Chapter 671

Even if Julian desperately wanted to reach out and hold Diana, to embrace her tightly and greedily breathe in every bit of her presence…he couldn’t.

It wasn’t because he feared the Pabian family, or anyone else.

It was because… He had to protect her in a way that seemed at odds with her, a way that appeared to belittle her.

Julian refused to believe that Clifford had the audacity to invite Diana as a guest to his home.

Despite the Channing family’s involvement, this scheme to test Diana’s worth in his heart didn’t seem like something Simon or Kenneth would come up with. Moreover, they seemed to differ from the script of the one responsible for orchestrating this act from behind the scenes.

As for whether Oliver was the mastermind behind it all, Julian couldn’t rely solely on speculation.

He needed further confirmation.

If it really was Oliver, and the man had become so deranged as to target Diana…

Julian’s eyes narrowed slightly as a dangerous aura poured out around him.

If that was really the case, he was determined to make Oliver regret it!

The most important thing before exposing Oliver’s true face was to use the substitute incident and spread news of his estrangement from Diana. Only then would Clifford and his enemies realize that Diana wasn’t his weakness.

It was the only way he could protect Diana as much as possible during these trying times.

But now… Because there was no time to explain, it was evident that he had hurt her feelings deeply.

As for Clifford… He was still watching them from behind the car. If Julian got out now and ran after Diana, her next encounter with Clifford wouldn’t just be limited to today’s incident. It would become an ever-present danger in her life!

He couldn’t let her fall into such a perilous situation.

“Let her go,” Julian said as he glanced at Noel. “Keep driving forward, and don’t stop.”

“But, sir…”

“Keep driving!”

Julian dared not look back or even glance at Diana’s current state in the rearview mirror.

The only thing he could be sure of was that the more distant and strained their relationship appeared, the more advantageous it would be for Diana.

Noel could only obey his command.

Once the car left the outskirts and reached a place where Clifford couldn’t see them anymore, Julian couldn’t bear it any longer. He ripped off his tie and shouted, “Stop the car!”

He needed to find Diana.

He had to explain to her the reason behind his earlier attitude!

However, making a U-turn in the car would draw too much attention. To avoid Clifford from noticing, Julian instructed Noel to continue driving while he returned alone.

It was dark, and Julian hadn’t rested for a long time. It would take him a considerable amount of time to walk back this distance, and Noel was naturally concerned.

“Sir, your health might suffer…”

“I’m not that stupid,” Julian retorted, and he instructed Noel to go ahead.

While his more commonly used phone numbers might be under surveillance, he still had the one for Mr.

Whatever, a pseudonym he had casually created.

It was proving to be quite useful now.

Julian stood tall on the side of the road, and pulled out the phone to send a message to Diana.

[Where are you?)

At the same moment, Diana was already in Nina’s car.

“I’m freezing,” she complained as she huffed indignantly. She tossed her phone aside and quickly rubbed her hands together for warmth, and requested Nina to turn the car’s heating up to the maximum.

Finally feeling a bit warmer, her body was no longer as stiff as before. Diana then hurriedly recounted the events of the evening to Nina.

Nina listened with anger. After Diana was finished, she exploded, “Tell all those people to buzz off!”

She clenched her fist, and her brows furrowed deeply in her skin. It was clear she was indignant on Diana’s behalf.

“You should never return to the villa again, Diana! Don’t pay any attention to that despicable man! I’ll take care of you!”

As she spoke, she took out an invitation card and handed it to Diana. “Look at this. Tomorrow, I’ll take you to eat delicious food and console your wounded soul!”

Diana was taken aback. She took the invitation card and asked, “What’s this?”

“Hehe,” Nina chuckled awkwardly. “It’s just a banquet…”

Diana nodded, and opened the invitation card.

To her surprise, the seemingly simple and elegant invitation card unfolded into a three-dimensional mountain, with the text written in pure gold.

One glance at it and Diana knew this banquet was no ordinary event.