Buying My Forever Wife novel Chapter 42

Stella turned her big, curious eyes back to Ivy. "Mommy, do you like Daddy?"

Suddenly thrust into the spotlight, Ivy felt even more mortified than Alaric. Although her injuries usually left her looking pale and exhausted, a furious blush now crept across her cheeks. Her heart hammered against her ribs, especially when she realized Alaric was staring right at her, as if he were actually waiting for her answer.

Her nerves spiked. Taking a deep breath, Ivy jerked her head toward the window. "Wow, the weather is so nice today."

Alaric glanced out the window at the pitch-black night sky, wondering how on earth she could tell the weather was nice. So she didn't like him either, and that was why she was so desperate to change the subject?

Realizing this, an inexplicable wave of disappointment washed over him. But whatever. Who cared if she liked him? It was better this way. Once Stella was older, they would end this farce of a marriage and go their separate ways.

Alaric's handsome face darkened as he reached for his daughter. "Come on, we're going home."

Stella stubbornly clung to Ivy's shirt. "No! I'm staying here with Mommy tonight. I want to go home with her tomorrow."

Alaric's expression grew stern. "Stella, are you deliberately disobeying me again?"

"I don't want to go back and sleep all by myself! I'm scared, and I just want to be with Mommy." Seeing her father lose his temper, the little girl's face scrunched up as she buried herself into Ivy's embrace. "You're so mean, Daddy! It's bad enough you don't love your wife, but now you want to tear us apart! I won't go with you."

Huge, pathetic tears rolled down Stella's cheeks, absolutely shattering Ivy's heart. She wrapped her arms securely around the child and looked up at Alaric.

Staring at the twenty thousand dollars Alaric had transferred her as her monthly salary, a sweet wave of relief washed over her. She would use a few thousand for driving lessons and put the rest straight into her nest egg for a rainy day.

Remembering that her middle sister, Hazel, had been back at school for a while, she wondered if their parents were still causing her grief. Ivy dialed her number to check in.

"I heard Dad got into a car accident on his way here," Hazel said. "He broke his leg and is stuck in the hospital. The insurance company is covering his medical bills."

Ivy listened in heavy silence. As much as she resented her toxic parents for constantly leeching off their daughters, they were still the ones who raised her. She couldn't just completely cut them out of her mind.

After hanging up with Hazel, she called her youngest sister, Gemma. Once she got the full picture of the situation, Ivy transferred her remaining twelve thousand dollars straight to Gemma's account, instructing her to hold onto it until their parents were truly desperate. Regardless of what happened, Ivy was never going back to that house, and she certainly never wanted to see those people again.