Chapter 521
Ivy listened, her heart pounding in her chest. “So now it seems the person who helped you to the bathroom was Emma. She and Sheridan were both at Elysium Towers last night.”
Katrina frowned. “Maybe. But honestly, my head was spinning so badly, I couldn’t tell what was happening at all.”
Ivy let out a long, anxious sigh. “Something this serious happened to you—why didn’t you tell me? It’s so dangerous to go through this alone!”
“It was Friday. I knew you’d just gotten home to spend the weekend with Dr. Ludwig —you two hardly ever get time together. I didn’t want to bother you over this. Besides, I never imagined Waller would sink so low, would be so cruel.” She didn’t even call him “Dad” anymore—just called him by his name. So what if she was unfilial? A man like that didn’t deserve a daughter’s loyalty or respect.
Hearing the bitterness in her best friend’s voice, Ivy couldn’t help but think of her own relationship with the Windsor family. The sadness crept into her heart. Jamison had told her the Windsor family called again this morning—what nerve, she thought. After everything, how could they even look her in the eye? They all knew the truth about Emma now—how Emma had set her up all those years ago, almost leaving her to die in the mountains. And still, they wanted to Emma. Why had it never occurred to them to show kindness to their own daughter? Was it just because Emma’s life had turned out worse—that they felt the need to side with the one who struggled most? In so many families, it’s the child who succeeds who ends up carrying the heaviest burdens—and receiving the least love. She’d never imagined that, even in the Windsor family, her parents would treat their own daughter and an adopted one with the same cold logic.
“Ivy, you still haven’t told me… how did all this end up involving Mr. Wilson?” Katrina had noticed her friend’s silence and had to ask.
Ivy snapped out of her thoughts, took a breath, and frowned. “Well…it’s a long story. Basically, it was pure coincidence. He happened to be at Elysium Towers last night for a business dinner. He saw Emma and Sheridan taking you away—he wasn’t sure it was you, so he called me and asked me to check on you. But when I couldn’t get you on the phone, I realized something was seriously wrong.”
“Jamison and I needed time to get there, so we had to ask Naylor to go save you first…” She explained all the twists and turns in detail, not leaving anything out.
Katrina listened quietly, feeling a warmth settle in her chest. What she couldn’t get from her family, she’d found here, with her best friend. Even someone she’d only met once—a distant friend—had gone out of their way to help her. Suddenly, she didn’t feel so unlucky after all. Maybe fate was still on her side.
“You had alcohol poisoning, so you needed to get to the hospital right away. It was Naylor who carried you downstairs, and he sat with you in the backseat the whole way, looking after you, but because you…” Ivy hesitated, glancing at Katrina, embarrassed. She trailed off.
Katrina was sharp enough to catch Ivy’s meaning. Thinking back on the night before, she stiffened, then asked, “Did I…do something inappropriate to Mr. Wilson?”
“Um…” Ivy nodded.
“How bad was it?”
Ivy paused, remembering. She hesitated. “Well… not too bad. You ripped a few buttons off his shirt, clung to him…and you scratched his neck. You were just wearing a hotel bathrobe, and the two of you were pretty tangled up… The scene was well—” Naylor had suggested they not tell Katrina the details—to spare her from embarrassment. But Ivy believed her friend deserved to know the truth.