Chapter 218: This Is Also an Alternate Identity

Chapter 218: Chapter 218: This Is Also an Alternate Identity

Sienna Everett’s eyes widened.

’He wants me to kiss him first?’

"I... I won’t." Blushing, she turned her head away.

"Really? You won’t?" The man arched an eyebrow, his long, fair fingers deliberately tickling the soft spot on her waist.

Sienna Everett was extremely ticklish there and immediately squirmed away. "I was wrong, I was wrong! Don’t touch me there!"

’Alright, maybe locking him out earlier wasn’t the best idea.’

Sienna Everett’s heart quivered. She licked her lips, took a deep breath, and leaned in to plant a quick kiss on the man’s cheek before pulling back just as fast.

"There, it’s done!"

The man’s gaze instantly darkened. He lowered his eyes, and a husky, seductive laugh rumbled in his throat.

"I said a kiss on the lips, not the cheek."

Sienna Everett: "???"

The man watched her, her eyes adorably wide, and a faint smile touched his lips. His fingers gently gripped her chin. "Kiss me, hm?"

His low, magnetic voice seemed to hold a tiny hook that tugged at the heart, an utterly bewitching allure.

Sienna Everett’s fingers tightened on his white shirt, her heart pounding like a frantic little deer trapped in her chest.

Her thick, curled lashes fluttered, and she involuntarily held her breath.

Just as she hesitated, about to pull away, the man suddenly raised a hand to cup the back of her head. Giving her no chance to object, he lowered his head and kissed her. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ

Sienna Everett froze.

The next moment, she tasted the crisp, pleasant flavor on his lips...

The kiss was achingly intimate and lingering.

Her strength gradually drained away.

Her body went limp in his arms, her mind blanking for a moment. Her rosy lips parted slightly, yielding to his kiss.

She wasn’t sure how much time had passed.

With one arm around the woman’s soft, slender waist and the other hand cupping the back of her head, Julian Forrester finally, reluctantly, pulled back, giving her glistening lower lip a gentle nip.

Sienna Everett felt breathless. Her clear eyes shimmered with unshed tears, the corners flushed a delicate red. Every flicker of her gaze was the very picture of seduction.

Dizzy and weak, she simply leaned against Julian Forrester, using him for support.

Like someone who’d had a taste and now couldn’t get enough, he rained tender, delicate kisses on her brow, the tip of her nose, and the corners of her lips, as if unwilling to miss a single spot.

"That tickles..." Sienna Everett tilted her head, dodging his lingering kisses.

The man chuckled softly and pulled her into a tight hug. A look of mesmerized adoration surfaced in his deep eyes, his voice so low it was almost inaudible. "Sorry. I just like you so much."

Sienna Everett’s heart constricted. She looked at him, bewildered. "You... Why do you like me?"

He retorted as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "Why wouldn’t I like you?"

His tone made it sound as if liking her was the most natural, self-evident thing in the world.

Sienna Everett: "...I’m being serious."

Julian Forrester: "So am I."

Sienna Everett: "..."

’This conversation is impossible!’

"By the way, that Ophelia Warren from the scandal today... her eyes look a little like mine." Sienna Everett suddenly recalled the coincidence.

"I didn’t notice." The moment he’d heard about the scandal, he had dropped everything and rushed back, terrified Sienna Everett would misunderstand.

He hadn’t had time to find out who Ophelia Warren was, nor did he care to.

Sienna Everett pulled out her phone and found a picture of Ophelia Warren. "Here, look."

The man gave it a cursory glance. "Not as pretty as my Sienna."

Sienna Everett: "...That’s not what I asked you to look at!"

Julian Forrester: "There is a slight resemblance, but only a little. Not much."

Sienna Everett scrolled through a few more photos. Ophelia Warren had grown up in an orphanage; she wondered if there was any connection to the Prescott Family.

Unexpectedly, Ophelia Warren and Miles Everett had crossed paths as well.

Julian Forrester’s brow furrowed slightly. He was just now realizing that because of this absurd scandal, any online search for Ophelia Warren’s name would also bring up his own.

A chill settled over the man’s features. He called his assistant, Samuel Sutton, and told him to scrub the internet clean of this mess.

"Yes, Mr. Forrester. I understand!" Not only did Samuel Sutton understand, but he also knew how to take the initiative. "Mr. Forrester, would you like me to link your name with Miss Everett’s instead?"

Julian Forrester: "You may."

He was only willing to be linked to Sienna Everett.

No other woman would do.

Sienna Everett, who had overheard the conversation: "..."

’That’s enough!’

Sienna Everett immediately spoke to Samuel Sutton on the other end of the line, "You handle your business, but leave my name out of it."

Samuel Sutton paused for a second, then quickly greeted her, "Miss Everett, hello!"

’Oh, so Mr. Forrester is with Miss Everett right this moment.’

’It looks like the scandal didn’t affect Mr. Forrester and Miss Everett’s relationship. That’s wonderful!’

’It couldn’t be helped. Miss Everett’s influence over Mr. Forrester was just too great. If Miss Everett was unhappy, Mr. Forrester would definitely be unhappy, and then he, the special assistant, and all the company’s senior executives would have to walk on eggshells.’

...

「The next morning.」

Keith Sterling came over cheerfully, bright and early. "My dearest brother and sister-in-law, good morning!"

Sienna Everett was still at the dining table, eating breakfast.

With a perfectly natural movement, Julian Forrester picked up a crystal shrimp dumpling and held it to her lips.

Sienna Everett was too embarrassed to eat it, but it seemed like the man would just keep his chopsticks poised at her lips until she did.

Sienna Everett had no choice but to gulp it down in one bite.

"Whoa! What is this public display of affection I’m witnessing!" Keith Sterling pretended to cover his eyes, but peeked through the gaps in his fingers.

Sienna Everett swallowed her food. "Why are you here so early? We haven’t even finished breakfast."

Making himself right at home, Keith Sterling sat down at the table. "I came to scrounge a free meal, of course! Bro, how about you get a shrimp dumpling for your favorite little brother, me!"

In response, Keith Sterling received a cold glare from his brother.

Keith Sterling had expected as much.

’But he just couldn’t resist pushing his luck!’

After finishing his scrounged breakfast, Keith Sterling proposed excitedly, "Sis, it’s the weekend, and my bro doesn’t have to go to the office, so he’s free. Let’s go on an outing!"

Sienna Everett: "? An outing? Feeling a bit childish, are we?"

"So, Sis, do you want to go or not!"

"I don’t want to go."

"Bro, what about you? You?"

"Not going."

"..." ’Right. If Sierra wasn’t going, his brother definitely wouldn’t either.’

Sienna Everett chatted idly with Keith Sterling for a while before getting a call from Manager Jennings of the auction house.

As soon as Keith Sterling saw it was Manager Jennings, he guessed the reason for the call and urged Sienna Everett to put it on speaker.

"Miss Everett, I’m so sorry to bother you this early!"

"It’s fine. You’re not bothering me."

"Well, it’s like this, Miss Everett," Manager Jennings said, his voice filled with excitement. "A client came to our auction house today wanting us to auction a painting. I took a look, and it’s a piece by the contemporary female artist Whisperwind—*Rivers and Mountains Like a Painting*!"

"This is a painting by Whisperwind! Whisperwind! So many people are fighting to get her work and are willing to pay a high price! If we can auction it off for a fortune, our auction house will earn a handsome commission! Miss Everett, if you’re not busy right now, would it be convenient for me to bring this *Rivers and Mountains Like a Painting* over for your appraisal?"

"Don’t bother bringing it over." The corners of Sienna Everett’s eyes lifted slightly. "Your *Rivers and Mountains Like a Painting* is a fake."

Manager Jennings was stunned. "Miss Everett, you haven’t even laid eyes on it. How can you be so sure it’s a fake?"

Keith Sterling was baffled, too. ’Is she so good now that she can spot a fake without even looking?’

A second later, they heard her say.

Sienna Everett said, "Because the original *Rivers and Mountains Like a Painting* is in my house."

Keith Sterling: "?"

Manager Jennings: "?"

’Well, that settles that. Sorry to bother you!’

Once Sienna Everett hung up, Keith Sterling immediately turned to Julian Forrester. "Bro, where’s the original? In the study?"

Julian Forrester raised an eyebrow, tilting his chin toward Sienna Everett. "At the house where her grandparents used to live."

"So it’s at Sierra’s old house!" Keith Sterling turned to Sienna Everett, thrilled. "Whisperwind is supposed to be super mysterious! She only paints but never makes public appearances! Sis, when you guys bought her painting, did you ever meet her?"

Sienna Everett blinked but didn’t say a word.

Keith Sterling turned back to Julian Forrester. "Bro, since you knew Whisperwind’s *Rivers and Mountains Like a Painting* was at Sis’s old house, does that mean you were there when it was bought? Did you see Whisperwind in person?!"

Julian Forrester lounged on the sofa. "What do you think?"

Keith Sterling scratched his head in confusion. Suddenly, it was as if a light bulb went off in his head, and a wild theory formed.

He turned to stare at Sienna Everett, dumbfounded.

"Sis, that painter, Whisperwind... it’s not you, is it?"