"Responsibility? What responsibility? I never asked you to carry me in the first place," Ivy shot back, refusing to accept Xander’s declaration.

She knew she had fallen asleep because of exhaustion, but he still could have woken her up. If he had done that, none of this would have happened. She would not have kissed him in the first place.

"Then what about the kiss?" Xander asked quietly as he stepped down from the bed and slowly approached her. "And calling me your man? How do you explain that?"

The moment his aura shifted, Ivy instinctively took a step back.

Since when did Raven get intimidated by anyone?

She tried to steady herself, but this body belonged to Ivy, not Raven. The nervousness, the racing pulse, and the unfamiliar fluttering in her chest were all Ivy’s emotions.

She continued backing away while Xander kept moving closer. Before she realized it, her back touched the wall. Xander stopped right in front of her, towering over her small frame.

"W what are you doing?" she asked, trying to sound calm.

But the second he leaned down to her level, her heartbeat skipped.

"I have never let anyone kiss me before," he said in a low voice. "But since you stole my first kiss, taking responsibility is the only option left."

His eyes slowly trailed over her face before settling on her lips. Without meaning to, Ivy parted them slightly.

"And if you still refuse..."

Before she could react, Xander cupped her chin and kissed her again.

This kiss was nothing like the first one.

It was deeper, firmer, and far more dangerous.

Ivy’s eyes widened in shock as he pressed her against the wall, completely taking over her senses. Her fingers instinctively grabbed onto his shirt while her mind turned blank.

Just when she felt herself getting swept away, Xander pulled back.

"I’ll make sure you remember it," he murmured.

His voice sent another wave of heat rushing through her chest.

Ivy stared at him speechlessly, unable to calm the chaos inside her no matter how hard she tried.

***

Meanwhile, Xander looked entirely satisfied with himself.

"There’s something we need to discuss," he said casually, as if he had not just stolen her breath away. "Come downstairs after you freshen up."

Without waiting for her response, he turned around and walked out.

The moment the door closed, Ivy remained frozen in place.

Her heart pounded so loudly that she could hear it echoing in her ears.

"Ah! What is wrong with me?" she cried before rushing into the restroom and splashing cold water on her face.

Unfortunately, even that failed to calm her down.

At the breakfast table, Leo had already finished eating and left for school.

Only Ivy and Xander remained.

The atmosphere was strangely quiet as the servants cleared the dishes away. Once breakfast ended, Xander gestured for Ivy to follow him to the living room.

Curious, she sat across from him while he placed a file on the table.

"Take a look and choose whichever company you want to work for."

His words caught her off guard.

Ivy opened the file and scanned through the list before lifting her gaze toward him.

"Don’t all of these belong to Globe International?" she asked in disbelief.

Xander had carefully selected every company himself.

Since Ivy had graduated in finance, he wanted her to work as a manager under his corporation. It was partly because he wanted to make up for rejecting her before, but mostly because he wanted her close enough for him to look after her.

"You wanted to work," he replied calmly. "I’m offering you a position."

"Mr. Emerson," Ivy said slowly, "you actually want me to work in your company?"

He nodded without hesitation.

"But what if I refuse?"

The change in his expression was immediate.

A faint frown appeared on his face.

"Do you dislike the positions?" he asked seriously. "If the rank isn’t high enough, tell me what you want. I’ll arrange it."

He genuinely believed she was rejecting the offer because of his previous refusal toward her feelings. In his mind, offering her a higher position would solve the problem.

Ivy stared at him for a few seconds before groaning softly.

"God, why is this man so hopeless?" she muttered under her breath.

She closed the file and placed it back on the table.

"That’s not what I meant," she explained. "When I said I wanted to work, I meant continuing my previous jobs."

"That’s impossible."

The response came so quickly that Ivy blinked.

Xander’s expression had completely darkened.

He knew exactly what kind of jobs Ivy had taken while struggling to complete her studies. She had worked endless shifts as a waitress, sold flowers at a florist shop, and taken every exhausting part time job she could find just to survive and pay tuition fees.

The thought of her returning to those jobs now irritated him more than it should have.

"As long as you’re with me," Xander said firmly, "I won’t allow you to exhaust yourself like that anymore."

Ivy stared at Xander in disbelief.

She opened her mouth to argue, only to close it again when reality settled in.

No sane man would willingly allow the mother of his child to continue doing the kind of exhausting jobs Ivy had taken just to survive.

"But I still won’t work for you," she said firmly. "It would feel too much."

Even as she rejected him, her mind was already wandering elsewhere.

If she thought about it from Raven’s perspective, working as a waitress or selling flowers felt far easier than sitting in an office doing spreadsheets and handling financial reports all day.

Raven had spent years surviving through instinct, adaptability, and action. Corporate work sounded painfully boring.

Xander watched her silently for a moment before speaking again.

"Then what kind of job do you want?" he asked. "Anything except those odd jobs. Don’t even think about going back to them."

Ivy leaned back against the couch and fell into thought.

Honestly, she had not planned that far ahead.

But if she had to choose something, then she wanted a job that would expose her to the outside world.

Ever since she had seen the people in the photograph, curiosity had been growing inside her. She wanted to know who they were and whether they still remembered her.

Going public no longer bothered her.

"Modelling," she suddenly announced.

Xander’s expression instantly darkened.

"I want to try modelling," she repeated confidently. "And that’s final."

Now that she had said it out loud, the idea strangely excited her.

Learning new things had never been difficult for Raven. She adapted quickly to almost everything. Besides, Ivy already had the perfect appearance for it.

She had the height, the figure, and a face that naturally attracted attention.

Why not use it?

To her surprise, Xander simply nodded.

"Fine."

Ivy blinked. That was it?

She had been fully prepared for another argument, yet he agreed so easily that she became suspicious instead.

A relieved sigh almost escaped her lips.

Maybe this would actually work.

Xander calmly pulled out his phone and made a call.

"Prepare the paperwork under the name Ivy Ford," he instructed coldly. "She’ll be signing with our agency."

The second Ivy heard that, her eyes widened.

"Wait... what?" she asked, completely stunned.

Her jaw nearly dropped as she stared at him.

"Don’t tell me you own a modeling agency too?"

***

"WHAT?! You signed with Globe Entertainment as a model?" Sal nearly shouted after Ivy revealed her latest career choice.

His expression looked utterly horrified.

"I thought you wanted to retire and live peacefully," he continued, throwing his hands into the air. "What happened to staying low profile? Since when did becoming a public figure sound like a good idea to you?"

Ivy winced slightly at his reaction.

Honestly, she could not even blame him.

At one point, she had regretted bringing up modelling in front of Xander too. But once that man made a decision, there was no changing it. Xander had already arranged everything before she could properly protest.

Now she had no choice except to go along with it.

"I didn’t really plan for things to happen this fast," Ivy admitted while sitting back on the couch. "But I can’t back out anymore."

Sal stared at her suspiciously.

"No. There’s definitely another reason behind this," he said immediately. "You hate unnecessary attention. So why modelling of all things?"

Ivy hesitated. For a moment, she remained silent, unsure whether she should tell him everything. But in the end, Sal was the only person she could trust right now.

Taking a slow breath, she reached for her bag and pulled out the old photograph along with the letter Hardley had given her.

"I was planning to tell you later," she said quietly. "But I guess now is fine."

Sal’s expression slowly turned serious as he accepted the photo from her hand.

The more he listened, the deeper his frown became.

Ivy explained everything from the beginning. She told him about Hardley handing her the letter, the strange photograph, and the unsettling feeling she got the moment she looked at those unfamiliar faces.

It felt as though a forgotten part of her life was trying to resurface.

When she finally finished speaking, silence filled the room.

Sal lowered the photograph and looked at her carefully.

"You think these people are connected to you?" he asked.

"I don’t know," Ivy answered honestly. "But the moment I saw them... something felt strange."

She pressed a hand lightly against her chest.

"It’s hard to explain. It feels like I should know them somehow."

Sal glanced down at the photo once again.

"And modelling helps you find them how exactly?"

"Exposure," Ivy replied. "If these people really know me, then appearing publicly might attract their attention. Especially if they’ve been searching too."

Sal leaned back into the chair, still trying to process everything.

"So you’re basically using Globe Entertainment to bait unknown people into approaching you?" he asked slowly.

When Ivy stayed silent, he rubbed his forehead in disbelief.

"That honestly sounds insane."

"I know."

"And dangerous."

"I know that too."

Sal sighed heavily before staring at her again.

"You really attract trouble everywhere you go."

"..."