Chapter 1368 What Are You Doing?
Laura sneaked a peek at Julia and saw her back shaking a bit.
After standing around for a bit, Julia finally strutted off in her high heels.
It was like Julia's shaking earlier was just Laura's imagination.
Laura stood there, zoned out, until someone knocked on her head.
Derek stood in front of her, laughing, "What are you doing here?"
"Meditating," Laura jumped and quickly leaned against the rockery, looking up at the sky.
Derek's mouth twitched, "Do you think I'm dumb? Whatever, there are so many Jude Family relatives here today, most of whom you don't know. It might be quieter for you to stay here."
"Yeah, and even if they act all friendly, I'm still just a small-town girl to them. I can't be bothered to socialize," Laura shrugged.
"It's pretty boring here. Wanna shoot some pool? You know how?"
"Yeah, I'm pretty good at it."
Laura wanted to get the lowdown on Julia, so she tagged along.
But after playing pool for just three minutes, Derek was speechless, "Is this what you call being pretty good?"
Laura felt awkward. She used to be quite good, "I haven't played pool in two or three years. I used to be good, haha."
"Forget it, I'll teach you. Keep your hands steady."
Derek leaned in from behind and grabbed her wrist.
Being so close, he could faintly smell a light milky scent from her.
Derek couldn't help but glance down at her. Maybe she had eaten well during her postpartum period, her face was chubby. He had always known she was beautiful, but he didn't realize she was even more charming after having a child.
He steadied himself, trying hard to ignore the strange feeling. He held her hand and struck the ball forcefully, and it went in.
"Wow, you're amazing," Laura looked at him with excited eyes.
Derek's heart raced, and he nonchalantly curled his warm lips, "You just need to find the right angle."
Laura nodded, though her mind wasn't really on the game, "By the way, why hasn't Julia gotten married yet?"
Derek looked at her strangely, "You don't know? She got married a long time ago."
"What?"
Laura was shocked, "But I've never seen her husband."
Derek sighed, "Her husband died four years ago. Julia got married quite early, right after she came back from studying abroad, but her husband had been in poor health since childhood."
"Then why did Julia marry him?" Laura was puzzled.
Derek gave her a deep look, "It's all about politics and interests. Don't be fooledjust because the Jude Family is now the president's family. Our situation wasn't always good. In Whisperlyn City, we had James chasing business success on one side, and my dad trying to hold his ground in politics on the other."
"But how could any of this be achieved without a few helpers? For the family, marriage was the best choice. So Julia got engaged at eighteen. Thanks to her marriage, the Jude Family has the achievements it has today. That's why, even as a woman, she became the president of the Jude Group and joined the board. Her shares are even more than Michael's and Aaron's."
"I see."
Laura felt uneasy. "Giving up love and sacrificing her marriage for so-called interests. Being born into these wealthy families is actually quite painful. But maybe she doesn't think so. For some people, family interests might outweigh everything."
She never had a good impression of Julia.
Because it was Julia who switched her birth control pills, causing her to get pregnant.
It was also Julia who threatened her, forcing her to have this child for the Jude Family.
"Don't say that. Some people have no choice," Derek sighed. "Julia is our eldest sister; she carried a lot of responsibility. Michael, Aaron, and I were quite mischievous, but the Jude Family is very strict with the younger generation. We only thought about having fun. Can you imagine? From the age of two, we were learning all kinds of languages—French at three, German at four. What child likes to do that? So we skipped classes, threw tantrums, and refused to study. My grandfather was very strict and often beat us. Julia always stood up for us back then."
"My grandfather said he hoped we could support the future of the Jude Family. Julia said we were still young and asked him not to force us. She said she would work hard for the Jude Family and support its future. My grandfather told her not to regret her choice. She said she wouldn't. BThanks to her, we had a carefree childhood. While we played every day, she was stuck in endless training classes. When we were exhausted and asleep, she was still staying up late studying languages."
"People outside say Julia is heartless because she bears all the Jude Family's disgraceful matters. All our reputations are good."
Laura was stunned.
Maybe Eric was too good to Laura, making her think Eric was like that to everyone.
But if Eric were really such a gentle person, the Jude Family wouldn't have its current achievements.
She couldn't imagine how she would cope if she were born into the Jude Family.
Derek looked at her and smiled, "As my grandfather said, if you enjoy the honor and money the Jude Family brings you, you also have to give back to the Jude Family. You can't just take without giving."
Derek paused and then spoke again with a complex expression, "My grandpa had Julia switch the birth control pills. As for making you have this kid... if it wasn't Julia, someone else would’ve done it. She played the villain because everyone else wanted to be the hero, even her parents."
Laura was silent.
After learning the truth, Laura suddenly felt a bit sympathetic towards Julia.
A woman must have a strong and tough heart to bear everything for others.
"By the way, where did she study abroad?"
"Austin," Derek said, "Summit University."
Laura was suddenly stunned. Elliott also went to that university.
So, these two are alumni?
And they seem to be about the same age.
She seemed to remember Rose mentioning that Elliott had a girlfriend in college, but they broke up later. Could that person be Julia? Laura was puzzled.
"What are you thinking about?" Derek ruffled her bangs, "Forget it. Come on, I'll teach you."
He grabbed her elbow again.
"What are you doing?"
A stern voice suddenly called out from the door.
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