Just as Ivy and her teacher were deep in conversation, the apartnt’s doorbell suddenly rang.
Ivy stood up, brushing her hair back lightly as she said,
"I’ll go check." Felix, however, imdiately rose as well, waving his hand with a calm authority. "No, I should be the one to answer."
Yet Ivy, without even waiting for his response, continued walking toward the door.
’Sigh! My brother pampers too much!’ she thought in mild exasperation.
Soon after, Felix called out to her from the hallway, "Ivy, your assistant is here."
Ivy nodded and replied, "Bring her in."
She knew that Martha most likely was here to report on base matters.
The mont Martha stepped inside, her steps froze mid-stride, as if the ground beneath her had turned to stone.
The sa stillness was reflected in Kael, who had been seated near the window.
Their eyes t, both widening in shock and disbelief, as if ti itself held its breath.
Ivy looked from one to the other, noticing how Martha stared at Kael with an expression caught between fear, awe, and sothing unspoken.
And Kael, though his posture remained stern, had a faint flicker of excitent he was clearly trying to restrain.
Ivy felt confusion swirl in her chest. ’What on earth is going on?’
She turned to Martha, raising a brow. "Do you know Kael?"
Before Martha could speak, Kael answered instead, voice low and asured.
"Martha was one of my university classmates. She was also Ember’s senior."
The mont the words "Ember’s senior" left his mouth, Ivy’s eyes lit up.
’No way. No way. There is no chance the senior Ember kept ntioning is Martha...the sa one Kael used to have a ridiculous crush on but could never confess to because of his eternally poisonous tongue.’
She glanced at her brother again, and the barely controlled reaction on his face confird it.
She almost wanted to pat her own shoulder.
’I’m a genius. I actually hired my brother’s crush without even trying. Look at fate working overti. Maybe sparks will finally fly.’
However, the illusions shattered a second later when Kael’s cold tone cut in. "What are you doing here?"
His voice held displeasure, almost irritation, as if Martha’s presence was sothing he did not welco.
But Ivy knew that he was hiding his excitent behind his displeased tone, making her speechless.
Martha’s face paled for a mont before she steadied herself and answered softly, "I am Ivy’s assistant."
Kael gave a small, cold nod and said nothing further. He continued to look at Martha, but from an outsider’s perspective, his silent stare looked more like a warning than curiosity.
As if he was telling her without words to stay away, to not get involved, to not bother Ivy.
Ivy inhaled slowly. "Kael, did you miss her?"
Martha’s eyes widened in horror, and she instinctively looked to Kael, expecting him to deny it sharply.
To her surprise, Kael did not refute the words at all. He simply lowered his gaze and remained silent.
Martha blinked in confusion, while Ivy chuckled softly and turned toward her. "Martha, this is my eldest brother, Kael."
Martha stared at Ivy in shock.
"How... How can Kael be your brother? I thought... Ember, Kael, and Felix were the only children in the Nightbane family..."
But then a mory clicked in her mind. The rumor of the Nightbane family’s long-lost daughter.
Her eyes widened. She pointed at Ivy with trembling disbelief. "You... You are the Nightbane family’s lost daughter?"
When Ivy nodded, Martha felt her breath catch. ’Fate truly plays strange gas.’
Because once upon a ti, Martha had genuinely fallen for Kael.
Back in university, the first ti she saw him, she had felt her heart leap.
His composed presence, sharp eyes, and quiet storm-like aura were exactly her type.
She had fantasized about him, dread of him, even stood in the sa hallways just to catch glimpses of him.
She had befriended Ember mostly to get close to him.
But Kael had been cold. Always cold.
Not indifferent... specifically cold towards her.
At one point, she thought she had sohow offended him.
Eventually, she gave up, burying her feelings piece by piece, pretending it was just a youthful fantasy.
Years passed. Kael built his business and beca a rising na.
Martha, anwhile, remained an assistant, soone without power or position. Their worlds were simply too far apart.
She had forced herself to forget the feelings that once burned so fiercely.
Yet now, here he stood again. And not just a businessman, he was the brother of Ivy, the representative of the base, one of the most influential people in this apocalypse.
anwhile, she was still... her. A small assistant.
Her heart sank.
Just as her thoughts spiraled, Ivy clapped her hands lightly.
"Actually, I’ve been thinking of finding a girlfriend for my brother. And I think Martha would be a perfect candidate."
Her words stunned Kael, Felix, and Martha.
Silas, anwhile, nearly burst into laughter.
His wife truly worked miracles. Not only did she bring the woman Kael admired to him, she now even announced it openly.
Kael opened his mouth to speak, but Ivy shot him a sharp look that clearly ant:
’Brother. If you ruin this, forget ever getting a wife in this lifeti.’
Kael froze. He closed his mouth again.
Martha stared.
’Why isn’t he objecting? Why is he just... silent? Is he considering it? Or planning to reject privately later?’
Kael t her gaze. In that instant, Martha panicked.
Was he going to scold her for having other thoughts about him?
She lifted her hands defensively and blurted, "I...I don’t want to! I already have a boyfriend!"
The words left her mouth before she could stop them... words that were, unfortunately, completely false.
And Kael froze as if the floor beneath him vanished entirely.
’She already... has a boyfriend?’
His heart dropped like a stone. For a brief mont, Kael appeared as if he was about to cry.
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