo and herself.

Florence Sinclair put away the phone and looked at the person in front of her with a meaningful smile, "My brother-in-law remains loyal to my sister, all these years, there hasn’t been another woman by his side. I often advised him, why bear such hardship? Having a substitute bearing some resemblance by his side is also a comfort. What do you think...did he take that suggestion?"

Juliana could tell she was implying she was a substitute.

And if she reacted angrily or tried to argue, she would confirm the relationship between herself and Jared Langley, making a clever two-pronged attack.

Florence Sinclair was indeed much shrewder than her sister.

Juliana smiled coldly in her heart, but feigned surprise on the surface, "Isn’t it inappropriate for the Second Miss Sinclair to inquire about Sinclair family matters from an outsider like me?"

Florence Sinclair didn’t get the answer she wanted but still maintained a smile.

"Miss Jacobs is smart; there’s no need for me to spell it out. Although my brother-in-law’s engagement to my now-deceased sister was only for three years, grandfather will definitely have him marry another Sinclair woman in three years."

She gave Juliana a disdainful glance.

"Isabelle Sinclair is madly infatuated with him, doing whatever it takes. So I’d suggest you be sensible, taking what advantages the Eldest Young Master Langley gives you is enough, don’t covet things that don’t belong to you, or you may end up playing with fire and getting burned."

"Deceased sister?"

Juliana raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Are you so certain your sister, your adoptive parents’ biological daughter, is already dead?"