Hello, Ex! I Finally Found My Worth!-Chapter 140: If Only

"Still no answer?" Claire asked from the couch, her arms crossed, watching Emma with concern.

Emma shook her head, biting her lip. "No. She's not picking up. I've called at least five times now," she said, sounding worried.

Alex leaned back in his chair, raising a brow. "What if she's still at Hunter's place? Or what if she's driving or something?" he asked and she shook her head as she stopped pacing, her face hardening.

"I don't know. I have to go there...."

"But she's not even taking your calls. You don't even know where she is right now," Claire said, but Emma shook her head.

"I don't care. Even if she is not home, I'll wait outside if I have to until she gets back. Besides, she'll pick up the call at some point or call back. She needs to know the truth about him. I thought he was a good person, Alex. I don't want her to have to experience what I did...." she trailed off as her voice cracked, and she pressed her hands to her face briefly before letting out a frustrated breath.

Alex stood up and walked up to her immediately, engulfing her in a comforting embrace. "It's going to be okay, baby. She'll be fine. She has you, she has us," he said, patting her head softly.

Claire stood up, her expression firm. "Yes, and I'm coming with you both."

Emma hesitated, her eyes darting between them. "You don't have to. This is something I need to tell her. She..." She paused, thinking of Ivy.

If she told Ivy about it, Ivy would be devastated, and at that moment, having Alex and Claire there to show her that they cared about her and would support her could help her a great deal.

"Fine. Let's all go. I don't want her to feel like she's alone after hearing something like this," she said and Alex nodded as all three of them got ready and left the house.

The three of them arrived at Ivy's house a short while later. And immediately Emma spotted Ivy's car in the driveway, her stomach twisting in a mix of relief and dread.

Though she had wanted to tell Ivy about it, now that she saw Ivy was home, Emma couldn't help the dread that crawled up her neck.

How was Ivy going to take this? How was she going to react? What would she do? Would she be very devastated? Would this experience change her person?

"She's home," Claire said, frowning. "Then why hasn't she been answering your calls?" she asked suspiciously.

Alex narrowed his eyes. "Maybe she already knows. Maybe she found out who he really is. Or maybe she's sleeping because she's tired? It could be anything," he said, and Claire nodded.

Emma felt a chill run down her spine. "I'm worried about her but then I can't go back now. She needs to know so she can make a decision for herself... Maybe confront him or something," she said, before she hurried out of the car and up to Ivy's door, knocking firmly.

"Ivy?" she called, her voice loud and clear, but there was silence.

Why wasn't she responding? She mused with a frown as she knocked again, her heart pounding. "Ivy? It's me, Emma! Open the door. I need to see you," she said, wondering why it was taking her so long to get to the door.

Maybe she was genuinely sleeping or resting. She hated that she'd ruin a beautiful afternoon for Ivy, but then she had to do this.

Finally, the sound of shuffling footsteps reached the door. The lock clicked, and the door opened slowly, revealing Ivy's face.

Emma's heart sank. Ivy stood there, her face pale and tear-streaked, her eyes swollen and red. She looked like she had been crying for hours, her shoulders slumped in defeat.

"Oh, baby, what's wrong with you? Why are you like this?" Emma whispered, stepping forward and wrapping her arms around Ivy.

Claire's face softened with concern. "Ivy, what happened? Why are you crying?" Claire asked worriedly.

Ivy sniffled, her voice shaky as she pulled away from Emma's embrace. "It's Hunter," she said, her voice cracking. "I just found out... he wasn't who he said he was. He's been lying to me this whole time. He's not only here to spy on me but to also take revenge."

Emma exchanged a worried glance with Claire and Alex, her chest tightening. "What do you mean? What sort of revenge? Claire told me she recognized him that's why we're here to tell you but what do you mean revenge?"

Ivy's lip trembled as fresh tears streamed down her face, remember the text she had read. "He approached me to spy on my restaurant. He hid his real identity as Stone's son. And... and..." She choked on a sob, clutching her arms as if trying to hold herself together. "He placed a bet on me. With his friends. That he'd take me to bed," she said breaking into another fresh wave of sob.

Emma gasped, her eyes filling with tears. "Oh, Ivy..."

"I feel so cheap. I feel so used. How could I not have known or seen it? I suspected this the whole time but just because he helped me, I threw my guts instincts away. I never should have. Now see where I am...." Ivy's voice broke, and she buried her face in her hands, sobbing uncontrollably.

If only she has stuck to following her instincts then she wouldn't have been in this mess but more than that, if she had at least tried to look into him then she would've saved herself the stress and heartbreak. She had been a fool. A total fool.

Claire stepped forward, her hands clenched into fists at her sides. "That bastard," she muttered, her voice laced with anger. "How could he do something so disgusting and dishonorable?"

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Alex's jaw tightened, his anger bubbling over. "He placed a bet? On a woman's dignity? I should call Harry and get some of the boys to beat the hell out of him."

Though he wasn't very close to Ivy but hearing a man could do something like made him angry at ever laughing or sitting with such a disgusting person.

Hunter deserved to be taught a valuable lesson so that next time he wouldn't have the nerve to bet on a woman's dignity and pride like that like it meant nothing.

"No." Ivy looked up, her voice hoarse but firm.

"No? Why?" Claire asked, taking the words off Emma's mouth.

"I don't want any more drama. It's not that I don't want him to be taught a lesson or something. Just that, I don't want to give him the satisfaction of thinking he got to me that much. I just... I want to move on from this nightmare. I want to keep whatever dignity I have left, please," she said, her voice raw with pain.

Having Alex who had been trending in the news for sometime being dragged into her mess was not only going to make everyone know how cheap she was to have been a bet object but would also cause another mayhem to Alex's reputation and she didn't want that.

It was just an other heartbreak and no matter how hurt she was, she was going to forget all about it. She'd push herself to move on and focus more on her career now.

She had thought she was focusing too much abd had decided to give love a chance but it was obvious it wasn't for her. Perhaps that was why she had been single all these while.

Emma sensing how deeply hurt her friend was, hugged her tightly, her voice gentle. "You have so much more dignity than you think, Ivy. Don't let him take that from you. He's the one who should be ashamed of not respecting a woman's pride, not you. All you did was believe in love abd that's all. It's no crime," she said and Claire nodded.

"Hunter is just a fool and I pray he gets what he deserves soon. If he could stoop so low just to win a bet or get information on how to overrule your business then you should know you're worth much more than you're giving yourself credit for. Don't ever think less of yourself because of this, okay?" Claire said and Ivy nodded, tears gathering in her eyes once again.

Alex, Emma and Claire stayed with Ivy as they all continued to offer her words of comfort, reminding her that whatever Hunter did was because of his foolishness abd that she was the catch.

Ivy, though still very much heartbroken and in deep pain of betrayal, found herself being uplifted by their words.

Looking at them, she couldn't help but be grateful for having every one of them around her. Though it would be hard, she was going to treat what happened with Hunter as one bad dream and be glad she had found out early enough.