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Chapter 245

Author: Joanne Woods
last update publish date: 2026-07-29 11:29:31

Julian's POV

The wind moved quietly through the trees, carrying the scent of pine and woodsmoke across the campsite while the fire shifted and crackled between us, sending a shower of sparks drifting upward into the dark California sky, and as I sat there looking into the flames, I found myself realizing that some disappointments never really disappear, no matter how many years pass, because certain memories retain their sharp edges long after everything else has faded.

“Eventually I found your
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  • One Night Stand With My Hubby's Cousin   Chapter 245

    Julian's POVThe wind moved quietly through the trees, carrying the scent of pine and woodsmoke across the campsite while the fire shifted and crackled between us, sending a shower of sparks drifting upward into the dark California sky, and as I sat there looking into the flames, I found myself realizing that some disappointments never really disappear, no matter how many years pass, because certain memories retain their sharp edges long after everything else has faded.“Eventually I found your contact information, and after that I found out where you went to school, and I remember thinking—very briefly, as it turned out—that maybe fate had finally decided to do me a favor for once.”A small laugh escaped me.“It was probably the most optimistic I'd been in months.”The firelight flickered across the ground.“So one afternoon I drove to UCLA, and before I even had a chance to figure out what I was actually going to say if I ran into you, I watched Sebastian pull up to pick you up, and

  • One Night Stand With My Hubby's Cousin   Chapter 244

    Julian's POVMy gaze remained fixed on the flames.“But when you spend your entire life being introduced through titles, accomplishments, family names, net worth estimates, business articles, and whatever version of yourself people have already constructed before they shake your hand, you start getting used to the fact that most people aren't really meeting you.”The words came more easily now.“They're meeting the idea of you.”The wind moved softly through the trees.“Some people see an investment opportunity. Some people see a business connection. Some people see a billionaire. Some people see a Hawthorne. Some people see a headline. Some people see a collection of assumptions they've already made before you've even opened your mouth.”I shrugged.“And after a while, you stop noticing it because that's simply how the world works.”My eyes drifted toward Evelyn.Only briefly.“Then one day you're lying face-down in the mud after losing an argument with a horse, and a complete strang

  • One Night Stand With My Hubby's Cousin   Chapter 243

    Julian's POV“Evelyn, from the perspective of someone who had just been violently introduced to the ground by a horse, it definitely felt like annoyance.”Frank was laughing so hard at this point that he had stopped pretending to drink.“You're telling me your first interaction with the love of your life was her being angry at you for getting injured?”“Not angry.”I pointed at Evelyn.“Disappointed.”“That is not true.”“It is completely true.”Evelyn turned toward the others.“I was checking for a concussion.”“She was interrogating me.”“I was asking medical questions.”“She was conducting an investigation.”“I needed to know what happened.”“She asked me if I had a habit of making terrible decisions.”The entire group immediately dissolved into laughter again.Evelyn looked horrified.“I did not say that.”“You said—and I quote—‘Please tell me you didn't think riding a nervous horse into a thunderstorm was a smart idea.’”Maddie slapped her knee.“Oh my God.”Frank was practically

  • One Night Stand With My Hubby's Cousin   Chapter 242

    Julian's POVThe group laughed again.I continued.“The first crack of thunder made the horse nervous. The second made him agitated. By the third one, he'd decided civilization had failed and we were all going to die.”Even Evelyn laughed at that.The sound immediately made it harder to concentrate.“I spent the next five minutes attempting to demonstrate that I was an experienced rider capable of handling a difficult situation under pressure.”I paused.“Unfortunately, what I actually demonstrated was that confidence and competence are not always the same thing.”Frank was already grinning.“Oh no.”“Oh yes.”I pointed toward him.“You know that expression people use when they say somebody was thrown from a horse?”“Yeah.”“Well, it sounds significantly more dignified than what actually happened.”Now everyone was laughing.Including me.“Because the reality is that I was launched.”The word hung in the air.“Not dismounted. Not unseated. Launched.”Frank nearly dropped his drink.Ma

  • One Night Stand With My Hubby's Cousin   Chapter 241

    Julian's POV“To be honest, the embarrassing part was never the fact that I fell in love with Evelyn.”The words left my mouth before I could stop them, and across the fire I immediately caught the look that flashed through Evelyn's eyes, which was unfortunate because maintaining emotional composure becomes significantly more difficult when the person you're talking about is sitting six feet away pretending not to listen.Maddie, naturally, seized the opportunity.“Wait,” she said, narrowing her eyes. “You're telling me you think being in love with Evelyn is embarrassing?”“No.”I laughed despite myself.“What's embarrassing is who I was back then.”The fire crackled softly between us as I leaned back in my chair and shook my head.“What's embarrassing is realizing that for most of my life I genuinely believed everything was under control, that every problem had a solution, every outcome could be influenced, every situation could be managed if you were smart enough, patient enough, or

  • One Night Stand With My Hubby's Cousin   Chapter 240

    Evelyn's POVAcross the fire, Julian finally opened his eyes and looked toward the sky with the exhausted expression of a man wondering whether it was too late to walk into the woods and start a new life under a different name, because at this point even the possibility of being eaten by a bear probably sounded preferable to continuing this conversation.“Regardless,” he said after a long pause, speaking with the solemn dignity of someone defending a thesis that had already been rejected by the committee, “I maintain that I was dumped.”Maddie immediately pointed at him.“Please present your evidence.”“The rules do not require evidence.”“The rules have evolved.”“You can't change the rules halfway through the game.”“Of course I can.”“That's not how games work.”“That's exactly how games work when I'm the one hosting them.”Frank started laughing again.“She's got you there.”“She absolutely does not.”“She absolutely does.”Julian looked briefly as though he was considering whethe

  • One Night Stand With My Hubby's Cousin   Chapter 153

    Evelyn's POVEspecially after growing up watching someone love a dog while carefully enduring the physical consequences of loving it.My eyes drifted once more toward the faint redness along his neck before I looked back at the photos on his phone.Then I exhaled softly and set the phone down on th

  • One Night Stand With My Hubby's Cousin   Chapter 150

    Evelyn's POVI practically fled the car after that.The second the seatbelt released, I lowered my head so quickly it probably looked suspicious and climbed out before Julian could say anything else capable of shortening my lifespan.Unfortunately, escaping the car did absolutely nothing to save me

  • One Night Stand With My Hubby's Cousin   Chapter 2

    Evelyn's POVDONT DO EASY!Yeah. That hit my ego right where it hurts.I took a slow breath, flicked my damp hair back from my cheek, and shot a sharp little eye-roll at his back as he walked away. Then I stepped over the slick tiles and made my way to Maddie.“That was fast,” Maddie said, setting

  • One Night Stand With My Hubby's Cousin   Chapter 1

    Evelyn's POV When I found out my husband was cheating on me with 8 women, I decided to get even. The breeze off Lake Como felt amazing. Maddie and I were stretched out on lounge chairs at Lido Villa Olmo, sunbathing while analyzing the profiles of Sebastian’s eight mistresses on my iPad. “Jesu

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