Chapter:01: Gloomy night:

The loud ticking sound of the clock kept Ivy Haddock on her toes. Ivy had her feet bouncing on the floor with nervousness written all over her and her fingers digging into her palms.

With each sound of the alarm, Ivy was reminded of the night before her and the fear that she bore in her heart.

The time was 11:15 PM already and there was still no sign of her husband, Chase Willard. 

She has been sitting in front of the clock for the past few hours and there was still no sign of her husband.

With the look of things, it didn't seem like he was going to return home anytime soon.

Ivy's heart was heavy as this was the first time, her husband has stayed out very late. 

Her husband, Chase Willard is the third grandson of the Willard family. He was a very responsible and respectable young man, who was always very polite to everyone, except her, of course.

Be never liked or respected her for any reason. Well, maybe it's because they didn't get married in the right way and were forced to enter into a marriage of convenience for the sake of an ancestral promise.

Even though, it was normal for him to come back home late sometimes due to his workload.  She hadn't expected him to do so on a day like this.

This was the only day, she got to stay by his side and celebrate with him. Today was their birthday, and since he knew how important it is for them to celebrate today, she didn't imagine that he would do something like this on their birthdays.

Ivy Haddock picked up her phone as her gaze darted away from the wall clock. She stood up and pace around the living room as she waited for the receiver to pick up the call.

 “He won't pick up this time as well!?” Ivy said agitatedly, her voice was low and meticulous.

There was a brief pause for a while, but then she reached out for the phone again and dialed the number once again.

  “The number you dialed is currently switched off...please try again later”  The voice of the robotic lady replied instead of the firm voice of her husband.

    Ivy Haddock sighed helplessly. She was on the verge of tears since she couldn't get through to him. She felt that she was a bad wife at this point.

Ivy Haddock sat down on the couch helplessly. The inability to get through to her husband at this time of the night caused Ivy Haddock to drop her head depressingly and she bend her body backward to relax her weight on the sofa. Her face was plastered with sadness.

With determination littered on her petite face, Ivy Haddock continuously dialed the number.

  “The number you dialed is currently switched off. Please, try again later” Ivy angrily pulled the phone away from her ear and ruffled her hair in frustration.

   “Is he really not going to answer me now? Is he avoiding me?” Ivy Haddock mumbled under her breath as she raised her head.

When Ivy Haddock's eyes fell on the wall clock this time, it was 11:30 PM.

     “What's going on with him? I hope he isn't hurt this time. He has never been this late”.  Ivy Haddock was worried sick as the time ticked away.

Ivy Haddock couldn't keep her mind in a spot and began to pace around the place with anxiety. Hitting her foot on the cold tiles repeatedly.

Looking at the time this time around, the time was already 11:40. It was almost the end of the day and there was still no sign of her husband. It has been a whole day since he left this morning for a business meeting.

It was an important meeting that could almost change his status in the Willard family. Since he left this morning, Ivy Haddock hadn't heard anything from him, and nobody has seen him as well. Ivy Haddock was starting to get worried about him.

Ivy Haddock's eyes wandered around and finally came back to the phone in her hands. Then, her gaze fell on the clock once again, watching the time tick away minutes by minutes until it was 11:50 PM.

 Ivy Haddock couldn't bear to sit and do nothing like a helpless pauper. And she didn't have the guts to go around asking for help from other people in her family.

Finally, Ivy Haddock stood up after getting worked up while waiting for her husband's return. 

Ivy Haddock woke up from the waiting chair, nudging aside the table filled with exotic food that she had prepared for him beforehand, and left the dining room with a downtrodden spirit.

The feeling of love is a heavy impediment that weighs down on Ivy's heart heavily for years since she got married to Chase Willard, and started living in the Willard family as their youngest daughter-in-law with no impressive background.

 She was just an orphan girl who luckily married into the famous Willard family of Sun City – She didn't give anything to her name; no family background or even good social standing.

       Everyone considered her a free loafer in everyone's eyes.

Respect was not something she could receive from anyone often because of her low status in life, being a young woman, who had no social standing and only lived off her family members, she wasn't considered worthy of anything good.

But her love for her husband, Chase Willard was something that Ivy Haddock has never thought of giving up on.

Her love for him came first before anything else. He was the most important person in her life after her old grandmother, and she like she was going to die if she ever had to stay away from him for a day.

The romantic dinner celebration she had set up in their dining room wasn't just to celebrate him getting the bidding for the Power project but also to celebrate their birthdays together with each other. She also planned to confess her love for him without mincing her words, she hadn't had the guts to say it out loud but now, she was willing.

 As she stood outside of the Willard mansion with her face redden from fear. Ivy Haddock didn't want to take any chances and she couldn't dare to raise an alarm to wake the entire family as well 

If the entire family comes to know about her husband being away from him at this time, he would be greatly taunted and grandma Willard might even reprimand him.

 If that happens, Ivy  Haddock would have to take the fall for the severity of the matter.

She was confused and didn't know what to do at this time, it was almost midnight and something might have happened to him.

With her thoughts muffled into the mud. Ivy Haddock decided to take the risk and go out to look for her husband at the Willard Corporation.

It was a very dangerous thing to do at late in night like this. However, choices were not available to her and she had no alternatives but to go with the one she had which was going out at night all alone in search of Chase Willard.

The taxi came to a stop in front of a five-story building. On the outstretched of the commercial center in the busiest place in the Western Rave.

Seeing that the girl was not looking in the direction or she was seemingly lost in thought, the driver looked back at Ivy and said, “Miss, we are here”.

When his words hit her ears, Ivy immediately jerked out of her thoughts and looked at the building in front of them. She looked at her phone screen and the display time was midnight, exactly twelve on a dot this time.

 She fished out her purse and took out a few bucks from her purse and gave it to the driver.

After paying for the transport fare, she grabbed hold of the car door and pushed it open Then, she stepped out and slowly headed to the building in front of her.

Standing in front of the gate, Ivy slowly walked toward the door, not even sure if there was anyone in the building. However, the blooming lights that lit up the building suggested that someone might still be in the building, so she decided to forge ahead.

When Icy reached the entrance and was about to push open the door, she was immediately stopped by the flashing lights from the security torch.

The lights flashed directly into her eyes, causing her to go blind for a second. When the security saw her face, he shouted, “Miss Ivy Willard?”

  This building was the company building of the Willard family. She works as a janitor in the company three in a week when she didn't have work at the hotel.

  

Knowing about her status, she didn't care less about what they had to say about her. Even though, most of them have concluded that she climbed her way to the top by using deceptive means.

   They said that she climbed onto the bed of the young master. Since she was hellbent on creating a great social status for her– in words, she did it all for fame and fortune.