"Are you okay?" Ivy asked, her hand squeezing Ss''s hand gently.
Ss squeezed her hand back, his heart softened. "Yes baby, I am"
He was far from okay but he couldn''t trouble Ivy. His eyes moved to Uncle Mike, lying motionless on the hospital bed. The sight was terrifying, but that wasn''t what unsettled him most. It was Thomas.
The way Thomas had left the room was rming and Ss wished he could just crawl into Thomas''s mind and know exactly what his brother was thinking.
Ivy rubbed his arms, and he smiled at her.
"Thank you for being here," he said, turning to look at her.
Her green eyes shone with love. "Anything for you, baby."
They chuckled softly before facing Uncle Mike again. The door opened and Thomas returned to the room.
"Hey, guys," he greeted, forcing a small smile.
But Ss could tell something was definitely wrong. His heart tightened at the thought, and even though he knew Thomas wouldn''t say theplete truth, he asked anyways.
"What happened?"
As expected, Thomas said nothing.
"Is it the house? Or your staff?" Ss pestered, unwilling to let it go.
Thomas''s eyes widened briefly, but he shook his head. "No, but I should definitely check up with the progress of my injured staff." With that he left the room again.
Pain squeezed Ss''s heart and Ivy noticed.
"Give him time," she said softly. "He''lle around."
He nodded, pulling her into a side hug. Her presence made everything a thousand times better, and he was grateful.
"Let''s go out, and hope Uncle Mike gets better," she suggested.
He took one quick nce at Uncle Mike before they left the room. In the corridor,
they returned to the seat they had left, their arms locking.
They sat in silence until Ss''s phone rang. He took it out of his pocket and frowned when he saw the caller.
"What is it?" Ivy asked, her hand resting on his thighs.
"It''s Aaliyah," he replied.
Pick it. Heard she came to my office today," Ivy said.
Though he was a bit curious, he answered. "Hey Aaliyah."
"Hey Ss, how are you?" Aaliyah''s voice was calm, like normal.
"I''m good. What''s up?"
13:55 Thu, 22 May MG0.
"My rtionship is ruined, Ss. I can feed it," the exid, her voice cracking
His brow furrowed. "What are you talking about?"
Aaliyah hesitated before speaking. "Bailey is in Californis and would be draying longer but I haven''t told."
"Ah," he said, understanding her plight. Beside him, toy lifted her brow. "You know you have to tell them. Aaliyah: Unless you want to end things with Bailey."
"Oh no, no," she replied quickly. For a moment, he didn''t know what the wat denying until the rified it. "I can''t end things with Bailey, which is why I need Ivy''s help"
"Ny?" Ss''s voice rose with surprise. "What does my wife have to do with this "I need her to help me with mying out"
"How exactly?"
"I saw what she did when Theresa announced her divorce. A photo album and then the public statement. I want something like that. That way when my parents see it publicly, they''ll have no choice but to ept me?
Ss sighed. It seemed like Aaliyah had already nned everything.
"I sent Ivy an email, but she hasn''t responded," Aaliyah continued. "Can you please help me talk to her? I am willing to pay any amount. It''s urgent, please Ss."
He looked at Ivy, who was clearly intrigued by the conversation.
"We''ve had a long day," he told Aaliyah. "That''s probably why she hasn''t
responded. But I''m sure she''ll get to it when she''s free."
"Oh, Ss..." Her voice broke again. "She''s your wife. Please help me. I need this.
I can''t lose Bailey."
Ss''s heart ached at the pain in her voice.
"Aaliyah," he said softly. "I understand, but I''m not Ivy. You''ll have to speak with her and figure it out together."
He wanted to exin that he didn''t even know how Ivy had orchestrated Theresa''s announcement, but Aaliyah didn''t seem to understand or want to.
"Ss, please," she begged, her voice shaking like she was crying. "This is the only way I can do it. If I go public, I can manage the rejection publicly too. I can''t do this alone."
He shut his eyes to the pain in Aaliyah''s voice and handed Ivy the phone.
"Hey, Aaliyah," Ivy said softly. "I''ll check the email once I have a moment."
She paused, listening to whatever Aaliyah was saying. "Sure, definitely." Then she ended the call.
"What did she say?" Ss asked as she returned the phone.
"She wants me to check my mail. I''ll do that when we get home."
"Speaking of home," Ss said, "I think you should go tell Theresa and Aria so they can both be here."
“That''s not a bad idea,” Ivy replied, her voice small and he knew she was thinking about everything too. "Would you be okay?"
"Yes baby, I will." He cupped her face and captured her lips in a passionate kiss. She kissed him back, harder, not caring that
13:55 Thu, 22 May MO
they were in a hospital hallway.
When their lips parted, her eyes dropped to the bulge in trousers, and she chuckled.
"What?" heughed. "I''m not afraid to admit you turned me on."
She stood, grinning mischievously. "Be careful now, Mr. Stone."
He rose to his fect as well, and they both walked towards the exit. "Be safe."
Their eyes met, and for a moment, he got lost in the intensity of her gaze.
"I will," she said finally. "See you soon."
"Love you."
"Love you." She waved and was followed by Bud and another guard.
Ss returned to the bench, his mind momentarily nk before Thomas appeared from down the corridor.
"Bro?" he called, standing up again. "Is everything okay?"
"Sure," Thomas said without looking at him. "I want to go check up on my injured
staff and take care of a few things."
"Alright. Ivy has gone home to bring Theresa and Aria."
"Yeah," Thomas replied uninterested and that stung Ss a little. "See youter."
88%
+20)
Ss watched as Thomas left the hospital, without even looking back. He knew Thomas was hiding something, he just didn''t know what. But he was willing to find
out.
He pulled out his phone and dialed Wade. It rang a couple times before Wade
picked up.
"Hi Ss," Wade said, sounding urgent.
"Hey Wade. Any updates?" he said, moving back to the bench.
"Not
yet, but the detectives are in it," Wade answered.
"I want to be informed on how everything is going," he said firmly. "Thomas... has
been a little out of it."
He knew it was wrong to say that, but it was the truth, even though it was ugly.
He half-expected Wade to argue, but he didn''t. "I understand you. Don''t worry."
Ss exhaled with relief, grateful he didn''t have to exin further. "Thank you, Wade."
"You''re wee, Bye."
Just as the call ended, a young woman ran up to him.
"Mr Ss Stone, where is he?"
Ss sprang to his feet, confusion racing inside him. "What?"
"Andrew!" she said. It was when she moved closer did he realize she was crying.
The confusion deepened, but before he could try to understand her, another woman stormed in. This one had pink hair and her eyes widened.
13755
Thu, 22 May
"Where''s my baby? Where''s Andrew?"
The firstdy turned to her. "Who are you? Why are you looking for Andrew?"
"I''m Andrew''s girlfriend."
"No, I am Andrew''s girlfriend."
They started arguing, their voices rising, and Ss sighed. Two bodyguards
rushed to him, trying to shield him.
Ss watched as thedies went on and on. He turned to one of the guards, "How
do they know Andrew is here?"
Before he got an answer, a third woman ran in.
"I''m here to see Andrew, please," she said, walking gracefully towards them.
The other two turned on her. "Who are you?"
"His fiancée," she replied, holding up a diamond ring. It was shiny and sat on her
middle finger.
Ss groaned as the three women started yelling over each other.
"Hey!" he snapped. "This is a hospital for heaven''s sake!"
But neither of them heard him.
Fists started flying, and then a full-blown fight broke out in the hospital corridor.