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Chapter Twenty-Seven
Ivy
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MONTHS HAD PASSED ANDwe should have left the city already.
I knew that, but the love and warmth of the Cornell-Wynter household had caught me in its grasp. I’d never really had girlfriends before, but now I had Hallie and Kaja, and even Hallie’s friend, Layla, had welcomed me into the fold. I loved being around baby Madeline, too, feeling as though I was getting some practice in before our baby arrived. If Jayden and I ever married—which I was pretty sure was in the cards—it meant Madeline would be my niece, too, even if it wasn’t by blood, and I loved the thought of our baby and Maddie being able to grow up together.
My father and brother hadn’t so much as called me, and I was grateful they’d left me alone. I didn’t know how long it would last, though.
I was sitting in the Cornells’ kitchen, drinking decaf tea with the others, when my phone rang.
It was Mara.
“Your father and brother have been here, wanting to know where you are.”
“What did you tell them?”
“What could I say, Ivy? I had to tell them you weren’t staying here currently. You know I couldn’t lie to them. They’d find out the truth eventually.”
“It’s okay, Mara. I wouldn’t expect you to lie on my behalf.” If she’d lied and my father found out, he’d take his anger out on her, and I would never want that.
“I thought you were going to get out of the city?” she said.
I exhaled a breath through my nose. “We were. We are. I don’t know. The Cornells don’t think we should be the ones to leave.”
I didn’t say how I was starting to feel the same. How I’d been welcomed into their growing family with open arms and spent days talking with Hallie about all things to do with babies.
Besides, I still had my degree to finish. How was I going to do that if I left London? And I didn’t want Jayden to have to give up everything for me. Perhaps people could argue that I’d given up everything for him, but it had been my family who’d been behind that.
There were still times when I had to push my thoughts of what Jayden had done to the farthest corners of my mind to prevent myself spiralling into grief and depression, and I imagined it was something I’d end up needing some serious therapy for in the years to come, but time had started to heal my heart, and Jayden’s constant adoration and support had helped that.
“You can stay in the house as long as you want, Mara. I don’t want you out of a job or a place to live. It’s yours as long as you want it.”
“That’s kind of you, Ivy, but I’m not sure your father and brother will feel that way.”
“It’s my house. It’s my name on the deeds.”
Her voice was quiet. “Yes, I know.”
