Chapter 2 - You Are Not Ivy

The female voice called him, “Gerard..”

Gerard looked toward the source of the voice, and he could see a blurry female figure.

“Gerard..” the female voice said again.

He could see the female figure coming closer and closer.

As the figure was within arm’s length, he reached out his hand and pulled her toward him.

“Ivy, I miss you,” he mumbled.

How Gerard missed his wife. He wished for her to appear, and here she was in front of him.

“Let’s go back to bed, Gerard,” the soft female voice said.

Gerard pulled her closer to him, wanting to feel her warmth and smell her scent.

The moment the female sat down on his lap, he realized it wasn't his wife. They smelled different. Ivy had a distinct soft smell of roses, but this female’s rose scent was strong. It made him want to puke.

He pushed her away abruptly. “You are not Ivy,” he slurred.

“Gerard..” the female reached out her hand, but Gerard slapped her hand away.

“You are not Ivy!” he shouted with a clear voice despite being drunk.

“Gerard, it’s me, Mia,” the female finally said her name.

“Mia?” Gerard was confused about why she was in his house at this time of night.

Everyone knew he was not to be disturbed every year on this date. What was Mia doing here?

“I’m here because Grandpa was worried about you,” Mia explained. “Let’s get you to bed, okay?”

Mia reached out again to support him, but Gerard slapped her hand away again and stood up.

He staggered toward the master bedroom where he and Ivy used to sleep, with Mia following closely behind.

Once in front of the room, Gerard struggled to open the door. When he finally succeeded, Mia stepped forward.

“Gerard, let me help you clean up,” Mia said, wanting to enter the room.

Gerard stopped in his track and said coldly, “No woman is allowed to enter the master bedroom except Ivy.”

With that, he closed the door with a bang before locking it and collapsing onto the bed. Finally, he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

Mia, who was standing outside and nearly hit by the door, had a bitter expression on her face.

She knew she wasn't allowed to be here. She had tried to come every year to see what Gerard was doing on this exact date but was always turned away by the butler.

This year, she lied and said Grandpa Huxley sent her to check on Gerard. No one dared to disobey the Old Master of the Huxley family, and thus the butler let her in reluctantly.

When she heard Gerard’s heartbreaking sobs, she was shocked. She had never seen Gerard crying like a baby. Even during his parents’ accident, Gerard only cried silently.

Mia had purposely worn a rose-scented perfume similar to Ivy’s this night, hoping Gerard would mistake her for Ivy and bring her to bed.

But who would have thought Gerard could distinguish between her and Ivy, even in his drunken state? She felt humiliated by Gerard’s rejection! Good thing he was drunk and might not remember what happened tonight.

Ivy, Ivy, Ivy! Mia stomped her foot in frustration and anger.

She hated Ivy with all her heart. She had known Gerard from childhood and was the one who always stayed by his side, even after Ivy died tragically.

But why couldn't Gerard fall in love with her? Why did he choose someone as lowly as Ivy? And why couldn't he forget Ivy?

“Ivy, even in death, you still haunted Gerard, huh?!” Mia snorted with her fists clenched tightly

“I won't give up. Sooner or later, Gerard will be mine,” Mia said with determination before she turned around and left Gerard’s villa.

The next morning, Gerard woke up with a headache. He automatically reached the bedside table to take a glass of honey water, but his hand only touched the air.

There was no glass of honey water.

He laughed with a sad feeling. Only Ivy would make him honey water every time he got drunk from socializing, but now Ivy was no more.

Dragging himself to the bathroom, he took a shower. When he came out of his bedroom, gone was the heartbroken man. It was replaced by a cold, indifferent handsome man.

Gerard wore a slim-fit three-piece tailored black suit that cocooned his perfect Greek-God-like body. His hair was combed back, making him look mature.

He went downstairs and saw a simple Western breakfast on the table, with two paracetamol on the side.

His servants were all highly trained and knew what to do without him needing to tell them anything. They knew their master had drunk last night, thus the two paracetamol on the table.

His most trusted aid, North, and his secretary, William, were ready on standby.

Gerard sat down and began eating his breakfast. His every move was elegant, and he always gave out a noble aura in whatever he was doing.

After eating, he wiped his mouth with a napkin and took the two paracetamol before standing up and going to the front door.

North and William followed him silently.

They knew their boss had changed since the death of his wife. He used to be chatty and smiled a lot, just like his wife. But now, he was cold and indifferent to everything around him.

Even William and North, and all the servants and butler, were sad and couldn't help but cry during Ivy’s funeral. Ivy was always good to them. She didn't treat them as some lowly subordinates.

They reached the Huxley Tower in no time, and Gerard went straight to his private elevator, looking as cold and indifferent as ever, not even bothering to look at his employees.

“What’s the schedule for today?” he asked in his deep voice as he leaned back on his swivel chair.

“No meetings, just need you to check and sign some documents,” William began saying and paused.

He was hesitant to say the rest of his words as he knew it would affect his boss’ mood.

“What? If you have something to say, just say it. Don't waste my time,” Gerard said coldly.

William gulped before braving himself to say, “The Old Master asked you to go back to the Huxley Mansion for dinner tonight.”

Just as expected, the temperature in the room dropped. Gerard’s expression became colder, and his aura became icier. It made whoever was around him feel like they were at the North Pole.

“Documents,” Gerard tapped his desk without acknowledging William’s previous words.

William quickly placed the stack of documents on Gerard’s desk and waited patiently while his boss checked and signed them.

With his boss’ current mood, William didn't even dare to breathe loudly in case it would irk the boss.

Once the boss got angry, no one would be at his mercy.

Gerard kept flipping the documents in front of him, signing where he needed to sign, and correcting mistakes on those plans that could have been better executed.

“Rubbish!” he threw nearly half of the documents William had handed him to the floor.

“Get them to redo the whole plans and give them back to me by tomorrow, or they will all be fired,” Gerard said harshly.

William knew there was nothing wrong with those documents; they were all done by the qualified staff of Huxley Group.

But with his boss’ current mood, he would become stricter and always find faults in everyone. This had been the case since his wife died.

William kept quiet, collected the documents scattered all over the floor, and was ready to flee when they heard a knock on the CEO’s office door.

Gerard looked at William and gestured for him to open the door.

Before William could open it, the door opened by itself, and a lady appeared in the doorway.

The lady wasn’t beautiful or ugly - she looked average. She was different from Ivy, who was 1.7m tall. This lady was only 1.55m tall, and her facial features were nowhere as beautiful as Ivy's.

Today, she wore a knee-length white summer dress, making her look youthful. With her height, the way she dressed, and her soft temperament, some men would have no choice but to want to protect her.

“Miss Gant,” William greeted her.

“Oh, just call me Mia, William. We’ve known each other for so long. There’s no need to be that courteous,” Mia laughed.

“Alright, Miss Gant,” William smiled politely, but he still didn't change how he addressed Mia.

Some people didn't like Mia, including William and North. They felt she was too scheming and shameless. Even though she was Gerard’s brother, Louis's girlfriend, she kept latching herself to Gerard.

People knew she wanted to be Gerard’s wife, especially after Louis died, but Ivy got in her way. Even though she never did anything terrible to Ivy, the fact that she always shamelessly wanted to be the third wheel on their dates was evidence enough for everyone to see.

Only Gerard and Ivy didn't see it. Gerard only saw her as his childhood friend, and Ivy, in turn, treated her as her best friend.

Gerard’s expression softened when he saw Mia.

“What are you doing here, Mia?” he asked. Even his tone of voice softened too.

No matter what, he couldn't bring himself to be cold toward Mia. Besides being childhood friends and Louis’s girlfriend, Mia had once taken a bullet for Gerard’s brother. There was no way Gerard could act coldly toward Mia.

“I’m here to bring you lunch,” Mia said as she went to Gerard’s desk and put the lunch box she had brought in front of him.

She opened the lunch box and showed Gerard the lunch she had prepared.

“Mia, I’ve told you so many times not to do this. William will always buy me lunch,” Gerard said without looking at the food.