Once a Doormat Now Untouchable (Caleb and Sydney) novel Chapter 563

Chapter 563

Raymond’s train of thought did not surprise Julian.

Julian nodded with a quiet, deliberate look. He followed the thread. “Then what do you think about me and Sydney?”

Seeing he was not actually planning to marry Megan, Raymond relaxed. “You already know the answer.”

He ate his muffins and shot him a sideways glance. “You basically raised her. Who would dare say you are not good enough for her?”

On the day their relationship became public, the louder voices would probably insist Sydney was not good enough for Julian, since the public judged people by family background. No one cared that, during the darkest years of his life, Sydney had stayed by him step by step.

“Really?” Julian lifted a brow in amusement. “Did someone say something?”

Raymond frowned, instantly ready to fight on his behalf. “No one yet.”

“Good.”

Knowing how hard it had been for them to reach this point, and thinking of the muffins Julian had made, Raymond slapped his chest. “If I’m around, no one will dare say a word. You just enjoy being the old guy with the younger woman in peace.”

Otherwise, he did not mind teaching someone a lesson. Did people not understand the simple rule that messing with someone’s marriage is off-limits?

Julian nodded in satisfaction. “I’m relieved to hear that.”

Then he returned to the real point with practiced ease. “You still haven’t told me what that pendant looked like.”

With a belly full of hot muffins, Raymond let his guard down. He grabbed his phone and scrolled. “I showed you before, right?”

Julian had a vague impression. “Yes. That is why I want to see it again.”

“Here.” Raymond opened a photo from Vivian’s second birthday.

The heater had been on that day. The little girl wore only a frilly princess dress as relatives held her close. The pendant hung around her small neck. Her face looked soft as carved marble. Her eyes were round and bright like grapes. Her tiny nose looked delicate, her chin tilted in a proud little angle like a miniature princess.

Julian took the phone. The moment his gaze landed on the screen, he froze. In an instant, the little girl in the photo overlapped with the child stamped into his memory. He did not even need to study the pendant.

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Chapter 563

“Weren’t you looking at the pendant? Why are you staring at my sister?” Uneasy with intensity of Julian’s expression, Raymond zoomed the photo directly to the pendant. “I here. Stop looking at her.”

“Mm.” Julian came back to himself, though something thick lodged in his throat.

If Sydney was the Huttons’ long-lost youngest daughter, what did that say about all the years of hardship she had endured? He tugged at his lips, glanced at the pendant, and felt as if the universe was mocking all of them.

Raymond shivered at his expression. “What’s with that face?”

“Your sister…” Julian thought back to the first time he saw Sydney in the mourning hall and spoke honestly. “She was very cute.”

In the photo, she looked proud, lively, and adorable. At their first meeting, she had been small, pitiful, obedient, and also adorable.

They were the same person. Yet in a few short years the change was so stark his eyes stung.

Raymond snorted. “Of course.”

She was his sister, after all.

Raymond had been awake all night at the hospital. Exhaustion hit him hard. After telling Julian to suit himself, he stumbled into the bedroom and fell face-first onto the bed.

Sydney took her time with breakfast. She had just started upstairs to work when she saw a familiar Bentley roll into the courtyard. Her lips curled before she realized it. She stood quickly and headed out.

The moment she stepped outside, Julian gathered her into a firm embrace.

Her smile deepened and she nudged him lightly. Grandma is watching.”

The living room had full floor-to-ceiling windows. Sitting on the sofa gave a clear view of the courtyard.

Julian did not loosen his hold. He wrapped her close for a long moment before speaking in a low voice. “Precious, if your family background turned out to be extremely good, would you…”

Hearing the weight in his tone, Sydney joked, “Relax. I’m not about to abandon my impoverished husband.”

He laughed despite himself. “I mean, would you feel sad?”

Sydney had planned to respond lightly, but the meaning behind his question settled fast. Would she feel sad knowing she came from a good family yet lived so many hard years?

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