Chapter 380: Returning the Buddha Beads
"I have something for you." Quentin Blackwood pulled a box from his coat.
Just as Ivy Sherwood reached for it, Quentin placed it directly on the nearby table.
Ivy didn’t know what was in the box.
But as Quentin reached out, she saw the watch on his wrist.
He was still wearing it; he hadn’t taken it off.
And on her own wrist, she was still wearing the Buddha Beads Quentin had given her.
She picked up the box from the table. It wasn’t large, but it was exceptionally exquisite.
When she opened it, she froze.
It was... her mother’s Jade Pendant!
"How do you have this Jade Pendant?" Ivy was shocked. ’Wasn’t it with Caleb Blackwood?’
"Could it really be just like Caleb Blackwood said?"
"What did Caleb Blackwood say?" Quentin looked at her. His gaze was terrifyingly cold, yet he didn’t want to look away.
Quentin didn’t know when he would see Ivy Sherwood again. They had no reason to cross paths, so it was possible they would never see each other again.
This belonged to Ivy, so he had to return it to her.
"How did you get this Jade Pendant? Don’t tell me you want that money too?" Ivy stared at him in disbelief.
Caleb Blackwood had told her not to trust Quentin Blackwood, that he wasn’t a good person.
But Ivy hadn’t believed a single word of it.
She believed Quentin wasn’t that kind of person. He wasn’t short on money, and he always got what he wanted through his own efforts.
"It seems you know everything."
Quentin’s words made Ivy’s heart pound. "So, you knew all along?"
Quentin nodded. "Yes."
"Were you with me just to marry me, get this Jade Pendant, and take what my mother left behind?"
Quentin’s lips parted, but in the end, he just nodded. "Yes. It seems you’re not that stupid after all."
"Why? What did my mother have that was worth you scheming for? If you wanted those things so badly, why not see the act through? Why not marry me?"
Ivy still couldn’t make sense of it. She trusted him completely now. If Quentin had asked her to marry him, she very likely would have said yes. He was so close to getting what he wanted, so why would he suddenly call it quits?
"I never planned on marrying you. Caleb Blackwood told you so much, but didn’t he tell you that your mother might be the one who killed my mother?"
"What?" Ivy was stunned.
She... she didn’t know about this.
"The last person to see my mother before she died was your mother. She died by the sea, and your mother was seen there."
Ivy’s lips parted, unable to believe it.
"When did you find out about this?" Ivy looked at him, her eyes wide with shock.
’So, I was the only one who didn’t know.’
’It turns out Quentin was hiding so many secrets...’
"When I first arrived in Lustre," Quentin confessed.
"So, from the very beginning, you believed my mother was a key person in your mother’s death? You thought my mother was a murderer, and you got close to me from the start just to get revenge on me?"
Quentin was silent, his hands clenched tightly behind his back.
’He didn’t want to treat Ivy like this, but if he didn’t, she would never leave so easily.’
’If she still liked him, seeing him with Joy Sheridan would leave her utterly heartbroken.’
’It would be better if she stopped loving him, if all she felt was hatred.’
’Besides, Ivy deserved to know these things. He shouldn’t hide them from her.’
In truth, he had never really thought that way. Although Yvonne Summers might be connected to his mother’s death, Quentin had never blamed Ivy.
He knew it had nothing to do with Ivy.
He had only told himself that he couldn’t continue with Ivy, but in the end, he couldn’t resist his own heart.
Quentin’s lips were pressed into a thin line, his jaw tight. He said nothing, but Ivy understood.
She let out a soft laugh, but this smile was nothing like her usual ones.
"I see," she said.
Holding the box, Ivy began to unwind the Buddha Beads from her wrist, loop by loop.
"My mother is no murderer. She was a very kind person. You might not believe it, but there must be some misunderstanding."
"Here, take this back."
She placed the Buddha Beads right where Quentin had put the box, then strode out of his office.
She heard something fall behind her. Ivy turned her head. The string of the Buddha Beads seemed to have broken, and the beads were scattering across the floor, one by one.
A sharp pain lanced through her heart. ’Were even the Buddha Beads a sign of her and Quentin’s relationship?’
’Broken. It’s time for it to end.’
Quentin stirred. He wanted to grab her, to pull her into his arms and beg her not to go.
But in the end, he could only watch her walk away.
Ivy didn’t know how she got into the elevator, or how she left DG Tower.
She wasn’t familiar with Aethelgard. She had nothing here; she had taken a taxi straight from the airport.
Ivy ran into a nearby alley. Where no one could see her, she finally broke down, tears streaming from her eyes.
Quentin was the first person she had ever loved, a love etched into her very bones.
It was just as Nina had said: you should never give your heart to a man like Quentin Blackwood. He was from a different world. And yet, she had been drawn in by his kindness, even believing that Quentin loved her back.
’It turned out it was all a lie. Perhaps she was the only one who had been sincere.’
’But why not tell her sooner? Why now, of all times?’
She clutched the box with her mother’s Jade Pendant. She had wanted to get this pendant back so badly, but she felt no joy in getting it like this.
The weather today was awful. Aethelgard was already getting cold, and snowflakes had begun to drift down.
Ivy was from the south. The weather in Lustre was pleasant, like spring all year round; it almost never snowed.
She had been looking forward to winter in Aethelgard. She had even said that she wanted to watch the first snow with Quentin.
Ivy lifted her head, watching the small snowflakes fall. From now on, she would be watching the snow alone.
Just then, Ivy’s phone rang. It was Edie.
Ivy composed herself and answered. "Edie."
"Boss, the house you bought has been transferred to your name! When are you going to take your man to see it? You have to have a housewarming party, right? I’ll get a group together and we’ll definitely warm the place up for you!"
The house Edie mentioned was one Ivy had decided to buy when she planned to shift her work focus to Aethelgard.
She had wanted a home of her own, rather than always living at Quentin’s place, so she had asked Edie to help her pick one out.
"Sell it."
’She didn’t really need that house anymore.’
"What?" Edie thought she had misheard. ’Didn’t you just buy it? Why sell it already?’
They had spent so much effort finding the perfect one. The location was great, the house was big, the renovations were beautiful, and it had cost Ivy a fortune—a nine-figure price. It had basically taken up all of Ivy’s savings.
"Boss, what’s wrong? Did something happen? Your voice sounds a little off."
"No, it’s just... it’s snowing."
"Does it snow in Lustre? Wait, Boss, are you back? Are you..."