Buying My Forever Wife novel Chapter 548

Ivy walked right past him, taking Stella's hand as they headed toward the edge of the lake to explore.

Desperate to put as much distance between herself and Gideon as possible, Maisie practically bolted after them. "Ivy, wait for me!"

Ivy paused, waiting for her to catch up.

Glancing back at the three men who were already gathering the camping gear, Ivy turned her attention to Maisie, her voice tinged with concern.

"Are you holding up okay? Does Gideon still not know about you and your brother?"

Maisie nodded silently.

"Are you just going to keep it from him forever?"

Looking at it objectively, Gideon's situation was pretty tragic.

But Ivy also understood the suffocating pressure Maisie was under.

She knew she had no business prying into someone else's mess, but her natural curiosity pushed her to try and build a stronger connection with the other woman.

Maisie didn't harbor a shred of defensiveness toward Ivy.

In her mind, any woman who managed to completely capture Alaric's heart had to be a fundamentally good person.

She stared off at the three men in the distance and gave Ivy the honest truth.

"If I can help it, yes. I'd like to keep it a secret from him forever."

Though, realistically, she wouldn't have to keep it a secret for very long.

After all, she fully intended to leave this world behind the moment she delivered the heir.

She probably only had a little over a year left.

Sensing the profound bleakness radiating from her, Ivy gently offered, "Maybe if you just sat down and talked to him properly, he might be able to understand?"

Maisie pulled her gaze away, flashing a hollow, heartbreaking smile as she swiftly deflected the subject.

"Forget about my mess. Your relationship with Alaric is just as complicated."

"Honestly, though? Alaric was the poster boy for 'confirmed bachelor.' The fact that he actually got married—and the fact that he calls out your name when he's blackout drunk—proves exactly how deeply he's in love with you."

"Why are you so dead set on divorcing him?"

Ivy's eyes drifted back toward Alaric, who was currently unfolding the picnic blanket on the grass.

When she really thought about it, there wasn't some unforgivable, explosive conflict between them.

It all boiled down to the fact that he had misunderstood her relationship with Xavier Rhodes.