Chapter 55: It’s all your fault
After being dragged around by Aaron the previous night, Leo had been extremely grumpy. To vent his frustration, he made Aaron coax and pamper him so much that the poor man had nearly fainted from exhaustion.
But somewhere along all that chaos, Leo himself had grown tired. Even as he drifted off to sleep, one thought stayed in his mind.
Ivy.
It was early morning when he finally woke up.
He blinked lazily, rubbing his eyes as he sat up, only to realize he was alone on the bed. A small frown immediately formed on his face.
"Hmm... where did Uncle Aaron go?" he muttered, scratching his head as he looked around the room.
"Did he go to work already?" he whispered, pausing mid-thought.
Leo knew Aaron’s job as a doctor could be demanding, sometimes calling him away at odd hours. So, not seeing him around, Leo quickly assumed he must have already left for work.
A smile spread across his face at the thought.
Without wasting another second, he threw the duvet aside, climbed off the bed, and ran out of the room—completely unaware that his uncle was still there.
Just not on the bed.
Aaron was on the floor.
Fast asleep.
Clutching a pillow like it was the only thing keeping him alive.
***
It did not take long for Leo to reach Ivy’s room. But the moment he stepped inside and saw the empty bed, his small heart dropped.
"Where did Mommy go?" he muttered, panic creeping into his voice.
He rushed to the bathroom, pushing the door open, but found no one inside.
That was when it hit him.
Ivy was not in her room.
Without wasting a second, Leo turned and sprinted down the hallway, his tiny feet pounding urgently against the floor as he headed straight for his father’s room.
Reaching the door, he began banging on it with all his strength.
"DADDY, OPEN THE DOOR! MOMMY IS NOT IN HER ROOM!"
Leo’s heart was racing wildly, panic tightening his chest as one thought repeated over and over again in his mind.
What if she left?
The fear made him restless, his small fists pounding harder and faster against Xander’s door.
Leo had grown up without a mother. All he had were stories—cruel ones—about how she had left him when he was too small to understand why, and his cousins had made sure of it, he know it.
They would whisper, mock, and remind him that his birth had been nothing but a burden... that the very woman who was supposed to love him had chosen to walk away instead because she didn’t love him enough.
At first, Leo believed they were just jealous. Jealous of the attention he received, jealous of his father. He told himself they only wanted to hurt him.
But as he grew older, his small mind began to question things.
Why had he never seen his mother?
Why was it always his father... and sometimes his uncle... taking care of him?
The questions became too loud to ignore.
So one day, he went looking for answers.
He had walked into his father’s study, expecting... something. Instead, he found a note. It lay on the table, held down neatly under a paperweight. And when he read it— something inside him broke.
"She left me... because she didn’t want me..."
The thought had echoed in his mind as tears filled his eyes. Before he could completely fall apart, he ran. Locked himself in his room and cried until his body gave in.
He had fallen sick after that and took days for him to recover.
And when he did, he never spoke about it again.
He simply... accepted it. Lived with his father, ignored the whispers, ignored the pain. But now, standing outside this door that old fear clawed its way back.
Did she leave us?
A tear slipped down his cheek as he kept banging.
Leo had always been hostile toward the idea of his mother. In his mind, she had been someone undeserving, someone he did not need.
But the day he learned she had been found... lying in a hospital...
Leo wasted no time and had gone to see her, not out of love. But to tell her she was free to leave again. That they did not need her.
But that very same day everything changed.
She had saved him, without hesitation and without fear.
In that moment, every bitter thought he had ever held about her shattered.
Leo had always believed mothers were protective of their children because they loved them. He had seen it in others—in the way his aunts cherished their kids.
And when Ivy risked herself to protect him... his heart chose her. Completely.
From that day on, he made a silent promise to himself. He would not let her go.
Ever.
Leo blinked rapidly, trying to push his tears away as he continued banging on the door, louder now, desperate.
"DADDY! OPEN THE DOOR!"
Footsteps echoed down the hallway.
"Young Master, what happened? Why are you—" Butler Rupert’s voice cut off when Leo did not even look at him, his attention fixed entirely on the door as he kept pounding on it.
Meanwhile, Aaron jolted awake at the noise, his body protesting instantly.
"Ow—" he winced, clutching his waist as a sharp pain shot through him.
"How did I even end up on the floor..." he muttered, trying to recall the events of last night.
Another loud shout from Leo snapped him out of it.
Aaron immediately dropped the thought and forced himself up, dragging his aching body toward the source of the noise.
Within moments, the once-quiet hallway was no longer quiet as the staff members gathered. and Rupert stood tense.
Aaron who came a little late leaned against the wall, trying not to collapse again.
And at the center of it all—Leo stood at the door, small fists still banging, his voice breaking with panic.
Everyone stood frozen, eyes fixed on the door until it finally opened.
Xander stood on the other side, looking completely unbothered.
"Why are you creating a fuss, Leonard?" he asked calmly.
But before anyone could process his tone, Leo rushed forward and clung to his leg tightly.
"Daddy..." his voice broke, "Mommy left us again. I can’t find her anywhere."
Silence fell.
The boy trembled as he cried, leaving everyone confused and uneasy.
Aaron, who had been leaning against the wall, straightened instantly, concern flashing across his face.
"I want Mommy, Daddy," Leo sobbed, his small hands gripping tighter. "Go find her. Bring her back to us."
Xander’s gaze softened, just slightly.
Without a word, he bent down and picked Leo up. The boy immediately buried his face into the crook of his neck, still shaking.
"Why do you think she left us?" Xander asked quietly, coaxing him.
Leo pulled back just enough to look at him, sniffing as he wiped his nose with the back of his hand.
"Because... she’s not in her room," he said, his lips trembling as fresh tears filled his eyes.
A brief pause followed. Then—
"Who is not in her room?"
The sudden voice cut through the crowd causing everyone turned at once and freeze.
Ivy walked past them casually, as if nothing unusual was happening, and stopped right in front of Xander and Leo. She blinked innocently, completely unaware—or pretending to be—of the chaos she had caused.
Leo’s eyes widened and then filled with tears again.
Relief, pure, overwhelming relief was through his face, but before he could say anything, Xander spoke.
"What are you doing here?"
His tone was flat. Deadpan. The kind that left everyone stunned.
Ivy’s lips twitched as she smiled weakly. ’Just keep your mouth shut you devil. It’s all you fault that I have to jump down the window’
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