Chapter 196 He Is Hers Now
Julie considered herself naturally beautiful, and with some makeover done on her face, her face was perfectly stunning.
She stared hard at the woman she considered ugly, her eyes burning with anger.
Just now Amelia had said, Lucas?
Amelia was going to introduce this ugly woman to Lucas? And thought Lucas would definitely like her?
Amelia was introducing her friend to Lucas?
Rage surged wildly inside Julie.
She had been hesitating about whether to risk being discovered by Samuel and draw Lucas into her plan.
But now, hearing Amelia's words, she didn't want to hesitate anymore!
This ugly woman didn't deserve Lucas!
Only she was a perfect match for Lucas - both talented and beautiful.
She had to start making her move.
Once Lucas was in her trap, he would be hers.
When she married Lucas, everyone in the Richardson family would have to be grateful to her.
She couldn't hesitate anymore.
Julie turned around and headed back to the elevator.
York glanced toward Amelia, and Amelia happened to look his way too.
Their eyes met, and York gave Amelia an almost imperceptible nod before quickly following Julie into the elevator.
"Ms. Crawford, the water pipe upstairs is still being fixed. Why are you going back up?"
The reason Julie had come downstairs was that the water pipe in her room had 'suddenly' broken.
Julie said irritably, "I don't want to wait anymore. I'm going to take another nap. Stop following me and go find the front desk. Just have them switch me to another room."
"Let's go to the front desk together."
"Do I have to go in person for such a small thing?"
One major reason she hadn't made any moves recently was because York was watching her every step.
The broken pipe was her perfect chance to get York away from her.
She deliberately said with a stern face, "If you can't even handle this, you don't need to follow me around anymore! I don't need a useless person like you taking care of me."
With those words, York was indeed 'afriad' she'd find an excuse to send him away and he wouldn't be able to explain it to Samuel, so he said "Then please go upstairs and wait for me" and he left the elevator.
Julie finally got to be alone for a while.
This York was really shameless.
Using the excuse of protecting her safety, he'd even arranged for a female bodyguard to stay in her room, sleeping on the sofa at night.
When she went out, York would follow.
She had almost no time alone.
Now that she'd shaken off York, she quickly went to a random floor and made a phone call in the stairwell.
"How are things going on your end?"
The person on the phone said, "Everything's going smoothly, but Lucas isn't at the company often. I've only run into him once."
"What was his attitude toward you?"
"The guy's pretty stupid. I pretended to apologize once, and he said he wouldn't hold past matters against me, just told me not to bully people using my connections anymore. Just like that, he forgave me."
Julie's face immediately darkened.
"Who are you calling stupid?"
She could bully Lucas however she wanted, but without her permission, no one else could say a single bad word about Lucas.
The person on the other end was none other than Orval, who had previously clashed with Lucas.
He quickly apologized.
"I was wrong, Ms. Crawford." But Orval was very jealous of Lucas inside.
What did Lucas have that made Julie, someone of such high status, go to so much trouble for him?
"Find an opportunity. We need to move to the next step."
Orval came up with an idea.
"There's an event next week."
When Julie heard this, she realized she had just received an invitation to this event a few days ago.
But at the time she was still hesitating about whether to make her move, so she'd declined.
Now it seemed this event was the perfect opportunity.
Julie smiled and said, "That's a great suggestion. I'll attend."
Just then, another call came in.
It was York's number.
Having said what needed to be said, Julie hung up on Orval and answered York's call.
"Ms. Crawford, where are you? I didn't find you at the room door."
Julie's eyes turned somewhat cold.
York was indeed keeping constant watch on her. The moment she was out of his sight for a few minutes, he called.
"I got bored waiting for you, so I'm just wandering around. What room number did you switch me to?"
"1101. But there's only one suite here. If you want to switch, you'll have to take a regular room." York said on the phone.
Julie's eyes lit up.
A regular room meant that female bodyguard couldn't stay in the same room with her.
She said with apparent irritation, "What kind of crappy hotel is this? Samuel should pay more attention to these important matters instead of getting tangled up with certain women all day and not doing his real work."
"Certain women" naturally referred to Amelia.
Samuel had been getting too close to Amelia—even Julie, who was being monitored, had heard about it.
But York suddenly laughed.
"Ms. Crawford, I'll pass these comments along to Mr. Crawford and let him hear your suggestions."
Julie's fingers holding the phone trembled.
"I was just venting casually, it's not a suggestion. You don't need to pass it on, I didn't mean anything by it. Since there's only a regular room available, let's switch. I'm too lazy to change to another hotel anyway."
"Alright, I'll arrange it right away."
Soon Julie had moved into a room on the 11th floor.
She used the excuse that she didn't sleep well and refused to let the female bodyguard stay with her.
"She can guard outside the door. If I'm in any danger, she'll hear it immediately. There's no need to stay together."
She added, "You're here to take care of me, not monitor me. You can at least agree to this small thing, right?"
She knew York wouldn't dare admit directly that they were there to monitor her, so she deliberately said this.
Sure enough, after thinking it over, York agreed.
Julie was thrilled inside.
With her own space, she could smoothly arrange what came next.
Just wait until next week.
After everything was settled, Julie asked York, "What is Ms. Richardson doing here?"
"I'm not sure about that." York didn't elaborate.
But Julie knew York definitely Knew—he just deliberately wasn't telling her.
However, by evening, Julie quickly found out why Amelia had made this trip.
Natalie's health had greatly improved, and Amelia had arranged a private room today to celebrate with Natalie.
Julie learned about this from a server who came to deliver toothbrushes, so she timed it right and went downstairs for dinner.
Lakeside Hotel's restaurant and buffet were both on the second floor.
Julie calculated the timing and passed by the private room Amelia had reserved.
The room had been specially decorated.
Amelia had come early specifically to discuss the room decorations with the hotel.
The medium-sized private room had been decorated very warmly.
As Julie passed by, she heard lively laughter and conversation inside.
The door wasn't closed. She glanced up and saw Lucas sitting very close to that ugly woman, the two of them talking about something.
The next second, Lucas laughed heartily, showing a row of neat white teeth.
That ugly woman was laughing too, her face taking on a pink tinge.
Everyone else in the room was also laughing, especially Natalie, who seemed to really like that ugly woman.
Julie clenched her fists so tightly that her nails cut into her palms without her even noticing.
Had Lucas really taken a liking to this ugly woman?
Was he blind?
Passing up a rich, powerful, beautiful woman like her to like this plain, ordinary woman?
She couldn't understand what she lacked compared to this ugly woman!
Julie could barely control her rage and almost rushed in to push Faith away from Lucas.
But York's voice suddenly rang out, bringing her back to her senses.
"Ms. Crawford, what are you doing here?"
"Nothing!" Afraid of attracting the attention of the people in the private room, Julie quickly left, with York following close behind.
Amelia looked toward the door at that moment.
She only saw the backs of two people.
She could tell Julie was seething with anger.
Her lips curved slightly as she looked at Faith.
"Alright, stop telling my brother about my embarrassing past."
Earlier, Faith had leaned so close to Lucas because she was telling Lucas about Amelia's embarrassing stories.
Lucas found it very interesting and laughed.
That was all.
And the reason Natalie and the others seemed to like Faith so much was because Amelia had introduced her from the start, saying Faith was her good friend.
For Amelia's good friend, they naturally showed affection by association.
Amelia picked up her glass and toasted Natalie with a soft drink.
"Congratulations, Mom, on finally finishing the last course of medication."
Natalie was very happy.
She was truly sick of taking medicine.
What made her even happier was that Amelia wasn't alone—she had friends too.
And Amelia was willing to introduce her friends to them, which meant she had completely accepted their family.
Throughout dinner, everyone in the private room ate very happily.
But that unhappy person was so angry she tore her pillow apart.
Damn that bitch! Actually seducing the man she had chosen!
Once she got Lucas, she would never let Faith off!
Just then, there was a knock at the door.
Julie went to answer it in a very bad mood.
Standing at the door was York again.
"What is it now?" Julie was extremely annoyed.
York's face showed no extra expression as he said matter-of-factly, "Ms. Crawford, I've already conveyed your words from this morning to Mr. Crawford. He said you must leave Goldenvale within one week. If you don't leave, you'll never be allowed back."
Julie's eyes widened in shock.
York had actually told Samuel about her casual comment this morning that Samuel wasn't doing his real work.
And Samuel was openly threatening her, telling her to leave?
Unable to contain her rage, she raised her hand to slap York.
But York firmly caught her hand, neither servile nor overbearing, with a cold light in his eyes.
"Let go!"
Julie's wrist hurt from his grip. She tried to pull back, but York wouldn't let go.
"I said, let go of me!"
York looked at her coldly.
"Ms. Crawford, I am indeed a servant. But I'm not your servant—you have no right to hit me. Of course, you can choose to go ahead with this slap. But I work for Mr. Crawford, and Mr. Crawford protects his people. If you slap me, he'll make sure it comes back to you."
With that, he released his hand and even leaned his face forward for Julie to hit.
But Julie didn't dare anymore.
She took a deep breath and said, "Get lost!"