Roger’s call came through almost immediately.
Ivy ended the call with Edric and answered.
“Hey, Grandpa.”
“Ivy, did I catch you at a bad time?” Roger asked.
“No. I just finished showering.”
“You’re pregnant now,” he said warmly. “This child is extremely important to the Lowe and Quinn families. Should I send someone to help take care of you?”
“That won’t be necessary, Grandpa. Keith already arranged for Wanda to stay with me.”
“Good, good. That shows how seriously the Lowe family values this child.” He paused before continuing. “My 70th birthday is in 2 days. Come home for dinner, and bring Nathan.”
There it was again. Bring Nathan home.
Ivy wasn’t even sure he would agree. “Nathan’s been very busy lately.”
“Too busy to attend my birthday?”
Ivy hesitated for a moment. “I’ll talk to him.”
“That’s my girl,” Roger said, clearly satisfied. “Your appearance together will officially announce your marriage and the pregnancy to everyone in our social circle. It will elevate our family’s standing.”
With the Quinn family, everything came back to advantage and calculation.
Now that Ivy was carrying Nathan’s child, Roger couldn’t wait to make it public. The higher the Lowe family stood, the higher the Quinn family would rise alongside them.
Ivy understood perfectly.
“I understand, Grandpa.”
“Has Nathan come home yet?”
“He should be back soon.”
“Good. Then we’ll see you in two days.”
The call ended.
Ivy sat on the edge of the bed, staring blankly ahead for a long moment.
She didn’t know how to bring this up with Nathan.
He was too perceptive. The moment she mentioned it, he would understand exactly what the Quinn family was trying to do.
They wanted to use her pregnancy and the Lowe family’s influence to climb higher.
She had already used him once. Now, she would have to ask again. Maybe even keep asking in the future.
རྒྱུ ཛ ཧ ཆ སྐ ཞེ
Pride ran deep in Ivy’s bones.
Yet in front of Nathan, the Quinn family kept forcing her to set that pride aside.
She was lost in thought for a while.
1/2
Chapter US
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When she checked the time, it was 8 p.m. already.
Nathan still wasn’t home.
She lay down, certain she wouldn’t be able to sleep. But sometime between worry and exhaustion, she drifted off anyway.
Not long after, headlights swept across the bedroom walls. A luxury sedan rolled onto the villa’s lawn.
Nathan was home.
Wanda opened the front door as he stepped inside. “Welcome home, Mr. Lowe.”
Nathan removed his coat and handed it to her. “Where’s Ivy?”
“I went upstairs earlier to bring her some warm milk, but she’d already fallen asleep, so I didn’t wake her.”
Was she asleep already?
“I’ll go upstairs,” Nathan said.
He had just started toward the stairs when Wanda grabbed his arm.
“Shouldn’t you be sleeping in a separate room?”
Nathan stopped. “Separate room? Why?”
“Mrs. Lowe is pregnant now. Didn’t the doctor explain? During the first trimester, you can’t share a bed like before. Mr. Keith even called today and told me to make sure you sleep in the study.“{1
Nathan fell silent.
When Keith wanted a great–grandchild, he treated Nathan like a breeding machine.
Now that the child was finally on the way, Nathan was being banished to the study.
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Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
