Page 59 of Silver Fox's Secret Triplets
The question caught me off guard. I'd been so focused on managing everyone else's needs that I'd barely acknowledged my own emotional state. "I'm managing."
"That's not what I asked."
I looked down at my hands, recognizing the trap she'd set. Mom had always been able to see through my careful composure, even when I thought I was hiding things well. "I'm scared, Mom. About you, about the kids, about everything."
"Tell me about Duncan."
My head snapped up. "What about him?"
"Ivy, I may be sick, but I'm not blind. Something happened between you two, and it's eating you alive."
The words tumbled out before I could stop them. "I told him about the kids. Saturday night, when I was at the hotel withthem. He came to check on me, and I couldn't keep lying to him anymore."
Mom's eyes widened above her mask. "And?"
"He left. He was furious and hurt, and he walked out. I haven't heard from him since."
"Oh, sweetheart."
"I know I should have told him sooner. I know I made the wrong choice, but I was so young and scared, and I thought I was protecting everyone."
Mom reached over and took my hand. "You were protecting yourself, and there's nothing wrong with that. You were barely more than a child yourself."
"He doesn't see it that way."
"Give him time, Ivy. He's processing something that changes everything he thought he knew. That doesn't happen overnight."
A nurse called Mom's name, and we both stood. She squeezed my hand before following the nurse down the hallway, leaving me alone with my thoughts and the steady hum of hospital machinery.
The scan took over an hour. I sat in the waiting room, scrolling through my phone and trying not to think about Duncan's closed office door or the way his voice had sounded when he'd said my name on Saturday night. When Mom finally emerged, she looked exhausted but relieved.
"How did it go?"
"The technician couldn't tell me anything, but it felt routine. We'll have the results in a few days."
We drove back to the house in comfortable silence. I helped Mom settle on the couch before heading back to the office, knowing I needed to at least make an appearance for the remainder of the day.
The atmosphere in the office had shifted during my absence. Conversations stopped when I walked past. Eyes followed me tomy desk, then quickly looked away. The tension was palpable, and I couldn't shake the feeling that I'd missed something important.
I sat at my desk for over an hour, pretending to work while my mind raced through possible explanations. Had Duncan told people about the children? Had he fired me in absentia? The not knowing was almost worse than any actual consequence.
At four-fifteen, my intercom buzzed. The sound startled me so badly that I nearly knocked over my coffee cup. Duncan's voice came through the speaker, flat and emotionless.
"Ivy, come in here."
My blood ran cold, but I rose and straightened my skirt. So we were doing this on the clock… not at all what I expected from him.
24
DUNCAN
Iwatched Ivy walk through my office door, and the sight of her made my chest constrict. She moved with the careful composure of someone approaching their own execution, her shoulders squared despite the exhaustion written across her features. Dark circles shadowed her eyes, and her usually pristine appearance showed signs of strain—wrinkled blouse, hair that hadn't been properly styled, pale complexion like she'd been running on coffee and adrenaline.
I hated how tired she looked. Hated how my first instinct was still to comfort her, to pull her close and smooth away the worry lines that had appeared between her eyebrows. Most of all, I hated how completely idiotic I felt for not seeing the truth sooner, and guilty now having seen the way she'd been struggling after I knew and yet did nothing.
"Close the door," I said, my voice coming out more clipped than I'd intended.
She turned and pushed the door shut with hands that trembled slightly. When she faced me again, her chin was lifted in that stubborn way I'd come to recognize, but her eyes betrayed her fear.
