Chapter 42 The Angry Suspect
The moment Julian stepped out of Adeline’s office, the door shutting behind him firmly, the anger he had been holding in finally took over completely. His steps were fast as he walked down the hallway, not bothering to acknowledge anyone who looked his way. People moved aside almost instantly when they saw the expression on his face, because it was very clear that he was not in the mood to exchange greetings or answer questions. His jaw was tight, his eyes cold, and his entire posture screamed irritation.
He didn’t slow down even when he reached the elevator. He pressed the button harder than necessary and stood there, running a hand through his hair as he waited. The few seconds it took for the elevator to arrive felt longer than usual, and when the doors finally slid open, he stepped in quickly and hit the button for the garage without a second thought. The ride down was silent, but his mind was anything but calm.
All he could hear was Adeline’s voice, her accusing tone, and the way she had looked at him like he had betrayed her.
By the time the elevator doors opened again, Julian was already more annoyed than he had been when he left the office. He walked straight to his car, unlocked it, and got in, slamming the door a little harder than he intended. The silence of the garage surrounded him immediately, but it did nothing to calm him down.
He leaned back in the driver’s seat and let out a long breath, his hand going straight to his tie. He loosened it roughly, pulling it down his neck before unbuttoning the top few buttons of his shirt. The small action was meant to help him breathe easier, to give him some space to think, but it barely made a difference.
“I can’t believe her,” he muttered under his breath, his voice low but filled with frustration.
He sat there for a moment, his head resting against the seat as he stared up at the roof of the car. The more he thought about what had just happened, the more it annoyed him. It wasn’t just the argument. It wasn’t just the fact that she had gotten angry at him for stepping in.
It was the accusation. The fact that she had actually looked him in the eye and asked him if he had something to do with the way the reporters treated her. That was what bothered him the most.
He let out a short, dry laugh, shaking his head slightly. “Unbelievable,” he said again, this time a little louder.
Even though he knew deep down that his intentions toward her were far from pure, even though he knew that marrying her was part of a bigger plan, there was still a line he had no intention of crossing. He had worked hard to gain even a small amount of trust from her, and he wasn’t stupid enough to destroy that for something as pointless as setting her up in front of reporters.
If he wanted to hurt her, there were easier ways, cleaner ways.
The fact that she didn’t seem to understand that, or worse, that she didn’t trust him enough to even consider that possibility, made his chest tighten with a kind of irritation he didn’t expect.
He ran a hand down his face, exhaling slowly as he tried to steady himself. He needed to calm down. Driving like this would only make things worse, and the last thing he needed was to let his temper get the best of him in a situation where he needed to stay in control, but it wasn’t just the accusation.
It was also the way she had dismissed him, the way she had told him to leave.
He clenched his jaw again at the memory. He had stood there, defended her in front of the press, and declared publicly that he was going to marry her, and she had turned around and practically thrown him out of her office like he was nothing. Like what he did didn’t matter at all.
“That woman…” he muttered, shaking his head again.
He didn’t even know where to begin listing everything that annoyed him about her at that moment. The anger was layered, one thing piling on top of another until it became hard to separate one reason from the next. All he knew was that he was furious, and if he didn’t do something to focus his mind, he was going to stay that way for a long time.
After a few seconds of silence, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. His thumb hovered over the screen for a brief moment before he made a decision and dialed a number he knew by heart.
The phone rang once, and then it was picked up.
“Well, well,” Lisa’s voice came through almost immediately, carrying her usual tone that always sounded just a little bit annoyed even when she wasn’t. “Look who decided to call. Congratulations, boss, you’ve officially become the most trending topic in the country. You and your soon-to-be wife, of course.”
Julian let out a sigh at her words, leaning his head back again as he listened. Under normal circumstances, he might have asked her for details, might have wanted to know exactly how things were being received by the public, but right now, he didn’t care.
“I need you to look into something for me,” he said, cutting straight to the point without bothering to acknowledge her comment.
There was a small pause on the other end before Lisa spoke again, her tone shifting slightly as she picked up on the seriousness in his voice. “You don’t want to know how the press conference went?” she asked. “Whether the public is praising you or dragging you through the mud?”
“I’ll hear about that later,” Julian replied quickly. “Right now, I need you to focus on something else.”
Lisa didn’t interrupt him this time.
“I need the names of the reporters who were asking questions today,” he continued, his voice calm but firm now that he had something to focus on. “The ones who were too harsh and the ones who crossed the line.”
There was a brief silence before Lisa responded, and this time, there was a hint of confusion in her voice.
“Too harsh?” she repeated. “You mean the ones who were basically calling her every name in the book without actually saying it?”
“Yes,” Julian said shortly.
“Alright…” she dragged out slightly. “And what exactly am I supposed to do with their names?”
Julian sat up a little straighter, his fingers tightening slightly around his phone as he spoke. “I want you to find out if any of them have been compromised in any way,” he said.
There was another pause, longer this time, and when Lisa spoke again, her confusion was clearer. “Compromised how?” she asked.
Julian exhaled slowly, his gaze dropping to the dashboard of the car as his thoughts sharpened. “Some of them didn’t ask questions like they were simply curious,” he said. “It felt… off, like they were pushing harder than they should have been. Like they were trying to provoke a reaction.”
He paused for a second before adding, “Adeline thinks I had something to do with it.”
That earned him a small scoff from Lisa on the other end. “Well, that’s flattering,” she said dryly. “At least she thinks you’re capable of something that diabolical and sneaky.”
Julian didn’t react to the comment. “I need to know if it’s possible that someone else got to them,” he continued, ignoring her remark. “If they were paid, pressured, or influenced in any way.”
Lisa hummed softly, the sound thoughtful now as she processed what he was asking. “You think someone set that up?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” Julian replied honestly. “But I don’t like how it looked, and I don’t like that she thinks I had anything to do with it.”
There was a brief silence again, but it wasn’t awkward. It was the kind of silence that came when Lisa was already thinking ahead, already planning how she was going to get the information he needed.
“Alright,” she said finally. “I’ll look into it. I’ll get the list of reporters first, then I’ll start digging. If there’s anything off, I’ll find it.”
“I need answers as soon as possible,” Julian added.
“You always do,” Lisa replied lightly, but there was no real complaint in her tone. “I’ll call you as soon as I have something.”
Julian nodded slightly, even though she couldn’t see him. “Good.”
Without adding anything else, he ended the call and dropped his phone onto the seat beside him. He leaned back once again, closing his eyes for a brief moment as he let out a slow breath.
The anger was still there, and the frustration was still there, but now, it was mixed with something else—suspicion, because the more he thought about it, the more he realized that Adeline might not have been entirely wrong to question what happened today.
Just not in the way she thought.