Falling in Love : I love you, Today and Forever

"Are we really not going to wait for Noah?" Ivy queried as they waited outside the ward for her father. "Is it okay to leave Ian alone to handle the mess?" She was incredibly worried for the man and was unwilling to leave before they handled the situation thoroughly.

"Don't worry, Ivy. Ian will succumb to such matters. He is a tough man." Joshua tried to assure her, even if he himself was not assured.

"But..." Please visit f𝙧ee𝙬ℯ𝐛𝓃𝐨𝚟𝒆𝘭. c𝒐𝓂

"Ivy, Ian has faced a lot more horrible predicaments than these. I am sure he'll be fine."

"He'll be fine, I know that. But currently, he is not." Ivy still could not stop worrying about him and her forehead creased into a frown.

"Will it make you feel any better if Ian himself assures you?"

"What?" Ivy blinked at him in confusion at the abrupt change in topic.

"Yes. Look, Ian is here." He pointed towards the man who was approaching them.

Although he seemed exhausted, he still looked better than how he was in his office. His troubled expression was nowhere in sight and all Ivy saw was calmness, the specialty Ian had that she had not seen on Noah or Joshua.

"Oh..." Her lips parted as she looked at Ian who raised his brows at her questioningly.

"What's the matter? Why are you guys looking at me that way?" Ian looked back and forth between the two and narrowed his eyes inquisitively.

"Did you handle everything well? Or is the situation still a mess?" Joshua brought the topic up and looked at Ivy, silently gesturing to Ian about her concern for him.

"Ohhh, you don't have to worry much. I have almost handled the situation." He smiled faintly, the twinkle in his eyes returning for a moment and Ivy, erratic heartbeat slowly returned to normal. His word calmed her down and her worry lines vanished.

"That's amazing to hear." She chirped and let out a relieved breath she was holding in for a long time.

"I am fine, Ivy, really." Ian added and nodded to emphasize and this time, Ivy did not doubt him.

At that moment, Oliver stepped out and the three people stopped talking as they watched him lean against the ward door with his eyes lowered. He was lost in thoughts and they could not help but wonder what had got him all stressed.

"Dad, is everything alright?" Ivy was the first one the break the silence and the two young men waited for Oliver to reply.

"Yes, Ivy. Everything is fine." Oliver masked his expression and immediately raised his head and stood straight.

"Why do you look anxious? What happened?" She was still not convinced. Something was bothering her father, she could see it. But she could not decipher what.

"Nothing, Ivy. I am just tired. I haven't slept the entire night."

"Do you want to go home then? You should get some sleep maybe?"

"No, I am fine. I still have work to finish at the agency."

"But.."

"I'll leave once I am done. Don't worry, I won't over-exhaust myself. It will just take an hour or two for me to finish my work." Oliver added, smiling widely as soon as he saw Ian.

Even though Ivy was skeptical, she eventually relented.

"Do you believe Dad when he says that he is fine?" Joshua queried as he watched the older man walking ahead of them.

"I know my father better than you do. Since you too were able to catch that something was wrong with him, how can I not notice?" Ivy too had her gaze fixed on her father as they followed him from a distance, making sure to keep her voice as low as possible.

"What might have happened for him to turn this way after visiting Grandpa?"

"Do you think that Dad still feels that Grandpa Carter is still somehow involved with Jared and the evidence he has received is unable to clear his suspicions in mind?" Ivy voiced, her brows scrunching up again.

And that got Joshua thinking. "It might be a possibility." He did not deny it and let out a frustrated sigh.

Although he wanted to believe the old Carter, somewhere in his heart, he too was doubtful about him, especially after he saw Theo murdering Charles. There had to be some connection between Theo, Grandpa Carter and Jared.

"If the man in the footage is really Theo, then either he is working alone in this or Grandpa Carter is with him, considering that Theo was loyal to Grandpa." Ivy did not hold back her thoughts and mumbled to herself and Joshua glanced at her for a moment before his eyes flashed when a thought entered his mind. But he held it to himself.

"I am so hating this situation right now." Joshua gave in finally when he could not comprehend what the damn hell was happening in his life. It was all a mess and only became convoluted as time passed.

"So do I." Ivy agreed, her shoulders dropping in defeat. "I just hope everything returns to normal quickly. Although I love adventure, this is not the kind I like."

"I have asked Maggie to look into Theo. Let's see what we will find out." Joshua did not hide the matter from Ivy and was surprised that he was able to work things out this quickly.

"That reminds me, how are Valerie and Ryder? I forgot to call Maggie." She pressed her nose, reprimanding herself for forgetting her friend.

"They are recovering well. They will be on their feet soon."

"And how about Preston? Any updates about him?"

Joshua pursed his lips and shook his head. Although no update was good usually, it was not the case in the explosion that had happened at the port.

"Didn't the police survey the entire place? How can Preston go missing?" Ivy could still not understand how Preston had gone missing when he and Valerie were together when the bomb exploded.

"That, Ivy, is perplexing me too. Even if Preston died in the explosion, we should have found his body or anything related to him. But no, Nada. The man just disappeared into thin air. How is it even possible?" Joshua stated as they exited the hospital and entered the parking lot. "Are we missing something here too?"

"I think my mind will explode soon. I need to stop thinking for some time." Ivy groaned and shook her head to clear her thoughts.

"Me too. Let us stop thinking about these things for some time. Take a breather and relax. Okay?" Joshua lowered his voice and Ivy nodded eventually, although it was a better said than done situation for them.