"I don''t know, I have no idea," Ss said with a shrug as he settled into the couch.
ivy looked at him, but she couldn''t tell if he was angry or exhausted. He was frowning, and that blood... that small stain at the edge of his lips made her ufortable.
What would be the first conversation?
She dropped the letter and sat beside him. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder, and she rested her head on his chest.
"What happened?" she asked softly, rubbing his thigh.
"Thomas," Ss replied. His voice was thick with anger, making her sit upright.
"You guys had a fight?" she asked, her heart pounding. This was the worst possible time for a brotherly feud.
"He pushed me," he snapped, then told her everything. "It was weird."
Ivy bit her lip, unsure how to react. Thomas was with strange men with tattoos, it was almost unbelievable.
"Maybe they were discussing something else," she said quietly, trying to ease the tension.
But it only made things worse. Ss clenched his jaw, his eyes zing with
rage. "Something else? We''re in the middle of a crisis, and he''s keeping secrets?"
His tone startled her, and she reached up to touch his face, hoping to calm him. He nuzzled into her hands, closing his eyes.
"It might be for your own good. I''m sure he has his reasons."
Ss didn''t respond, but his anger still simmered.
She traced his lips gently with her fingers, but he flinched.
"Sorry," she whispered and kissed him. Then she turned. "Monica?"
Monica appeared almost immediately.
"Please get the first aid kit," Ivy told Monica who nodded and left.
Theresa joined them in the living room. When she saw Ss''s lips, her eyes widened.
"What happened to you?"
"Thomas," Ss replied tly, his voice still tinged with annoyance.
Theresa didn''t react, as if it wasn''t the first time something like this had happened between them.
Ivy squeezed his hand, then picked up the letter. "What do we do about this?"
"What is that?" Theresa asked.
Ivy told her. "It''s getting crazy."
Theresa folded her arms. "We can''t take this, it''s not fair!" Her voice cracked.
Before Ivy could respond, Monica returned with a small box.
"Thank you, Monica," she said, taking it from her. She opened the kit, dabbed some antiseptic on a cotton swab, and gently cleaned the blood Ss''s mouth.
He remained still until she was done.
"You might need an injection if it''s deep," Theresa said.
"It''s not," Ss replied. "Thanks."
When Ivy finished, Monica returned to pack up the kit.
Theresa paced the room, her eyes full of worry. "How do we deal with Rosie?"
"I don''t know," Ss admitted. "I''m numb."
"How was the letter delivered?" Theresa said, her voice sharp.
"When we were about to enter, we saw a huge
rock blocking the entrance. The letter was under it when Bud tried to move it," Ss exined.
Theresa stopped pacing, her hands on her hips. “So we can say nobody in your house works for Rosie."
The statement sent a shiver down Ivy''s spine. "How do we know she sent it herself?"
Ss and Theresa looked at her sharply.
"You
saw a rock in front of the house. We know the letter is from Rosie, but how do we know she did it herself?" Ivy continued.
Ss tilted his head, then stood up. "Only one way to find out."
Ivy and Theresa followed him down the hallway, past Ivy''s room, and into the control room.
It was small, with one guard sitting inside.
He leapt from his seat, knocking over a soda can when they entered.
"Sir," he said quickly.
If Ss noticed the act, he didn''t show it. "I need footage from this afternoon. Someone dropped something at the gate."
"At the gate?" the guard gasped.
"Find it," Ss said calmly.
The guard sat in front of the monitors and pressed some buttons. Momentster, he found the footage.
A red car stopped in front of the house and a figure stepped out. Ivy already knew it was Rosie-
she was still dressed in the same ck outfit.
She went to the booth, took out a rock and gently ced it in front of the gate. Then she returned to the car, brought out a spray can, wrote something on the ground, before driving off.
"Zoom in. What did she write?" Ss asked.
The guard did.
"Crushing the stones," Theresa read aloud. Then her face
twisted. "That fucking bitch it''s a stone, not a rock. She''s referring to us!"
Dread washed over Ivy, How did the guard not see Rosie doing all that?
"Mr. Stone..." the guard stammered. "I... was... on a call."
Ss narrowed his eyes. "That call just took your job."
"Please, sir, I have kids-
"They should''ve been your reason to focus," Ss cut him off, raising a hand, "Get your things. I don''t want to see you ever again"
The guard pleaded, but Ss had already walked out. Ivy and Theresa followed, though Theresa was stomping and muttering curses under her breath. "Ss," ivy called, reaching for him.
She needed him to steady her. The fear was growing.
He turned and hugged her. "I''m sorry. I''m just pissed."
She didn''t say anything out of fear of breaking down, but she leaned more into him.
When they got downstairs, they saw Aria in the hallway, with three
bodyguards holding pink luggage each.
"Aria?" Ss called, stepping forward. "Where are you going? I''m going to sort out the letter incident. It won''t happen again."
Aria turned, her brows raised. "What letter incident?"
"I... thought that''s why you were leaving."
"Oh, no. I want to spend some time with my boyfriend."
"It''s not safe out there," Theresa said. "You should stay here."
"No, I won''t!" Aria snapped, surprising everyone.
Ss moved closer, lowering his voice. "I understand how you feel, but going out there alone won''t solve anything. We''re safer together."
“Besides, who''s this boyfriend you suddenly have to see?" Theresa added, her tone coated with concern. "Why go now? Please give us an address, just incase."
"I don''t fucking need your help!" Aria yelled. "None of you!"
Theresa gasped, and Ivy saw the shock in her eyes.
"Aria, fix your tone right now!" Ss said sternly.
"I don''t fucking need this," Aria said through gritted teeth. "Not from a woman who couldn''t keep a marriage and got pregnant by someone else, or from a man who had to buy himself a wife on paper because love wasn''t even on the damn table. Bye." She turned and stormed out with her guards.
-tvy blinked. Something was definitely wrong.
Aria had never been this rude to either of them and it was rming. She wanted to chalk it up to stress, but something inside told her
it was more thanthat.
She turned to Theresa, who looked flustered. Their eyes met, and Ivy realized Theresa hadn''t told Aria about the pregnancy.
But how then did she know?
"That was weird," Ss muttered, shaking his head. “I
think Rosie wants to break us, and it''s
working. Let''s just go to the living room and reorganize."
Ivy nodded, but before she could move, the front door opened and Thomas walked in.
"What are you doing here?" Ss demanded, his voice harsh.
Thomas stepped closer, his eyes shining with regret. "I can exin."
"I don''t need your bloody exnation. Leave," Ss snapped, pointing to the door.
Ivy didn''t say anything but she instinctively stepped away from
Ss. This was the first time she was seeing him angry with Thomas, and it was unpleasant.
"It was stupid. I''m sorry, but it was for your own good," Thomas said, unmoving.
"Out!" Ss roared.
Thomas pursed his lips, turned
nt to
toward the door, hesitated and looked back. "I thought you might want to know... I just found out that Rosie took 800 million dors from my ount."
They all gasped.
"Rosie has money?" Theresa
cried. "A crazy woman has money for her shit! We are all doomed!"
Fear raced inside Ivy, not only because of Thomas''s statement, but because of the madness building up in Ss''s eyes.
"How the hell does she still have ess to your ount?" Ss asked sharply.
Thomas shifted awkwardly, his cheeks turning red. "It''s... an offshore ount."