Chapter 36
“What was that?” Ivy muttered to herself as soon as she was back in the room. This time, she remembered to lock the door and double- checked it before heading to her bed.
Kicking off her heels, she sank into the mattress. The boxes of clothes were now on the floor beside her bed. She stretched out on the bed.
What a day it had been.
She hadn’t even begun to process everything. Sitting upright, she craned her neck and ran a hand through her hair. She was tired, but the only thing occupying her thoughts was her anticipation of a move from Silas.
“Stupid,” she muttered under her breath as she walked to the window.
When his eyes had landed on her, her chest had tightened, her stomach knotting in anticipation. She’d thought–hoped–he would walk over and kiss her.
“Ivy, get a grip!” she scolded herself.
Everything was wrong, yet it felt so right. She hadn’t even uncovered whether Thomas was behind her mother’s demise, and here she was, yearning for his brother’s touch.
There was Mason, Martha, the media–everyone wanting a piece of her. She strolled back to her bed and noticed that Monica had left her Dior bag at the foot of it. Digging inside, she retrieved her phone and began scrolling.
She knew this was a dangerous path. She knew that seeing a cruel publication about herself would break her heart, yet she scrolled.
Her dinner pictures with Silas were still trending, alongside stories about Martha Hunter. The media was buzzing with lies, claiming she had hit Martha. One site even alleged that she attacked Martha because Mason had publicly revealed her affair with Silas.
She shook her head at the lie, but she kept scrolling. Another site had uploaded an old picture of her with Mason at one of Martha’s events, suggesting it was taken mere months before she started dating Silas.
“All lies,” she said aloud.
They didn’t know the picture was from months ago. Mason had posted it the night she told him she wanted a divorce. He had begged and cried before uploading it, thinking, by some miracle, that being more public about their marriage would suddenly change her mind.
His first mistake was thinking she cared about public validation. He’d rarely spoken about her publicly during their marriage, and she’d been fine with that.
His second mistake was posting the picture at all. It only proved the fact that he knew he should have been more public about their marriage in the first place.
She read another article, it was a quote from Mason himself. He claimed to have had no idea she was involved with Silas and lied that their divorce had only been finalized weeks ago.
Lies straight from the pit of hell.
But she had to hand it to Mason, though–he was making good on his promise to frustrate her life.
Ivy dropped her phone on the bed and began to unbox the clothes Silas had gotten for her, any activity to keep her mind steady.
She didn’t know who to trust. No one was on her side, and the thought filled her with dread.
A knock on the door broke her thoughts. She walked over to it. “Yes?” she called.
“It’s me.”
She swallowed as she opened the door for Silas, her heart pounding at the thought that he might be here to do something… dangerous. And yet, she had just opened the door, indirectly encouraging him.
When he entered, she saw the sadness in his eyes, she knew this wasn’t the kind of visit her mind had wandered to.
“Are you good?” she asked softly.
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Chapter 36
“Yeah,” he replied, though she wasn’t convinced. “I… something came up. I have to go.”
And he had come to tell her this?
“Oh, okay,” she said, trying her best to conceal her surprise. Then she remembered the white car and her new phone. “Thank you for the car and the phone.”
His eyes twitched with surprise, and he nodded. “Yeah. Do you like them?”
She replied with a smile. “Yes, I do, thank you.”
“Good. When I’m back, we’ve some things to discuss,” he said in a firm tone.
Her heart pounded. She had no idea what he was going to say, but she nodded, keeping her voice steady. “Sure.”
Silas turned to leave, but for a split second, she saw him paused. She held her breath, waiting, anticipating.
Instead, he cleared his throat and walked away.
Ivy exhaled deeply as she locked the door behind him. What was wrong with her? What was she anticipating his touch? She had no idea. She She wasn’t supposed to be this way, yet here she was.
She went back to the bed and finished sorting the rest of the boxes. Later, as she walked to the bathroom, she realized Monica had already prepared a bath for her.
She ran her fingers through the water and realized it was getting cold. Quickly, she returned to the room to strip out of her clothes when her phone buzzed.
Reaching for it, she saw Mason’s name flashing on the screen. She ignored the call, not because of Silas’s rule, but because she didn’t want to deal with him.
She slipped out of her black gown and entered the bathroom. She entered the tub, the cold water calming her. For a second, she sat still, letting the water soothe her unsteady nerves.
For a second, she felt nothing except the caressing water on her skin. She wanted to think, but her mind was blank and for once, she agreed.
After awhile, she left the tub. She covered her body with a towel and wrapped another towel around her hair. When she entered the room, she heard her phone ringing again. She reached for it, but it stopped ringing before she could answer.
She unlocked it and saw three more missed calls from Mason. She ignored again and then realized she had a new message from an unknown number.
Her chest tightened as she read the text:
“What did my mom ever do to you? First, you ruined Mason, and now my mom?”
Her heart clenched as she realized the message was from Paige.
Had something happened to Martha? Was she okay? Ivy feared something bad had happened, and guilt slowly found its way from her chest to her stomach.
She quickly went to her closet to pick a dress. She needed to call Paige–she’d be easier to reason with than Mason. But as she dressed, her heart kept pounding.
The media would have a feast with this one.
Fully dressed, she reached for her phone, ready to dial Paige when Cheryl’s call came through. She immediately answered, not minding their rift earlier.
“Yes,” Ivy said, doing her best to sound calm.
“You are the worst person on earth!” Cheryl yelled, her voice filled with bitterness as she screamed through the phone.
Ivy’s heart sank, but she held herself together. She was too worried to be offended by Cheryl’s harsh tone. “What’s wrong, Cheryl?”
“Oh, you don’t know?” Cheryl snapped, her tone harsh. “The problem is you, Ivy. Somehow, you’ve managed to kill my future mother- in–law with your issues!”
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