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“I’m confused. Why does this message say it’s from… a Leo?”

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Scott. I saved his name under his nickname. I didn’t mean to make this situation harder for you.”

“He shared with you that Leo was his nickname?”

“Yes, he preferred to be called by his middle name.”

“Oh.” This was so much information. Not at all what she was expecting to gather. “Um, thank you for agreeing to see me,” Ivy said, sliding the phone back to her. “Especially since I didn’t call first.”

“I think I half expected you to reach out to me. I just wanted to say sorry again, for the part I played in this situation.”

Ivy stood and then so did Jasmine Journee. They had an awkward moment when they looked at each other, and then Ivy’s gaze wandered around the kitchen. It had a sweet touches. Like the board with toddler artwork. Her eyes landed on a piece of artwork that looked out of place. It took Ivy a moment to recognise it contained the name of the woman’s son.

“Getting a tattoo for your little guy?”

“Yeah. The artist just finished designing it. It will be my third. Leo couldn’t understand how I could stand getting a tattoo. He told me how he hated needles and wouldn’t be able to bear one touching his skin for any length of time.”

Ivy’s head whipped in the woman’s direction. She couldn’t possibly have heard her correctly. “I have to go,” Ivy muttered.

Then she walked briskly to the woman’s front door. Blindly, she put on her ankle boots and struggled to open the door.

“Wait! Mrs. Scott, let me get that. The door is a left handle. I made small changes because Tommy is left-handed. He needs to feel comfortable in his home. My sister thought it was silly since he’s the only one who is left-handed. We have no idea where he got it. I mean… I don’t know your husband’s family, but he is right-handed, too.” Jasmine Journee handed Ivy her coat. Ivy was so preoccupied she couldn’t even speak as she bolted out the door, clutching it.

Chapter Fourteen

ARE YOU OKAY, DARLING?

Why on earth did Ivy visit Jasmine Journee before she did this lecture? What she wanted to do was hop on a plane and head home, but she had given her word. There was no way she would let the school down and besmirch her professional integrity by cancelling her lecture at the last moment. Thank God she was well-versed on this topic, and she had a PowerPoint prepared. The whole lecture was delivered on autopilot. Ivy hoped she did an adequate job of answering the questions which were asked. Despite feeling bad about it, she absolutely had to decline the luncheon that they had arranged in her honour. Her schedule also included attending dinner with the Dean and Dean of Science. She had to cancel the dinner as well. She apologised profusely.

However, it was soon forgotten when Ivy pledged a generous amount to the University’s Research and Development program from the Scott Educational Foundation.

The moment Ivy left the lecture hall, she rushed back to the rental car. Her bags were already packed and loaded.

“Roy, did you get clearance for the flight to take off right away?”

“Yes, Ivy, we are all set.”

The night before was sleepless. Rather than call Manny, she had texted him on her way back to her hotel. Ivy was sure he found it odd that she preferred to message rather than talk, but thankfully he hadn’t pushed for an explanation.

When she finally got into her room, Ivy decided to go old school. It was imperative that she see all the information she had obtained from Jasmine Journee in black and white. With meticulous care, Ivy wrote it all out in bullet point form.

Once she was done. The information was shocking. The first question which popped into her mind was, who the fuck had Jasmine Journee met in that bar in Vancouver and spent five days with?

If Manny’s DNA hadn’t proven he was the father, she would have pulled up a photo for Jasmine Journee to verify if it was, in fact, the same man.

Ivy’s mind bounced from one idea to the next as she tried to figure out where the pieces all fit together. She ended up with a headache. It felt like the answers were staring her in the face, but she was missing something obvious. The information from Jasmine Journee gave her more questions than she had before. It was driving her crazy.

After almost three decades, Ivy was certain she knew everything about Emmanuel Campbell Scott. The man who Jasmine Journee described wasn’t anything like the man, husband, and father whom she knew.

It had been that way from the beginning. When she was still fighting her attraction to him, and he would give her rides, Manny would talk to her. At first, it was one-sided, with him doing all the talking. Eventually, she began to participate. Before she knew it, the favourite part of her day was her conversations with him.

They had shared all of their hopes and dreams with each other. He told her all about his upbringing. What it was like being the heir to the Scott empire. If he had the choice, he would play football until his body told him to call it quits, then eventually own a team. Instead of the life he wanted, he had to compromise.

Live his professional dream for two years and then train to take over the family business. His father wouldn’t even have made any concessions if his mother hadn’t intervened. His mother had negotiated the deal with his father, even though Manny hadn’t voiced his discontent. If anyone knew him as well as she did, it was his mother.

The flight was four hours, and Ivy had been ready to head home. In fact, they were fifteen minutes away from their house when the feeling that she needed to speak to Mom hit her.

“Roy, I am sorry to do this, but can you please take me to the Scott Estate?”

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