Warning: This chapter contains content that may not be suitable for some readers

As Ivy drove to freshen up quickly at home, her mind had been generating ideas of utilising the funds from John. She was going to twist her ways to ensure the money could not land on Charles’ hand.

As Jeremy stirred awake he sat up with a very heavy head as Daisy helped him.

“Mum, why are you here? I’m fine. Aww, why is my head so heavy?” Jeremy groaned as he held his head.

“From now on, you must work out or at the very least walk an hour in our garden daily. Drink lesser…” Daisy’s voice choked recalling his situation the night before as Jeremy grimaced wondering what happened.

“Mum, at least tell me what happened?” He said as Daisy smacked him.

“Are you trying to scare Ivy and make her live in depression?! After your brother's accident do you know how hard was it for her to be able to step out of her trauma? How could you?! Just how could you attempt to drink to your death with sleeping pills? Do you know how lucky you were when she made you throw up the pills by drinking soap water?!” Daisy vented as Jeremy was stunned for a moment recalling he was trying to sleep but the pain from the headache was excruciating plus the muscle pain.

“I am here because… of… intoxication?” Jeremy questioned as it came as a surprise to him. Daisy smacked him again.

“You’re banned from drinking from now on if you can’t take care of yourself! Jeremy, it’s fine if you don’t care about me or your father cause for all I know you only care about the inheritance but at least be more human! Ivy is still a very young girl who had no choice but to be pulled into this mess of yours! If you don’t know how to take care of yourself at least be responsible for once for the mess you caused!” Daisy vented before leaving the room and let him realise it was a big mistake he had made this time.

He sat worrying about Ivy only to find out from Real that she had gone to work. He requested to be discharged on the same day to have a chance to see her knowing she would not come to visit. Daisy’s scolding somewhat made him realise if he continued to be reckless, he would not be able to fulfill his promise to Ray.

Ivy sat through with Marcel the entire day in the office brainstorming their ideas on John’s suggestion to incorporate a new company.

“I agree John has a point. But on execution wise, you need to plan every detail.” Marcel reminded.

“From the plans we have gone through the whole day, how trustworthy are the segment managers?” Ivy questioned as Marcel assessed in his mind.

“From the record, they had been with the company for a long time and were personally chosen by Peter himself. So, on the surface, they definitely are trustworthy to join the new team as the core. However…” They both knew there might be a possibility that they might have been bought over by Charles or Jeremy.

“There’s no doubt about that. There’s still a possibility. I would suggest we use the weekend’s event as a test.” Ivy suggested as Marcel raised an eyebrow aligning his thoughts to hers.

“Meaning if there’s something wrong with one section, the manager will be disqualified after a thorough assessment,” Ivy explained as Marcel nodded in agreement slowly.

“Now, I couldn’t find a suitable candidate to lead the new company. I mean eventually it will be you but I still need you here.” Ivy explained as Marcel instantly had someone in mind.

“Archwabal. Remember him?” Marcel asked as Ivy sat up straight as the name triggered her interest.

“What happened to him?” Ivy questioned curiously. “He resigned immediately after Jeremy took over while you were in a coma. He was the general manager who overlooked all the boys’ work.” Marcel explained.

“And the reason for him leaving was?” Ivy questioned.

“He was not there to fight like I do. He was more of a soft-spoken person.” Marcel explained as Ivy wondered if he would be right for the new company.

“And you think he makes a suitable candidate for the newly incorporated company?” Ivy asked skeptically.

“Partly because of his experience and he is really tip-top at his performance. Don’t forget he trained the boys too. Eventually, when I join, I could back up him with socially meeting others.” Marcel further supported his suggestion.

“Alright, but let’s meet him after the event instead. I was thinking of visiting my mum tomorrow.” Ivy informed him as he nodded.

“Alright, I will make the arrangements. You should head home. It’s late.” Marcel suggested as Ivy glanced at the clock and saw it was past eight in the evening. She nodded to keep Marcel assured before he left for the night.

Instead, she stayed in her office reviewing the report on Manes’ cultural event progress and the company’s entire year event inclusive of the real estate roadshows and cash flows. Her mind wandered to the construction leader and checked her phone only to find there were still no messages or calls from unknown numbers.

The time showing it was past midnight made her decide to take a break as she turnaround to look at the view outside her office window. Amid her daydreaming, she recalled the company on the top floor which the guard randomly told her. She decided to pay a visit forgetting that Real or Chiang would occasionally be guarding her. She was close to exploring the floor and wanted to peep into one of the doors when Real cleared his throat.

“You startled me! Since when did you follow me here?!” Ivy squealed as Real looked down on the ground.

“I’m sorry Ms. Ophal. I’m here to escort you home. It’s getting very late and Mr. Rahi is at home. He had been discharged.” Real updated as a part of Ivy felt relieved knowing Jeremy was recovering. She reluctantly followed Real to the car and let him drive her home.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Her suspicion grew about the company on that floor and Real’s sudden appearance but she let it be as she felt dizzy when she wanted to get up from squatting at the shoe rack with a massive stomach cramp. Before she knew it, Jeremy caught her and noticed red stains on her dress.

He quickly carried her upstairs to her room despite her rebelling.

“I will be fine. You may leave.” She instructed when he finally put her down in her room while she gently massaged her trembling head. He wanted to ensure she was fine but hesitated in case she got more annoyed.

“Thank you.” He said instead before he left and it made her recall about last night.

“Are you alright now?” She quickly asked as he turnaround and nodded.

“A little weak…” He added watching her grimace at her period pain and almost squat succumbing to the cramp.

He again ignored his self-consciousness and quickly carried her to the washroom. He sat her on the stone seat by the bathtub before preparing a warm bath for her. Ivy was withstanding the cramp when Jeremy let her lean on him as he gently rubbed her back to comfort her while waiting for the tub to fill up.

It startled her for his sudden kind action. Instead of making her more annoyed, his gesture reminded her of the anxiety she had been kicking away the whole day. She subconsciously tightened her hug around him as she shut her eyes, feeling grateful to be able to hold him still and not lose him like she did with Jason.

“I’m sorry for the scare.” He apologised sincerely as he recalled Daisy’s lecture in the morning. She shuddered in his arms as she forced herself to not cry.

“Could you at least promise me you would not worry Mum that way again?” She pleaded as he hummed in agreement.

“At least work out daily or take a walk in the park daily? Could you learn to care for yourself for Mum who still cares very much for you?” Ivy pleaded with her eyes shut as her tears were welling while she shook in his arms trying not to break down.

“I will.” With that, she let him carry her into the warm bathtub after he turned off the tap. She could feel her body calm down a lot in the warm water as she wiped her tears away and began to relax in the tub noticing him staring at the wall in front of him intensely. It worried her for a second.

“Does everyone in your team love staring into the dark abyss for no reason? Is it so compelling?” She questioned gently which made Jeremy pondered for a moment. He was actually reflecting on all that had happened and was thankful to her.

“After they gave everything to him but treated him like they didn't care about him, I knew there and then I was never their priority. Or pride… Though they made it look like I was in front of him, he would be smart enough to figure that it was all an act.” He said meeting her tired gaze.

“He was always the smarter one. The better one. The more sensible and obedient one. Everything had to be compared that one day I decided I would conquer all of his stuff and submit to the abyss.” His voice has a hinge of vengeance as he gently caresses Ivy’s face. “I suppose I am on the way to succeed.”

Ivy pulled away before he could do anything scaring he would attempt to kiss her again.

“Sorry. Those kisses were impulsive. I promise I won't do it again.” He apologised as Ivy could not help but feel touched by his sincere apologies that night.

“Not unless you get ready for your morning drills.” She teased to liven up the somber mood. He made a tisking sound, annoyed at her but he smiled when he saw her smiling finally because of him.

“You do this a lot?” She asked pointing to the tub as he nodded.

“Being with many women was a good experience.” He said as Ivy knew he was shadowing what he meant.

“How was your fiancee previously?” Ivy carefully asked watching him hesitate for a moment.

“What happened?” She curiously added the last line and noticed it changed his gentle look to being unsatisfied.

“Dead like I said before. What’s there left to tell?” He said in a sad, dissatisfied tone as the memories of them ran through his mind. It made Ivy wonder if that was the reason he kept being reckless with his life.

“Soak awhile and undress to bath.” He said noticing he should not vent it out on her any further before locking the door from inside and leaving the washroom.

Just what exactly happened to you? How do I break this wall of yours? Ivy wondered as she let the warmness of the water soothe her tired self while he stood in front of the washroom door reminiscing about his dead wife and fiancee.

At least I didn’t lose you like I did with Jason and you’re changing for the better it seems… Ivy thought to herself as she let her welling tears flow which slowly became uncontrollable. Jeremy regained his senses upon finally hearing Ivy sobbing in the tub.

Ivy began to realise with all that had happened from the day before or rather from the first day she moved into this house, she held on for too long. She was tired. Exhausted both emotionally and physically.

Yet, she was still unsure of who were her enemies. She wanted to trust Jeremy that night but his sudden reaction of being his cold self again made her disappointed with herself for being too gullible to trust people so easily.

As she dragged herself to bed that night, she slowly slipped back to her paracosm in her sleep.

She found herself hearing voices telling her that she needed to sacrifice either Avinha or Phoenix to break through the tower of reflection. She looked into Avinha’s gaze as he caught her in his arms while flying down from a high place. She was preparing herself for the impact when everything came to a halt as Ivy quickly pushed him away to find they were standing back on the ground back at where she was captured previously.

Kill him now… She heard the hissing voices as she marched forward to Avinha and drew the fifth sword into his right thigh. He chuckled while he bled with the ivies still holding him up on the wall.

“That's for killing off the innocent nymphs!” She wailed.

“Is that all you got?” He asked in anger as his eyes reddened.

She then withdrew the sword with her powers from his thigh and threw it to his left arm as she raised an eyebrow.

“That arm was what you use for revenge.” She trudged the sword in even more as he let out an agony pain scream as though he could feel the pain of those he killed.

She did not give him a chance to retaliate as she withdrew the sword and directed it to his left arm this time.

He was angry as he growled. “You think I will be afraid?! I did all this for you! To be with you! To protect and live eternally with you! How is this fair?!”

She then calmly withdrew the sword again and held it in the air for a moment before throwing it at his left thigh.

“For me? All you were afraid of was loneliness. All that you had gone through was not for me but for your greed. What's so bad about loneliness? Maybe you should stay here in your den to finally experience it.” She instantly drew the sword out amid his agonising scream and threw it to his heart.

Avinha cried tears of blood as Ivy stood watching with satisfaction.

“Love? Gratitude? If you don't understand them and take the wrong path, there are many prices to pay.” She went in front of Avinha as she wiped away his tears of blood only to be nearly kicked by him.

“This is the lesson from the sword of love wasn’t it?” She questioned as Avinha squinted his eyes at her.

“Avinha, it would have been better if you weren't this evil. Perhaps… maybe perhaps, we could have…” She let the sword piercing him cut her palm and bled for the ivies to use as the memory loss poison.

She summoned the ivies to release the poison at him as he growled in pain. While falling off the tall building only then did she realised they had never left the tower and it was all an illusion created by Avinha based on his memory.

Jason watched her actions from the cube where he was trapped. On the surface, it may seem as though Ivy was torturing Avinha for all of his sins and evil deeds but the moment she wiped away all of his memory, Jason knew Ivy was saving Avinha from the torture and that he was not her ultimate sacrifice.

Jason was.