Buying My Forever Wife novel Chapter 266

Mason poured himself a glass of whiskey and downed it in one swift gulp.

His eyes were bloodshot as he glared at Alaric. "What the hell do you take me for?"

Alaric's handsome face remained impassive, completely lacking the patience to stroke his friend's ego.

"If you want the surprise I promised, do exactly as I say. If you're done playing the part, you can ditch Elena tomorrow. I can easily find someone else to replace you."

Since he knew Elena would throw herself at any rich, attractive man, finding someone else to seduce her wouldn't be difficult at all.

There was no reason for him to keep begging Mason while listening to his endless complaining.

"What's that supposed to mean? Are you trying to kick me to the curb?"

Mason scoffed indignantly, his gaze filled with bitter resentment.

"I've sacrificed so damn much for you! I vent a little about how miserable I am, and you lose your temper?"

"I just don't get it. If you don't even like the woman, why did you let yourself get tangled up with her? How did you even let her manipulate you?"

"And what about the girl you brought around last time? Why isn't she clinging to your arm anymore? Did you get bored and dump her?"

He had genuinely thought Alaric cared about Ivy.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have looked so utterly panicked when Ivy was stranded at sea.

Yet, despite being in town for days, he hadn't seen her once.

Had Alaric finally adopted the toxic habits of their peers and started treating women like disposable toys?

"None of your business."

Alaric checked his phone and saw how late it was. He stood up abruptly, dropping his final words.

"Get some rest. I'm leaving."

Mason reached out and grabbed his arm like a scorned lover.

"Are you really that annoyed by me? If you just said a couple of nice things to me, I'd probably jump through fiery hoops for you."

He knew he was out of his mind. He was well aware his best friend was perfectly straight and could settle down to start a family at any given moment.

Yet, he had still flown across the country to bother him.

Alaric had no interest in humoring him, but here he was, still whining.

Mason had no idea why he enjoyed torturing himself like this.

The next morning, he left the house before Ivy and the child were even awake.

Ivy continued to ignore his existence entirely.

After having breakfast with Stella and dropping her off, she headed straight to the hospital.

Inside Gemma's room, Hazel, who hadn't left for campus yet, brought it up again.

"Ivy, when is he actually going to have dinner with us?"

Remembering Alaric's brutal answer from the day before, Ivy knew perfectly well that he had zero interest in meeting her family.

She wasn't going to push it anymore.

Looking at her sisters, Ivy decided to completely kill their hopes.

"He is extremely busy and doesn't have the time to sit down for a meal. So just drop it."

Hazel and Gemma exchanged a look, utterly baffled.

"No matter how busy he is, he still has to eat, right? He can't even spare two hours? Or does he just not care about you at all?"