Chapter 174: This is emotional cardio
The four bodyguards stood side by side at the edge of the lawn, their attention fixed on a single person.
Ivy.
She had been jogging around the estate for nearly an hour without stopping.
Benny watched her complete yet another lap before rubbing his forehead.
"Seriously... what is Madam up to now? How many laps is she planning to run? At this rate, she’s going to wear a path into the grass."
Percy folded his arms and let out a sigh.
"It’s even stranger because Butler Rupert said she skipped breakfast."
"Exactly!" Benny exclaimed. "The woman who raids the kitchen at midnight voluntarily skipped breakfast. That’s not normal. That’s terrifying."
Nico nodded solemnly.
"I’ve seen Madam finish an entire family-sized pizza by herself."
"And dessert afterward," Percy added.
Teddy looked genuinely worried.
"Maybe something happened. Madam isn’t the type to exercise this enthusiastically."
That much was true.
Everyone in the mansion knew Ivy could fight, but she rarely trained unless there was a reason. Watching her run lap after lap as though she were trying to outrun her own thoughts was unsettling.
Nico glanced toward the mansion.
"I just hope she doesn’t collapse. If Madam faints, Boss and Young Master Leo will have all of our heads."
Benny swallowed.
"Forget losing my job. Boss will stare at me with that expressionless face, and I’ll confess to crimes I didn’t even commit."
The others nodded in complete agreement.
Just then, another figure walked across the driveway.
"Morning, boys."
Sal adjusted the strap of his bag as he approached, clearly on his way out after Lola had called him into the office.
He slowed when he noticed all four bodyguards standing in a perfectly straight line, staring in the same direction.
"What are you all looking at?"
Instead of answering, Benny simply pointed.
Sal turned, and his gaze landed on Ivy, who had just switched from jogging to an energetic set of jumping jacks.
He blinked.
"Well... that’s new."
The bodyguards watched him expectantly.
"Since when did Madam become a fitness enthusiast?" Percy asked.
Sal observed Ivy for another few seconds before his expression softened.
Then he quietly exhaled.
"Something’s bothering her."
The four men exchanged confused glances.
"You can tell that just by looking?" Nico asked.
Sal nodded.
When Raven used to have too much on her mind, she’d push herself physically until her thoughts settled down. Running, sparring, climbing, anything exhausting. Ivy’s doing the same thing.
Benny looked impressed.
"So this is emotional cardio?"
Sal chuckled.
"If you want to call it that."
He started walking toward Ivy before glancing back over his shoulder.
"And don’t worry. She won’t faint."
The bodyguards stared after him.
A moment later, Benny whispered, "How did he know that’s exactly what we were worried about?"
Percy shrugged.
"Maybe it’s written all over your face."
"I have an expressive face."
"You have a billboard."
Ignoring the bickering behind him, Sal approached Ivy just as she finished another set of jumping jacks.
She was breathing hard, strands of hair clinging to her forehead with sweat.
"Girl," Sal called out with a grin, "you really need to stop scaring your security team."
He pointed toward the four bodyguards.
Caught watching, Benny, Percy, Nico, and Teddy instantly snapped their heads in different directions.
One examined the sky.
Another inspected a nearby hedge.
Teddy suddenly found his own shoes incredibly interesting.
Sal laughed.
"They’ve been standing there for almost an hour convinced you’re going to pass out."
Ivy followed his gaze, noticing the awkward group pretending not to look.
Despite herself, the corner of her mouth twitched upward.
She bent over slightly, resting her hands on her knees as she caught her breath.
After a few moments, she straightened.
"I won’t faint," she said calmly.
"I know."
Sal watched Ivy in silence, convinced there was something deeper behind her unusual behavior.
Just as he was about to ask, Ivy spoke.
"I found my family, Sal."
The words caught him completely off guard.
He blinked in surprise, searching her face to see if she was joking.
She wasn’t.
Ivy held his gaze for a few seconds before letting out a quiet sigh.
"Come with me."
A few minutes later, the two of them sat in the pavilion overlooking the garden.
The family photograph lay on the table between them.
Sal picked it up and studied it carefully before his eyes settled on the young girl standing beside the couple.
His expression changed.
"This girl..." he murmured. "She’s the same child in the photograph Hardy left for you."
Ivy nodded slowly.
"It’s me."
Sal looked up at her in disbelief.
"And she’s also the little girl from your dreams?"
"Yes."
There was a long silence before Ivy pointed to the woman standing beside the child in the picture.
"The woman I keep seeing in my nightmares... the one who dies in front of me."
Her voice trembled ever so slightly.
"She’s my mother."
Sal looked back at the photograph, his thoughts racing. The resemblance between Ivy and the child was unmistakable now that he looked closely.
Everything was beginning to fit together.
"I don’t think those dreams were random," Ivy continued quietly. "They’re memories."
She clasped her hands together, trying to steady herself.
"When I was younger, I witnessed my mother’s death. I don’t remember every detail, but I remember enough to know it really happened."
Her gaze drifted into the distance.
"The people who killed her... they shot me too."
Sal’s eyes widened.
"You were shot?"
Ivy nodded.
"I survived, but after Hardy found me and took me in, my memories were gone. Everything before that became fragments—faces, voices, flashes of blood, and the same nightmare repeating over and over."
She looked back at the photograph.
"I always thought those dreams were just my imagination trying to make sense of something. But they weren’t."
"They were pieces of my past that my mind buried."
Sal remained silent, absorbing every word.
The revelation was almost impossible to believe, yet the evidence was sitting right in front of him.
After a moment, he placed the photograph back on the table.
"So what are you going to do now?"
Ivy’s eyes hardened with quiet determination.
"I’m going to remember everything."
She gently traced her fingers over the image of the smiling family.
"If my father is still alive, I’ll find him."
"And if he isn’t..."
Her voice dropped to a whisper.
"Then I’ll uncover the truth about what happened to my family and make sure the people responsible are brought into the light."
Sal studied her for a long moment before giving a small nod.
"I’ll help you."
Ivy looked at him, gratitude flickering across her face.
"I know," she replied softly. "That’s why I told you first."
"I spoke to Xander about the investigation," Ivy said quietly. "He told me that when the graves were examined, the DNA matched only my mother. The other bodies buried there weren’t my father’s or my sister’s."
Sal frowned as he processed her words.
"So you’re saying someone deliberately planted different bodies and convinced the authorities that your entire family had died?"
Ivy nodded.
"That’s the only explanation that makes sense."
She looked down at the photograph resting in her hands.
"If my memories are accurate, I escaped that night. And if my father managed to get my sister out as well, then they could have disappeared before anyone realized they were alive."
Sal leaned back in his chair, his expression growing serious.
"Which means whoever staged the scene wanted everyone—including the police—to believe your family was gone."
"Exactly."
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Then Ivy broke the silence.
"Xander also discovered inconsistencies in the case years ago, but he never exposed them publicly. He believed the false records might have been created to mislead their enemies into thinking there were no survivors left to hunt."
Sal slowly nodded.
"It would be an effective way to protect anyone who escaped."
Ivy’s grip on the photograph tightened.
"And if I’m right..."
She paused, choosing her next words carefully.
"The people who murdered Xander’s parents are the same ones who killed my mother that night."
The realization hung heavily between them.
Sal looked at her, stunned.
"If that’s true, then your family’s tragedy and the Emerson case were never separate incidents."
"They were connected all along," Ivy replied.
A tense silence settled over the pavilion.
Finally, Sal exhaled and said, "Then this isn’t just about recovering your memories anymore."
Ivy met his gaze, determination replacing the uncertainty in her eyes.
"No," she said firmly. "It’s about uncovering the truth behind both families—and finding the people who destroyed them."
After talking for a while longer, Ivy and Sal parted ways. Sal headed off to take care of his own matters, leaving Ivy alone in the pavilion.
She remained seated, staring absentmindedly at the family photograph in her hands.
Her thoughts were still tangled, but at least they were no longer spiraling out of control. Speaking to Sal had helped her organize the pieces in her mind, even if the answers she sought were still out of reach.
Just as she was beginning to regain her composure, her phone vibrated.
The screen lit up with an incoming call.
Florine.
Ivy glanced at the name and let out a quiet sigh before rejecting the call without a second thought.
She already knew why Florine was trying to contact her. Whatever it was, she had no interest in hearing it.
A moment later, her phone buzzed again.
This time, it was a text message.
Leo is such an innocent child... but I suppose I’ll have to use him if I want to get to you.
The smile on Ivy’s face vanished instantly.
To anyone else, the message might have sounded vague or even harmless.
But Ivy knew Florine well enough to read between the lines.
It wasn’t a casual remark.
It was a threat.
Her eyes turned cold as she reread the message, every instinct in her body going on high alert.
"No matter what game you’re planning to play," she murmured under her breath, "dragging Leo into it is the biggest mistake you could make."
Without hesitation, she locked her phone and rose from the bench.
The confusion and grief that had consumed her moments earlier were replaced by something far more dangerous as she made her way out.
