Buying My Forever Wife novel Chapter 286

She had even claimed that he treated her exactly the same way.

When had he ever treated her like that?

That heartless little brat. In the past, whenever they parted ways, she knew to give him a sweet kiss to brighten his mood.

But now? He had personally driven her all the way to the station, yet she marched off without so much as a backward glance.

What exactly was she playing at?

Alaric felt intensely frustrated.

On the drive home, he was completely distracted and absent-minded.

That evening, with Ivy gone, Alaric had absolutely no appetite during dinner.

Sitting at the table, Stella blinked her innocent eyes and asked:

"Daddy, are you missing Mommy so much that you can't even eat?"

Hearing this, Alaric snapped out of his daze and put some food on the child's plate.

"No, just be a good girl and eat."

Mason also felt his friend looked like his soul had been sucked dry, and he remarked sarcastically:

"Are you really that reluctant to see her go? If you miss her, just call her."

Alaric shot Mason a glance. Even if he genuinely wanted to call Ivy to check if she made it home safely.

His innate pride flatly refused to let his friend see him so invested in a woman.

In the end, he suppressed the urge, too stubborn to ask.

Mason scoffed again:

"I thought your standards would be incredibly high, that you'd at least find a woman who matched you in every way. I never expected you to choose someone like her."

Mason had never liked women and didn't understand them at all.

Consequently, he didn't see what was so beautiful or excellent about Ivy.

He even thought Ivy was far too petite, and a girl of her stature standing next to Alaric looked jarringly out of place.

He had no idea how Alaric had fallen for her.

Alaric couldn't be bothered to explain everything to his friend.

In truth, he had absolutely loathed Ivy in the beginning.

He just didn't know exactly when Ivy had slowly started to manipulate his emotions.

When Ivy was warm toward him, he felt ripples of joy cascading through his heart, putting him in a fantastic mood.

When Ivy acted cold toward him, he grew agitated, restless, and completely miserable.

Just like right now, with Ivy gone.

People in rural areas firmly believed in returning to their roots.

Even though the Sawyer family owned a house in the county town, her mother insisted on sending her husband's body back to their rural ancestral village for burial.

Ivy's hometown was absurdly remote, with absolutely zero cellular reception.

Although she deeply resented how her parents had mistreated all three sisters from childhood, as the eldest daughter, she was obligated to fulfill her filial duties and attend the funeral now that her father was dead.

Gemma and Hazel both rushed back.

By the time the funeral arrangements were settled, three days had already passed.

Ivy hadn't managed to rush back to Capital City yet, terrified that Stella would resent her for breaking her promise.

Early on the fourth morning, she hiked all the way up to the mountain peak to find a signal and immediately called Alaric.

Alaric was currently parked alone in the township where Ivy's family lived.

But he didn't know exactly which village her family resided in, and was still waiting for his assistant to dig up the information.

Having driven for an entire day, he leaned back against the driver's seat, resting his eyes in sheer exhaustion.

Right then, his phone rang.

Alaric jolted awake, snatched his phone, and saw Ivy's number flashing on the screen.

Losing his usual composure, he hastily pressed answer.