Chapter 699

The next day, Ivy was finally discharged from the hospital.

Early that morning, the phone rang from the Ludwig estate–Jamison’s family wanted him and Ivy to come home for dinner that evening.

Their intentions were good, but Ivy had no desire to go.

So she made an excuse: she might still be in the HIV window period, and for everyone’s safety, it was best not to visit the family home just yet.

Jamison took the day off to drive her back. It was just the two of them in the car, with Jamison at the wheel.

After hanging up with the estate, Jamison kept his eyes on the road, his profile tense and serious. “Even if you really did have HIV, having dinner together wouldn’t make a difference. Are you still mad at me and just don’t want to deal with my family?”

Ivy leaned quietly against the passenger seat, answering with calm indifference, “No. It’s just not safe right now.”

“It’s just a normal dinner, Ivy. I told you, it won’t matter.”

She gave no answer. Silence hung between them.

The car grew quiet, until suddenly Jamison’s phone rang again.

On the dashboard screen, Carla Ludwig’s name flashed.

Ever since her nephew, Micah, had slipped into a coma, Carla’s contact with her brothers had grown infrequent.

A call out of the blue could only mean something serious.

Without hesitation, Jamison answered through the car’s Bluetooth, not bothering to hide the conversation from Ivy.

“Hello?”

“Jamison, are you at the hospital? I- I feel awful. I don’t know what to do anymore.” Carla, usually so forceful and composed, sounded raw and broken, her voice hoarse with tears.

Both Jamison and Ivy stiffened, immediately fearing the worst–had Micah passed away?

“What happened? Did Micah’s condition get worse?” Jamison pressed.

“It’s not Micah… it’s that bastard, Farley Shepherd. I thought he just had some woman on the side–turns out he has a kid, too! He’s had a son for ten years, and never knew!”

Carla’s voice was a mixture of rage and heartbreak–furious at being lied to for so many years, devastated because she was about to lose her only son, while her husband had another family all along.

After everything she’d been through, now her own husband had twisted the knife. There was nowhere to turn but back to her own family.

Jamison was stunned. “He admitted it?”

“Admitted? That woman’s bringing the kid back to the country–a boy, ten years old. They’ve been living in Australia all this time. Jamison, you have to help me. I can’t let Farley leave everything to that woman and her son!”

Ivy didn’t care to hear about someone else’s family scandal, but with the Bluetooth on, every word was crystal clear.

She’d never agreed with many of Carla’s choices, yet, woman to woman, she felt a deep pang of sympathy.

It seemed there wasn’t a single man in this world worth trusting.

Micah’s father had married the eldest daughter of the Ludwig family–someone with power and connections, yet he still had the guts to keep a mistress and a child for a decade.

If Micah’s accident hadn’t happened, he would have hidden it forever.

But now, with Micah incapacitated, he no longer cared–he was bringing his secret son home. The next step was obvious: force Carla into divorce, marry the mistress, and play happy family with his shiny new son.

Jamison may have been disappointed in his sister, and their relationship had been strained for years, but hearing her like this, his loyalty was instant and absolute.

“Are you at the house or the office?” he demanded, voice tight with anger.

“I’m on my way to the office to confront that bastard!”

“Alright. Ivy just got discharged, I’ll drop her off and head over. Don’t bother getting our brother involved–he’s out of town. I’ll handle it.”

“Okay…”

The call ended. The silence in the car was deeper than before.

Ivy felt she ought to say something. After a moment, she spoke softly, “Your sister really has it rough. Losing Micah was already bad enough, and now this… You should be there for her. As for family dinner, let’s talk about it another time.”