Julia Bluen turned her head away, once again dodging Phoebe Rogers's hand, leaving it hanging awkwardly in mid-air. She then stood up and sat down next to Mila Anderson. Mila had stopped filing her nails when Julia returned. Bored and unable to go out to play cards, she had resorted to grooming her nails, having worked on them for the entire day.

"Mom, I bought these supplements for you; they're really suitable for someone your age," Julia said with a smile as she handed the boxes of supplements to Mila Anderson, choosing to ignore Phoebe Rogers's provocation entirely.

Had it not been for giving James Horne some respect, she wouldn't have wanted to lay eyes on Phoebe Rogers at all.

Mila accepted the boxes with a faint smile. "Mom knows you're filial," she said, still smiling.

In front of Phoebe Rogers, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law behaved as if the mother-in-law was as affectionate as a biological mother, and the daughter-in-law as devoted as a biological daughter.

The old lady joined the conversation, and soon they were all chatting and laughing together. Phoebe Rogers tried to join in but was ignored by everyone. Gian Horne had gone upstairs, and James Horne had not yet returned home, leaving Phoebe Rogers feeling awkward and eventually deciding to take her leave.

Before long, Glades Horne came back.

The young couple had dinner and then went upstairs.

Julia was still concerned about Adele Horne. After making love with Glades Horne, she feigned sleep. Waiting until Glades had fallen asleep, she carefully sat up, slipped out of bed, changed into neat clothes, and tiptoed out of the room. She waited in the upstairs hallway for Adele to return.

Adele Horne didn't get back until midnight.

With the night air chilled and everyone else sound asleep, apart from the servant who opened the door, only Julia knew that Adele had returned so late.

Adele returned laden with spoils. Othiel Evans had been very generous, buying her many designer items. Anything she took a liking to, Othiel purchased for her, delighting her greatly.

Despite the cold air outside, she didn't feel the chill at all. Her face was still flushed, a result of Othiel Evans's earnest and affectionate words before they parted. He had told her it was love at first sight for him and had even dyed his hair back to black just so she wouldn't be put off by it. Ultimately, his confessions had left her heart in turmoil.

No man had ever professed love for her before. Othiel Evans was the first. Although she acted skeptical on the outside, inside she felt as sweet as if she had drunk honey.

Othiel Evans didn't pressure her to accept his pursuit either, saying he would give her time to accept him gradually.

Upon reaching the second floor and seeing Julia in the hall, Adele was very surprised.

She paused just for a moment before continuing upstairs with her bags, without calling out to Julia or asking why she was sitting in the hall.

At this time, Julia was supposed to be ensnared in bed by her beloved big brother.

Probably the couple had had an argument.

Adele scoffed inwardly.

"Adele," Julia said.

Julia followed her upstairs and into the room.

"It's so late, and you're not sleeping. Why did you follow me up here? Is there something you want?" Adele was in a good mood, so she was relatively polite to Julia. She walked into the bedroom, placed the bags on the bed, and then sat down, taking out the clothes she had acquired that evening.

"Adele," Julia also sat down on the bed, hesitating, unsure whether to ask or not.

Adele hadn't truly warmed up to her. If I ask her about her love life, will she even tell me? Julia mused. Nevertheless, she couldn't suppress her concern for Adele and eventually asked, "At dusk, I saw you with a man. That man is your boyfriend, isn't he?"

Adele, who was in the middle of taking everything out of the bags, froze. She raised an eyebrow and glared at Julia. "What is it? Can't I have a boyfriend?"

"No, I was just asking casually. Adele, do you know whose son that man is?" Julia asked with a faint smile.

Adele remained silent, just glaring at Julia.

As if Julia didn't notice her glare, she continued, "Adele, whether you believe it or not, I really think of you as a sister in my heart, and I want you to be happy. I hope you can find someone who truly loves you and cherishes you, preferably someone like your brother is to me. But there are also many unscrupulous men out there. You're young and inexperienced, so you must be extremely careful; there are many emotional con artists around. I'm your sister-in-law; we're not that far apart in age. If anything is troubling you, can you talk to me about it?"

Adele still didn't say a word.

After a long while, she finally responded, "He's Orlando Evans's cousin; we've known each other for many years. He... he won't deceive me."

Orlando Evans's cousin?

Upon hearing it was Orlando Evans's cousin, Julia's brows knitted together. Orlando Evans's kindness toward Adele was purposeful, so her cousin's interest in Adele was likely also with ulterior motives. Orlando Evans is now in a terrible state because of Glades Horne. Could her cousin be seeking justice for Orlando? If they can't deal with Glades, will they target Adele instead?

Naturally, Julia wouldn't voice these suspicions to Adele directly. Adele's heart was still partial to the Evans family and likely wouldn't believe her anyway. Instead, Julia simply cautioned, "Adele, even if you've known him for many years, do you truly understand him? Since you've known each other for so long, how did he treat you in the past?"

If Othiel Evans has only started to approach Adele now, he most likely has ulterior motives.

Adele pursed her red lips and fell silent again.

From her reaction, Julia knew the answer.

"He always used to dye his hair, and I can't stand that, so I never really got to know him well. You could say I never really gave him a proper look. However, he always seemed very happy whenever he saw me. Now, he doesn't dye his hair anymore, and he's started working at his family's company. He's matured a lot, become much steadier, and he's been nicer to me. That's when I began to notice him. He... he's really good to me," Adele said.

To Julia's surprise, Adele actually spoke up.

At this moment, Adele's heart was in turmoil; in fact, she really wanted someone to talk to, to discuss matters of the heart. Previously, she could talk to Orlando Evans, but since she had no romantic encounters before, she never discussed love with Orlando. Now, with Orlando not around, and Julia coming to her out of concern, plus the fact that Julia was her sister-in-law—even though she was still reluctant to fully accept Julia in that role—she instinctively confided in Julia.