Wrong Flirt, Right Trouble: His Uncle Pulls Me Close

After discovering Ivy Sherwood was their long-lost relative, her Mercer cousins all presented her with welcome gifts, each one incredibly valuable.

Ivy Sherwood also spoke on the phone with her aunts and uncles who were in other countries. When they saw her face, they couldn’t help but choke back sobs.

Ivy looked so much like Winter Mercer. They all still remembered what a wonderful person their sister had been, and how she could just...

Ivy had lunch and dinner with the Mercers, and by the time it grew dark, her grandfather was reluctant to let her leave.

Xavier Mercer and Ivy were chatting alone on the balcony. Xavier said, ”Ivy, why don’t you come back to Elandra with us? We promise you’ll have access to so much more there than you do here.”

Ivy shook her head and smiled. ”Xavier, I’ll be your family no matter where I am, right? I grew up here, and I want to stay. Besides, I have my own career. I can stand on my own two feet.”

”You have the same personality as Aunt Winter. She was the same way back then. She didn’t want the family fortune; she insisted on going out to make her own way.”

Ivy asked, ”And then? Did my mother accomplish anything?”

Xavier said, ”I’m not entirely sure. I remember Aunt Winter was involved in scientific research.”

”Scientific research?” Ivy had never had much exposure to that field.

Xavier really didn’t know much. ”I think so. I just remember Aunt Winter seemed very mysterious back then.”

Ivy nodded. She had always thought her mother was particularly mysterious.

”As for your father... I think your biological father might be Jason Summers,” Xavier said.

”Jason Summers?” The name sounded vaguely familiar.

”Remember that cruise ship party? The host was Jason Summers.”

The mention of it jogged Ivy’s memory. It was from that massive cruise ship party, the one where she first brought up breaking up with Quentin Blackwood. Jason Summers had been the host.

She had run into Xavier and Miles Mercer at that party, and Jason Summers himself had approached her, probing to see if she knew Winter Mercer.

She recalled that Jason Summers was supposedly a good friend of the Mercer Family; both Xavier and Miles Mercer called him Uncle Summers.

Ivy nodded, though she felt a tremor inside. ”I remember.”

’Could Jason Summers be her father?’

”But Xavier, why do you think Jason Summers is my biological father?”

”I only heard that back when Grandfather and the others were still in the country, Jason Summers lived next door to us. He and Aunt Winter basically grew up together—they were childhood sweethearts and were incredibly close. It was obvious to anyone with eyes that Jason Summers was in love with her.”

”Later, when the Mercer Family moved abroad to expand its business, Jason Summers convinced the Summers Family to move abroad as well.”

”Grandfather also said that whatever Aunt Winter did, Jason Summers would follow. In short, the two were inseparable. I think Grandfather once mentioned that Jason Summers was her boyfriend at one point, but I’m not clear on the specifics of what happened.”

Xavier hadn’t even been born at that time.

”This is all just speculation. Jason Summers could be your father, or he might not be. Later, after what happened to Aunt Winter, Grandfather went to see Jason Summers, but I don’t think he got any answers out of him.”

Ivy furrowed her brow. ’Could her father really be Jason Summers?’

An image of Jason Summers surfaced in Ivy’s mind. He did seem like a refined, distinguished gentleman.

But Ivy had grown wary of words like ”refined” and ”gentleman.” Caleb Blackwood was the very picture of refinement, wasn’t he? And in the end? He was rotten to the core behind closed doors.

”Whether he is or not, I don’t want to investigate for now. When Mom was pregnant with me, she left, didn’t tell any of you who my father was, and even found a random man to marry in a hurry. That proves my father must have hurt her deeply. My mother didn’t want anyone to know I had a father like that.”

As she said this, Ivy startled herself.

’Because she suddenly realized her own situation was so similar to her mother’s, wasn’t it?’

’She was pregnant now, too, but she didn’t want anyone to know. Not the Mercers, and certainly not the child’s father.’

’The only difference was that her mother had chosen to hide her identity and give birth, whereas Ivy... she didn’t want this child, at least not for now.’

’Even if she did have the baby, she would never tell anyone that the child was Quentin Blackwood’s.’

’Right now, she didn’t dare tell the Mercers about it either.’

’Perhaps her mother had been hurt even more deeply than she was, which was why she’d gone to live somewhere no one knew her.’

’If her mother hadn’t wanted her to acknowledge her father, then even if Ivy found him, she wouldn’t acknowledge him either.’

In that short time, Xavier had no idea how many thoughts had just raced through Ivy’s mind.

Ivy wanted some time alone. Too much had happened today, and she needed to process it all.

Although she was overjoyed to have reunited with the Mercer Family, Ivy still wanted to go home.

The Mercers didn’t press the issue. After all, there would be plenty of time in the future and many more opportunities to see Ivy.

As for Timothy Sherwood, however, Xavier planned to pay him a visit. He wanted to know why he had treated Ivy that way, whether Aunt Winter had left any clues, and why on earth she had married him in the first place.

...

Quentin Blackwood had been waiting downstairs at the hotel the entire time. He watched until Ivy came down and got into a car.

Quentin followed quietly from behind. That way, he could catch another glimpse of her when she got out of the car and went upstairs.

His flight back to Aethelgard was tonight, and it would be a long time before he saw her again.

He had people following Ivy, but the blurry photos they sent only deepened his longing.

Ivy was being driven home by one of the Mercer Family’s drivers. The driver was a trained professional and extremely alert.

They quickly noticed a car was following them.

”Miss, I think there’s a car that’s been following us.”

”What?” Ivy glanced in the rearview mirror. The traffic was heavy, so she couldn’t quite tell.

”Should I lose them?” the driver asked.

Ivy thought for a moment. ”Can you draw them out?”

’If they just shook them off, she’d never know who it was. What if they just started following her again next time?’

’What if they were planning something, like an ambush later on?’

”Of course. Watch this.” With that, the driver swerved into a side alley and accelerated.

Sure enough, the car behind them followed. The driver quickly navigated the narrow alleys, causing their pursuer to lose sight of them.

The driver parked the car and told Ivy to stay put while he went to check things out.

The driver walked up to the car that had been following them and knocked on the window. ”Hey, who are you? Why are you following us? Talk, or I’m calling the police.”

Ivy also wanted to know who, exactly, was following her. Many possibilities ran through her mind: Elijah Hawthorne, one of Quentin Blackwood’s men, or even someone sent by Caleb Blackwood.

But Ivy never, ever expected that when the car door opened, the person who stepped out would be... him.

[Ding! This is a leave of absence notice. I’ll be taking tomorrow off to celebrate New Year’s Day a little early, so there’s no need to wait for the update in the wee hours. Happy New Year’s everyone!]