Chapter 694

Diana needed to give herself and Julian some time. She needed to figure out how to tell Julian that Simon was his biological brother, but she couldn’t let him hear it from someone else. That was the only way she could minimize the blow to him.

It was almost midnight, but Diana had yet to return.

The pastries on the table had turned cold, and they looked pitifully flat on the plates. Combined with Julian’s gloomy expression, it all looked depressing.

But no one dared to ask how to handle the situation.

In the end, Julian ordered in a low voice, “Dump it all.”

The servant was hesitant. “What about the ones that ma’am personally made…”

His emotions were hidden beneath his long, thick lashes. His voice sounded low and restrained as he spoke again,” Don’t leave anything out.”

Instantly, everything was cleared away, and the food was dumped into the trash.

At the same moment, when the clock struck twelve, Diana hurriedly sent the message in the conversation box that had been kept on her screen. It was a simple message: [Happy New Year, Julian.]

After some thought, she quickly added, [I love you.]

Then, she opened the video call function. She made two attempts, but no one answered.

Just as Diana grew anxious and wondered if something had happened, Julian’s call came in.

Before this, she hadn’t dared to contact him, fearing that bringing up the fact that she wouldn’t be coming home for New Year’s Eve would only make him angrier. So she decided to wait until now.

Now, with his sudden call, Diana felt a bit nervous.

She cleared her throat softly, making sure her voice sounded sweeter and more pleasant than ever before, and pressed the answer button. “Hello, Julian…”

Her voice sounded so tender, and it made Julian’s heart flutter.

Perhaps no one in this world could say his name with such sweetness.

Yet, this sweetness and joy weren’t because of him; they were because she was at the Channing family’s residence.

Not coming back to celebrate the New Year with him, staying with Oliver there, or spending the night…

Was that something to be excited about?

Julian’s eyes seemed to be filled with terrifying darkness, like a pouring sea of black ink; but Diana was completely oblivious to it.

Instead, she pouted and asked, “Can you hear me?”

Before, whenever she used this tone to talk to him, Julian would soften no matter what had happened.

Diana just wanted to coax him. She didn’t want him to be angry because she wouldn’t come home on New Year’s Eve.

“Mmm.” Sure enough, he responded quickly. “I’m listening.”

Even though they were separated by such a distance and connected only by the flow of radio waves, Diana felt a sweet sensation in her heart.

It felt as if he were standing right in front of her and gazing deeply at her with those affectionate dark, inky eyes.

Just the thought of that scene made her delighted, as if flowers were blooming in the depths of her heart.

She couldn’t press down the delight in her voice as she said, “Aren’t you angry that I’m not home on New Year’s Eve?”

How could he not be angry?!

But he answered curtly, “No. You’re worried about Nina. Since Vans is bothering her and she can’t come to the villa, you definitely can’t come back.”

His voice sounded somewhat bitter.

Diana felt a slight tightness in her throat as she listened.

Still, she didn’t dwell on it.

After all, the reason Julian gave was much better than what she had imagined.

So, she continued along with his line of thought. “Yes, Nina’s in a bad mood right now.”