Chapter 157: Trouble Strikes Julia
As Julia’s gaze shifted toward Jared, Conrad’s eyes followed suit, and an awkward atmosphere.
settled over them.
When Julia heard Conrad’s question, she began to feel apprehensive. It was a conundrum she couldn’t crack.
It was never an option for her to reveal her marriage to Jared to get under Carter’s skin or add to the allure of the jade statue. Both factors remained hidden from public view.
When Julia’s mind was grappling for a response, Jared broke the silence, saying, “We got married before we fell in love.”
Jared’s statement surprised Julia. She stared at him in bewilderment, feeling like her meal would have exploded all over the table if she had been eating it.
However, Jared’s explanation seemed credible to Conrad.
After all, Conrad had a good impression of Jared, so he dropped the subject. There was no reason for him to dig any deeper. That put an end to the conversation for the time being.
Conversely, things between Yasmin and her diehard supporters were about to heat up. In essence, Yasmin’s fans held a grudge against Julia.
So much so that the very next day, as soon as Julia stepped out, she noticed she was being followed. Although Julia had caught them early on, she didn’t pay much attention to them.
“Hey, Julia, have you made it?” Maddie’s voice came through the phone.
The plan for the day was to spend time with Maddie. Having spent several days cooped up at home, Maddie was itching for excitement. Her goal was simple: coax Julia into a hangout under the guise of shopping to break up their monotonous routine.
“I won’t be able to come today,” Julia responded, eyes on the car following her. It had been tailing her for a while. Drawing from her previous encounter with Yasmin’s fans, she suspected these pursuers were likely part of the same group.
“No, please! I was looking forward to it!” Maddie pleaded, her disappointment evident in her
voice.
“I have an urgent matter to attend to.” Julia’s mind kept going back to the fans and their outlandish behavior. Maddie was expecting a child, so that any mistake may have dire implications. She added, “Anyway, Henry will be with you tomorrow. Let’s call it a day. Take care.”
A sudden movement caught her attention as Julia was about to end the call. Swiftly, she dodged to the side. The object flew by her at a high speed, making a wet splat as it hit the ground. It was a spoiled egg that had cracked and was leaking its contents.
“Wow! She dodged it!” a voice from the car exclaimed.
The other man pressed on, “Let’s throw another one!”
Unfazed, Julia stared intently at the people inside the car. “So, this is the behavior of Yasmin’s devoted fans? Is this how followers mimic their idol’s conduct? Or does this reflect your values? Spare a thought for the cleaners who work hard to keep our streets clean while you’re here littering with eggs.”
The passengers in the car looked nervously at one another.
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“How does she know we’re Yasmin’s fans?” One of the passengers hesitantly responded.
Another one chimed in, “She’s probably guessing.”
“Yeah, what’s the harm? Even if she’s right, as long as we don’t admit it, what can she do?” The first passenger shrugged. The second passenger nodded in agreement, saying, “Yeah, let’s not give her the satisfaction of getting a response from us. Plus, we have a secret weapon!”
The attention shifted to a woman named Ethel sitting beside them.
Due to her past involvement with Julia, Ethel became unwittingly entangled in their scheme.
“Your turn,” one fan nudged Ethel..“Give her a piece of your mind. We’ll cover your husband’s medical bills!”
Ethel’s eyes blazed with anger as she glared at Julia by the roadside. She couldn’t easily forgive the person responsible for her husband’s accident, especially without compensation for his medical. expenses.
“This woman right here is the cause of all our suffering!” Ethel burst out, flinging open her car door and marching aggressively toward Julia.
Seeing Ethel charging at her, Julia instinctively stepped back, narrowly avoiding the oncoming rush.
With all her ordinary might, Ethel lunged forward, only to miss Julia and lose her balance, teetering on the brink of falling face–first to the ground.
Just as Ethel was about to hit the pavement, Julia managed to grab her clothes from behind, preventing the fall.
But gratitude wasn’t on Ethel’s mind.
“It’s all your fault! My husband might die, leaving me alone with our two kids. Why couldn’t you just disappear?” Ethel spoke out angrily and then began to sob as she pointed the finger of guilt at Julia. If the person who caused the hit–and–run had taken her husband to the hospital the night before, they might not have missed the crucial time for treatment.
Once Julia saw Ethel step out of the car, she immediately felt a pang of recognition. As she listened to her sobs, she recalled a video of Yasmin’s followers crying that they had uploaded on Facebook. Ethel appeared in that film, pleading for assistance as she sat at her sick husband’s side.
It clicked–Ethel was Sheldon Parker’s wife.
“Give me back my husband!” Ethel’s cry was still frenzied as she lunged once more at Julia.
“Miss, calm down. Listen to me-“Julia began, but a soda cut off her words as it hit her forehead with a resounding thud.
The unexpected throw sent her head spinning.
would do something wrong. While s
Julia was shocked, not because she was unprepared but because she couldn’t believe that fans
fingers brushed her forehead and came away sticky with blood, her gaze hardened as she stared at the parked car and its angry passengers. They gaped in disbelief momentarily before turning their gaze toward the one who had thrown the can.
“Why’d you do that? What if you had seriously hurt her?” one protested.
“Who cares? She’s not dead, is she? People like her are just a drain on resources anyway,” the other chimed in.
“Even so, if something worse happened-”
“Enough! Don’t worry; she’s fine. Also, her husband is dying because of her, and Yasmin gets
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arrested. We have nothing to do with this!”
“She’s coming! Let’s get out of here!”
The car rushed away from Julia before she could get to it.
Meanwhile, Ethel collapsed on the floor, sobbing loudly. “Why is life so difficult? My husband only has two days to live! How am I going to do everything by myself?”
Shaking off her dizziness, Julia approached Ethel, determined to offer help. “I’ll come with you to the hospital. Maybe I can help save your husband.”
Ethel gave Julia a sharp gaze while.sobbing loudly.
Little did they realize that someone was secretly recording them. The mysterious figure lurking in the shadows continued to capture every moment on their hidden camera. He was also a Yasmin supporter. Using the hashtag, Julia Attacked,‘ he uploaded the video to demonstrate his loyalty to
her.
Right away, Facebook users rapidly engaged with the post. Comments flooded in, with some expressing sympathy for Ethel and despising Julia, while others questioning the video’s validity. It quickly went viral, sparking a heated online debate.
In the meantime, Joseph rushed into the office as soon as he heard about it. What happened was too big of an incident, and he knew he had to inform Jared.
Joseph quickly approached Jared’s office, hoping to catch him before he got caught up in his busy schedule.
“Come in!” Jared’s voice boomed across the door.
As he entered, he could see Jared engrossed in his work, but Joseph knew this couldn’t wait.
“Boss, I need to talk to you urgently,” Joseph said, his voice filled with urgency.
Jared looked up from his work, sensing the seriousness in Joseph’s tone. “What’s going on?”
“Sir, Miss Julia got involved in an incident!”
