Free Web NovelChapter 231: Free (3)
"Here is the bottle," Ivy said, handing it over to Victor. "She was honest."
"I know she would be for that. To think something in this little bottle ruined my life so much," Victor said, still in disbelief that his mother kept poison around. "At least there is a way for me to try finding a cure. I won’t be around much. I have to leave soon to head to the border."
"The border? Why would you go there when-"
"Ivy," Victor interjected to save her from saying something she would regret. "The woman Ian is seeing now has relatives from the border. They rule at the border so you must be careful with what you say. He looks busy but I am sure he is listening to us."
Ivy looked at Ian who was looking around the garden. "I wasn’t going to say something bad. I am worried that the long ride there might not be good for you and you will have to start preparing to take your father’s title. You will need to meet with the king."
"I will put that on hold for now. I have a lot of learning to do before I become Lord Kingsley and like Ian suggested, I want to remove a lot of the furniture and food from here. Make it look different to get rid of some of the bad memories. I want a fresh start," Victor said, ready to live life his way.
He continued, "In my absence, you are welcome to stay here and look after the estate. If you leave soon, you might ruin all chances to be close to Ian. He has opened up to having a relationship with me. He might be able to do it with you."
"I would like to stay a little longer. It is easier for him to have a relationship with you than it is for him to try again with me. I don’t want to push so soon when he is dealing with all of this now. He has lost his mother figure. My timing to return was bad," Ivy answered, knowing she could not fix their problems now.
"He lost one mother. Nothing can change that he still has a birth mother. I annoyed him until he accepted to become my brother. I do not know if that would work for you but I don’t want you to give up. As long as you are here, he will have to see you. You are one step closer," said Victor.
Ivy wished to have more of Victor’s positivity. "You are right and when he doesn’t want to look my way, I have a little cutie present. I won’t try to act as your mother since with my bad relationship with her, it would be wrong but you can always come to me for advice."
"I would like that," Victor answered. "Now, after meeting Scarlet do you also think those two might get married before the year ends? They are moving quite fast and I am hearing something about a trip from Owen. Oh, Owen is a friend Ian made. You saw him when you came with Scarlet." ƒгeewёbnovel.com
"A trip? I thought they were not together that long but I have been relying on what is being said throughout the town. I don’t know what to think about when they would wed. Isn’t when you will wed more important? You must be prepared for all the women who will come to you," Ivy said as she knew mothers would not miss marrying off their daughters to a lord.
"I will be at the border then. As the oldest, it is expected for Ian to marry first-"
"Are you two not done speaking about me? I can hear you," Ian said, turning around to face them. "I don’t want either of you to speak about me marrying Scarlet. Especially around her. It is time for us to go. You cannot be here when the guards come," he said to Ivy.
It would be too odd for her to be here and for her to be left alive. Everything was arranged for it to look like Layla could not take Hank anymore and shot him when they were alone. Ian was careful with the way he shot Layla to make it look like she killed herself after and had even placed a gun he knew matched the one he used.
Ivy’s presence would throw off everything as Layla would not have killed herself without attempting to kill her husband’s former lover.
"I have a place I can stay until you think it is good for me to return," Ivy replied.
"Do you need a ride?" Victor asked as they could take her. "Ian and I were going for a drink. We could drop you off on our way there. Can’t we Ian?"
Ivy didn’t think it to be a good idea since Ian didn’t seem happy about it. "I can find my way there."
"How? The servants will return in the morning and if you take another carriage from here, there is a chance it might be mentioned to the town guards you were around here. Then Ian’s plans would be spoiled and I am almost certain Scarlet wouldn’t be happy to know Ian left you without a ride," Victor said purposely to convince Ian.
"Come now if you want a ride," Ian said to end the conversation. By the end of the night, he was going to hit Victor for speaking too much.
"See, when you bother him it gets you something in the end," Victor whispered to Ivy.
"Is that so?" Ian asked as he heard Victor’s big mouth. "I will change my response to being violent when you are a pain in the ass annoying me. Be quick to get in before I leave you here. Both of you."
The others Ian came with were gone and now it was only the three of them left to get from here before they might be spotted.
"I trust him when he says he will leave us. He can be quite cruel sometimes so you and I need to stick together to handle the beast in front of us," Victor whispered.
Ivy held Victor’s hand to get him to walk with her. "Victor, your words are not soft even now. You must be careful before he leaves us behind."
"It would be cruel of my beloved older brother to leave his sick brother behind. Would you believe how protective Ian has become of me? There are times when I stay awake happy because I cannot believe it. He always has a grumpy face unless Scarlet is around so it can be hard to tell when he cares, but trust me, he does," said Victor.
Victor pretended to zip his lips when Ian turned around to look at him. While he wanted to brag about their new relationship, he also did not want to walk to the bar.
