Chapter 141 Husky Causes Trouble Again
Juliana opened her eyes to find that imposing figure standing in front of her, shielding her.
He was holding the husky in his hands. The dog looked confused at first, but when it realized the person was Wentworth, it excitedly licked his hands and tried to lick his face.
Wentworth turned to look at the pale and terrified Juliana, then apologized. "I'm sorry. This is my brother's dog. He doesn't mean any harm—he just gets excited around strangers."
Juliana let out a deep breath of relief. The husky sat quietly in Wentworth's arms, looking at Juliana with innocent eyes, nothing like the crazed animal from moments ago.
She felt compelled to explain. "I—I was bitten by a dog when I was little, so I'm really scared of them."
"He's usually on a leash. One of the staff must have been careless today." Wentworth apologized again.
Juliana looked at Wentworth, her heart inexplicably skipping a beat. His voice was pleasant—low and commanding, yet if you listened carefully, there was a hint of gentleness. Clearly he was someone with authority, but not domineering. No toxic masculinity.
Matilda walked over and asked, "Juliana, are you okay?"
"I'm fine now, thanks to your husband. His reflexes are incredible—I didn't even see how he got to me."
Matilda smiled. "Well, he's in the military. Of course his reflexes are sharp."
Then Matilda glanced at the dog in Wentworth's arms. "So this is Charles's dog. Zoey fell in love with him because of this thing."
Hearing Matilda's words, Juliana couldn't help but pause.
...
When Charles heard his dog had scared someone again, he was furious. He dragged the dog over and gave it a beating.
The garden at his current villa wasn't as large as this one. He'd brought the dog along partly for companionship, partly to give it space to run around and burn off energy. He hadn't expected it to terrorize anyone.
At the dining table, Charles explained to Juliana, "That dog of mine is naturally hyper, especially when it sees a beautiful stranger. Gets extra excited."
Amelia said, "My fault, my fault. I didn't know Juliana was afraid of dogs. If I had, I would've had someone leash him beforehand. And Charlie, stop calling her a stranger. Juliana and I got along wonderfully when I was in England. She's like a daughter to me."
Charles shot Wentworth an aggrieved look. Wentworth couldn't help but smile.
Juliana glanced at Wentworth, the corners of her mouth lifting slightly. Wentworth wasn't the showy type—he seemed reserved even around family. Clearly not someone who liked to run his mouth.
Juliana didn't like overly talkative men.
Amelia continued, "I was originally planning to introduce Juliana to Wentworth, but he went and got married without a word. So now I can only treat Juliana like a daughter. Now that Charlie's getting married, I invited Juliana over so we can all discuss what still needs attention for the wedding. After we eat, we'll go through everything item by item. Even though we have a wedding planner, we need to oversee the details ourselves."
Hearing this, Matilda felt uncomfortable. But under the table, Wentworth took her hand. The moment his warm, large hand gripped hers, warmth flooded her heart too.
Juliana was sitting next to Matilda. She glanced down and caught sight of their hands. A sour feeling welled up in her chest.
Since Juliana was a guest, Amelia treated her with exceptional warmth. "Juliana, didn't you say you really wanted Phoenix City roast turkey? I had it specially delivered from the Phoenix City Hotel today. Try it—is it the taste from your childhood?"
Juliana took a bite and nodded. "It really is. Thank you, Auntie."
"There's also Phoenix City pan-fried beef short ribs. Try those too."
"Will do."
There were two young women present, but Amelia only fussed over Juliana, not sparing Matilda a single glance.
Even Charles couldn't stand it anymore. "Matty, you should try some too."
Wentworth placed a piece of beef short rib on Matilda's plate. "You eat too."
Seeing this, Amelia felt displeased. "I have two sons, but not one of them treats me like this."
Charles helplessly speared a piece of beef short rib and put it on her plate. "You're so busy telling everyone else to eat, don't you know to eat yourself?"
"I'm being a good host. Juliana is our guest."
"Didn't you just say Juliana is like your daughter? She's family then." Charles kept at it.
Amelia was at a loss for words. Matilda laughed inwardly. Amelia had really shot herself in the foot on that one!
Juliana smiled too, then said graciously, "Mrs. Gonzaga, I can help myself."
As she spoke, her eyes inadvertently flickered toward Wentworth again.
"Mrs. Gonzaga, you must make people so jealous with two such outstanding sons. I was staying at my aunt's house a few days ago, and from her tone, she's quite envious of your sons too."
Though Amelia complained with her mouth, she was deeply proud of her two sons in her heart. "I told you ages ago how excellent my sons are, but you didn't care at the time. Now... oh, never mind."
Juliana continued, "I know Charles is the company president and brilliant at business. But what about Wentworth? He's in the military, right? What's his rank?"
"He's already a major." Amelia said proudly.
Juliana asked, "What does it take to reach the rank of major? I'm quite curious."
Wentworth didn't speak. Amelia said, "Don't ask him about that stuff—everything's classified."
"My apologies." Juliana smiled.
"But you know, Wentworth isn't just some ordinary soldier. Like you, he speaks ten languages."
Juliana's hand trembled slightly around her chopsticks. She'd been misled by the media, always assuming military people had low education levels.
Hearing this information now, the sourness in her heart grew even stronger. She regretted not listening to Amelia back then and meeting Wentworth sooner.
If she'd taken that advice, would she be the one sitting next to Wentworth now?
Wentworth was modest though. "Don't listen to my mom's nonsense. I only know seven foreign languages. The rest are of course English and Phoenix City dialect—I've known those since childhood, didn't have to study them."
But Juliana had already developed a sense of admiration for him.
After the meal, they went through Charles's wedding procedures item by item, including everything needed for the ceremony and the bridal suite decorations.
Juliana offered quite a few suggestions, including adding a live band for music. Matilda, on the other hand, couldn't contribute much. She'd never attended such a high-end wedding and wasn't familiar with the process.
Amelia deliberately asked her, "Matty, do you have anything to add?"
Matilda replied directly, "I don't."
Naturally, Amelia was displeased. "I don't even know why you came. You don't know anything."