Buying My Forever Wife novel Chapter 280

Alaric lowered his gaze, his expression unreadable.

Earlier at the hospital, he had explicitly told his nephew that he didn't care for Ivy.

Now, his friend was questioning the exact same relationship.

Alaric delivered the exact same answer.

"Married? Please. The kid was in an accident a while back and Ivy saved her. Since then, she's firmly decided Ivy is her mother. That's the only reason I keep her around."

He couldn't deny that he sometimes genuinely enjoyed Ivy's presence.

But the girl's constant mood swings drove him insane.

She was hot one second and freezing cold the next. Why should he invest any real emotion in someone like that?

"If she's just the nanny, why did you introduce her to us back then as your secretary?"

Mason was visibly irritated by the evasion. He pressed harder, "Why did you lie?"

Alaric's face darkened. Meeting Mason's accusing glare, his tone turned venomous.

"Since when do I owe you an explanation for my personal life? Whatever is going on between her and me is absolutely none of your business."

Those two sentences effectively nailed Mason's mouth shut.

He really didn't have the right to interrogate Alaric.

But remembering why he was here in the first place—remembering that he was literally seducing a woman he despised as a favor for him—what did that make him?

At the end of the day, he was the idiot willingly playing the pawn.

"Do what you want. I'm going to change."

Alaric stood abruptly, tossing the cold dismissal over his shoulder before heading upstairs.

Watching him leave, Mason realized that since Alaric kept Ivy so close, his desires regarding women must be perfectly normal.

Even if Mason successfully eliminated Elena Sinclair for him, Alaric would never be able to give him what he actually wanted.

It was time to stop holding onto impossible delusions.

Upstairs, Ivy helped Stella change and wash her hands. Just as she took the little girl's hand to head back down, the bedroom door opened.

Alaric stood directly in their path.

Ivy kept her head down, her throat tight and her nose burning.

She couldn't fathom how this man could declare to the world that he felt absolutely nothing for her, and then demand she act like a doting wife.

Was she supposed to keep kissing up to him when he treated her like dirt, just because he paid her?

Maybe she was.

She had taken his money, after all.

Stifling the suffocating ache in her chest, Ivy looked up and forced a bright smile.

"How exactly would you like me to show my enthusiasm, Mr. Foster?"

Alaric saw her reddened eyes and heard the slight hoarseness in her voice.

The young woman looked as though she was on the verge of shattering.

His brow furrowed, and without realizing it, his voice softened considerably.

"Are you upset about what I said to Ethan?"