Chapter 11

Ivy slept really well that night.

When she woke up and saw the unfamiliar yet somehow familiar bedroom, she froze for a moment, then groaned and grabbed at her hair.

She'd only meant to close her eyes for a few minutes yesterday, but somehow, with Rhys beside her, she'd felt a strange sense of safety. She hadn't even noticed when they'd arrived, and she'd slept straight through to morning without properly greeting the Davenport elders.

She buried her face in the pillow and let out a muffled wail.

Halfway through the wail, there was a sharp knock at the door, and the next second, Rhys pushed it open, looking worried. "What's wrong? Did something happen?"

Ivy froze.

Rhys caught himself and stepped back out of the room, his expression a little stiff. "Um, sorry. I heard you yell and thought something was wrong."

Ivy turned bright red from head to toe.

At least she was fully dressed — nothing embarrassing to see.

She took a deep breath and quickly collected herself. "No, I just realized I didn't get to introduce myself to your parents last night. I feel rude..."

Before she could finish, she caught the corner of Rhys's mouth twitching upward, which made her feel even more self-conscious, so she stopped talking.

Rhys saw her embarrassment and straightened his expression, explaining seriously, "Everyone in the house goes to bed early. Even if you'd been awake, you wouldn't have been able to say hello. It's not rude."

Ivy relaxed, got up, changed, and went downstairs with Rhys.

The Davenport family was a big one. Knowing she'd arrived, uncles, aunts, and cousins had all gathered to meet the future wife of the Davenport heir.

Sensing her nervousness, Rhys took her hand and introduced her to everyone one by one.

Luckily, everyone in the family was kind. After brief introductions, they each gave her welcome gifts — jewelry, real estate deeds, accessories — and within half an hour, Ivy's net worth had nearly doubled. The generosity was staggering.

Out of everyone there, Rhys was the only one she was even slightly familiar with.

Ivy tugged lightly at his sleeve, signaling him to tell his family to stop giving her so much.

Rhys glanced at her hand, took it in his, and reassured her. "Don't feel awkward about it. If they're giving, it means you deserve it. And this is just the welcome gifts — the wedding gifts will be worth a lot more."

Ivy gave him a helpless look but said nothing in the end.

After the introductions, the Davenport elders told Rhys to take Ivy out and show her around Havenridge.

Ivy had originally planned to visit her aunt on her own once she was settled in, but since Rhys had made plans, she decided not to bring it up and figured she'd go tomorrow or the day after, when Rhys wasn't home.

But an hour into the drive, the car started entering a neighborhood that looked vaguely familiar.

She studied it for a while, not daring to be sure, but a quiet thrill rose in her chest. She looked at Rhys with a hint of a question in her eyes.

Rhys pretended not to notice, didn't even glance her way, but the moment she turned to look out the window, the corner of his mouth lifted just slightly.

When the car finally stopped in front of Helena's cottage, Ivy whipped around to stare at Rhys, eyes shining. "How did you know I wanted to see my aunt?"

Rhys picked up the gifts he'd brought, freeing up a finger to hook around Ivy's hand.

Hearing her question, he raised an eyebrow, a little smug. "Secret."

Ivy pressed her lips together in a smile and let her finger curl around his as they walked inside.

Her aunt must have gotten word ahead of time, because she was standing at the door waiting. The moment she saw Ivy, her eyes went red and her lips trembled. "Ivy."

Ivy let go of Rhys's hand and ran over, pulling her aunt into a tight hug.

The two of them held each other and cried for a while before finally remembering Rhys.

He'd been standing at a polite distance, watching. When they finally separated, he walked over quickly to greet Helena. She smiled and greeted him back, though a complicated look flickered across her eyes.

She made up an excuse to send Rhys away, then took Ivy's hand and said quietly, "Ivy, before you two got here, someone named Damon Thorne came by."

Ivy's heart skipped. She hadn't expected him to find this place, and more than that, she couldn't figure out why Damon had come to the Capital at all.

Shouldn't he be with Sienna right now, doing everything he could to make her happy?

Seeing Ivy's expression change, Helena hesitated but continued. "He told me you two hadn't broken up, that you'd just had a fight, and asked me to talk you out of marrying a man you don't even know on impulse... Ivy, is that true?"

Helena knew about the Childhood Mate Promise between Ivy and Damon.

But whenever they'd talked recently, Ivy rarely mentioned Damon, and when Helena asked directly, Ivy was evasive and never gave a straight answer.

Helena had assumed they'd broken up. And with her own family's business running into some trouble, she'd thought about it carefully and asked Ivy if she was open to an Arranged Bond.

Helping the family through a rough patch was one reason, but more importantly, she'd watched Rhys grow up and knew he was better than Damon in every way.

But if Ivy and Damon had only had a fight, then had she just ruined her niece's relationship for nothing?

Worse — if the Davenport family found out Ivy still had feelings for someone else, would they be angry?

The thought made Helena look at Ivy anxiously. "Ivy, you have to tell me the truth. If you still have feelings for Damon, I'll figure something out about the Arranged Bond. I can't let you gamble away your whole life."

Ivy felt a warmth in her chest. She reassured her aunt gently. "It's fine, Auntie. Damon and I already broke the Mate Promise. We're done. We have nothing to do with each other anymore. If he comes looking for you again, just pretend you don't know anything."

Seeing that Ivy didn't seem to be lying, Helena let out a breath of relief and called Ivy and Rhys to stay for dinner.

Over the meal, Rhys took care of Ivy with effortless attentiveness — she barely had to furrow her brow before he'd moved the carrots off her plate, and if her eyes so much as lingered on a dish, he'd already served her a portion before she could ask.

That kind of care and attention, something she hadn't felt in so long, made Ivy more and more at ease around him.

Helena saw it all and finally put her worries to rest, reminding the two of them to come over for dinner often.

Ivy and Rhys answered at the same time, then looked at each other and couldn't help but smile.