After the chaos finally settled down, everyone gradually returned to their assigned work while Sal remained seated in the living area with Ivy and Leo, still shaking his head in disbelief.

"Mommy, what were you trying to do earlier?" Leo finally asked now that he had the chance to question her strange walk.

Sal immediately pressed his lips together, trying hard not to laugh again. But the second Ivy shot him a warning glare, he quickly straightened his expression and pretended to be serious.

Leo waited patiently for his mother’s answer, blinking at her innocently.

"Well..." Ivy cleared her throat awkwardly. "It’s related to a new job your mother is working on."

Leo looked even more confused.

"A job?" he repeated. "Mommy, are you planning to work?"

Ivy slowly nodded.

"Would you be okay with that?" she asked cautiously.

Although Leo knew nothing about the contract she had signed with Xander or the kind of work that practically required her to be available around the clock, the thought still made her nervous.

She did not want him to feel neglected because of it.

Leo, however, looked completely puzzled by her concern.

"Huh? Why wouldn’t I be okay with it?" he asked honestly. "As long as you stop tripping while walking, I’m fine with anything."

Sal instantly choked on his laughter and turned away.

Meanwhile, Ivy stared at her son in disbelief before narrowing her eyes.

"You really are my child," she muttered dramatically.

Leo grinned proudly.

Her worries eased almost instantly, and she smiled before ruffling his hair affectionately.

Sal quietly watched the interaction from the side.

He had already been informed about Ivy’s relationship with Leo, but seeing Raven behave so warmly and naturally around the child still felt oddly amusing to him.

"By the way," Ivy suddenly said, "I need to introduce you to my friend. He’s Uncle Sal."

Leo immediately turned toward the man sitting beside her.

"Hello, Uncle Sal," he greeted politely. "I’m Leo, my mommy’s son."

A strange silence followed.

Ivy looked delighted by the introduction.

Meanwhile, Sal simply stared at the boy for a moment.

This was the first time he had ever seen a child introduce himself like that.

But as he looked closer at Leo’s face, something about the boy suddenly felt familiar.

His eyes narrowed slightly.

’Why does he look familiar?’ he wondered inwardly.

Back when he had been monitoring Xander’s schedule, he had secretly run a background check on everyone around him. To his surprise, there had been almost no information available about Leo anywhere.

At the time, Sal had assumed Xander deliberately kept the child hidden.

But now, seeing Leo smiling innocently in front of him, the fear he once had slowly faded.

’Thank God he doesn’t take after his father,’ Sal sighed internally.

"Uncle Sal, do you know how to play video games?" Leo suddenly asked.

Sal’s eyes immediately lit up with interest.

"Yes," he answered confidently.

Leo’s face brightened at once.

"Really?" he exclaimed excitedly. "Then we should play together sometime. What do you think, Mommy? I’m sure Uncle Aaron would like it too."

The moment Aaron’s name was mentioned, the smile on Ivy’s face twitched slightly.

Sal noticed it instantly but wisely chose not to comment.

Before the awkwardness could settle in, another voice interrupted them.

"Young Master, it’s time for you to freshen up."

Butler Rupert’s calm voice drew everyone’s attention.

Leo clearly wanted to stay longer, but after noticing he was still wearing his school uniform, he nodded obediently.

"I’ll be back soon," he said cheerfully before running upstairs toward his room with Butler Rupert following behind him.

The moment Leo disappeared from sight, Sal leaned back against the couch and let out a breath.

"I never thought Xander would have such a cute son," he admitted honestly. "Thank God he didn’t inherit his father’s cold personality."

Ivy immediately noticed the genuine relief in Sal’s tone and could not help raising a brow at him.

"You sound genuinely traumatized by Xander," Ivy commented while leaning back against the couch.

Sal gave her a flat look.

"You say that as if it’s unreasonable."

Ivy snorted softly. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

The maids nearby had already finished cleaning up the disaster caused by the fallen curtain, and the living hall had finally returned to normal. Well, as normal as it could be after Ivy’s so called ramp walk performance.

Sal loosened a little before letting out another tired sigh.

"Anyway, are you sure you want to do modeling?" Sal asked while looking at her skeptically. "Judging by the way you walk, everyone looked concerned rather than impressed."

Ivy’s expression instantly turned grim as she slowly turned to stare at him.

"What?" Sal asked defensively.

"Didn’t you hear what Leo said?" Ivy replied in a serious tone. "As long as I don’t trip while walking, everything is acceptable."

Sal nearly laughed again.

Unfortunately for Ivy, the reminder only made her mood worsen.

Her shoulders slumped as she collapsed dramatically against the couch in defeat.

"I regret making such a life changing decision," she groaned miserably.

Ivy knew very well that she lacked the elegance needed for ramp walking. Modeling required confidence, balance, posture, and grace.

Meanwhile, she could barely survive walking across a flat floor without accidentally creating a public disaster.

The more she thought about it, the more it felt as though she had willingly jumped off a cliff without any safety support.

Sal quietly watched her from the side.

Even though he already knew Ivy was far more hopeless than he had initially imagined, seeing her this discouraged unexpectedly made him feel a little bad.

"It’s not like you can’t learn," he said eventually. "It’s not rocket science. It’s literally just walking. I’m sure we can work on it."

Ivy slowly turned toward him with tired eyes.

"You say that because you haven’t seen the full extent of my talents yet."

"Yes," Sal responded meekly, fully aware of exactly what kind of talent she was referring to.

Despite the doubt written all over his face, Ivy did not bother arguing with him anymore. Rather than fighting back, her thoughts drifted toward the invitation she had received the other day.

The get-together.

A complicated expression crossed her face.

"Sal," she called softly, making him look at her. "What would you do if someone from your past suddenly appeared in front of you again?"

Sal frowned slightly at the unexpected question.

At first, he wanted to tell her to simply ignore them.

But the moment he imagined himself in her position, he realized he would never actually walk away from it.

Some things could not be avoided forever.

His expression slowly turned thoughtful.

"You face it," he replied honestly, and Ivy finally had the answer she was looking for.