Julia was truly exasperated. How could there be so many shameless people these days?
Even though Zoey being sent to the hospital had nothing to do with her, she still had the nerve to come and demand a bonus!
"Hey! Are you giving it or not? Are you going back on your word?!" Zoey glared at Julia, growing impatient with her silence.
Julia let out a cold snort. "No, you're not getting anything!"
"You're breaking your promise!" Zoey put her hands on her hips, looking like she was ready to tear Julia apart.
"So what if I am?" Julia picked up a brush and sat down at her vanity, calmly brushing her hair.
"I'll go tell Mr. Butler!"
Hearing this, Julia found it even more amusing. "Sure, go ahead."
"You—" Zoey, of course, didn't dare to actually go tell Royce. She was just trying to scare Julia, but it seemed Julia wasn't falling for it!
When did she become so tough? Why wasn't she playing along?
Zoey quickly regained her composure and sneered, "In the middle of the night, taking a bath and doing skincare, aren't you just trying to seduce Mr. Butler!"
Julia remained unfazed. "So what if I am? He's my husband. We're married."
"You—" Zoey was so furious she couldn't find the words. She turned on her heel and stormed out.
Hmph! Just you wait, Julia!
Julia let out a silent sigh of relief. Why was this country girl so formidable?
She tidied herself up and got into bed, knowing her husband would be back soon. She deliberately picked up a book to read, waiting for him.
But as time passed, he didn't show up.
Julia yawned, feeling quite tired. She had a big presentation at nine in the morning.
Thinking about this, she decided to go to sleep.
She turned off the light and lay in bed, drowsy but unable to fall asleep. Maybe it was because she had prepared herself for his return that she felt restless.
She tossed and turned, unable to find sleep.
Just then, she heard the door open, and a dark figure slipped into the room.
Julia immediately tensed up, clutching the blanket tightly.
He was here.
Royce had already instructed Zoey to cut the power, plunging the entire villa into darkness.
He assumed Julia was already asleep, which was why he had waited so late to come. As usual, he went straight to pull back Julia's blanket.
But to his surprise, Julia suddenly reached out and wrapped her arms around him.
This left Royce utterly astonished!
She was awake!
Completely alert!
And very proactive!
In fact, ever since her last hospital stay, Julia had been planning this.
Knowing that her husband wasn't entirely cold and heartless, she wanted to mend their relationship.
This night was destined to be a beautiful one.
Much later, Royce lay contentedly at the head of the bed, while Julia, utterly exhausted, had already fallen into a deep sleep.
Tonight, Julia carried a faint, pleasant fragrance that he had never noticed before.
Royce gently kissed her cheek and got dressed.
For some reason, unlike his usual haste to leave, he felt an urge to linger in the room a bit longer.
So, he walked over to the vanity and picked up Julia's skincare products to take a look.
Yaan.
That was the name of the skincare line.
He brought it to his nose and realized that the scent on Julia came from here.
A faint smile appeared on his face, and his light blue eyes shone with a gentle glow.
After one last look at Julia, Royce left the bedroom, still reluctant to leave, feeling a desire to understand this woman a bit more.
So, he walked into the study.
In the study, there was Julia's computer.
Power it on, password required.
Royce knew nothing about Julia, so how could he possibly know her password?
But for a genius game developer like Royce, this was a trivial issue. In just three seconds, he cracked Julia's computer password.
He quickly opened her browsing history from the past month.
Strangely, aside from websites she used for research and writing her thesis, there was only one other site—a novel website.
As the page loaded, a wicked smile curved on Royce's lips.
"Interesting."
Royce needed to get some rest, so after checking Julia's computer, he left.
Julia slept very deeply that night.
She had set an alarm for six o'clock, planning to get up, wash up, and head to school. She always disliked being late.
But the alarm went off several times, and she still didn't wake up.
Perhaps it was the stress of her upcoming graduation defense that jolted her awake. When she glanced at the time, she was shocked!
Eight-thirty!
Oh no!
She was going to be late!
Even if she took a cab to school, it would still take about an hour!
Julia quickly got out of bed, dressed in her formal attire for her thesis defense, and gave her face a quick wash before rushing out the door.
Even if she left right now and caught a cab immediately, there was no way she could make it to school by 9 AM!
To make matters worse, because Prism City had such a low occupancy rate, many taxis and buses were reluctant to come this way.
She would have to walk for ten minutes to another street just to catch a ride!
Oh no!
I'm doomed!