The next morning, Florine got ready and left the house. Fortunately, she had managed to get in touch with Lilianna the previous night, and the woman had invited her to meet.

Florine had been restless for days, wondering why Lilianna hadn’t contacted her. When she finally received the call, she had breathed a sigh of relief.

"I apologize for keeping you waiting, Mrs. Ford," Lilianna said as she approached the table. "I got held up on the way here."

"Oh, not at all, Mrs. Emerson," Florine replied with a polite smile. "I haven’t been waiting long."

Ever since stepping into the world of the elite, Florine had been careful about her words and manners. She knew that if she wanted to fit in, she needed to learn their etiquette and way of life. That determination had eventually led her to become acquainted with Lilianna.

Among all the wealthy women she had met, Lilianna stood out the most. She was kind, approachable, and never looked down on others. Her gentle manner and genuine warmth often made Florine forget that not everyone in high society was as gracious as she was.

Lilianna returned the smile politely before her expression turned slightly serious. She remembered the reason she had agreed to this meeting in the first place.

"Mrs. Ford, I’d like to discuss the blind date we arranged between Aaron and Nora."

Florine’s heart immediately began to race. Her eyes brightened with hope as she leaned forward slightly.

"Of course."

Lilianna paused for a moment, carefully choosing her words.

"I’m sorry, but Nora isn’t the kind of woman Aaron is looking for in a wife."

The words hit Florine like a bucket of cold water.

Her smile froze.

For a moment, she simply stared at Lilianna, unable to process what she had just heard.

"I..." Florine opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out.

Lilianna felt somewhat guilty seeing the shock on her face, but she knew it would be crueler to give her false hope.

"I’m sorry if this isn’t what you wanted to hear," she said gently. "But I can’t force my son into a relationship. Ultimately, it should be his decision who he chooses as his life partner."

Her tone remained polite yet firm.

As a mother, she certainly wanted to see Aaron settle down and start a family. However, she also knew better than anyone that Aaron would never pursue a woman he wasn’t interested in.

She could introduce him to potential partners, but the final choice would always belong to him.

Florine, meanwhile, struggled to collect herself.

The rejection had come so suddenly that her mind was still reeling from it.

For weeks, she had been confident that Nora would charm Aaron and secure a place within the Emerson family. Nora was beautiful, educated, and socially skilled.

Yet none of it had been enough.

"Once again, I apologize if we’ve inconvenienced you," Lilianna said as she rose from her seat.

Florine remained seated while her thoughts processing.

Lilianna offered her one final apologetic smile before leaving.

The moment she was gone, the Florine’s blankness cracked and her eyes fumed.

She remained seated, her jaw clenched and her hands gripping the edge of the table.

The humiliation burned.

After a few moments, she reached into her purse and pulled out her phone.

Almost immediately, she dialed a number.

The call rang several times before someone answered.

"You told me Lilianna was the easiest member of the Emerson family to get close to," Florine said sharply. "Yet she just rejected my daughter."

There was a brief silence on the other end.

Then a man’s calm voice replied,

"She is one of the easiest. But if your daughter couldn’t win her over, perhaps the problem isn’t Lilianna."

Florine’s expression darkened.

"What are you implying?"

"I’m saying Aaron must have seen something he didn’t like," the man replied matter-of-factly. "Men like him don’t reject women without a reason. If he dismissed Nora so quickly, then something must have happened during or after their meeting."

Florine tightened her grip on the phone.

The criticism of her daughter only fueled her anger further.

For several seconds, she remained silent, taking slow breaths to calm herself.

Finally, she asked, "What should I do now?"

The man fell quiet.

A few moments passed before he finally spoke.

"Change the plan"

Florine frowned. "What do you mean?"

"If one door closes, you look for another. The Emerson family has more than one weakness, Mrs. Ford." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

A calculating smile slowly appeared on Florine’s face.

The disappointment in her eyes gradually gave way to determination.

Perhaps Aaron Emerson was no longer an option.

But that didn’t mean she was ready to abandon her ambitions.

***

Meanwhile, Lilianna returned to her car and slid into the back seat.

The moment she settled in, Aaron wrapped an arm around her shoulders and grinned.

"Mom, you’re amazing. Thank you for saving me from her daughter."

Lilianna immediately shoved him away.

"Get off me, you brat."

Aaron laughed, completely unbothered.

"Come on, Mom. You know I appreciate it."

"Appreciate it?" Lilianna shot him a look. "Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to sit there and remain polite? I practically had to bite my tongue the entire time."

Aaron’s grin widened.

"That bad?"

"Much worse."

Lilianna let out a long sigh and leaned back against her seat.

When she had first seen Nora’s photograph, she had genuinely been impressed. The young woman was beautiful, well-educated, and appeared refined. On paper, she seemed like someone who would complement Aaron well.

More importantly, Lilianna had always had a favorable impression of Florine.

The woman had been polite, respectful, and eager to learn the etiquette of high society. That was why Lilianna had assumed Nora would possess similar qualities.

Looking back now, she couldn’t help but feel foolish.

"I really thought I had found a suitable candidate for you," she admitted. "At first, I believed both mother and daughter were decent people."

Aaron snorted.

"Good thing you found out the truth before you started planning our wedding."

Lilianna rolled her eyes.

"Don’t be ridiculous."

"I’m serious. You were already talking about grandchildren in your head."

"I was not."

"You absolutely were."

The guilty look on her face only made Aaron laugh harder.

Lilianna smacked his arm.

"Enough."

Her expression gradually turned serious.

"Had you not looked into them, I might have continued encouraging this match."

Aaron’s smile faded slightly.

He knew exactly what she was referring to.

The information he had gathered about Florine and Nora had completely changed Lilianna’s opinion of them. The image they presented to the public and the people they truly were turned out to be very different things.

For Lilianna, trust mattered far more than beauty, status, or education.

A family could survive many things, but not deception.

"Neither of them is someone I would feel comfortable welcoming into this family," she said quietly.

Aaron nodded in agreement.

"Exactly."

Lilianna glanced out the window for a moment before shaking her head.

"Honestly, I should be thanking you. You saved me from making a terrible mistake."

Aaron immediately brightened again.

"Then how about increasing my inheritance as a reward?"

"Dream on."

"At least buy me dinner."

"I just saved you from a blind date disaster. Consider that your reward."

Aaron groaned dramatically while Lilianna finally smiled.

For the first time in weeks, she felt relieved.

The matter with Nora was over, and thankfully, it had ended before it could become a much bigger problem. But now she was curious to meet the woman who somewhat saved her son from getting entangled with the wrong people.

***

Meanwhile, back in the bedroom, Xander refused to let Ivy go. Even though they had been awake for quite some time, he continued holding her against his chest as if he had no intention of leaving the bed.

"How much longer are you planning to keep me here?" Ivy finally asked after giving up on her attempts to escape.

"Forever," Xander answered without hesitation. "I’m never letting you go."

His immediate response caught her off guard.

The moment she looked up and saw the sincerity in his eyes, her resistance weakened.

"You do realize we both have work to do?" she said softly.

"I know."

"Then why aren’t you getting up?" Ivy asked. "Or are you waiting for Taylor to barge into my room and drag his boss back to the office?"

A chuckle escaped Xander’s lips.

"Why are you always so hard on Taylor?" he asked. "The poor guy is still traumatized after you nearly choked him during that blindfold game."

The memory made him laugh even more.

Despite having her eyes covered, Ivy had somehow managed to pin Taylor to the ground in seconds. Looking at her delicate frame, no one would ever guess she was capable of taking down men much larger and stronger than herself.

"That’s because he offended me," Ivy replied.

Xander raised an eyebrow.

Now that was interesting.

Taylor had always been wary of Ivy and had voiced his concerns more than once. But as far as Xander knew, the two had barely interacted outside of work.

"And how exactly did he offend you?" Xander asked curiously.

The moment the question left his mouth, Ivy realized she had slipped up.

Her body stiffened.

Slowly, she lifted her gaze to meet his.

For a brief moment, panic flashed through her eyes.

How was she supposed to explain that Taylor had been the one who shot her on that cliff?

And that she had been Raven at the time?

The secret sitting between them felt heavier than ever.

Xander waited patiently for her answer.

After several seconds, Ivy finally said,

"He once claimed I was possessed."

"..."

Xander instantly remembered the incident.

Taylor had indeed said something similar before.

In fact, his assistant had seemed completely convinced of it.

Seeing Ivy’s strange behavior back then, Taylor had spent days insisting that something supernatural was involved.

A smile tugged at Xander’s lips.

"You held a grudge over that?"

"Of course I did," Ivy replied indignantly. "Who wouldn’t?"

Xander laughed.

"I’ll make sure to remind him of that later."

"You better not."

"Oh, I definitely will."

Ivy rolled her eyes before finally pushing herself up.

"Enough. I’m already running late."

This time, she managed to free herself because Xander was too busy mentally cursing his loose-lipped assistant to stop her.

Taylor really needed to learn when to keep his mouth shut.

While he was still busy thinking, his phone rang, and it was none other than Taylor.

"Think of the devil and here he comes."