Ryu was sobbing with Cassandra while Jin and Nick could not help but teared up with James trying to comfort Cassandra. They each understood how much Ivy had sacrificed and endured during the toughest days the family went through.
With her leadership, the company survived. With her sacrifices, only then could they all be sustained till now but she had lost a lot along the way.
“I’m sorry… I’m sorry, daddy…” Ivy apologised as she sobbed even more.
“Ai Lee… It’s alright… my dear… you have done so well for everyone. We are very proud of you. You… Are so great. Daddy is proud of you…” Peter comforted her as he gently patted her back while enduring his own tears.
Peter was reminded of his conversation with Jeremy and thought Jeremy was right that the only way to coax her was to push her out of her boundaries.
“Ai Lee, you have made us proud. You're so strong and brave. You created a new empire on my empire. Should I retire?” He asked while Ivy slowly calmed down.
“Nooooo, don't Daddy! Why would you?” She retaliated as it came as a surprise to the brothers. However, Jin could tell Peter was teasing Ivy at the same time.
“Why? I'll just help you take care of grandma's business with Auntie Soh and sit the whole day with my old friends and Uncle James sipping tea and playing cards.” Peter continued with a bright smile before helping her to dry her face with a tissue.
“No. I don't agree. As the main shareholder and director, I am going to mandate your position back to you once your medical report says you’re fit.” Ivy insisted as Peter and James chuckled.
“You can sit with us too. Go to class and come back sipping tea and enjoy some card games with us.” James teased.
“Who is going to run the business?” Ivy frowned.
“You will,” Peter said proudly as Ivy continued to sob, defeated by both old folks. Peter chuckled and hugged her instead.
“End what you need to do and come back to us. We are all waiting for you, my baby princess.” Peter coaxed as Ivy smiled and hugged him tighter.
She realised she had missed her father’s warm hug and a part of her felt lighter.
“I promise… I will be back safely in one piece. I had to end this mission…” Ivy stood as she wiped her tears away.
“Ivy, you have grown so much that I don't think I remember you were this way. Jeremy had done well…” Peter praised proudly as Ivy smiled knowing it was Peter’s approval.
“Thank you… “ Ivy said in return, a little skeptical about whether Peter was truly approving of their relationship or was due to circumstances but she could not help to tear up, believing he had accepted their relationship.
An intense knock from the basement door was heard and had everyone’s attention. Jin went to the door and received news that Kyle’s minions were close by.
“Ivy, you got to go,” Jin said solemnly as Ivy nodded and hurriedly bid her farewell before rushing back up to the boutique for Cassandra to sit with her over a cup of tea when the minions rushed in.
Ivy snarled at the minions as they rushed up to her. “Madam, master is on the line…” One of the minions urgently passed her the phone as Ivy pretended to feel agitated, and took the phone from him.
“What is it? Missing me popping some pimples?” Ivy asked eerily while sipping her tea as Cassandra raised an eyebrow at her.
“Where are you? Where have you been? I’m about to rush to the airport, stop giving me problems! Head home with my people now!” Kyle bellowed before hanging up and Ivy knew Kyle was at his peak limit of being patient with her. She smirked at the success of her plan.
“Alright, got to go… Talk to you soon…” Ivy stood and waved goodbye at Cassandra who let her off with the guards. At the entrance of the boutique, she paused to speak with the driver.
“Don’t worry. I won’t make life for you and him. Send me to the airport and I will be boarding with your boss. If you dare to let him know before I reach… I will…” Ivy raised an eyebrow before drawing out her penknife while the minions and driver raised their hands in the car. One of the minions tried to reprimand her before she attempted to cut him.
“Drive or die…” She threatened as the driver began to oblige.
Meanwhile, Jin received news from Sandra and Andrew on Jeremy’s expedition and he knew it was too late to stop Ivy from leaving for Cantisole as their flight had already departed. He could only plan with Uncle James' minions and send them over to back with Jeremy’s and Ray’s minions instead.
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“I should not have let her go on the mission if I knew what she was up to. I’m sure Jeremy had not told her about it.” Peter sighed heavily as Jin gently patted Peter’s back.
“Ivy always knows what to do Dad…” He tried comforting hoping he was right.
As for Kyle, he was very shocked to find Ivy joining him on the same flight. As Ivy sat by his side and kept prying on his pimples, it annoyed him but he could not cause a scene as the nature of his mission this time was to ensure the children in the camp area were all moved away smoothly and discreetly. He was already suspecting that Ivy knew Jeremy’s children were also part of it. However, he was not smart enough to see through Ivy as he surrendered letting her mess around with his pimples which Ivy had purposely caused a couple of them to burst by his cheeks during the entire flight.
Right after the conversation with Peter, Jeremy had already flown for Cantisole as the news of Charles's secret plans to bomb the place where the children's camp was had been keeping him on the edge. He knew Kyle had no idea who his children were as he had always segregated them underground all this while. Hence, he needed to get there and get his children to safety.
However, the sight of Ivy tagging along with Kyle at the entrance of the camp gave him goosebumps. He knew he had met with Ivy’s gaze earlier before hiding but she pretended like she did not know him. His gut feeling was telling him she knew about the secret mission.
Ivy had already scouted the area earlier while accompanying Kyle and she knew that the area where she spotted Jeremy was where his children would be. Because Kyle and the minions were about to leave which meant the area would explode soon and if Jeremy was still around, meant his children were not safe yet.
She pretended to make an excuse. “Ouch.. aww… I need to go to the washroom quickly! Stomachache…” She acted as Kyle was so pissed that he walked off and waved for his minions to settle her.
Little did Kyle know Charles instructed for the timing for the bomb to go off not to miss regardless of anything. Kerela was in charge this time and no one dared to defy his order when he chased everyone out of the place though the minions tried to plead and explain Ivy was still inside.
When Kerela checked the washroom, there was no one as Ivy had escaped through the window and ran to the place where she spotted Jeremy earlier. No matter where she went around the area it was empty. That was when she saw an underground door handle hidden by a corner. She quickly opened it up and realised the bombing had begun. Jeremy heard it and saw the opening as he quickly climbed up to pull Ivy down.
Jeremy being quick-witted shielded them by locking back the underground door but lost his balance from the ladder. He hugged her tightly in his arms before falling down to the basement. The deafening impact sent Ivy hit her back crashing on a piece of wood as he held her head and hugged her safely but she could still feel the pain from the impact on her shoulder instead while his abdomen began to ache. She knew his wound was opening up a little again.
“You knew?” Jeremy looked right into her gaze ignoring the screaming pain from his wound as she nodded with tears sprawling.
“You left the door opened on purpose?” She asked as he nodded. They both knew they were so close to the verge of death earlier.
“Vivi you shouldn’t be here…” He hugged her as his breath shuddered.
“I would go to the end of the world just for you…” She whispered before the cries of a baby were heard.
Ivy turned to her left and saw Jonathan, Jeremy's eldest son who stood by them earlier, rushing towards a crib. “Your sons?” She asked gently as Jeremy nodded with a smile while helping her to stand.
“Jonathan the eldest and Joseph… In the crib…” He introduced as Ivy went up to Jonathan who had picked up crying Joseph in his arms to soothe him a little. Joseph stopped crying when he opened his eyes and laughed a little at the sight of Ivy.
Ivy squatted to take a good look at Jonathan. “Hi Jonathan…” She asked as he nodded shyly.
“I’m Ivy… Do you have extra bandages?” She asked, still remembering to tend to Jeremy’s wound as Jonathan peak above her shoulder a little before she offered to carry Joseph for him and he ran off to look for it.
Her question made Jeremy know his wound was in bad condition but he needed to save his kids and Ivy first. He had no time to waste and Ivy would definitely not be happy to learn of his wound's condition.
“Aww, who do we have here?” She smiled happily at little Joseph who was the only one who could be smiling at their tense situation.
Jonathan quickly ran back to Jeremy after that and Ivy knew instantly that boy took after his father. “Daddy, is it painful?” Ivy admired the sight of them while nearly getting emotional but Joseph's cries alerted her to remain composed.
“Jonathan, do you have more of these white cotton pieces?” She asked while blinking back her tears as she walked over closer to Jeremy.
Jonathan nodded and quickly ran to fetch a first aid box while another explosion from above was heard.
“We have to leave!” Jeremy alerted as Ivy squatted to Jonathan who panicked and dropped the first aid box with Joseph being uneasy in her arm.
“Jon Jon, you need to pack your brother’s milk and necessities quickly. Grab all you can alright? Don’t worry. I’m here. We will wait. Hurry!” Ivy told him calmly. As though it was not Jonathan’s first time, he calmly sprung into action, and within minutes she too grabbed onto a lot of bandage, medicine, and food after leaving Joseph with Jeremy.
Jeremy was enduring his wound injury pain but he had managed to find the secret passage exit after fumbling for a bit.
Ivy noticed Jonathan was trying to grab hold of two stuffed toys into the bag but it would not fit. Ivy quickly offered to help hold them for him with one arm and he let her but she accidentally gave away the pain on her dislocated shoulder.
“Ivy, you’re alright?” Jeremy who stood by her side inspected and knew her right shoulder was mislocated instantly.
“I’m fine. Let’s go first…” Ivy and Jeremy shared a worried look as each of them had injuries and the young ones needed protection.
“Let’s go… There’s a shortcut… We need to leave quickly.” Jeremy urged as Ivy squatted to Jonathan.
“Jon Jon, do you know the way?” Ivy asked encouragingly as Jonathan glanced at Jeremy and nodded.
“Alright, can you lead the way for us? Here, which one is yours?” Ivy asked as Jonathan pointed to the brown bear. Ivy let him hold it.
“Come, lead us out with little teddy. Think of it as we are on a mission to escape alright?” Ivy encouraged and Jonathan nodded enthusiastically.
It took Jeremy by surprise as he withheld his unexpected tears for being a failure in parenting. Before he knew it, Ivy had already held his hand with her dislocated arm and took Joseph with her other good arm.
“Let me… carry Joseph.” He said before Ivy squinted her eye at him with a glare as they rushed to catch up with Jonathan who was diligently leading the way. Jeremy could only quietly trail with them before locking back the heavy bomb shelter door to the room right when the third explosion happened and they all took refuge.
“Quick, go go… We have to leave this building quickly…” Ivy urged as Jonathan hurriedly stood and continued the lead.
The passage was lit with motion lights which took them to the jungle at the exit. It reminded her of the basement in Rahi’s house and instantly knew Jeremy copied the idea into this camp and her heart ached at remembering the empty part that should have fitted his fiancees and the boys' pictures.