"You did quite well today," Lola praised, watching Ivy with clear satisfaction.

Despite stumbling a few times during practice, Ivy had improved far faster than expected. More importantly, Lola could tell she was genuinely trying every single time she stepped into the heels.

"That’s reassuring to hear," Ivy sighed dramatically before dropping onto the couch nearby.

At that moment, she mentally praised every professional model in existence.

Wearing heels for hours while still looking graceful was practically a form of torture.

Lola chuckled softly at Ivy’s exhausted expression.

"Since you’re already improving," she said casually, "how about we get you into a small photoshoot for a cosmetic brand?"

Ivy’s eyes widened instantly.

"That soon?" she asked in disbelief. "You really think I’m ready for something like that?"

Lola leaned back comfortably in her chair and smiled knowingly.

"No one is ever truly ready for anything in life," she replied. "But unless you step forward, you’ll never discover what you’re capable of."

Ivy paused for a moment before slowly nodding.

"That’s actually true."

Beside her, Sal narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Is it a solo shoot?" he asked cautiously.

Lola shook her head.

"No. You’ll be working alongside a male model." She glanced toward the door. "He should be here any minute now."

Sal and Ivy exchanged a brief look.

For some reason, neither of them felt particularly comfortable hearing that.

Before either of them could respond—

Knock. Knock.

The office door opened slowly.

"Here he is," Lola announced brightly.

A tall man stepped inside with his assistant following behind him.

"I hope we didn’t keep you waiting," he said politely.

The moment Ivy saw his face, her eyes widened slightly in recognition.

The man carried himself with effortless confidence. Even in simple casual clothes, he naturally drew attention the second he entered the room.

"Everyone," Lola said with a smile, "this is Kevin Herthwart."

The name hit Ivy instantly.

Her expression froze.

Where had she heard that name before?

Her mind searched through scattered memories until suddenly—

Her eyes widened even more.

’It’s him.’

The same Kevin Herthwart whose name constantly appeared in entertainment headlines. The same man she had accidentally bumped into the other day.

One of the top male models in the industry.

A man rumored to reject collaborations unless the project genuinely interested him.

And if that wasn’t enough—

He also happened to be Ivy’s longtime crush.

A strange uneasiness crept into her chest, but she quickly forced herself to stay calm.

Kevin, meanwhile, looked directly at Ivy. The moment she stood up to shake hands with him, a faint smile appeared on his lips.

’Please don’t remember me,’ Ivy prayed internally.

"You still look the same, Ivy," Kevin said casually, making everyone in the room raise their brows in surprise.

’He remembers.’

Ivy forced a polite smile and shook his hand, though the stiffness in her posture did not go unnoticed.

"You two know each other?" Lola asked, glancing between them curiously.

It was surprising enough to see Kevin willingly initiate a conversation with a female model. Seeing him smile so naturally was even more shocking.

Even Kevin’s assistant looked stunned.

"Hehe... maybe there’s some misunderstanding," the assistant tried to interrupt awkwardly, already fearing this discovery might spark another unnecessary controversy online.

But Kevin ignored him completely. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

"Yes, we know each other," he said calmly. "We were classmates."

The room fell silent once again.

"Well, that’s great!" Lola said happily. "Having two people who already know each other will definitely make the shoot smoother."

Her smile widened with obvious relief.

Kevin was not an easy person to work with. Even his own assistant struggled to handle him most of the time. Lola had honestly wondered whether he would even agree to a project like this since cosmetic shoots were far from his usual field.

As for Ivy, she was still completely new to the modeling industry. Lola wanted to introduce her carefully and steadily, helping her build both recognition and experience. Having someone like Kevin beside her would undoubtedly attract attention to the project.

Ivy, who was still processing everything, snapped out of her thoughts when Lola clapped her hands after noticing they were still holding onto the handshake.

Embarrassed, Ivy immediately pulled her hand back and smiled awkwardly.

Yet even after stepping away, she could still feel Kevin’s gaze lingering on her from the side.

***

Meanwhile, inside Globe International, Xander sat silently in his chair, his thoughts drifting back to the interrogation from earlier.

No matter how much he replayed the conversation in his mind, nothing about it made complete sense.

A minute later, Taylor entered after knocking lightly on the door.

Xander looked up quietly as his assistant walked closer.

There was obvious caution in Taylor’s eyes, but before Xander could say anything, Taylor spoke first.

"I looked into Miss Ivy’s background again, just like you asked," he reported carefully. "But I still couldn’t find anything that confirms what those men said. Her background is clean. There’s nothing that explains why someone would target her."

Xander’s expression darkened slightly.

During the interrogation earlier, he had barely managed to control himself. At one point, he had almost strangled one of the men before they finally broke down and confessed everything they knew.

All this time, he had believed the attack was directed at him.

But he had been wrong.

Those men had not come for him.

Their target had been Ivy all along.

Even after terrifying them half to death, that was all the information he managed to get.

Xander leaned back slowly in his chair, his jaw tightening.

Something about the entire situation felt wrong.

And the more he thought about it, the more uneasy he became.

"Boss, is everything okay?" Taylor asked, pulling Xander out of his thoughts.

Xander remained silent for a moment.

All this time, he had believed he knew everything there was to know about Ivy. Yet now, it seemed there were parts of her life completely hidden from him.

And that realization unsettled him more than he expected.

"When will Ivy be free?" he suddenly asked, feeling an unexpected urge to see her.

Taylor glanced down at the tablet in his hand before checking her schedule.

"She had a meeting with Kevin Herthwart regarding the photoshoot Miss Lola arranged to introduce her into the modeling industry," he reported. "But after that, her schedule is mostly clear."

Xander’s expression remained unreadable.

For a brief moment, he simply stared at the file lying open on his desk while Taylor watched him in confusion.

’Did he seriously just ignore the mention of Kevin Herthwart?’ Taylor wondered internally.

Anyone who knew Ivy from her middle school days knew Kevin had once been her biggest crush.

Taylor carefully studied his boss’s face, expecting at least some reaction, but Xander showed none.

Instead, he calmly closed the file before speaking.

"Tell the driver to prepare the car."

Taylor blinked in surprise, and just like that, he realized he had been underestimating his boss all the time.