It was the weekend, and Ivy had gone back to the family estate with Jamison Ludwig.

Adela had been unwell lately. Ivy, out of concern, had suggested they visit, and Jamison had readily agreed.

Now, Halley Ludwig was begging Ivy to play a game with her. Ivy’s phone was tucked away in her bag, so she never heard it ring.

Jamison, on the other hand, was the first to get the news.

One of the security team had reported to Boyd Ludwig, who relayed the message immediately.

“Ivy.” As soon as he hung up, Jamison went looking for his wife, calling her name.

Ivy turned, instantly sensing something was wrong. She gently coaxed Halley to keep playing on her own, then stood up to follow Jamison.

“What is it?”

“Emma lost the baby.” Jamison got right to the point.

Ivy’s eyes widened in shock. “So suddenly?”

“Yeah. Apparently, the Windsor family somehow managed to trick Emma into coming back. Not long after, an ambulance showed up at their house. Emma was carried out on a stretcher, covered in blood.”

The security detail tailing Emma had followed her from the Carter home to the Windsors'. They didn’t know exactly what had happened inside the mansion, but they witnessed Emma being taken away by ambulance and rushed into surgery at the hospital.

Jamison continued, “Baillie’s still at the hospital with her. So far, not a single person from the Carter family has shown up. Clearly, they don’t care whether Emma lives or dies.”

Ivy nodded, processing the news. Suddenly, something occurred to her. She hurried to the sofa, dug her phone out of her bag, and checked her messages.

“Just as I thought–Baillie called me.”

Jamison’s lips curled in a wry smile. “Trying to claim credit.”

Ivy didn’t bother returning the call. She read the message Baillie had sent and handed her phone to Jamison.

“He doesn’t realize we have people watching Emma. He thinks we don’t know what happened. This is his way of proving something to you.”

“Exactly.” Ivy finished reading and slipped her phone back into her bag.

They still didn’t know what trick Baillie had used to set up Emma, or whether it was even illegal. Ivy was determined to keep her distance from all of it.

There was no way she’d make the first move and contact Baillie.

After all, it was the Windsors who needed her help–if anyone was desperate, it was them.

Putting her phone away, Ivy went back to join Halley’s game.

At the hospital, Emma’s condition was dire. Due to severe placental adhesion, the doctors couldn’t stop the bleeding during the procedure. In the end, they had to remove her uterus.

After surgery, the medical staff wheeled a frail, ghostly Emma out to Baillie. “The fetus was fully formed,” a nurse said quietly, “but it was malformed.”

Baillie was surprised, but he didn’t really care.

Emma, only partially sedated, was awake. When she saw Baillie, her battered body trembled uncontrollably, as if she might leap up to attack him.

Baillie, ever the performer in front of hospital staff, reached for Emma’s hand and murmured, “Emma, you need to focus on getting better. Don’t worry about anything else right now.”

As if Emma could just stop worrying.

Everyone around her seemed to be waiting for her downfall, conspiring together to ruin her.

But she was hopelessly outnumbered–every time, she lost.

Baillie looked at her pale, devastated face and felt not a shred of pity.

He saw the fury, resentment, and pain in her eyes, but, as ever, he was completely unmoved.

Emma was placed in a shared hospital room, three beds in all.

Baillie had no idea how to care for a patient–nor did he intend to. After...

No sooner had he left the hospital than he tried calling Ivy again.

This time, she picked up.

Ivy sat on the backyard swing, with Jamison standing behind her, giving gentle pushes. When Baillie’s name appeared on her screen, Jamison stopped, sensing trouble.

Ivy answered, flicking the call to speaker.

“What do you want now?” Her tone was as impatient as ever.