Buying My Forever Wife novel Chapter 79

Alaric quickly finished up at the sink. Ignoring the bewildered Ivy standing nearby, he headed straight for the walk-in closet to change.

A few minutes later, looking impeccably sharp in a tailored suit, he stopped beside her and spoke in a low voice.

"I'm going on a business trip and won't be back for a week. Take good care of Stella. Call me if there's an emergency."

His wife adamantly refused to be a real wife to him.

And his daughter aggressively demanded they share a bed.

Alaric knew that if he didn't put some serious distance between them, he was going to lose his goddamn mind from the pent-up frustration.

He desperately needed a change of scenery to cool off.

Ivy, currently brushing her teeth, blinked her bright eyes and simply nodded. "Mmhmm."

Alaric lingered for an extra second, staring at her.

Merely watching her brush her teeth sent a maddening jolt of heat straight to his groin.

He violently tore his gaze away and marched out the door.

Skipping breakfast entirely, he walked straight out to his car and left.

It was Sunday.

Stella didn't have preschool,

and Ivy hadn't reported back to Metropolitan General yet.

When she finally led Stella downstairs for breakfast, the dining room was completely empty except for Mrs. Gable.

Seeing the massive spread but no sign of her father, Stella looked up at Ivy, visibly confused.

"Mommy, where's Daddy? Why isn't he eating with us?"

Ivy offered a gentle smile.

"Your daddy has a lot of work to do. He already left."

"But it's Sunday! Daddy never works on Sundays!"

She clearly remembered that her dad always took the weekends off.

He used to spend his entire weekend hanging out with her.

So why, now that she finally had a mommy, did he suddenly run away?

A wave of genuine sadness hit the little girl.

Ivy knew exactly why Alaric had bolted.

He probably couldn't stand the sight of her.

After breakfast, Ivy spent the entire day playing with the little girl.

They took long walks through the sprawling estate gardens.

After a perfect Sunday, Monday rolled around, and Ivy rode with the chauffeur to drop Stella off at St. Jude's Preschool.

Realizing she was mostly recovered from her injuries,

she swung by Metropolitan General for a quick check-up. Once she got the all-clear, she headed straight to the nurses' station to inform the head nurse that she was ready to return to duty.

The head nurse was genuinely shocked to see her.

But remembering the strict orders from upper management that Ivy could take as much paid leave as she wanted,

she didn't dare raise an objection. She quickly logged Ivy back into the system and assigned her to the pharmacy.

As Ivy was sorting medications according to her checklist, she caught the distinct sound of gossip drifting in from the nurses' station next door.

"I can't believe Ivy is back. Didn't Summer say she married some ancient billionaire and became a stepmom?"

"Right? I figured she was off living the high life and too good for this place."

"Maybe the old guy got sick of paying her bills. Now she's basically an unpaid nanny."

"Hahaha! That's probably exactly it. If her sugar daddy actually had money, why on earth would she drag herself back to work?"