A marriage deal with billionaire stone (Ivy and Silas)

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.

have had no idea she was involved with Silas and lied that their

the pit

it to Mason, though-he was making good on his promise to frustrate

to unbox the clothes Silas had gotten for

trust. No one was on her side,

the door broke her thoughts. She

"It's me."

Silas, her heart pounding at the thought that he might be here to do something...

the sadness in his

her mind had wandered

you good?"

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Chapter 36

she wasn't convinced. "I... something

he had come to tell

she said, trying her best to conceal her surprise. Then she remembered the white car and her new phone. "Thank you for the car

"Yeah. Do you like them?" She replied with a smile. "Yes, I

back, we've some things to discuss," he

what he was going to say, but she nodded, keeping her voice

to leave, but for a split second, she saw him paused. She held her breath, waiting,

cleared his throat and

as she locked the door behind him. What was wrong with her? What was she anticipating his touch? She had no

Later, as she walked to the bathroom, she realized

she returned to

she saw Mason's name flashing on the screen. She ignored the call, not because of Silas's

black gown and entered the bathroom. She entered the tub, the cold water calming her. For a second, she sat still, letting the water

unsteady nerves.