Chapter 183: Many Discussions

Chapter 183: Chapter 183: Many Discussions

The next afternoon, Vivian Lowell and Julian Faulkner boarded their plane, ready to return to Aethelburg.

Ever since they were in the waiting lounge, Grandma Faulkner had been glued to her phone. A warm, grandmotherly smile stretched across her kind face, radiating absolute, indulgent delight. Vivian was quite surprised to see this. She knew Grandma Faulkner enjoyed listening to traditional opera, but she had no idea the elderly woman had taken a liking to scrolling on her smartphone. It reminded her of online discussions about the elderly being so addicted to short videos that they scrolled day and night, ruining their eyesight and even forgetting to eat! Had Grandma Faulkner turned into one of those internet-addicted seniors?

Driven by curiosity, Vivian wanted to remind her that she had been playing on her phone for over half an hour. She should look out the window and rest her eyes!

"Vivian, you’re here just in time. Come look at this picture, it’s beautiful! Oh my, I’m going to set it as my phone wallpaper!"

She wondered what picture it could be. Thoroughly confused, Vivian leaned in closer to Grandma Faulkner. A second later, she froze, nearly choking on her own saliva. It was a photo of her and Julian in an embrace, with him kissing her forehead!

"Grandma, you..." Vivian’s eyes widened in shock. "How did you get this picture?"

She and Julian had snuck out of the hotel last night to stroll along The Aurelia and enjoy the night view. The fireworks show and the drones dropping rose petals that followed—hardly anyone should have known about all that, right? How was it that, after just one night and a single morning, Grandma Faulkner already had a photo of them?

"I saw it on the trending list! Come look, Vivian. The top search is already marked as a ’viral breakout’! Haha, I didn’t expect netizens to be so invested in your relationship!" Grandma Faulkner sighed dramatically while casting a glance at Julian’s back. "My good grandson has finally grown up and learned how to please his wife. Rose petals, fireworks... Oh my, how romantic!

"Your grandfather never had so many fancy tricks up his sleeve! Whatever I liked, he would just go straight to the store and buy it outright!"

Julian was busy handling company affairs, his back turned to the two women. However, after hearing Grandma Faulkner’s teasing, Vivian glanced at his back and noticed that his posture suddenly seemed a bit stiff. She really wanted to laugh, but she held back, afraid of hurting his pride.

Blinking, she turned her serious gaze back to Grandma Faulkner. "Why is this trending? Grandma, what else is on the trending list today?"

Vivian guessed that some reporters might have lingered at the hotel after last night’s banquet in hopes of catching more scoops. They must have spotted her and Julian leaving the hotel, which was how the scene on The Aurelia ended up online. Originally, she had assumed that the most discussed topics on the internet today would be the wealthy family feud between the Faulkner Group’s father and son, as well as the affairs of the Drake Family. To her surprise, that wasn’t the case at all.

At Vivian’s question, Grandma Faulkner handed her the phone. "Take a look for yourself. This post on X was actually made by someone trying to help the Faulkner family."

She didn’t quite understand, so she took a closer look at today’s trending topics. Her guess had been spot-on.

The most prominent searches on the list, aside from the photo of her and Julian, were exactly what she had anticipated. Hashtags like #WealthyFamilyFeud: Father and Son Turn Against Each Other Over Shares# and #DrakeFamilyReturns: Establishing a Charity Foundation# were both highly popular. The feud between the father and son was especially heated. An "insider" had leaked the real reason Felix Faulkner had remained abroad and never returned: he was actually being imprisoned by his own son in an overseas manor. He allegedly had no personal freedom whatsoever and had to obey Julian in everything.

The netizens in the comments section had exploded.

"Five hundred million a year, no worries about food or drink, and servants to wait on you? I’d be willing to be locked up for a hundred years! I’ve already got the handcuffs ready—who’s going to lock me up? #EyeRoll.jpg#"

"The commenter above is so right! All I’d lose is my personal freedom, but I’d gain endless wealth! This is a good thing, okay? How could anyone have the nerve to use this to attack President Faulkner!"

"Are you guys sick in the head? The Faulkner family is so rich—what is five hundred million to them? Haven’t you heard the saying? ’Life is precious, love is even dearer, but for the sake of freedom, both can be cast aside!’ This is freedom we’re talking about; it can’t be measured with money."

"Heh, the commenter above is giving ’let them eat cake’ energy, huh? #EyeRoll.jpg#"

There were many more discussions like this. Vivian could tell that this "insider" was just trying to stir up a war, claiming that the father and son had a terrible relationship and that Julian was extremely unfilial to his father. But the netizens weren’t fools. The sheer luxury of Felix’s lifestyle already surpassed that of 99.99% of the people in the world. Ordinary people really had no right to play the moral high ground when they weren’t the ones in his shoes.

The rest of the topics were discussions about the Drake family.

The Drake family was a renowned medical dynasty abroad. Bringing their patents back to Veridia would be of immense help to domestic medical development. On top of that, Julian was handsome and had a great reputation online. Since Sylvia Drake had voluntarily given up fighting Julian for the shares, she had also won the netizens’ praise.

"Wow, Miss Drake truly is the epitome of beauty and kindness! She came back to do charity work, brought patents to help our motherland, and even helped President Faulkner! Sob, sob, if President Faulkner wasn’t already married, I’d totally ship them!"

"To the user above: don’t ship them! Hurry and check the latest trending topic! President Faulkner prepared a fireworks show and a sky full of rose petals for his wife on the Krystan. It was so romantic!"

Vivian looked closely at the comments under the Drake family’s trending topic and found that they were divided into three factions.

The first faction was shipping Julian and Sylvia as a "power couple," even dubbing them the "Syl-ian Ship" by blending their names! However, far more people stood by the "Jul-vian Ship," representing Julian and Vivian.

The second faction focused on praising the Drake family’s actions. These individuals were highly rational, analyzing the benefits that the family’s return would bring to the country.

The third faction had completely derailed the conversation. Forgetting about the Drake family entirely, they were busy discussing what had happened by the Krystan last night.

After finishing her secret observation, Vivian clicked back to the very first X post and looked at the photo again.

The person who posted the photo really wasn’t a marketing account, but a personal one. The username was "StudyHardMakeMoneyGradSchool," which looked exceedingly ordinary. It instantly reminded Vivian of the kind-hearted female college student from last night. She thought about it for a moment, and sure enough, she followed the clues on the profile to discover that it really was her.

The girl had written a lengthy essay. The gist of it was that she had bumped into Vivian and Julian by the river last night and felt that they were both wonderful people with a deeply affectionate relationship. She asserted that the online rumors about Julian mistreating his father were definitely false. Furthermore, since he and Vivian were so in love, nothing could possibly be going on between him and Sylvia.

She wrote a lot. It detailed all the little interactions between Vivian and Julian from the previous night, such as Julian bending down to make a hand-heart with Vivian, and the two kisses they shared.

The girl expressed her envy, finding it incredibly romantic that Julian would go to such lengths for Vivian. There were countless rich men in the world, but Julian was the only one willing to put so much thought and effort into pleasing his wife!

In the comments, there were both agreements and rebuttals.

The rebuttals generally argued that since Julian was wealthy, he only needed to say a single word to make these things happen. After all, anything that could be solved with money wasn’t actually difficult.

On the other hand, the supporters—who were in the majority—shared the college student’s mindset. They felt that, as a CEO, Julian had undoubtedly seen many women, yet he was still willing to do so much for Vivian, which was already quite remarkable.

After finishing the read, Vivian couldn’t help but smile. She understood now. No wonder Grandma Faulkner was so happy.

In the picture of them, Julian was kissing Vivian’s forehead with his eyes gently closed, the two of them completely enveloped in fireworks and rose petals. It was so romantic, so intoxicating, and so enchanting.

Who wouldn’t fall for a Julian like that?

Vivian certainly did.

Just as she was lost in thought, an announcement at the gate called for boarding.

Julian closed his laptop, letting Vance Wyatt and President Ward head over first, while he walked over to call for Vivian and Grandma Faulkner.

"Grandma, Vivian, let’s go."