Chapter 134

“It was you all insisting I had HIV–no matter how I tried to explain, you wouldn’t believe me. What was I supposed to do?”

Emma’s eyes widened in shock. “Wait… Are you saying–you don’t?”

Ivy ignored her question and fixed her with a sharp gaze. “So, back at the police station, are you sure that file you saw was about me?”

“I…” Emma faltered, her eyes darting as guilt flickered across her face.

Micah strode forward, studying Ivy’s face, then her arms. In just a few days, she looked fuller, her skin glowing with a healthy, rosy sheen. The Ivy he remembered–radiant and dazzling, like a pearl catching sunlight–seemed to have returned.

“Ivy… Are you really not sick? But then, why did you–” Micah looked torn, unsure what to believe.

Ivy rolled her eyes at him. “If you really want to know, you should ask your uncle. He’s the one who did my tests at his hospital.”

Jamison’s hospital was the best and most reputable in all of Neo Haven.

Micah frowned, recalling how his uncle had insisted, time and again, that Ivy wasn’t sick–yet he’d never believed him. Now everything felt even more muddled.

What on earth was going on?

“I… I’m going to call Uncle Jamison.” Still dazed, he pulled out his phone.

At the hospital, Jamison had just left a patient’s room when his nephew’s name flashed on the screen. He answered brusquely, “Yes?”

Micah put the call on speaker, getting straight to the point. “Uncle, does Ivy really not have HIV?”

Jamison’s brows knitted in confusion. “Why are you suddenly asking about this?”

“Uncle, please–just tell me, it’s important!” Micah sounded desperate.

Beside him, Emma’s face twisted with anxious uncertainty. Ivy, on the other hand, looked calm. Still, after the spat with Jamison that morning, she worried he might seize this chance to get back at her with a petty lie. If he said, “Yes, she’s sick,” she’d never be able to clear her name.

“I’ve told you plenty of times, haven’t I?” Jamison’s voice rang out, unmistakably clear. “She’s not sick. I said that from the day she came back.”

Relief washed over Ivy, and a faint smile tugged at her lips. At least he had principles.

Micah still looked lost. “But she–she had rashes all over her arms just a few days ago…”

“That was roseola, a viral rash. It happens when someone’s immune system is weak from malnutrition. It’s got nothing to do with what you’re thinking.” Jamison sounded exasperated. “Why are you grilling me about this? Are you bothering her again?”

Bothering? Ivy let out a silent laugh. That was one way to put it.

Dr. Ludwig had actually been speaking sense all day. Miraculous.

“No, we just ran into each other at the mall…” Micah hastily replied, but he was still uneasy. “Uncle, can you swear on your career that Ivy isn’t sick?”

Jamison’s sigh was audible. “Micah, maybe you should come in for a head scan. If you keep this up, even I can’t help you.”

Katrina couldn’t hold back a laugh and quickly covered her mouth.

“Uncle!” Micah protested, mortified.

But Jamison wasn’t inclined to indulge him. Instead, his tone turned serious. “Listen, Micah. Stop pestering Ivy. She’s out of your league. You and Emma–well, you’re perfectly matched. Neither of you should look down on the other.”

Ivy’s brows arched in surprise. She hadn’t expected Jamison to say that.

Emma’s face flushed with outrage. She stormed forward. “Uncle, how can you say that? I’ve always respected you!”

Worried his uncle would lose patience and take it out on him, Micah hurriedly switched off the speaker and pressed the phone to his ear. “Uncle, I’m hanging up now.”

He pocketed his phone and turned to Emma, his expression colder than before. “Emma, what’s going on? You told us you saw proof that Ivy–”

“I did! If there was a mistake, it was the police’s fault–not mine!” Emma blurted, voice rising defensively.

But Ivy saw right through her. “Emma, you were willing to go to any length to isolate me–even destroy me. You know better than anyone whether you really saw anything, or if you just made it all up.”

“That’s not true! I saw it with my own eyes!” Emma insisted, digging in.

Ivy could barely muster the energy to argue. She turned to her friend, her voice flat. “This dress is hideous–it doesn’t suit you. Let’s go somewhere else.”

“Sure,” Katrina agreed, and disappeared back into the fitting room to change.

The store manager, realizing she’d been used as a pawn, hurried over in a fluster. “Miss Ivy, it’s all been a misunderstanding. To make it up to you, everything you buy today will be twenty percent off–how does that sound?”

Ivy glanced around the boutique, her voice cool and careless. “Not interested. I have no desire to shop at the same level as certain people–it would just lower my standards.”

The manager, quick on the uptake, turned immediately to Emma. “Miss Windsor, I’m afraid you’ll have to take your business elsewhere.”

Emma’s face turned crimson. “What’s that supposed to mean? Are you saying I can’t afford it?”

“That’s not it, it’s just–” The manager faltered, but Emma spun on Micah, shouting, “You’re just going to stand there and let these people treat me like this? Aren’t you going to say anything?”

Micah’s eyes were icy. “Emma, first tell me the truth. Did you deliberately lie and try to turn us all against Ivy?”