His Belated Love for the Abandoned Ex-Wife Chapter 56: A Setup

Her voice was faint, almost weak. "Zoe, if you were a reporter and saw a top celebrity checking into a hotel with a rich guy, what would you do?"

"Iris! Seriously? Your husband's in a hotel with another woman right now, and you're asking me this dumb question?"

"I just called him. Selena picked up. I know they're together." Iris squeezed the soggy tissue so hard her hands shook with anger. "But why's this blowing up? Why are all the entertainment reporters camped out at the hotel to catch them red-handed?"

Zoe went quiet for a minute. "Maybe someone leaked the video of them checking in to the reporters."

"If I were an entertainment reporter, I'd sit on it first. I'd wait till they come out, snap more secret photos for proof, then either blackmail them or run an exclusive."

Zoe's eyes went wide. "Wait, are you saying Julian didn't cheat? He got set up?"

Iris leaned back on the sofa, dabbing her tears when Zoe wasn't looking. Her voice dripped with sarcasm. "Chances are he's cheating. A guy and a girl alone in a hotel all night—you think they just sat there telling ghost stories under the covers?"

Zoe sighed hard, not knowing what to say.

Iris's tone turned flat, full of disappointment. "Whether he cheated or not doesn't even matter anymore. What matters is someone planned this and made it big to get what they want."

"Hardly anyone knows Julian's married. Reporters even call him the most eligible single millionaire." Zoe thought for a second, then guessed. "Do you think Selena set this up? For publicity?"

Iris hung her head, her voice barely a whisper. "I don't know."

All these women swarming Julian had messed with her head so bad that she couldn't think straight anymore.

"You doing okay? Want to take a few days off at home?"

"No. He's just a guy. He won't mess up my work. I'll head back to the lab in a bit." Iris stood up, walked to her room, hung up the call, and set her phone on the bathroom counter.

She splashed cold water on her puffy, red eyes.

Marriage mattered, but her career was the only thing she could count on.

Two years of a sexless marriage, two years of cold, distant days—they'd slowly killed the simple, fiery, deep love she once had for him.

She'd held on because Julian was her first love. They had a marriage certificate, a legal tie she couldn't break easily. She'd kept hoping, dreaming that one day Julian would fall for her, come home, and they'd finally have a real life together.

Little did she know that she, Julian's real wife, was the one intruding on someone else's relationship.

The worst part? She was just a replacement. And not even good enough to share his bed.

When she got back to the lab, Iris was out of it all day. She kept messing up.

She'd thought she could handle it, but she'd underestimated how much Julian's stuff would get to her.

Zoe and the other coworkers told her to go home and rest, but she dug her heels in and refused.

She tried to keep busy with work to distract herself, but the more she tried, the more mistakes she made.

Finally, she put down her work and tried to study in the office. She stared at the book, but not a single word stuck. She dragged herself through the day till evening.

She walked alone down the street as dusk hit. The hazy night wrapped around her thin, worn-out body.

Her heart felt like it had a boulder on it. It wasn't killing her, but it was so heavy she could barely breathe.

Her steps were slow, each one taking all her strength. A ten-minute walk felt like a mile.

When she got home, she flipped on the lights.

Quiet, clean, tidy—just like always.

She dropped her bag on the floor, plopped down on the sofa, pulled out her phone, and checked the trending topics for the first time ever.

The gossip about Julian and Selena was gone from the list.

She searched for it anyway.

The only video that popped up was Selena helping a wobbly Julian into the hotel.

That was it—no more clips, no more photos.

Another video showed there was a fire drill at the hotel that morning. Reporters waiting outside got chased away by staff, guests ran out too, and the whole scene turned chaotic.

In the end, they got nothing.

Just like all his other romantic rumors, this one fizzled out with no real answer.

Selena even posted a statement on her Twitter, saying the video was a lie.

After a quick PR cleanup, the whole thing died down fast.

Turns out Julian wasn't an idiot. He didn't fall for the trap that easily.

But none of that mattered to Iris.

She set down her phone and rolled onto her side on the sofa, overcome with sadness. She had no energy to cook, nor any appetite at all.

Before she knew it, she'd fallen asleep.

It was late, and the house was dead quiet.

Even though she was tired, she'd always been a light sleeper. She felt something brush softly against the corner of her eye.

She jolted awake.

Julian was there, wearing a simple white shirt and pants. He sat on the coffee table in front of the sofa, elbow on his thigh, leaning toward her.

He looked like he'd wiped a tear off her cheek. His eyes were dark as night as he stared at the tear on his fingertip. He smirked a little, then rubbed his fingers together gently.

Iris sat up, flustered, brushing her hair and touching her wet cheeks.

Seeing him only made the ache in her chest worse.

Julian's voice had a sharp, sarcastic edge. "Crying in your sleep? What's got you this upset, Iris?"