Chapter 465

Vivian Lockhart could never have imagined that her cousin-in-law, Julian Blackwood, who constantly belittled her at every turn, was secretly her biggest fan!

The revelation was utterly surreal.

"So you're telling me you knew about me even before I married your cousin? And you're actually a fan of Azure Tide?" Vivian's voice trembled with disbelief, yet she needed confirmation.

Azure Tide had been her college passion project - a band formed with fellow lab mates during their university days at Stanford. Contrary to their scientific reputations, they'd all shared a rebellious love for music.

Vivian had been the creative force behind the group - writing lyrics, composing melodies, and blessed with a voice that could melt stone.

Their journey began with uploading original tracks online. The viral response led to underground club performances, each show selling out as their following exploded.

Now that she thought about it, remaining unmarried would've been far more glamorous. Nothing compared to the adrenaline rush of performing under spotlights, bouquets raining at her feet.

But family circumstances changed. Her marriage to Nathaniel Blackwood forced Azure Tide's abrupt dissolution. Her former bandmates now dominated their respective research fields.

Those golden days existed only as fading memories... until Julian unearthed them.

"Of course I knew you," Julian confessed, his usual smirk replaced by rare sincerity. "You were purity incarnate back then - an untouchable goddess. I'd wake up guilty after dreaming about you!"

Vivian burst into laughter. "Mr. Blackwood, spare me the theatrics. This romantic delusion doesn't suit you. Do you hear how absurd you sound?"

"You doubt me?" Julian's expression darkened. He tapped his car's display, pulling up an extensive archive of Azure Tide performances - every song, every show.

Most shocking were the countless photos he'd taken of Vivian mid-performance, each capturing her radiance from perfect angles only a true fan would recognize.

"This is... unbelievable!" Vivian gasped.

As she scrolled through the footage, memories flooded back - a time before Nathaniel, when her parents still lived, when the Lockhart name commanded respect. When she could pursue both science and art without consequence.

Now only scars remained from her ill-fated marriage, the wounds superficially healed but still throbbing beneath the surface.

"Here's what I don't understand," Vivian studied Julian closely. "If you were such an admirer, why the constant hostility? The insults? The public humiliations? Are you clinically bipolar?"

After this brief interaction, her perception of him had already shifted. Perhaps he wasn't the irredeemable scoundrel she'd assumed. Perhaps he was simply... complicated.