Before Ivy could finish her sentence, she blinked, snapping back to reality. Her voice was cool as she said, "Katrina, please see our guest out. I’m going upstairs to rest." Without another word, she turned and left.

Jamison, noticing her obvious guilt and hasty retreat, allowed a smug smile to cross his handsome face. He called after her loftily, “What’s wrong? The more you think about it, the guiltier you feel?”

Ivy didn’t even bother to look back.

“Aren’t you the one who hates owing favors the most? So how do you plan to settle today’s debt?” Jamison pressed, his tone persistent.

She had already reached the staircase, but stopped and glanced over her shoulder, her delicate features icy. “What do you want me to do?”

She really did hate owing anyone. She always paid her debts.

Jamison’s smile was cold and distant. “I haven’t decided yet. Just owe me for now.”

Ivy felt she’d been played by him yet again.

“Katrina, please show him out!” she snapped, whirling around and storming upstairs.

Katrina, caught in the middle, managed an awkward smile as she turned to Jamison, “Sorry, Dr. Ludwig, Ivy had a huge fight with her family today, so she’s not in the best mood. Please don’t take it personally.”

Jamison simply turned to leave, shrugging. “When has she ever not taken it out on me?” He stood tall and elegant, his posture composed and proud, radiating an aloof, untouchable grace.

Katrina was left speechless, unable to come up with a reply.

After the cleaning staff finished tidying up and left, Katrina headed upstairs to check on Ivy and ask what she wanted for lunch.

“I’m not hungry. You go ahead,” Ivy mumbled, still lying down, not wanting to move. Her ear was still bothering her.

Katrina spoke softly. “Are you still upset with Dr. Ludwig?”

“No. He’s not important enough for that,” Ivy replied coldly.

Katrina hesitated, then blurted out, “Ivy, be honest… Don’t you think Dr. Ludwig is always good to you? But you keep snapping at him, mocking him… Honestly, sometimes you’re a bit harsh.”

She knew her best friend wouldn’t like hearing it, but she couldn’t hold back.

Ivy turned her head, eyeing Katrina. “Alright then, you be honest too. Do you have a thing for Jamison Ludwig?”

Katrina quickly shook her head. “No… I admire him, sure. I respect him. But it’s not like that.”

Ivy muttered, “I should hope so. With a guy like him, anyone who gets too close just ends up frozen solid, or riddled with holes from that sharp tongue of his.”

Katrina couldn’t help but laugh. “That’s true. Dr. Ludwig is cold as ice, and his words can really sting.”

“So annoying… I owe him another favor,” Ivy grumbled, feeling irritated at the thought. She wished she could pay him back immediately.

Katrina suggested, “When you’re feeling better, just invite him out for a meal. He’s helped you plenty of times.”

Ivy considered it. The simplest way to repay a favor was dinner, after all. “Fine. When I’m better, I’ll think about it.”

Ivy followed the doctor’s orders to the letter. In just three days, most of her rash had faded. As the redness disappeared, the top layer of her skin began to peel away, revealing new, healthy skin beneath.

Now that she had finally severed ties with the Windsor family, her days were quieter and more peaceful. She spent her time reading books, keeping up with the news, and studying for her financial certification exam while continuing her research into the stock market. Whenever she felt tired, she’d slip out to the shady rooftop balcony, sitting down with her sketchpad to draw whatever came to mind.

There was so much she wanted to express, much of it about everything she’d endured these past three years. Some memories were too painful to share aloud.

Chapter 124

She longed to capture those feelings in her art. But for the longest time, endless troubles and her own fragile health had kept her away from the canvas. Now, with her world reduced to healing her illness and her injured ear, she finally had the chance.

Unable to run around outside, she found herself with nothing but time. Ivy sank into her own world, painting on the rooftop until the sun dipped below the horizon and Katrina finally called her down for dinner.

“Ivy, dinner’s ready,” Katrina called up the stairs.

“Coming,” Ivy replied without looking up, her paintbrush still moving.

Katrina stepped closer and caught a full view of Ivy’s latest work. She stopped, startled, her eyes widening in shock.

“Ivy… is this?” Katrina’s voice trembled, goosebumps prickling her arms. “Is this a self-portrait?”

On the canvas, a woman huddled in tangled weeds, her body gaunt, her face blank, but her eyes blazed with a fierce will to survive. Heavy chains bound her wrists and ankles, anchoring her to a wall. The chains were long enough to allow her to care for herself, but not nearly long enough to ever escape.

It hit Katrina all at once – this was Ivy’s self-portrait from when she’d been kidnapped.

Ivy set her brush down and replied quietly, “You could say it’s me… or you could say it’s any one of the thousands of women who’ve suffered the same fate.”

She stood up and pulled the curtains over the floor-to-ceiling windows. “Come on. Let’s go eat.”

Katrina followed, her heart aching for her friend. “You finally escaped. Why force yourself to relive it all?”

Ivy shook her head, her face unreadable and calm. “It’s not that I want to remember. That image is burned into my mind. The more I try to erase it, the clearer it becomes. Maybe the only way to get rid of it is to face it head-on, to drag it out into the light, and let it go.”

Katrina nodded, thoughtful and even more protective. “I hope when the painting is finished, you’ll be able to move on.”

That evening, Ivy posted a new stock market analysis on an online forum.

The comments flooded in almost immediately. As she scrolled through the responses, a familiar username suddenly caught her eye.

Dr. Handsome.

Her heart skipped a beat. Ivy froze, her finger hovering motionless over the mouse.

Chapter 125