Chapter 348: Ivy Sherwood Sees Her Mother’s Jade Pendant
Ivy Sherwood went to the study. Her phone was in there, too.
However, Ivy was focused on her project, so she turned on the computer, ready to get back to it.
Having just woken up, Ivy was still drowsy and could barely keep her eyes open. ’I feel like I’ve been unusually tired these past couple of days. It’s probably just the change of season.’
’I’ll go make myself a cup of coffee to wake up in a bit, but for now, I should focus on the project.’
However, she was startled by what she saw on the computer screen.
She rubbed her eyes, unable to believe what she was seeing.
Her project proposal was somehow complete.
’We have The River Snail Maiden in our house!’
The points were laid out methodically, the logic was flawless, and the writing was clear and concise, making it incredibly easy to understand. The key was the concept and the ideas, which perfectly combined the current market with future prospects. It was truly eye-opening.
Moreover, the project was broken down into multiple sections, each with excellent suggestions and solutions. If Ivy were the boss, she wouldn’t be able to find a single flaw in the proposal.
She knew instantly whose handiwork this was. So, after she had fallen asleep last night, Quentin must have secretly gotten up and revised her proposal for her.
Although it was a revision of her own proposal, Ivy knew her original draft lacked this brilliant, eye-opening quality. She really had so much to learn from Quentin Blackwood.
She read the project proposal over and over again, marveling at Quentin Blackwood’s incredible skill.
She was in awe of how he could complete it in such a short amount of time, especially without being familiar with the project.
After reading it through one last time, Ivy sent the project proposal to the other party.
She decided to make a hearty breakfast to reward Mr. Blackwood, who had just gone to bed. With that, she picked up her phone and got ready to leave the study.
She remembered her phone vibrating last night. Now, Ivy finally had a moment to check it. Aside from a few unimportant notifications, she saw a message from Anna Nash.
Ivy tapped on it. A photo of a crystal-clear Jade Pendant filled the screen.
This Jade Pendant...
Ivy’s heart leaped into her throat. ’Isn’t that... my mother’s Jade Pendant!’
She’d seen her mother with it when she was a little girl. It had seemed very important to her.
Later, when they were going through her mother’s belongings, the Jade Pendant was nowhere to be found. It wasn’t even among the things Timothy Sherwood had. ’So where did Anna Nash get it?’
Ivy immediately called her. Anna picked up almost immediately.
"What’s this about the Jade Pendant in the message you sent last night?" Ivy asked. She didn’t let on that she recognized it, hoping to bait Anna into revealing something first.
"Have you seen this Jade Pendant before?" Anna asked directly.
"No," Ivy denied. "But I do like it. Where did you get it? I’d be willing to buy it."
"You’ve really never seen it?" Anna sounded skeptical.
Although she and Anna were technically cooperating at the moment, Ivy knew she couldn’t trust her. If Anna found out the Jade Pendant belonged to her mother, she would never give it up. Instead, she’d use it as leverage to threaten her.
"I haven’t. Where did you get it?"
"It’s not mine. And as for where it came from... since you don’t know, it’s none of your business."
With that, Anna hung up.
Ivy frowned and opened the photo again, examining it closely. The background was blurred, but she could tell it was being held in someone’s hand. There also seemed to be books nearby.
’Anna is living at the Blackwood estate now, and I hear she rarely goes out. How could she have come across something like this? Unless... it’s in the Blackwood house.’
’And with all those books, it might be Caleb Blackwood’s study.’
’The Blackwood and Sherwood families were actually on good terms back then. Could Caleb Blackwood have taken my mother’s things?’
’But what’s so special about this Jade Pendant that Caleb Blackwood would want it? And what about what he said before? He said I had ’things’ and ’secrets,’ and that Quentin was only with me because of them.’
Ivy couldn’t make sense of it. ’Could all of this be related to the Jade Pendant?’
"What are you looking at so intently?"
The sudden voice from behind made Ivy jump. She relaxed when she turned and saw it was Quentin Blackwood.
Quentin studied her expression. "What’s wrong? You have a guilty look on your face."
"Why aren’t you sleeping?" Ivy asked, looking up at him.
There were dark circles under his eyes, a clear sign he’d been up all night.
"I couldn’t sleep," Quentin said. He had always been a light sleeper. Even though he’d just dozed off, he felt the emptiness in his arms as soon as Ivy got up.
"You only just went to bed, didn’t you? How long did you spend on my project proposal, hmm?" Ivy asked, her eyes shining as she looked at him.
Here in Quentin’s house, with no one else around, Ivy didn’t have to hide her true appearance. Her face, bare of any makeup, was still breathtakingly beautiful.
"It didn’t take long." To Quentin, such things were trivial.
Ivy had already spent a great deal of time on the proposal, so Quentin could grasp the entire project at a glance. He had simply made revisions to her existing work.
"So what were you looking at earlier?" Quentin asked, wrapping his arms around Ivy from behind and resting his chin on her shoulder.
Ivy said, "It’s a photo Anna Nash sent me."
Ivy opened the photo. "She dug this up from somewhere," she explained. "It belonged to my mother. Back when she was still alive, I’d sometimes catch her in private, just holding this Jade Pendant and staring at it for the longest time, as if lost in memory. She’d hide it as soon as she saw me. She never said anything, but I know it must have been very important to her."
"I’ve been looking for it for years. I always thought I must have misplaced it or that it got lost somewhere, but now... it seems more like it was stolen."
"And if it was taken by the Blackwood family, that just creates even more mysteries."
Ivy never wanted to get involved in any of this, but she was now realizing she’d been drawn into a web of conflicts without even knowing it.
Quentin asked, "If you think the Jade Pendant was so important to your mother, have you ever looked into its origins?"
Ivy shook her head. "My mother didn’t want to tell me about it, so I never pressed her. I only want it back because it belonged to her."
’I know my mother had her secrets, but she must not have wanted me to get involved. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have hidden so much from me, or made me disguise myself like this.’
"Can you send me the photo?" Quentin asked.
"Of course," Ivy said, quickly forwarding the photo to him. "Since the Jade Pendant isn’t lost, but somewhere in the Blackwood house, I’ll find a way to get it back."
Ivy put her phone away and gently pushed Quentin. "You’ve been up all night. Go get some sleep. What do you want for breakfast? I’ll make it."
Quentin didn’t let her go. "I’ll have breakfast delivered. Just stay and sleep with me for a little while longer."
Ivy was, in fact, still tired, and it was still very early. She didn’t refuse. "Okay."