Free Web NovelChapter 216: Invitation (1)
Ian bit his lip, trying not to laugh now at how Scarlet wasn’t happy to hear that all she had to do was show up. "Is it hurting you inside to not be in control of what we do with the trip?"
"It was my idea to go on a trip and you have taken it over. You should at least tell me where we are going and how many of my guards I will need to accompany us. Why are you laughing?" Scarlet asked yet to find the joke.
Ian slipped his right hand from her hold and placed it on her lower back. "Because you mentioned guards. We won’t be taking anyone with us. It is a trip for us to be alone."
"And we will be. My guards will not disturb us. Even though we might be away from the busy part of Lockwood, I still need my guards as there is always danger. Do you already have guards where we are going?" Scarlet questioned, wanting Ian to slip and let her know more about the place.
"There are a few. I will let you bring one guard if it will calm your worrying. No one else is to join us but I would allow Sunny. Stop trying to guess where we are going and just go to sleep since that is all you want us to do tonight. I do welcome you to try any method to get answers out of me. Like a kiss," Ian suggested.
Scarlet moved from straddling Ian and laid to the right of him. She would get her answers another way. "Good night. Think of how you will get back on the Kingsley estate so we can go on our trip in time. You must hurry before they realise your plan to uncover where Noelle is. Let me know if you need any ideas."
"I do not. I am more interested in hugging you right now," Ian said, placing an arm around her waist to keep her in place. He already had a plan for getting back to the Kingsley estate so for the next two days, he would not get to see Scarlet.
He had to enjoy sharing a bed with her now to count for all the time he was going to lose. Ian played with her hair, enjoying the length he was going to miss for a while. His fingers were soothing to have Scarlet quickly falling asleep and Ian joined her soon after.
Away from the Collins estate, a woman entered the Kingsley estate. Her fingers touched the furniture as she slowly walked inside, taking in the sight of the place that had changed so much since she was last here.
She knew what had to be changed or moved around to suit her liking. Everything belonging to the former Mrs. Kingsley had to go to make room for the things that she wanted.
The visitor made her way toward the dining room as it was a little past the time dinner should have ended so she would find the one she was waiting to see there. She ignored the stares from the young maids who would become well acquainted with her in the morning. They looked too young to know who she was.
"I have done everything I possibly could to keep this marriage together," she overheard a voice she could never forget.
She hummed a tune that was popular these days as she made her way toward the noise.
Inside the room, Layla stared at Hank who refused to answer her. Their son was who knows where but Hank was here calm as could be not caring what would happen to Victor. "I told you that it was a mistake for you to let that bastard inside our home, but you did not listen to me. Now Victor is angry with us."
"Good. It’s about time that he did something unpredictable. I was growing bored with it always being about him getting sick. Us having to hear from doctors that he might pass away at any moment if we don’t pay attention to him. It truly is a curse that I married you. Now I have a son who cannot take after me. How disappointing," Hank sighed.
"Curse? Do you want to say that I cursed you? You would not let that woman leave even when I warned you that she might do something to the rightful heir to get her son to be the next lord. You did not listen to me and Victor ended up sick. I will not have you sit here and place me as the one who cursed you. You failed to protect your family!" Layla argued.
Victor was a healthy baby but then the more he went around Ian, the more sick he got. She was the only one who tried to protect Victor.
"If you had sent that whore out like I told you, our son would not have become sick!"
"I didn’t make Victor sick. I loved him like I loved my little Ian," Ivy said, stepping into the room to make her presence known. She took off her hat for Layla to see the face she wanted to forget. "You two are just as I remember you. Hardly in love and bickering."
Layla took a step back, terrified by the sight of a ghost in her home. "You. You are not to be here." freewebnσvel.cѳm
"How can that be when the lord of the estate personally invited me here? Maybe it is not me who should not be here," Ivy said, her lips curling into a smile. She had long waited for the day she would return here. She should not have been sent away when she had birthed a son for Hank. "I am home."
Layla snapped out of her fear as it turned to anger. She had always been right that Hank was waiting to bring Ian’s mother back. She had caught onto his lie when he said that he didn’t have a relationship with Ivy anymore.
"Home?" Layla laughed. This was the final straw for her.
Hank was showing now how much he hated her by disrespecting her with Ivy’s return. Hank wanted her out of the estate but he had not waited until she was all packed up to invite Ivy to be here.
It pained Layla to see Ivy standing behind Hank with her hands on his shoulders. Ivy was taunting her once more like she did in the past.
"I thought you said Ian would be here, Hank. I was looking forward to seeing him," Ivy said, disappointed he was not here for the reunion.
"You and your son can both go to hell!" Layla yelled, reaching for one of the knives on the table. It had to be over her dead body that Ivy would start living here again.
