By the time Ivy stepped out of the shower, Xander had already gotten out of bed. He was standing on the balcony, speaking to someone on the phone.

Not wanting to disturb him, Ivy continued getting ready.

Just then, her phone buzzed on the bedside table.

She glanced at the screen and immediately rolled her eyes.

It was Kevin.

"Why doesn’t he just give up already?" she muttered under her breath.

She had made it clear countless times that she only wanted a professional relationship with him. Yet Kevin continued to ignore the boundaries she had set.

At this point, Ivy was beginning to wonder if she needed to deal with him in a less civilized manner.

Just as that thought crossed her mind, another notification appeared.

This time it was a message from Lola.

The male lead for the music video has been finalized. It’s Kevin.

Ivy’s expression darkened instantly.

"Seriously?"

She stared at the screen in disbelief.

"Are there no other male actors left on Earth?" she muttered as her fingers flew across the keyboard.

Why him? Did every other man suddenly disappear?

A few seconds later, Lola replied.

Sorry to disappoint you, but the producer thinks you two have amazing chemistry on screen. They specifically requested Kevin.

The messages kept coming as Lola explained how enthusiastic the production team was about pairing them together again. Apparently, the response to their previous collaboration had exceeded expectations.

Ivy couldn’t help sneering inwardly.

As much as she disliked the idea, she couldn’t deny reality.

Her career was only beginning to take off. Refusing projects without a valid reason wasn’t something she could afford to do.

She was still reading Lola’s messages when a voice suddenly spoke from beside her.

"You’re doing a music video with Kevin?"

Ivy nearly jumped out of her skin.

Her hand immediately flew to her chest as she turned around.

Xander was standing behind her.

"When did you finish your call?" she asked, still trying to steady her breathing.

Xander ignored the question.

His gaze remained fixed on her phone.

The atmosphere around him had noticeably cooled.

Realizing there was no point avoiding the topic, Ivy lowered her phone.

"To answer your question, yes," she said. "The producer wants Kevin as the male lead. Apparently they want to pair us together again."

The moment the words left her mouth, Xander’s expression darkened further.

How could he possibly forget?

Only a few days ago, he had seen countless comments online praising Ivy and Kevin’s chemistry. Fans had been calling them the perfect pair, demanding more collaborations, and even creating edits of the two together.

Some of the comments had irritated him enough that he had nearly thrown his phone across the room.

And now they were going to film another project together.

Wonderful.

"Again?" Xander asked flatly.

Ivy instantly recognized that tone.

It was the same tone he used whenever something displeased him.

"Don’t look at me like that," Ivy said. "I didn’t choose him. Besides, I’ve already made it clear that our relationship is strictly professional."

She recalled the incident from a few days ago when Xander had found Kevin’s message asking to meet her. Back then, she had reassured him that whatever crush she had once harbored for Kevin was long gone. Now, she only saw him as a colleague.

Xander remained unconvinced.

"Maybe that’s what you think," he said. "But he clearly hasn’t taken your words seriously."

Ivy couldn’t argue with that.

Kevin’s persistence was becoming increasingly frustrating.

"Then I guess I’ll have to find another way to make him understand."

As she spoke, she casually cracked her knuckles.

The sound immediately made Xander’s eyelid twitch.

He knew that look.

And he definitely knew what went through Ivy’s mind whenever she started cracking her knuckles.

"No."

Ivy blinked.

"No?"

"No," Xander repeated firmly. "You’re not threatening anyone."

"I wasn’t going to threaten him."

Xander gave her a pointed look.

"You were literally cracking your knuckles."

"That’s not evidence."

"It absolutely is."

Ivy clicked her tongue.

Xander sighed and pulled her into his arms before she could continue plotting.

"Don’t bother," he said. "I’m not jealous anymore."

His sudden declaration made Ivy suspicious.

She narrowed her eyes.

The last thing she believed was that Xander Emerson had stopped being jealous in the span of thirty seconds.

"Are you sure?" she asked. "Because the way your eyes keep flickering is making me nervous."

A smile appeared on Xander’s face.

Unfortunately, that smile only made Ivy even more suspicious.

She knew him well enough by now.

Whenever Xander smiled like that, someone was usually about to become very unlucky.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" he asked innocently.

"Because you look like you’re planning something." 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"I would never."

"Liar."

Xander laughed.

The truth was, he was still bothered by Kevin.

He would be lying if he said otherwise.

However, that didn’t mean he was going to let Ivy handle the situation herself.

Her career was only beginning to take off. As her popularity grew, there would inevitably be admirers, co-stars, and men interested in pursuing her.

He couldn’t expect her to scare every single one of them away personally.

Nor did he want her reputation affected because she decided to solve problems with her fists.

No.

He would find a solution himself.

A much cleaner solution.

One that would ensure Kevin had very little opportunity to spend time alone with Ivy.

The thought made Xander’s smile deepen.

Ivy, on the other hand, became even more wary. She could tell that whatever Xander was planning, it wasn’t something she was going to like.

It was only after she arrived at the agency building that she learned what Xander had done.

"How can they suddenly introduce a no-dating policy?" one of the models complained as she stormed out of the meeting room. "Ugh! How am I supposed to explain this to my boyfriend?"

Another model sighed dramatically. "My relationship is already hanging by a thread. This is going to make things even worse."

"Forget your boyfriend. Do you know how many endorsement deals I’ll lose if rumors start spreading because of this policy?" someone else grumbled.

The hallway was filled with complaints and frustrated sighs. Some models looked ready to cry, while others angrily called their partners to break the news.

Watching the chaos unfold, Ivy blinked in surprise.

A no-dating policy?

The corners of her lips twitched.

She didn’t need to think hard to figure out who was responsible for this.

Only Xander would come up with something so absurd.

And somehow, she had a feeling this wasn’t the end of it.