The scent of lilies and rain clung to Ivy's clothes long after she returned to her private hospital room. Her body was incredibly weak after the day's activities; the exhaustion had taken its physical toll on her, not to mention that she had cried a lot at the funeral as he finally said goodbye to her mother for good.
As she lay back against the sterile white pillows, the electronic door slid open, and one of her guards stepped in, bowing his head before delivering the afternoon's update.
The report was brief: the Silvercrest Mating Ceremony had descended into public catastrophe. Olivia had fainted at the altar, and the entire proceeding had been forced to a humiliating halt under the weight of the leaked mating footage.
But Ivy felt nothing at all as she listened; there was no
