Ivy stared at Zack in deep thought, weighing the validity of his assumption. Was it really a random accident? If it was, then what was the culprit’s true intentions?
She realized the answers to those scary thoughts, whoever it was, that person was trying to hurt her, perhaps worse.
“Do you think it was Isabelle, she is in prison…..”
“I don’t know if she has contact outside prison, but all I know is you need extra security until this mastermind behind your abduction is apprehended.” Zack replied, sitting up on the bed. His expression turned serious as he stared deeply at her.
“Ivy, I don’t want you worrying too much about this. Whoever that person might be, I won’t let him hurt you. I’ll do everything in my power to ensure your safety.”
Ivy nodded absentmindedly, still dwelling on the possibility of Jake Black being behind her abduction. Just as the detective said, maybe Isabelle was the accomplice, maybe someone else was also involved in her abduction.
“I just said you shouldn’t worry, and now you’re already lost in thought.” Zack’s voice jolted her from her stream of thoughts. She masked her face with a calm expression, but deep within her, she was disturbed.
‘Could it be Irene is the actual mastermind?’
She learned the hard way that she should sometimes think the unexpected. She never thought Irene would hate her all of a sudden, so it was quite possible she might be working with Isabelle.
But still, would Irene be able to do something as outrageous as that? Would she intentionally try to hurt her physically?
“Ivy…” Zack’s eyes locked with hers. “I know we agreed not to interfere with each other’s personal life, but I think that’s not possible. I can’t just watch you get into trouble and do nothing to help. Before, I thought I wouldn’t care much about your life, but I guess I was wrong…”
Ivy’s steady gaze never faltered from his. She wasn’t sure where the conversation was going.
Zack sighed, looking deeply into her eyes. His right hand crawling towards Ivy’s palm, indecisive of whether to place his hands on hers or not.
His hands finally touched hers, his gaze still fixed on her, as he was prepared to say something he never thought he would say at the start of their convenient marriage.
“Ivy, let’s take the marriage more seriously…”
Ivy’s eyes dilated in disbelief at his words. She stared at him for a while before replying. “If that’s fine with you, it’s also fine with me.”
Zack wasn’t satisfied with her answer; he felt she didn’t take what he said seriously.
“Ivy, I’m serious…” He said, tightening his grip on her hand. That was when Ivy realized he was holding her hand. She didn’t try to dislodge his hands from hers; she just glanced at their hands intertwined for a split second before returning her gaze to his face. Now she understood how serious he was.
“Hubby… I…. I…” How would she respond? She totally didn’t expect those words to come out of Zack Anderson’s mouth, who strictly told her it was a marriage of convenience. Though they have been closer since the past few days, she never thought their relationship would move to a new height.
She averted her eyes away from him. “I agree with that.” Then it hit her, what exactly did he mean by that? Was he talking about his marital rights?
“Hubby, what do you mean…” She hesitated. “Never mind.” She couldn’t bring herself to ask him that. She flashed him a smile and lay back in the bed; then her mind drifted off to her conversation with old man Roy.
“Zack…”
“Hmm.”
“Did Albert really steal your girlfriend?”
She asked before biting her lips in anticipation of his response.
Zack chuckled. “Wifey, you don’t have to beat around the bush, just ask your main question.” He saw through her; he could guess what was going on in her mind.
“Who was she? I mean, was she dear to you? Did you love her…” Ivy’s eyes darted back and forth, awaiting his reply. Her back was facing him, so Zack didn’t really see her facial expression at the moment.
“Wifey, are you jealous?”
“No, I’m not.” Ivy replied sharply. “I was simply curious.”
Zack chuckled, ready to tease her again.
“Then I won’t tell you until you admit you’re jealous.”
Ivy huffed, annoyed by his tantalizing. She turned to look at him with a scrunched-up face.
“I just wanted to know; besides, why would you hate your brother until now because he stole some girl…”
“I’m sorry, wifey, my mouth is zipped tight.” He pressed his lips tight and tossed to the other side of the bed.
‘He is darn serious about me admitting to jealousy.’ She had no choice since she was so adamant about knowing. “Fine, I’m jealous; now say something.”
A smirk tugged up the corner of his lips as he turned to face her. “Are you really jealous, or just that desperate.”
Ivy’s face darkened. “Fine, I have had enough of you; if you don’t want to tell me, keep it to yourself. I am going to sleep, goodnight.”
She dragged the duvet and covered herself, turning to the other side and shutting her eyes.
“Wifey, are you angry with me?” Zack asked but received no response.
“Wifey…” Still no response. “Ivy.”
“You told me to rest and you won’t let me sleep.” She shot back, clutching the duvet to her chest, her lips twitching, intentionally putting up the feigned anger to make him spill it out.
“Okay, goodnight, wifey.”
Ivy frowned, ‘isn’t he gonna tell me?’ She turned to peep to see if his eyes were open, but to her surprise, he looked to be asleep. ‘Won’t he tell me?’
Then she facepalmed herself for being so nosy, incredulously reflecting on her curiosity about why she was so adamant about learning about his past relationship.
She slumped back on the bed, getting ready to drift to sleep.
Only when Zack sensed her defeat did he open his eyes. He leaned closer and whispered in her ear.
“I won’t tell you about my past until you tell me about yours.”