Ivy finished speaking, grabbed her bag from the seat behind her, and got ready to leave. She hadn’t even thought about texting Jamison yet. All she wanted was to step out of the private dining room first, call him afterwards, and then find a quiet spot to wait for him.
But as soon as she stood up, the two vice presidents followed after her.
“Mr. Jamison’s coming? Perfect! We’ll head down with you and say hello to him.”
Ivy was annoyed, but these men were high-level executives; she knew the bare minimum of office politics meant she couldn’t just brush them off.
“Suit yourselves,” she replied coolly.
She figured that once they realized Jamison wasn’t there, they’d lose interest and wander off.
But as she descended the stairs, she caught sight of a tall, familiar figure sitting by the window in the hotel lobby. She frowned, thinking for a split second that she was seeing things.
But when she looked again, there was no doubt – it really was him!
The two men beside her were still chattering away, but Ivy ignored them. She debated whether to head straight out the hotel doors to spare her husband the hassle, or to go over and greet Jamison directly…
She was still undecided when Boyd suddenly caught sight of her and called out, his face lighting up. “Hey! Ivy’s here!”
At the sound of his voice, Jamison turned, and sure enough, there was his beautiful wife. He stood up immediately.
Ivy’s frown deepened – there was no escaping now. The moment Jamison saw her, his face broke into a smile, pure instinct. But when he noticed the two men trailing behind her, the smile froze instantly. Without a second’s hesitation, he strode toward the stairs.
The two vice presidents recognized him, their faces a mix of surprise and delight. “Isn’t that Mr. Jamison? He was sitting right downstairs this whole time!” They greeted him enthusiastically, and before Jamison could say a word, they began to insist, “Mr. Jamison, you can’t just eat downstairs by yourself! Come on, let’s head back to the private room. We’ll order a few more dishes.”
Jamison hated strangers being overly familiar. He looked coldly at them, brushed off their eager gestures, and took Ivy’s arm, pulling her firmly to his side.
“That’s very kind, but unnecessary. Ivy’s still recovering and shouldn’t be up late. We’ll be heading home,” he said, his tone civil only for Ivy’s sake. After all, Ivy was just an intern at Quantum Hedge Securities; it wouldn’t do to offend her colleagues or supervisors and make things harder for her at work.
“It’s not even nine o’clock yet, so early!” one protested.
“Exactly, Mr. Jamison! We really hope to work with you – or with the Ludwig family. We’re absolutely sincere, so if you could just-”
Before he could finish, Boyd stepped forward and cut him off. “Looking for a partnership? Talk to me first. If I think it’s worth Mr. Jamison’s time, I’ll let him know.”
Everyone knew Boyd was Jamison’s right hand. The two vice presidents hesitated, then decided not to pester Jamison any further. So Jamison, without even a parting word, led his wife out the door.
Once they were in the car, Ivy finally spoke up. “When did you get here? Why didn’t you let me know?”
“I left the hospital as soon as you texted me for the address.” Jamison glanced at her, then asked directly, “Who were those two men with you?”
Ivy sighed, pushing her now shoulder-length hair behind her ear, and explained the situation with the vice presidents.
“See? No matter how capable I am, as long as I’m connected to you, all anyone ever sees is the Ludwig family and you, Mr. Jamison.” She couldn’t help but feel both amused and exasperated.
Jamison focused on the road in silence, but the image of those two men trailing after his wife kept replaying in his mind, making him more and more irritated.
Noticing his mood, Ivy turned to him, teasing, “What’s wrong? Upset because someone else was bothering me again?”
She felt a little wronged. After all, this whole mess was because of him or rather, because of the Ludwig family. She was just caught in the crossfire.
“No,” Jamison replied, keeping his voice steady. He knew it wasn’t Ivy’s fault, so he tried to swallow his frustration. “In the future, don’t bother with these company dinners. Once men start drinking, you never know who they’ll turn into.”
He wasn’t wrong.
But Ivy’s mind wandered, remembering a certain someone’s drunken antics the last time – how he’d turned into a chatterbox, pouting, clinging to her, stripping down… He’d seemed like a completely different person.
“Trust me, I know exactly what you mean,” she said with a mischievous smile.
Jamison shot her a look, clearly catching her drift. His expression darkened, a little embarrassed. “Hey, I wasn’t that bad. At least I didn’t turn into some kind of animal.”
She grinned. “Oh, I know. Dr. Ludwig might be icy on the outside, but deep down, you’re a gentleman. Even drunk, you still have self-control.”
She leaned against the passenger seat, gazing at him with a soft, teasing smile. She understood – he was bothered, but not enough to say anything outright, so he just sat there stewing in silence.
Thinking about how worn out he’d been lately, juggling all the Ludwig family affairs, her heart ached for him. She decided to go along and reassure him. “Alright, I won’t go to these business dinners anymore. No need to worry.”
When you love someone, you make concessions. You let your boundaries blur, your principles bend. It was just routine office socializing, but if it made someone she cared about unhappy, she could let it go.
Jamison glanced at her again, surprised. He swallowed, his strong jaw tense as his Adam’s apple bobbed. From her angle, Ivy couldn’t help but notice – and find it unexpectedly… attractive.