Wrong Flirt, Right Trouble: His Uncle Pulls Me Close

Ethan Forrest seized the opportunity to hand him a glass. ”Quentin, why don’t you just have a drink? Come on, drink up!”

Quentin Blackwood ignored the glass Ethan offered, instead grabbing the bottle from the table and pouring it straight down his throat.

”That’s not how you drink! You’ll kill yourself drinking like that!” They all knew Quentin had a weak stomach, and this liquor would burn right through it.

What on earth had happened to make him torture himself like this?

But Quentin Blackwood couldn’t hear a word they were saying. He missed Ivy Sherwood so, so much.

He knew Ivy Sherwood had never been some delicate flower. She was always decisive. Just like the last time she said it was over, she had genuinely planned to never see him again for the rest of her life.

She was decisive, free-spirited.

This was clearly the outcome he’d wanted, yet Quentin couldn’t feel a shred of happiness.

He also knew that while Ivy looked as if nothing was wrong, she was bottling it all up. She never confided in anyone. No matter how the world treated her, she would stubbornly and resiliently keep on living.

She would process all her pain on her own, never allowing herself to show any weakness.

She might seem aloof, but only those who truly knew her understood how deeply she felt things. Show her an ounce of kindness, and she’d repay it a hundred times over.

The men he’d sent to watch over her from the shadows all reported that Ivy was fine. Aside from working herself to the bone, she was eating her meals as usual.

But the more normal Ivy acted, the more Quentin’s heart ached.

Seeing that Quentin refused to listen to reason, Ethan Forrest didn’t know what to say. He could only watch as Quentin downed the entire bottle.

No one dared to bring up Joy Sheridan, let alone Ivy Sherwood.

Even though Joy had said the two of them had broken up, it was obvious from Quentin’s state that he hadn’t moved on.

Ethan Forrest thought, ’Maybe I should play matchmaker?’

Just like that, Quentin finished the entire bottle. He immediately reached for a second, but this time, it wasn’t just Ethan Forrest who tried to stop him—even Zion Landon intervened.

”As a doctor, I can’t just stand by and watch you be so reckless. That’s no way to drink!”

Quentin shook his hand off and continued to drink.

He was already feeling the effects of the alcohol, his pupils beginning to dilate and lose focus.

”Ivy...”

’If I drink enough, Ivy will come find me.’

’That’s what happened before. Julian Grant told me so.’

But he had already drunk so much. ’Why haven’t I seen Ivy?’

Ethan Forrest considered for a moment, then quietly picked up Quentin’s phone from the coffee table. The screen was still lit, displaying that same photo.

’That silhouette... it’s clearly Ivy.’

Ethan Forrest sighed. ’Taking secret pictures even after they’ve broken up... As his brother, I have to give him a hand!’

He opened Quentin’s contacts, scrolled through them, and found Ivy Sherwood in an instant.

Ethan Forrest: ”...”

’This contact name is a little too direct!’

Because Quentin’s contact name for her was just one word: Wifey.

Previously, when Ivy Sherwood was still Silas Blackwood’s fiancée, her contact name was ”Nephew’s Wifey.” When that ended, Quentin had deleted ”Nephew’s,” leaving just ”Wifey,” and it had been that way ever since.

Ethan Forrest was certain this had to be Ivy, so he hit the call button.

Late that night, Ivy Sherwood’s phone started vibrating.

Nina Scott was already asleep. Not knowing who would be calling her, Ivy picked up her phone and froze when she saw the caller ID.

The three words ”Death Exemption Token” flashed on the screen. Her heart suddenly clenched. It was Quentin.

’Isn’t it already over? What else could Quentin want from me?’

After a moment’s thought, Ivy rejected the call.

But a moment later, the same number rang again. Ivy hesitated, then stepped outside to answer.

”Hello?” She struggled to keep her voice calm.

”Ivy? It’s me, Ethan Forrest,” Ethan’s voice came through the phone.

Ivy gave a soft, bitter laugh. ’I don’t even know what I was expecting.’

”Is there something you need?” Ivy’s voice was faint.

”Quentin’s drunk at the bar. Do you want to come and get him?” Ethan still had no idea that Ivy had already left Aethelgard.

”I’m sorry, you have the wrong person. I’m not...”

Before Ivy could finish, she heard a woman’s voice on the other end. ”Quentin, why have you drunk so much? Let me take you home.”

It was Joy Sheridan’s voice.

Ivy didn’t know why Quentin had drunk so much, but she knew this: when he was drunk now, he no longer needed her to take him home.

Ivy’s voice was ice-cold. ”It sounds like someone’s there to take him home. If there’s nothing else, I’m hanging up.”

With that, Ivy hung up.

She leaned against the table for support, clutching the phone to her chest, right over her heart.

’It hurts. It hurts so much I can barely breathe.’

Nina Scott, sleeping inside, was stirred by a sound. Waking up, she found the spot beside her empty. Ivy was gone. Panicked, she scrambled out of bed.

”Ivy! Ivy!” She had insisted on sleeping in the same bed, worried that Ivy might do something drastic.

’I can’t believe I fell asleep, and now Ivy’s gone!’

Nina flipped on the living room light and saw Ivy, finally letting out a breath of relief. ”You scared me to death! Ivy, why are you up?”

”I... I just got up to get a glass of water,” Ivy said, quickly wiping the corners of her eyes. She felt the dampness of tears she hadn’t even realized she’d shed.

”Why would you get water in the dark?” Nina didn’t buy it for a second, seeing right through her lie.

”You need to get to bed right now. You have to get proper sleep. Wait until tomorrow night. I’ll take you out, and we’ll have some real fun. I’ll even pick out a bunch of handsome guys for you. A new one every day, enough to last a year without any repeats. How does that sound?”

Ivy managed a smile and pulled Nina along. ”Come on, let’s go to sleep!”

She didn’t want Nina to see her red-rimmed eyes. ’I’m fine,’ she told herself. ’It’ll get better in a few days. Doesn’t time heal all wounds?’

Ivy lay in bed, but sleep was impossible. The moment she closed her eyes, her mind was flooded with thoughts of Quentin.

Tears slowly streamed down her cheeks. ’So this is how hard it is to let someone go, to truly forget them.’

...

Back at the bar, Ethan Forrest stared at the woman who had just walked in unannounced. ”Joy Sheridan, what are you doing here?”

He glanced down at the phone in his hand and saw that the call had been disconnected.

’Ivy must have heard Joy’s voice.’

’This woman is so infuriating. Her grandfather just died. Instead of properly mourning at home, what is she doing here?!’

”I was worried Quentin might get drunk, so I came to get him.”

”That’s not necessary. We’re here, we can take Quentin home,” Ethan said, looking at Joy Sheridan with disgust.

Joy retorted, ”How are you the same as me? I’m Quentin’s future wife! Now get out of my way!”

But Ethan Forrest refused to budge. As long as he was here, he wouldn’t let a woman like Joy Sheridan get her way.

”You’re unbelievably shameless,” Ethan said bluntly, and then he drove her away.

He considered calling Ivy back to explain, but he discovered the phone had been turned off.