Chapter 167

Chapter 167

Since it was Julie’s request, Noah didn’t hesitate a bit to rip open the courier package, revealing a beautifully wrapped purple box inside. “Keep going,” Julie urged.

Noah opened the purple wrapping, revealing a delicate black velvet box that looked pretty fancy.

It reminded him of a ring box.

Julie glanced at Kieran, as if asking if he had anything to do with the package. After all, apart from Kieran and Elliot, no one else had ever presented her with a ring. And her name was clearly written on the box.

But Kieran just shrugged and said, “Anonymity ain’t my style.”

Well, figures…

A guy like Kieran, confident and unapologetic, when he gave her a ring, he’d put it directly on her finger, leaving no room for refusal.

While Julie and Kieran were talking, Noah had already opened the box.

Inside, there was a stunning ring.

The very emerald they had seen at the auction earlier that day.

After being stunned for a moment, Julie laughed and said, “Who’s so boring to send a fake over.”

“There’s a certificate of authenticity,” Noah held up the gem certificate to the camera.

Julie glanced at it and chuckled, “They’ve done a good job, even prepared a fake certificate.”

She casually teased, looking at Kieran with a playful smile, but his expression was serious. Her smile froze…

Kieran was usually confident, rarely showing such a serious look. Did this mean…

“What is it?” Julie asked hesitantly, “Wasn’t the ring bought at the auction? That can’t be the real one, right?”

She was partly asking Kieran’s opinion, partly comforting herself that it must be a fake. After all, who would spend 9 million dollars on an emerald ring for her…

But Kieran’s expression seemed to suggest the ring wasn’t a fake.

Instead of answering, he dialed a number on his phone.

Half an hour later, at Kieran’s command, Karl delivered the ring from Noblewood Retreat to their villa. Julie took a good look at the ring, then turned to Kieran with a serious look, “It looks the same as my mother’s. I can’t tell if it’s real or not…”

Kieran glanced at his watch. It was 9:30 PM.

“I’ll take you somewhere,” he handed the ring box to Julie.

She put the ring back in the box and asked him with a puzzled look, “Where are we going?”

Kieran just took her hand and led her out.

“I need to find a place to hide this ring!” Julie tried to break free from Kieran’s grip.

Before it was auctioned, she didn’t realize the value of the ring. Now she felt like holding 9 million dollars in cash, feeling anxious, hoping to deposit it in a bank vault as soon as possible.

Now she finally understood why her mother had slapped her for merely touching the ring-a ring that valuable….

Seeing the panic on Julie’s face, Kieran leaned in close, “My face is worth 9 million dollars too, but that doesn’t stop you from hitting me, does it?”

Julie smartly chose to skip this topic and managed a forced smile, “Where are you taking me this late?”

And they were going on foot. Where on earth was he taking her?

The neighborhood was safe, but Kieran didn’t strike her as the type who’d patiently take her for a walk to bond.

And sure enough, he wasn’t just taking her for a walk. He led her to a villa and rang the bell.

Following the previous experience with Kieran ringing a bell, Julie wisely chose to stay silent.

Soon, the door was pushed open from inside.

Ajwoman in her fifties greeted Kieran with a warm smile, “What brings you here this late?”

Is he home?” Kieran asked bluntly.

The woman knew who ‘he’ referred to and nodded, “Yes, he’s home. But he’s been busy, didn’t even have dinner yet. He told-us-not-te

disturb him. Are you here to see him?”

Kieran nodded, “I’ll go up.”

With that, he led Julie inside.

Julie had never been here before, didn’t know who lived here, nor who ‘he’ Kieran was referring to. But judging from Kieran’s tone and attitude, he must know the person well.

Kieran led her upstairs and stopped in front of a closed door. Without knocking, he pushed the door open.

Inside, a man was typing rapidly on a keyboard, surrounded by four computers, each running different programs, screens filled with codes that Julie couldn’t decipher.

“Get lost! I’m busy! I refuse to believe I can’t beat this jerk trying to track my IP. Just you wait!”

Julie was speechless.

Hearing his confident words, she guessed who the man was. She’d heard about Kieran’s cousin, Payne Hernandez, a brilliant hacker. Even the National Security Agency had tried to recruit him. But he loved his freedom and didn’t like constraints, so he publicly rejected their offer.

Then he went to assist a comic artist named Mister L, learning about comic creation. Later it was confirmed that the so-called Mister L was actually the eldest son of the Lamont family. Because they were so close, there were rumors that they were actually in love. But when Mister L got married and had kids, those rumors came to an end.

After Mister L got hitched and had a kid, Payne quit his job as a comic assistant. She recalls people saying that Payne quit because he felt betrayed by Mister L, unable to accept that he married someone else.

Of course, most of the gossip was heard from Daphne.

During her years of chasing Kieran, Julie had bought off almost everyone around him, but for Payne, this legendary figure, she only heard the name, never met the person.

Today, when she saw him, she was kinda disappointed.

Because after Payne finally hit the enter key to deal with the “bastard” he was talking about, he turned to: Kieran and said, “Kieran, people say let bygones be bygones, why do you keep digging up the past?”

This was the first time Julie heard someone refer to her as a bygone, a past that Kieran dug up again…

“As someone who doesn’t even know the basics, stop envying my past,” Kieran took out the emerald ring from Julie’s pocket and put it in front of Payne, “Check if this is real.”

Payne was about to speak when Julie shook Kieran’s arm and seriously asked Kieran, “Your cousin doesn’t even know anything about this ring, are you sure he can tell if this is real or fake?”

Payne was speechless.

Was she retaliating against his remark about her being a thing of the past?

“You really are the woman who married my cousin, your spirit of revenge is just like him!” Payne rolled his eyes.

Julie laughed in response, “Thanks for the compliment.”

Kieran said to Julie, “His parents, one’s an archaeologist, the other’s a jewelry appraiser. He’s been influenced by this since he was a kid, always been a genius. If he can’t even tell if this is real or not…”

“Don’t overrate me. If I really can’t tell…”

Before Payne could finish, Kieran continued, “Then I’ll smash his computer, I’ll pay for it.”

That computer was his life, how could it be smashed!

Payne stood up, reaching for the magnifying glass while saying to Kieran, “Last time you threatened to smash my computer was to have me investigate donation issues, now you want me to appraise jewelry. What’s your next move?”

“Donation? Julie caught the key point from Payne’s words.

When Payne mentioned donation, Julie immediately thought of the unidentified donation someone made to Sansa Abraham.

But before Julie could ask Kieran, Payne had already taken the ring to Julie and told Julie and Kieran, “It’s real, it’s very valuable. Whose is this?”

“Really?” Julie looked surprised at the ring in Payne’s hand, and asked again, “You mean… this ring is real? It’s not a fake? Not a knockoff?”

“Are you doubting me? You should know, I’ve never been doubted since I was a kid!” Payne stuffed the ring into Julie’s hand, nonchalantly saying, “Believe it or not.”

Kieran handed a USB drive to Payne and said, “Check what’s in No. 49 here.”

“You want a favor, right?” What Payne really meant was, what was Kieran going to give in return?

Kieran answered straightforwardly, “Come back to me for payment after you find out.”

“Really?” Payne put down the keyboard and looked at Kieran.

Kieran nodded, then left with Julie…

-15