CHAPTER 551: CHAPTER 551: ESCAPE

"Mommy, I don’t want to go back to Grandma’s side anymore."

Nicole clung to Ivy Linden’s leg, her frail little body trembling slightly. Her eyes were red, and Chloe Lockwood’s appearance seemed to have stirred some unpleasant memories.

"Alright, Nicole will always stay with Mommy."

Ivy took a deep breath, tidied up her awful mood, crouched down to kiss Nicole, and held the slightly trembling little girl in her arms.

The mother and daughter held each other for quite a while. Ivy took off the necklace from Nicole’s neck and handed it to the jewelry store manager.

"Does Miss Linden not like this necklace?" The manager was reluctant to reach out; this was the store’s top diamond necklace, and if Ivy was interested, Howard Yeats would be very pleased.

On the contrary, if Ivy didn’t choose the expensive necklace and picked a cheaper one, he would really be in trouble.

"Hmm."

This time, Ivy didn’t say much, she just nodded and then prepared to take off the pigeon blood ruby bracelet from her wrist.

"No, no!" The manager was startled and hastily stopped her, apologetically smiling, "Miss Linden, with your snow-like complexion and slender wrists, this bracelet becomes alive and dazzling on your wrist; it’s too perfect for you, so please don’t take it off."

The manager praised Ivy to the skies.

Ivy blushed a little out of embarrassment but still took off the bracelet and returned the necklace and bracelet to the manager. "Um, I want to use the restroom."

The manager instinctively stepped back a few paces and smiled warmly, "We have an unwritten rule here: when a customer hasn’t finished selecting, we can’t take back the chosen jewelry."

Ivy frowned, "I can’t possibly take them with me to the restroom! They’re so expensive."

The manager pulled a long face and said, "Miss Linden, for me chasing away those two buffoons earlier for you, please don’t make it difficult for me. I’m just an employee. Besides, Howard will probably be here any moment, and if he sees you haven’t picked any jewelry, then it would mean my sales skills are lacking. Miss Linden, I worked hard to get promoted to manager..."

The manager rattled on with a bunch of words.

"Mommy, he looks so pitiful!"

Nicole looked at the manager, her little heart brimming with sympathy, especially since the manager really did help Mommy just now. Nicole didn’t want him to be so pitiful either.

Ivy frowned tightly, her eyes filled with hesitation and distress.

In the end.

She put the necklace and bracelet into her pocket and asked, "Where’s the restroom?"

The manager beamed and pointed in a direction, "Over there."

"Thank you."

Ivy said and, facing the manager’s cheerful expression, her look was a bit complicated.

About half an hour later.

Howard Yeats arrived at the jewelry store with a breezy look, but not seeing Ivy and Nicole in the store made him frown and ask the manager, "Where are they?"

"Mr. Yeats, Miss Linden and Princess Nicole went to the restroom."

No wonder Mr. Yeats hadn’t taken any female companions to choose jewelry recently. It turned out he had set his eyes on a lovely woman, and it was the first time he personally came to the jewelry store for her, showing how much Ivy meant to him.

The manager chuckled foolishly, but moments later, his smile froze. Something’s wrong! Miss Linden and Nicole had been in there for almost half an hour, why hadn’t they come out?

"How long have they been gone?"

Howard asked casually, and the manager began sweating with fear.

A bad feeling spread in his heart.

"A... about... half an hour."

The manager stammered.

Howard didn’t think much of it; he merely glanced at the manager, put his hands in his pockets, and continued to wait.

The manager signaled to the female clerk behind him, who then hurriedly turned and went to the ladies’ restroom.

Not long after.

The female clerk rushed to the manager’s side in a panic, "Manager, Miss Linden is not in the restroom, she ran off with our necklace and bracelet, what should we do?"

Howard’s expression cooled visibly, as if his heart were pierced by an arrow, hurting painfully. He slowly clenched his fist, eyes full of disappointment.

Ivy Linden, I thought you really wanted to marry me, but it turns out you were deceiving me.

You actually used this lie to fool me, just to facilitate your escape.

"What do we do, Manager, those bracelet and necklace are worth a fortune; even if we sold ourselves, we couldn’t repay it!"

The female clerk was so anxious that she cried, even though it was the manager who attended to Ivy, she also had responsibility as her helper. The store lost such valuable items, and even if her responsibility was just a tenth, she couldn’t afford it.

The manager was so frightened that his knees almost gave out, nearly collapsing to the ground, "It’s over, I’m done for..."

"Enough of this!" Howard, hearing their wailing, found his mood, already not good, instantly aggravated: "Swipe the card."

The manager and female clerk simultaneously looked stunned.

It wasn’t until Howard threw the black card onto the manager’s face that he snapped back, wiped his tears, and excitedly said, "Thank you, Mr. Yeats, thank you for saving my life."

Howard ignored the manager, his expression as gloomy as a sky covered by dark clouds.

Back at the villa.

Howard looked at the unfamiliar maid, feeling himself foolish. For Ivy, he did everything; even the maid who bullied her was slapped across the face by him and kicked out of the Yates family. He had brought back the best-tempered maid in Ravenswood with a hefty sum in the shortest time.

Sadly, what did he get in return? Ivy’s escape.

Unknowingly, Howard walked to Ivy’s room, which still had her clothes, and the air retained her scent.

Howard let out a chilly laugh, took out a lighter, gently pressed, the sound of metal clicking, and ignited a cyan flame with it. He tossed it onto the bed, and the sheets instantly caught fire.

Ethan Vance drove back, joy all over his face; he had found a perfect surrogate mother to carry the child for Mr. Yeats and Ivy.

As soon as he stepped into the villa, a burning smell greeted him.

"What’s going on? Where’s the fire?"

Ethan grabbed a maid holding a fire extinguisher.

Tears rolling down from smoke, the maid replied, "Miss Linden’s room is on fire."

"What? Is Ivy in the room?"

Ethan exclaimed in shock.

"Miss Linden is not in the room, but Mr. Yeats is, he won’t let us put out the fire or come out. You must go save Mr. Yeats!"

The newly arrived maid never expected something like this to happen. She didn’t know what was going on with Howard Yeats.

Without a second thought, Ethan rushed into Ivy’s room, where the bed being consumed by flames looked terrifying, with Howard standing dangerously close.

"Boss, don’t do anything rash!"

Ethan shouted, rushing over to hug Howard’s waist and forcibly dragging him out.

"Let go,"

Howard’s icy voice sounded above Ethan’s head.

Ethan was shocked, and after letting go of Howard, he said with tears, "Boss, if you take this too hard, how will the brothers live?"

Howard’s face was livid, "Who said I’m taking it hard?"

He just wanted to burn everything related to Ivy, including her scent in the air.