Falling in Love : I love you, Today and Forever
Chapter 840: Jared’s present - Part 2

Chapter 840: Jared’s present - Part 2

Noah paced back and forth in the living room as he tried to make sense of what Jared had told him.

Present. Present. Present.

’He kept stressing on the word ’present’. What did he mean?’ Noah had an inkling that his answer lay in this word. But he couldn’t deduce what. It was his biggest clue. But he couldn’t decipher even after a long time had passed.

Aria and Ian were at work. While Oliver was held up with work, Joshua was tending to a reluctant Ivy.

Pursing his lips, he narrowed his eyes for a moment before he went looking for them.

Ivy and Joshua were in the garden. While the man kept chattering non-stop, she was lost in thoughts as she stared blankly at the fountain before her. Every few seconds, a frown marred her forehead before her face returned to normal.

On noticing Noah approach them, Joshua’s volume decreased until he became silent completely. It was this silence that broke Ivy out of her thoughts.

"Why do you look so perturbed? What’s wrong?" Joshua questioned once Noah reached them and Ivy tilted her head, observing him silently.

"Weren’t you supposed to meet Jared today?" Joshua was careful as he studied Ivy. Strangely, she didn’t react as acutely as she had before. She remained calm as she kept staring at Noah, making Joshua jealous.

’She hasn’t looked at me this intently in the last few days,’ he complained to himself, not daring to voice his thoughts.

"I met him." Noah nodded and glanced at Ivy who was watching him calmly. "He told me a few things which I am unable to comprehend. I came here hoping you’d help me."

"Sure. What happened?" Ivy urged. They were her first few words in a long time.

Joshua’s jealousy peaked. But he didn’t show it and allowed Ivy to do as she pleased. Anyway, it would not be long before she spoke to him too.

"As you all know Jared has some strange obsession with him. Considering him, he must have planned something for me as well, to destroy me and my loved ones."

Ivy nodded while Joshua contemplated it.

"When I met him today, he kept stressing about some present he wanted to give me. He didn’t say anything after that. What do you think it might be?" Noah’s eyes wavered between Ivy and Joshua, waiting patiently for them to speak.

"Present?" Joshua frowned while Ivy’s brows knotted thoughtfully.

"Yes, do you guys have any idea?" Noah sat on the lawn beside Ivy and stared ahead while he too thought about it.

However, they couldn’t come up with anything even after thinking for a long time. The clue was too vague to make sense.

"I can’t think of anything." Joshua was the first to give up.

"Me neither." Noah followed suit immediately after.

But Ivy didn’t. She kept thinking for quite some time.

"Have you done anything significant recently or will do sometime shortly?" she asked suddenly and Noah frowned at her question before it dawned upon him.

Not just him, even Joshua was spooked when the realization hit him and he jumped to his feet instantly.

"What the freaking hell!" he shouted and Ivy flinched.

"Oops, sorry." He smiled sheepishly at her when he met her annoyed gaze.

Ignoring him, Ivy returned to Noah and looked at him curiously. "Did you get your answer?"

"More or less. I need to confirm this." Noah didn’t speak more and left hastily, leaving a perplexed Ivy to stare at his back.

"Wait. Tell me about it as well," she yelled from behind. But all she got in return was him quickening his footsteps as if a greyhound was behind him.

"What happened to him? Why is he behaving strangely?" Ivy directed the question to Joshua whose expression had turned dark.

But the moment he heard her, a smile blossomed on his face and he looked at her adoringly. It was the first time she had spoken to him after she gained her speech back. He was jubilant and his heart flipped in joy.

"You may have solved the clue," Joshua replied, gentleness oozing from his eyes and Ivy was stunned to see the intensity in them. She averted her gaze instantly, making the man smirk in triumph.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Ivy chastised herself for being distracted. When she looked at Joshua again, she had returned to normal, her expression reticent and stoic.

"What clue?"

"You are right. Noah is involved in a new project. Not just him, I am too. It’s like a joint venture."

"What?" Ivy frowned, not having heard about such a project from anyone.

"It’s Hotel Arvy. Did you forget?" Joshua tapped her forehead lovingly and Ivy was taken aback by his gestures. She tilted her body back instantly, moving away from his touch.

Joshua’s smile slipped for a second, sorrow filling his entire form. But he was quick to mask it, his smile returning to his face.

"Hotel Arvy?" Ivy knew about it. The Carter group was involved in a hotel project and was open to the public already.

Ivy’s body turned cold and she froze in her spot when a terrifying thought sprang in her mind. "Do you think Jared is targeting the hotel?"

"Possibly."

Joshua didn’t rule out the probability. Jared hated Noah and anything and everything related to him. He considered him a competitor while Noah didn’t even budge an eye at him.

"I wouldn’t be surprised if he targets the hotel. After all, it’s a luxury hotel and the people who visit it have high status in the society. If he were to destroy it..."

Jared shivered at the mere possibility. Leave the loss and the damage, he was petrified to think about the people who would die because of Jared’s evilness.

Ivy’s thought was no less different than Joshua’s and she hoped Noah found the problem soon. Like others, she too wanted to danger to end as quickly as possible.

Jared was like a ticking time bomb. The more he remained alive, the more they had to be vigilant at all times.

"I just hope everything returns to normal soon," she sighed, her shoulders dropping in exhaustion.

"Me too, Ivy. Me too," Joshua agreed and Ivy had an inkling that he was referring to another matter as well, something that included her too.

But she had no intentions of fulfilling this hope of his. They were done the day he broke up with her. Nothing would return to normal between them, ever.