Buying My Forever Wife novel Chapter 327

Ivy convinced herself she had no right to be upset.

It wasn't as if she hadn't witnessed Alaric's icy ruthlessness firsthand before. This was merely him shoving her away once again.

What was there to cry over?

Ignoring Ethan completely, Ivy took Stella's hand and led her up the stairs.

Once safely inside their room, she crouched down to Stella's eye level and whispered her instructions.

"While Daddy's away, I need you not to call me Mommy in front of Ethan, okay? Just call me Ivy. It makes me sound younger."

Though Stella didn't fully understand why, she nodded obediently.

Ivy then slipped the diamond ring off her finger, tucked it away into a box, and buried it deep inside her closet.

Though her chest still ached terribly...

...she could endure it.

She just had to force herself to remember that Alaric didn't care about her at all.

So why should she spare a single thought for either of the Foster men?

She would just do her job, collect her massive paycheck, and leave it at that.

Once she built a substantial nest egg, she could do whatever she wanted. Anything was better than being trapped in the emotional crossfire of this family.

There was absolutely no reason to tear herself apart over a man who didn't love her.

After changing Stella out of her St. Jude's uniform, Ivy took her to wash her hands for dinner.

Meanwhile, at a luxury hotel.

Inside Mason's sprawling presidential suite.

Alaric downed two glasses of straight liquor in rapid succession, his eyes repeatedly darting to his phone.

He wanted to call Ivy just to hear her voice, but he had no idea what to even say.

Noticing his deeply uncharacteristic behavior, Mason raised an eyebrow. "What's with you?"

"Get dumped?"

Alaric completely ignored the question. "Hypothetically, if you and your sister both fell in love with the exact same person, what would you do?"

Mason had no idea where such an absurd question was coming from.

He let out a bark of laughter. "Don't tell me you and a family member are fighting over the same girl? Alaric Foster, trapped by love? Never thought I'd see the day."

Alaric's face remained grim as he threw back his third glass of liquor.

"Where's this 'surprise' you promised me? Stella's lab results must be back by now. How are they? Is she in any danger?"

"The toxins in her blood have diminished significantly, but there's still a trace left. Leave Dr. Sinclair locked up for now."

"Okay, but what about my surprise?"

Mason prodded again.

Alaric looked at him dead-on, his expression deadly serious. "I'm afraid you won't be able to handle the shock. It might break you."

Mason's playful demeanor vanished, and he sat up rigidly.

"Try me. I'm incredibly curious to know what could possibly break me."

"Stella is Sebastian's biological daughter. I ran the DNA test myself."

When that woman had first handed the baby over to him, he had been paranoid it was a scam and insisted on a paternity test.

He never expected the child to actually share his best friend's blood.

Knowing Sebastian had taken a blade meant for him and bled to death in his arms, Alaric viewed raising that girl as his absolute, sacred duty.

That was why, for all these years, he had kept her lineage an absolute secret, letting the world assume he was her biological father.