Ivy strode toward the group, with a helpless expression.
The mont she arrived, Felix stepped forward as if he had been waiting for her salvation all along.
"So you’re finally here," Felix drawled, throwing his hands up. "Another minute late and these people would’ve accused us of running so underground mafia."
At his words, Ivy turned her gaze toward the Blackthorn family.
They stood stiffly to one side, unusually silent.
Dante t her eyes for barely a heartbeat before looking away, his jaw tight.
The sha was written all over him.
Once upon a ti, he had declared, loudly and proudly, that he would never need Ivy’s help for the rest of his life. Yet here he was, standing right at her door.
Ivy cleared her throat lightly, the sound barely cutting through the tension. "What’s going on, Felix?"
Felix’s eyes lit up as if soone had finally handed a microphone to a starving announcer. "Ah, well, you see..."
And just like that, the story poured out.
It turned out that Nightbane and Blackthorn had a history, though neither side was particularly eager to explain the details.
The Nightbane family had been out on a stroll after hearing about Jay and Ember’s wedding, intending to greet the newlyweds.
Unfortunately, or perhaps inevitably, the mont they reached the entrance, they ran straight into the Blackthorn family, who were arriving at the sa ti.
From the very first glance, it was as if invisible sparks crackled in the air, static snapping between them.
Words were exchanged. Voices rose.
Helena went head-to-head with Dante, their sharp tones slicing through the space.
Alice locked horns with Victor, neither willing to back down.
Talia and Kael began bickering almost imdiately, while Ember turned on Asher with undisguised hostility.
Felix hovered in the middle, chiming in here and there.
His "help" sounded more like live comntary, and judging by the way everyone ignored him, it might as well have been background noise.
It was clear enough, this wasn’t a misunderstanding. This was old enmity resurfacing.
Ivy lifted her hands to massage her temples.
She finally spoke, her voice calm but weary. "Do you want to take this inside the tower?"
Helena rolled her eyes so hard it was a wonder they didn’t get stuck. "I don’t want that old man anywhere near my building."
Dante snorted imdiately.
"As if I’d want to see this woman either. Who knows what kind of attitude she’ll show?"
He sneered. "And let’s not even talk about her hygiene. It was a problem back when we were teenagers. She must be worse now."
That was enough.
Helena’s face flushed red with fury as she jabbed a finger at him.
"Oh? And who was the boy who wet his pants when he was seven?"
Dante bristled, pointing right back at her.
"At least I was better than soone who ran crying to her mother for every little thing!"
Helena burst out laughing, sharp and mocking. "At least I had a mother who cared. Unlike you."
Dante rolled his eyes.
"The mother you kept calling was mine to begin with. And now you’re acting like she belonged to you?"
Helena opened her mouth to fire back, but Ivy stepped in between them, her expression cool and unamused.
"If you keep going," she warned, "the entire base is going to know about your childhood embarrassnts."
Her words finally made them pause.
Both families looked around and realized, to their collective horror, that a sizable crowd had gathered.
People were openly watching, curiosity gleaming in their eyes.
With synchronized sighs and clenched teeth, they decided to relocate their battlefield.
Ember continued to glare at Asher, her eyes sharp enough to cut.
’How can soone be this rude?’ she thought bitterly.
Asher stared back just as intensely, as if he were examining so strange creature he couldn’t believe existed on Earth.
The argunt followed them all the way to the tower where Ivy and the Nightbane family were staying. Voices rose again almost the mont they stepped inside.
Ivy rubbed her temples, a dull ache blooming behind her eyes.
’Let them argue,’ she decided. ’If a place itches, it’s better to scratch it until it bleeds and the irritation finally goes away.’
As long as they weren’t killing each other, it was manageable.
From what she could tell, this was banter at best and a heated argunt at worst.
Leaving them to their chaos, Ivy turned away and headed back toward the prison.
She had originally intended to check on Arthur and Hannah earlier, but everything else had pushed it from her mind.
Now, she rembered, and she rembered Joel as well.
When she reached the cells, screams echoed down the corridor, sharp and raw.
The air slled of blood and damp stone. She had left guards behind to interrogate them, to force out the truth about their real plans.
And when she finally learned the truth, she was stunned.
Arthur had been nothing more than a pawn.
Hannah had been manipulated into compliance.
And Joel, the one who had tornted her in her previous life, was the true mastermind behind it all.
’So it was you,’ Ivy thought coldly.
In this life, she had no intention of granting him rcy.
When she stepped into the cellblock, all three of them lay sprawled on the floor, utterly exhausted.
Blood seeped from their wounds, staining the ground beneath them.
Ivy looked at them indifferently, her gaze devoid of pity.
"Are you ready now," she said calmly, "to tell where your real research base is?"
She wanted to know how many people were still being experinted on.
And this ti, she planned to save them. ’I won’t let anyone else suffer the way I did,’ she vowed silently.
Joel lifted his head with effort, hatred blazing in his eyes.
"You’d better pray you never fall into my hands," he snarled. "Otherwise, I’ll make you regret every single thing you’ve done to ."
Ivy laughed softly, the sound chilling in the dim corridor.
"Even if I regret it one day," she replied evenly, "at least I’m enjoying it right now."
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