Chapter 28: Haunting shadows of my past

Ivy’s pov

"Aunt Ivy! You came!"

The force of the small body colliding with my knees nearly sent me toppling, but I was used to it. I laughed, scooping up six-year-old Lily, whose adorable blonde pigtails bobbed with excitement.

"Of course, I came, my sweet pea. Would I miss my favorite Sunday?"

I spun her around, her delighted shrieks joining the chorus of children swarming around me. Timothy, a small boy, no older than four, was tugging insistently on the hem of my beige coat, his thumb firmly planted in his mouth.

"Did you ’bwing’ cookies?"

"Timothy!" Daniel scoffed, swatting the boy’s hand out of his mouth. He was the oldest and tallest of the kids at fourteen, his face scattered with freckles and red hair that was always tousled. "Sorry Ivy,"

"Oh, come on, leave my babies alone," I chuckled, reaching my free hand out to ruffle his hair while balancing Lily on my hip.

"Hey!" He swatted at my hand too with his spindly limbs, shoving away from me, crying.

"Ivy whyyy?! It took me thirty minutes to comb it,"

It was combed? Damn, that was thirty minutes wasted. "Sorry Dan, I’ll help you comb it back, that’s fair yeah?"

"We want cookies!" Timothy cried, yanking at my coat while every other kid around him joined, stomping their feet.

"Alright, alright, settle down, you adorable little monsters," I chuckled, setting Lily down and kneeling to ruffle their hairs.

"I brought presents." I opened my bag, and the chaos intensified as I handed out the gifts, I had hauled at the supermarket with my assistant this morning.

I felt a bit awful that I had to drag Jennie out on a Sunday, but this was my one day off and considering I still had to catch up with my work at Kingsley and co even while being a spy, I had to still work on Sundays.

I got a new set of colored pencils for Maya who loved drawing, a toy truck for Timothy who loved all things with wheels, a sparkly tiara and scepter for Lily, the aspiring princess and a video game set for Daniel.

He blushed so hard as he snatched it from my hand, mumbled his thanks and ran off to go tell Aunt Edna, the orphanage director.

God even he was adorable. Moments like this were supposed to fill the deep hollow ache inside me but somehow, they only reminded me that I would never have a child of my own. Every time I let my thoughts derail, I was always back in that cold hospital room, watching the doctor’s lips.

"...Uterine hypoplasia, I’m sorry Mrs. Kingsley, you cannot bear children,"

Was that when Angel had washed his hands off me? Was that when I had failed both my father and husband?

It’s karma, the cruel voice in my head whispered like a serpent. You don’t deserve kids. You deserve this emptiness for what you did that night. Everyone should hate you. Your father should-

I pushed the thought away with all my strength. "Okay, who’s ready for story time?" I declared, leading them to the worn-out armchair in the corner of the playroom.

But as I rounded the bookshelf, I stopped dead. The entire nursery room had been remodeled.

The scuffed, faded linoleum floor was gone, replaced by wood flooring. The peeling, green paint had been covered in a soft, sunny yellow, and the ceiling was dotted with fluffy, cloud-shaped designs.

New, low bookshelves overflowed with books, and a colorful, plush rainbow rug was spread out in the center of the room.

"Whoa," I breathed, turning in a circle. "What happened in here?"

Lily puffed out her chest with pride. "Uncle D did it!"

"Uncle D?"

"Yeah!" a little boy named Sam chimed in, scrambling onto the new rug. "He’s the best! He brought us all this! And he plays tag with us even though he’s really big!"

"He brought me the sparkles!" Lily added, pointing at the new ceiling.

Aunt Edna, the orphanage director, walked in then, beaming at me with Daniel trailing behind her, averting his eyes. "It’s a miracle, isn’t it?" she sniffled, tears filling up her eyes.

"Oh Edna, this is wonderful," I rushed forward, pulling her in for a hug.

"I know," She cried. "Asides from you, we rarely have anyone in Wisteria who cares about us so when he showed up earlier in December, I thought it was just some politician trying to gain public votes again, but he wanted to remain completely anonymous, of course.

The children just call him ’Uncle D’. He’s been coming since then, he read them stories, fixed the leaky faucet, and then last week, he had this entire place redone!"

My heart swelled, warmth blooming in my chest. For all the monsters in the world, there were still angels. "That’s incredible, Edna. Truly."

We chatted for a few more minutes, the children playing happily at our feet, before I felt my phone buzz in my pocket. I excused myself, pulling it out under the disguise of checking the time. It was a message from an unknown number. My blood ran cold.

I opened it.

It was a photograph. A high-definition, crystal-clear shot of me at the Starlight ball, my head thrown back, my face flushed a deep, blotchy red. Roman’s hand was on my jaw, his face close to mine, his expression a mixture of awe and hunger. It was the exact moment I came in front of a room full of strangers.

The text below it read: Is it the wine or something else? Looks like something else to me.

A wave of nausea washed over me. My throat bobbed as I had to swallow it down. I forced a smile, my hand trembling as I tucked the phone away. "Well, I should get going," I beamed at Edna. "There’s a lot to do before the week starts."

I hugged the children goodbye, kissing Sam’s booboo where he scraped his knee, helped Daniel comb his unruly hair and promising Lily I would read her two stories next time, all while a cold dread coiled in my stomach.

I held my mask perfectly until I was safely inside my car. My fingers flew across the screen of my phone, my thumbs jabbing at the keys frantically in fury. WHO ARE YOU?!

The three dots appeared, then vanished, leaving me with no response.

My phone rang, the shrill sound making me jump. The screen flashed with a name that made a fresh wave of rage wash over me: Jake of all fucking people. I jabbed the ’accept’ button, hissing into the receiver, "What?!"

My stepbrother’s voice was infuriatingly calm on the other end. "Well, hello to you too, sunshine. Don’t worry, I’m not calling because I enjoy hearing the way you sound like a cat getting his balls chopped off. Or, you know what, maybe I would enjoy telling you this. Guess what just dropped on the Kingsley Intranet."

My heart slammed against my ribs. No. It couldn’t be. The blackmailer... The bastard hadn’t just sent them to me. He’d sent them to the company?