Chapter 640
“Enough… Jamison, stop it… I’m starving!” Ivy protested with a laugh as she half-heartedly beat her fists against his shoulder, letting him have his way for a moment before trying to push him off.
Jamison grinned, his voice low and teasing. “I know you’re hungry. So am I, sweetheart.”
Ivy rolled her eyes and huffed, “I mean actually hungry. As in, I need food, not whatever you’re thinking!”
He only chuckled, pulling back just a little, his handsome features softening with affection. “I was talking about food, too. What did you think I meant?”
She knew she couldn’t win with him—he always turned things around. With a mock glare, she smacked his arm again, “You’re impossible!”
His laugh was deep and easy, and he wrapped her up in his arms once more, holding her tight. “Just sit for a bit, okay? Let’s catch our breath before we get out of the car.”
The moment he said it, Ivy realized what he meant, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment. What a charming scoundrel.
After a few minutes, Jamison finally let her go, and Ivy quickly scrambled away, fixing her clothes and smoothing her hair. When they stepped out of the car, Boyd was nowhere to be seen.
Mortified, Ivy pouted and walked a few steps ahead, refusing to let Jamison catch up with her. She wasn’t about to let him see her embarrassment.
Over dinner, Jamison brought up what had happened earlier that day.
“Does Celeste’s brother bother you often? If he does, I’ll have a word with him tomorrow.” He couldn’t stand the idea of his wife being hassled by a guy like Lamont.
Ivy answered honestly. “He’s cornered me in the library twice, all because of his sister. But today, we finally cleared things up. He shouldn’t bother me again.”
Jamison frowned. “Twice? Why didn’t you tell me before?”
“I just brushed him off both times—it didn’t seem worth mentioning, and I was busy, so I forgot.” She really hadn’t thought much of Lamont, barely even registering him as a blip on her radar.
Jamison nodded. “Alright. But if there’s a next time, let me handle it.”
“Okay,” Ivy agreed, then hesitated. “Did Celeste really volunteer for that outreach work in the countryside?”
Jamison’s lips curled in a wry smile, his tone matching hers. “You think I drove her off, don’t you? Just like you didn’t care about Lamont, I didn’t care about Celeste. There was no reason for me to target her. Volunteering out there is actually a good career move—she’ll come back and get promoted, make more progress in a year than most people do in three or four. I’m sure she weighed her options.”
“I see. She must be pretty ambitious, then.” Ivy found a new respect for her former rival. Turns out, when a capable woman has her heart broken, she just throws herself into her career.
Ivy was about to ask about Emma when Jamison, ever attuned to her thoughts, brought it up first. “This afternoon, Emma was dragged away by the Carter family. Didn’t even settle her hospital bill.”
“Dragged away?” Ivy immediately understood. “Sheridan’s just looking for someone to take his anger out on. He’s completely lost it—he gets off on hurting people.”
Jamison nodded. “Even Boyd knows that.”
Ivy sighed. “After all these years trying to clean up their act, the Carter family still can’t shake their rotten core. They’re nothing but thugs in designer suits.”
“They made their own bed. Let them tear each other apart—I’m done with it,” Jamison said, his tone calm and final.
He had done everything he could while Emma was under his care. Now that she was out of the hospital, her fate, her suffering, even her child’s future—none of it was his concern anymore.
If anything, he almost hoped Sheridan and Emma would destroy each other completely. That would be the best contribution they could make to society.
Jamison insisted Ivy had lost weight and spent the entire meal coaxing her to eat more, piling extra helpings onto her plate until she was stuffed.
After dinner, they planned to take a walk down the promenade to help digest, but as soon as they stepped out of the restaurant, hand in hand, Ivy’s phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
She glanced at the screen, frowning. This couldn’t be anything good. She declined the call.
A moment later, a text came through.
[Hi Ivy, it’s Roberta. This is my new number.]
Ivy stopped in her tracks, staring at the message in surprise.
“What’s up?” Jamison asked.
“It’s strange… my old roommate just reached out to me,” Ivy explained. She vaguely remembered running into Roberta once during a rainstorm; Roberta had given her a ride to the library and mentioned she’d changed her number and moved out of the dorm. They hadn’t spoken since.
Now, out of the blue, Roberta was contacting her.
Jamison was about to suggest she ignore it, but Ivy’s phone rang again—the same number.
“I’ll answer,” she said. She didn’t have anything against Roberta, who had always struck her as principled and level-headed.
She picked up. “Hello?”
“Ivy, it’s Roberta. Sorry to bother you.” Roberta’s familiar voice came through, steady but tinged with anxiety—no trace of malice.
Ivy kept her tone neutral. “Hi. Is something wrong?”
“I… I need to ask a favor,” Roberta’s voice trembled, the composure from a moment ago slipping away. “I… I need to borrow some money. I swear, I’ll pay you back. I can even put it in writing if you want.”