His Belated Love for the Abandoned Ex-Wife Chapter 72: Fake Victim

Julian treated his childhood best friend way better than he treated her.

If she minded, but Julian didn't care about being that casual and close with Lily, wouldn't she just look like a fool putting on a one-man show?

Iris pointed to the box in the corner. "There's water over there. You can drink one of the new ones."

"I already drank. I'm not thirsty anymore."

Lily looked so proud, like she'd gotten exactly what she wanted. She turned back to Carl and put one hand on his shoulder. "Anything else I can help with?"

Carl frowned and slowly pushed her hand away. He seemed to realize something was off. "Nah, I got it myself."

"I got nothing better to do anyway. Let me help." Lily was so eager that Carl didn't know how to turn her down.

Iris stared at the mineral water on the table, her fists tightening a little.

She had the urge to throw it away.

The sour jealousy made her feel like she was losing her mind.

She took a deep breath and held it in.

She glanced at Lily again. She was this close to a guy she'd just met.

How close must she be with Julian, after knowing him for over twenty years?

Zoe couldn't stand it anymore. She put one hand on her hip, walked over to Iris, and asked weakly, "Can I kick her out? She's so annoying."

Iris smiled helplessly. "You can only kick her out of our booth, not the whole expo hall."

Their booth was only a few dozen square feet. Kicking her out here didn't even matter.

Zoe held her anger in and kept arranging the exhibits.

Iris joined her, busy with the work.

A minute later, Julian walked back to the booth and picked up his mineral water.

He twisted the cap open. As he lifted his hand, Zoe put her hand on her hip, stared at him, and spoke with a hint of sarcasm. "I guess Mr. Everhart's neat-freak act is just for show, huh?"

As soon as she said that, Carl and Lily both looked over.

Iris panicked. She tugged at Zoe's clothes nervously, signaling her not to offend Julian.

She'd just asked him to introduce her to the purchasing managers of those big hospitals.

If she offended him, that favor would probably fall through.

Julian frowned at the bottle, slowly set it down, smiled gently, and asked politely, "Ms. Ellison, why do you say that?"

Iris tugged at Zoe's sleeve again, winking at her.

Zoe, like Iris, was a shy, reserved girl. She usually never picked fights on purpose.

Iris always thought about the big picture, but Zoe didn't. Zoe said what she thought right away, even if it got her in trouble.

After all, he wasn't her husband. Offending him didn't cost her anything.

Zoe pushed Iris's hand away, speaking in a sarcastic tone. "Your wife's right here—gorgeous and soft. You won't even kiss her, but you'll share a drink with some 'girl friend' from outside? What? An indirect kiss doesn't gross you out?"

Iris wanted to crawl into a hole right then. Oh my god!

Zoe, what are you doing?

It made her sound like she was desperate to be kissed by Julian.

And Carl was right there listening. So embarrassing!

She felt so humiliated. While Zoe was calling Julian out, she'd dragged Iris into it too.

Julian's eyes turned cold. He slowly put the cap back on the mineral water bottle.

Just then, Lily looked like she'd been wronged horribly. She rushed over to Iris and Zoe, her eyes filled with tears, her voice shaking. "Iris, what's wrong with you? Is this really necessary? I accidentally drank Julian's water earlier. I didn't mean to. I even asked if you minded.

"If you minded, you could've said so. I would've apologized. If you're upset, talk to me directly. Why have your best friend make snarky comments?"

Lily cried so hard, wiping her tears and sniffling. "I never thought... I just drank from the wrong bottle, and you're being so mean to me? Indirect kiss? That's so rude! Julian and I are just good friends. It's not as dirty as you think."

Other people at the expo gathered around.

Everyone's eyes were on them.

Zoe was stunned, too angry to speak.

Now she looked like the mean, fake-nice girl bullying an innocent one?

Zoe was so mad. She couldn't find the right words to fight back.

At that moment, the only thing Zoe cared about was clearing Iris's name. She didn't care if she offended Julian, but Iris still loved this jerk. She definitely didn't want to leave a bad impression on him.

"My anger has nothing to do with Iris." Zoe snapped, "Lily, stop dragging her into this."

Lily looked even more wronged. She wiped her tears and pointed to the people standing around. "Ask everyone here. How can you bully me like this?"

Both Zoe and Iris were thin-skinned.

They were naturally introverted. This was mortifying for them.

Most people would think a girl drinking someone else's water was just a tiny thing.

To make a big deal out of it and ruin someone's reputation? From anyone's perspective, Zoe and Iris were in the wrong.

At that moment, any explanation would sound weak.