2025-06-04 21:04:31
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390. The Encounter
The late morning sun filtered through the glass walls of the grocery store, painting long stripes of light across the polished tiles. Ivy only needed a few essentials— milk for the children, fruit for the week, and some flour for the banana bread she had promised Van she would make. It should have been a simple errand, a quiet part of her day. But the moment she stepped through the sliding doors, she saw him.Daniel.He was lingering by the produce section, pretending to study the apples with far too much intensity. When his eyes flicked toward her and lit up in recognition, Ivy’s heart sank. She adjusted the strap of her handbag higher on her shoulder and pushed her cart forward, deliberately choosing the opposite aisle.“Ivy hey,” Daniel greeted warmly, striding over like an old friend. His voice carried a false casualness, as though they had planned this meeting.“Daniel.” Ivy’s reply was curt, clipped. She didn’t stop walking.“I was hoping to see you.” His smile wavered when she
389. Bitter Sweet Dessert
The day was quiet in the mansion, the kind of stillness that settled after a long workday when the children were at school and the household slowed its pace. Ivy had just finished arranging fresh flowers on the dining table when the doorbell rang. She wasn’t expecting anyone, so she walked to the door with a trace of curiosity.Standing there, her smile bright and eager, was Bianca. Her hair was perfectly styled, her dress tailored to flatter her figure, but her hands clutched a wicker basket wrapped in soft linen.“Hello, Ivy,” she greeted warmly, almost too warmly. “I was hoping to catch Van, but since you’re here—”Ivy masked her unease with practiced grace. “Van isn’t home,” she lied, her voice even. The memory of Van’s warning the night before echoed like a whisper in her mind; If Bianca ever shows up with food, don’t eat it.Bianca’s smile deepened. “Oh, that’s a shame. Still, I wanted to bring this over.” She pulled back the cloth to reveal a golden, freshly baked pie. The butt
388. A Friendly Warning
Van had barely settled into his morning when his assistant buzzed him, her voice unusually stiff.“Sir, there’s a man insisting to see you. He says it’s urgent. His name is Daniel.”Van’s jaw tightened. He hadn’t expected to see Bianca’s date again —especially not after last night’s conversation with Bianca and the disturbing revelations about Daniel’s past. The fact that he was here now, uninvited, made Van wary. He told his assistant to send him in.The office door opened and Daniel stepped inside, dressed casually, but his posture carried a forced calm that didn’t match the flicker of excitement in his eyes. He looked almost pleased to have been granted entry into Van’s domain.“Heg Van,” Daniel said smoothly, offering a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Thank you for seeing me on such short notice.”Van didn’t offer a handshake. Instead, he gestured toward the chair opposite his desk. “You said it was urgent. What do you want?”Daniel sat down slowly, folding his hands in h
387. Second Thoughts
That night, Ivy sat curled up on the couch at the mansion, Leona in her lap while the twins played on the rug. The children’s laughter filled the room, but she couldn’t relax. Every sound from outside made her tense. When Isadora walked in, carrying a basket of fresh flowers from the garden, she noticed immediately.“Ivy?” she asked gently, setting the basket down. “You look pale. What’s wrong?”Ivy hesitated. She hadn’t told anyone yet —not even Isadora, who was practically her confidante. But the worry etched across her face made the words spill out.“There’s this man. Bianca’s… boyfriend, I guess. He’s been following me. Today I was sure of it.”Isadora’s expression darkened. She sat beside Ivy, reaching for her hand. “And Van knows?”“Yes. He confronted Bianca about it. But now it’s worse —she suggested something insane. She said I should let them use me as bait to catch him.”Isadora’s eyes flashed with anger. “Over my dead body. You’re not putting yourself in danger. Not for her
386. The Plan
When Van decided to send the message, his fingers hovered over his phone for longer than he cared to admit. Bianca. The very name felt like it belonged to a past life, a remnant of chaos and unanswered questions. He had sworn he wouldn’t let her worm her way into his family’s life again, yet the circumstances now were different.Daniel.Van could still recall the smug way the man leaned back during the double date, his eyes drifting toward Ivy with a boldness that set Van’s teeth on edge. Ivy had smiled politely through it, but Van noticed the slight stiffness in her jaw, the way she kept reaching for her glass as if it were a shield. And then there were Daniel’s careless remarks —jokes that to anyone else might have sounded harmless, but to Van, they were red flags waving in the middle of dinner.So when Daniel’s drunken words reached Van— claims that Bianca wanted Ivy gone —it was enough to make his blood run cold. He didn’t know whether to believe it, but the weight of responsibili
385. A Warning
The house was unusually quiet for a Wednesday afternoon. Ivy had just gotten the twins down for a nap, and Leona was curled up on the couch flipping through a storybook when the sound of the doorbell echoed through the hall.Ivy looked up from her tea, surprised. Van wasn’t supposed to be home until later in the evening. He was meticulous with his schedule— Wednesday afternoons always stretched long for him at the office. She rose, smoothing her dress, half expecting that maybe he had forgotten a file or returned for a call.Instead when she opened the door, it wasn’t Van’s tall figure that stepped into the foyer. It was Daniel.He stood there awkwardly, shifting his weight from foot to foot, a bouquet of red roses in one hand and a box of heart shaped chocolates in the other. His expression flickered between determination and panic, like a man who had made a decision in haste and was already regretting it.Ivy froze, unsure what to say. He hadn’t been invited. He hadn’t called. And t
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