CHAPTER 175: CHAPTER 175: A KNIFE TO THE THROAT

Chloe Caldwell coughed lightly twice, then leaned towards Ivy Summers and whispered, "I suspect he likes men..."

Ivy Summers paused and looked ahead.

"Ivy, do you think my son is into..." guys?

Ivy Summers raised her hand to cover Chloe Caldwell’s mouth, and Chloe straightened up from her sneaky posture.

Tristan Sterling was quietly watching them from the front. It was unclear how much he had heard, but his face looked dark.

"Mom!"

"Ah? Haha..." Chloe Caldwell laughed awkwardly twice, nervously looking at Ivy Summers.

Ivy Summers, having heard something she shouldn’t have, didn’t dare to look up.

Tristan Sterling asked, "Who’s into men?"

Chloe Caldwell pouted, "You’re not getting any younger, and you show no interest in women. Of course, I’m worried as your mother."

Tristan Sterling looked at Ivy Summers, "Don’t listen to her nonsense."

Ivy Summers chuckled lightly, indicating she didn’t mind.

"You guys chat, you guys chat, I’ll go have a word with that Kyle Sterling." Chloe Caldwell found an excuse to slip away.

Ivy Summers also stood up, "Then I’ll head upstairs."

"Wait a moment."

Ivy Summers turned back.

Tristan Sterling pursed his lips, "I’m not into men."

"Uh..." Ivy Summers nodded, "I understand, I get it."

"What do you understand?" Tristan Sterling felt Ivy Summers’ expression was a bit odd.

"I understand everything."

It felt like learning an awkward wealthy family secret that should not have been known.

Ivy Summers quickly headed upstairs.

...

The online uproar had yet to die down.

The topic of Damien Lancaster kneeling was still gaining traction.

Speculations were rampant, with some even guessing whether the Lancaster Group was on the verge of bankruptcy, prompting Damien to seek help from the Sterling Family.

Even some company shareholders, board members, and partners came to inquire about what exactly was happening.

Suddenly, the company was in a state of panic.

Damien Lancaster calmly read through the online opinions and then registered a Weibo account.

He subsequently posted his first Weibo tweet:

Stop guessing, I’m atoning, I’m chasing my wife.

In just nine words, once confirmed to be posted from Damien Lancaster’s verified account, it caused an uproar.

"So President Lancaster knelt to win back his wife?"

"Ahhhhh, who gets it, is this really President Lancaster’s verified account."

"Who exactly is President Lancaster’s wife, who is she, let us be envious of her as she made the city’s most esteemed man kneel for forgiveness."

"How much does President Lancaster love his wife, is this even real ahhhhh..."

Ivy Summers read each of these comments, a faint hint of sarcasm flashing in her eyes.

Love?

Such a laughable word.

...

In the following two days, Damien Lancaster came every day to pick up Ivy Summers and Sophie, but neither of them went with him.

On the third day, Ivy Summers, after having dinner at the Sterling Family with Sophie, bid farewell to Old Master Sterling.

Kyle Sterling was reluctantly hugging Sophie, "Little mute, you can’t forget me, right? Remember my phone number, if anything happens, call me, alright?"

Sophie raised her hand, revealing the new phone watch Kyle had bought her, "I remember all the numbers, Brother Kyle is the best."

At that banquet, Old Master Sterling eventually didn’t acknowledge Sophie as his daughter.

It was time for Sophie to return to her original life.

Before leaving, Old Master Sterling reminded Ivy Summers, "If anything happens, call us. Bring Sophie back often to play."

"Thank you, I will."

At the door, Damien Lancaster was waiting for them.

Ivy Summers held Sophie’s hand as they walked over, not refusing Damien’s car since it would be unseemly to show any reluctance at someone’s doorstep.

"Daddy."

Damien Lancaster looked at Sophie, her calling him daddy tugged painfully at his heart.

Inside the car, Sophie leaned on the window, waving goodbye to everyone, "Goodbye, Grandpa Sterling, goodbye Brother Kyle, goodbye Auntie, goodbye everyone..."

"Goodbye, Sophie."

As the car drove further away, Ivy Summers pulled Sophie back from the window to sit properly, "Sophie, are you happy to go home with mommy?"

Sophie smiled sweetly, "Happy. Can I see my brothers?"

"Your brothers..."

Ivy Summers hesitated because Nathan and Leo were at the Lancaster Family’s house.

If they went to the Lancaster Family’s house, she feared it would be hard to bring Sophie out again.

"If Sophie wants, daddy can bring your brothers over to see you. They miss you too."

Sophie grasped the underlying meaning in that statement, "We’re not living together?"

Ivy Summers and Damien Lancaster both fell silent.

Ivy Summers explained to the puzzled Sophie, "Due to some reasons, we’re not living together for the time being, but if you want to see your brothers, mommy will take you to them tomorrow, alright?"

Sophie was slightly disappointed.

Damien Lancaster glanced at the mother and daughter through the rearview mirror, "I can bring Nathan and Leo over."

Ivy Summers knew it would be difficult.

Gregory Lancaster and Seraphina Kennedy were guarded against her, just as she was cautious of them.

Afraid that she’d take the children away and not return them.

Damien Lancaster insisted, "I have the final say."

"Alright."

"Now that Sophie’s back, if you have time, take her to see Old Master Lancaster. His condition has worsened recently."

Upon hearing about Old Master Lancaster’s deteriorating condition, Ivy Summers’s calm exterior faltered, "What did the doctors say?"

Damien Lancaster’s voice was low and deep, "Old Master Lancaster puts on a brave front before us, but in reality, his health is critically poor."

Being in the late stages of cancer, Ivy Summers should have known this day would come, yet she couldn’t accept it.

"I’ll take Sophie to see Grandpa tomorrow."

"Hmm."

Damien Lancaster dropped Ivy Summers and Sophie off at home, then drove to pick up Nathan and Leo.

"Ivy Summers!"

Just as Ivy Summers opened the door, someone suddenly jumped out from the darkness.

Startled, Ivy pulled Sophie back several steps, staring intently at the person in front of her, "Nina Summers? What are you doing hiding here?"

Nina’s eyes were bloodshot, her hair disheveled, looking like a ghost in the middle of the night, as if she had been here for several days, her face was gaunt and lacked any of her usual vitality.

"Ivy Summers, where have you been these days? I’ve been looking for you."

"What do you want with me?"

Ivy looked at Nina warily.

"I’m begging you, please ask President Lancaster to spare me, I really can’t marry that old man."

Leo Holloway had been persistently pressing for marriage, even going so far as to forcibly take her to the Holloway Family. She had barely managed to escape back to the Summers Family.

And because of Damien Lancaster’s previous threats, the Summers Family didn’t dare to intervene, even telling her to resign herself to her fate.

Nina had fled, hiding here and there for some time, but she could only come to Ivy for help.

"Ivy Summers, cousin, I was wrong, I’ll never dare harm you again. Can you plead with President Lancaster to let me go? You don’t want to see me marry an old man, do you?"

"But you were willing to see that happen." Ivy replied coldly.

"I was out of my mind then, I didn’t mean it, Rachel Shaw instructed me, she knew we didn’t get along and bribed me early on, cousin, I was used by her, please, just this once, forgive me, will you?"

Nina’s emotions grew more agitated, and Ivy was worried she might frighten Sophie. "We’ll talk about this later, I need to go home."

"Cousin, cousin, you can’t be so heartless to me..."

Ivy opened the door and led Sophie inside.

Nina’s voice was still outside. Ivy intended to turn on the light, but in the next moment, a knife was laid across her neck.

The cold touch made Ivy tense up instantly, unable to move.

"Don’t move."

"Mommy!"

Ivy held Sophie close, "It’s okay, don’t be scared."

A man’s voice came from the side, rough and as grating as sandpaper, "Ivy Summers, I’ve been looking for you for a long time."

In the darkness, Ivy couldn’t see what was happening. She hadn’t been home for three days and didn’t know that someone had suddenly hidden inside.

She tried to stay as calm as possible, clutching Sophie tightly, and asked, "Who are you?"

The hand holding the knife at her throat trembled slightly, "How dare you ask who I am; it’s all because of you people that I’m in this mess."

Ivy’s heart raced with fear, her mind spun quickly, but she couldn’t think of who she might have offended.

It didn’t seem like a robbery; it was more like a deep-seated vendetta, life-threatening.

The only person daring enough to do something like this would be Rachel Shaw.

Rachel Shaw again!

Ivy gritted her teeth and said, "Don’t get agitated, let’s talk this through."

Pretending to be frightened, Ivy took a step back, but the man grabbed her shoulder, "Still trying to run?"

"I’m not running, I’m not running! There might be some misunderstanding between us, why don’t you put the knife down and we can talk it out slowly."

"Misunderstanding, can the issues between us be dismissed with a word like misunderstanding?"

Ivy had already reached the door handle, and under the cover of darkness, Ivy opened the door and pushed Sophie, who was in her arms, outside, and then quickly closed the door.

Nina hadn’t left yet, and Sophie immediately sought help, "There’s a bad guy, call the police quickly."

Nina’s eyes widened, "Are you a human or a ghost?"

"Call the police quickly, my mommy is in danger."

Nina hesitated for a moment, somewhat disbelieving until a loud "boom" came from inside.

Sophie, worried about Ivy’s safety, went to pull the door open.

Nina grabbed Sophie, "There’s a bad guy, are you trying to get yourself killed by going in?"

"Save my mommy..."

Nina was actually eager for Ivy Somerset’s misfortune.

But then she thought, what if she called Damien Lancaster to save Ivy?

Would Damien Lancaster let her off the hook then?

With this thought, Nina took out her phone.

"Call the police!" Sophie reminded her.

"What police? You silly child, I’m about to make a big achievement!"

Inside, the man, angered by Ivy’s actions, kicked a cabinet.

"What did you just do?"

"Since this is an issue between adults, don’t involve the child. Whatever the matter is, we can talk it out."

The man laughed coldly, "You’re quite bold, aren’t you?"

"Did Rachel Shaw send you? I haven’t gone looking for trouble with her, and now she’s trying to get me killed, right?"

"Rachel Shaw, huh, that vile woman, you’ll be meeting her soon enough."

Ivy didn’t understand until her hands were bound and she was pushed into a room upstairs, and there she saw Rachel Shaw tied up securely.

Ivy was surprised!

"Rachel Shaw?"

Rachel was drenched in cold sweat, her hair loose and sticking to her face, her mouth gagged, making muffled noises toward Ivy.

Ivy was violently shoved by the man, falling directly onto Rachel, the two of them collapsing together.

"Rachel Shaw, wasn’t this person sent by you?"

Rachel made more muffled noises, as if she had a lot to say, until the cloth clogging her mouth fell out, and in a hoarse voice, she loudly accused, "Weren’t you the one who kidnapped me? Ivy Summers, what are you pretending here for?"

Ivy frowned deeply, "Do I look like I’m pretending?"

Ivy thought Rachel was feigning, until she saw the blood on Rachel’s leg and on the floor and realized that both she and Rachel had been kidnapped.

Did she and Rachel have a common enemy?

Both of them looked toward the door simultaneously; the man hadn’t come in.

Just as Ivy wanted to get up to find something to rescue themselves, the door was pushed open.

At this moment, Ivy finally saw the man’s face; it was the person who had kidnapped Sophie before.

But hadn’t he died in the plane explosion?

Ivy scrutinized him closely, noticing that multiple areas on his body were covered in bandages, and he had extensive burn scars on his face and neck.

So he was just lucky enough to escape death and come back for revenge!

The man took out a phone, sat down in front of them holding the knife threateningly, "Which one of you is Damien Lancaster’s wife now?"

"It’s her!" Ivy and Rachel spoke in unison.