Buying My Forever Wife novel Chapter 451

Ivy turned around and saw that Stella hadn't followed; she was genuinely willing to spend some alone time with Sylvia.

Her gaze dropping in disappointment, she took Alaric's hand and headed upstairs.

Alaric trailed behind her, letting out a heavy sigh.

"If you really don't want someone else living here, I'll have Sylvia move out."

It wasn't as if he was going to mistreat the woman. He'd provide her with a car, a house, and plenty of cash, which was more than fair by his old friend.

Ivy certainly regretted letting Sylvia stay.

But every time she remembered that she was Stella's mother...

How could she, the stepmother, play the villain and cut off all contact between a mother and her child?

Especially since she had grown up in a broken home herself. She had never known parental love, let alone who her real parents were.

Now that Stella had both her parents around, Ivy naturally wanted the little girl to be happy.

"Forget it. Let them bond. Just stay with me."

Ivy looked back at Alaric. "I'll go change, and we can go for a walk."

Alaric also wanted to change, so he followed her to their bedroom.

By the time the couple headed downstairs in their casual wear, they saw that Stella was no longer resisting Sylvia and was focused intently on studying with her.

Not wanting to disturb them, the couple tiptoed toward the door.

But Stella spotted them anyway. She pushed aside the book Sylvia had laid out, hopped off the couch, and dashed over.

"Daddy, Mommy, where are you going? I want to come too."

Alaric stared down at her from his full height.

"You stay here and study with your mother. We're going out to take care of something."

"No! I want to go with you!"

The little girl grabbed onto Ivy's hand and refused to let go.

Alaric's expression turned stern. "Behave."

Stella looked hurt. She released Ivy's hand and stood to the side, her little face scrunched up as if she were about to burst into tears.

Ivy's heart ached for her.

She reached out and took her hand again. "You want to come with me?"

"Yes."

Sylvia pleaded.

"I want to ask you about Stella. I just want to know how she's been all these years."

Alaric saw that Ivy and the child had already wandered off.

He tossed back a careless response. "We'll talk about it later."

"Alaric."

Seeing him about to leave, Sylvia quickly called out again, her face crumpling into a pitiful mask.

"Please. Can't you just tell me how she grew up?"

"I really want to understand her. I want to try and make up for all the motherly love she's missed out on over the past five years."

Alaric found her incredibly grating.

But seeing that she was on the verge of tears...

He couldn't quite bring himself to reject her, eventually forcing himself to turn back.

Ivy walked Stella out of the courtyard. When she noticed that Alaric hadn't followed, a sudden, inexplicable pang shot through her chest.