Julian's expression remained perfectly flat. "I can't investigate you, but I investigated him. He's garbage."
Vivienne instantly shut her mouth. Of course she knew Stellan Shaw was garbage. That was exactly why she was going to such extreme lengths to stop him from ruining Bianca. Even though the current Bianca might not fall for his trap, the risk was too massive. It was always better to kill the threat in the crib.
"Fine," she agreed, pretending to be deeply reluctant. She quickly forced a serious expression. "Honestly, I wasn't taking him seriously anyway. He was just a passing fling. Don't worry, I know how to play the game without getting hurt."
She stood up, preparing to leave.
Julian tapped his knuckles against the table. "Now that we've covered the passing fling, why don't you tell me about your 'true loves'?"
Vivienne blinked, completely lost. Was he a psycho? What true loves?
Julian reached into his jacket, pulled out a thick stack of transaction records, and tossed them onto the table.
Vivienne casually glanced at them, then slowly and silently sat back down.
Looking at a bank statement longer than his own lifespan made Julian's blood boil, but he gritted his teeth and forced his temper down. "I always wondered why you were constantly complaining about being broke. Turns out you've been secretly funding a whole stable of male models, haven't you?"
Vivienne stared down at her fingers, picking at her nails. This kid was getting harder to fool. Had her entire twenty-man network of informants been exposed in one fell swoop?
Julian had no idea she was currently brainstorming a lie. He assumed her silence was born of deep shame. He ground his teeth together. "When you bought me hand cream, you forced me to use a discount code to save thirty bucks. But when you buy designer clothes for your little boy toys, it has to be the latest luxury collection. Vivienne! Do you even have a heart?!"
Vivienne winced. She immediately grabbed the stack of papers. The hand cream originally cost a hundred and fifty dollars, but she had used a coupon to bring it down to a hundred and twenty.
That wasn't the part that hurt. The part that hurt was the line item directly beneath the hand cream: a custom high-fashion luxury jacket. Thirty-five thousand dollars.
God only knew what Julian had felt when he read that receipt.
Vivienne awkwardly set the statement down. Looking at it from Julian's perspective, she had gone a bit too far. After all, his allowance was the main source of funding for her entire network.
For once, she tried to be patient. "Listen, I can explain."
Julian took a deep breath. "This better be the most logical explanation in human history."
Vivienne nodded, clearing her throat. "If I told you that this is simply a tiny, harmless hobby in the grand tapestry of my life... would you understand?"
"Hah..." Julian let out a dark, furious laugh.



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