Chapter 322: Silent vow

Meanwhile at Joshua's house.

Joshua had been overly excited to have Ivy in his house and this time, he had decided to make sure that she would not be leaving him or his house now or anytime in the future. He had made up his mind to ensure that she would be staying with him in his room and this arrangement was final. But to his disappointment, Ivy had locked herself in the guest room and had refused to come out as she had a lot of work to do before she went on her mission. She did not want any disturbance from anyone, especially from Joshua who was a master at annoying people.

Having been incredibly bored, he had decided to pester Noah instead. But here again, he was met with disappointment. The man had not even spoken to him for more than two minutes before he ended the call. And after that, there was no news from him and Joshua did not have the courage to call him back after seeing his previous reaction. He wondered what he had done so wrong for him to behave that way. The poor guy had no idea that he had disturbed Noah's amazing moment with his woman. He next wanted to trouble Ian but gave up on the thought when he remembered that the man was working the night shift that day. He did not want to disturb him when he was at work.

It was past dinner time now and Ivy was yet to come out of the room. Since Ivy had not had dinner, Joshua too had decided to wait for her. He had gone to call her once some time after eight but had received no response from her in return. So, he had returned to the living room giving her some time. Now, more than an hour had passed and she was still inside and it seemed that she had no intention of coming out. So, Joshua decided to call her again. He did not want her sleep with an empty stomach.

However, to his surprise, as soon as he stood up, he saw Ivy walking down the stairs with a dazed look on her face. She looked utterly drained and it seemed as though there was no strength left in her body. Her body seemed fragile and she was almost about to collapse if not for Joshua holding her waist in time. "Careful, sweetheart." He held her gently as prevented her from tumbling down. "Are you alright, dear?"

Ivy did not even have the energy to speak. So, all she could do was nod at the man before she let out a huge yawn. 

"Are you hungry? Do you want to eat something?" He asked her again as he slowly led her to the dining table. It was filled with food the maid had prepared and all that was left was for the couple to devour it. Once again, Ivy nodded. She famished by now and the delicious food on the table made her drool. Her stomach howled on not being fed on time and the next second, she tried to attack the dishes. But Joshua stopped her making her raise her eyebrows in confusion.

He did not say anything to clear her confusion. Instead, he sat on one of the chairs and made Ivy to sit on his lap comfortably. "You take rest. I'll feed you. Okay?" He cooed at her and gently pushed her to lie her face on his chest before he started to serve the food on his plate. The food was quite simple, nothing scrumptious. There was chicken rice and some porridge. Joshua first fed her the porridge spoon by spoon and finally settled on the chicken rice. Ivy did not resist him this time as she thoroughly exhausted with all the stressful work she had done. She allowed him to do as he wanted, not caring about anything else. All she wanted to eat to her stomach's fill and have a good sleep.

Ivy had no work to do the next day and the day after was the day when she was scheduled to go on her mission. So, she had finished her preparation beforehand and now, she had all the information she needed in the mission on hand. She had made use of the sources available to her as well as Joshua's help to find out everything she wanted and now she had a comprehensive document about everything that was involved in the mission. She was ready now, ready to face those monsters and reveal the truth to the public.

Joshua fed her patiently while he too took a bite in between. He could see how weary Ivy looked and his heart ached seeing her work so hard. Although he did not know what exactly she had done, he presumed the work to be related to her upcoming mission. Although he was not against her working, he did not like to see her pushing to her limits and forget about herself in the process. He was completely fine with taking care of her for the rest of their lives.

But he knew that Ivy would never like the idea. She was an independent girl and her happiness lied in doing what she liked. If being a journalist was what made her happy, then he would support her wholeheartedly, at the same time making sure that the woman he loved would never face any sort of danger. He would give her all the help she needed just like how she had taken his help in finding out things she deemed relevant and important in the upcoming mission. And from this, he had found out some information about the people involved in the meeting.

Joshua had also collected some more interesting information which he was yet to confirm if it was true. If found yes, then the content he had at hand was huge and once it was released to the public, it would blow up immediately. He did not intimate Ivy about it as he knew that the girl could become reckless and do things that could get land her life in danger. So, he decided against it and wanted to look into this matter himself.

The couple silently ate the dinner with Joshua feeding Ivy until there was nothing left. They had not spoken a word at all, but the silence was not awkward. Both of them respected each other and their work and sometimes, it was necessary to give privacy and time for things to return to normal.

When he realized that Ivy had recharged herself a little, he tried to stir up a conversation. "Are you done with your work?" Ivy nodded at him before swallowing the food from the spoon that was being held in front of her. 

"I am done finally." She answered after swallowing the food. "It was quite stressful but finally, I am done."

"Do you need my help in anything? If so, do tell me okay? I don't want you stressing yourself out. I cannot bear to see you this exhausted. It is a different matter altogether if I am the one exhausting you out." Joshua said with an expressionless face although there was a mischievous glint in his eyes. Ivy's face snapped to glare at him. How could the man be so brazen at all times? She wondered as she rolled her eyes seeing him smile at her sweetly.

Joshua noticed a grain of rice near her lips and he leaned to lick it off her face, startling Ivy. Her eyes widened as she gaped at the man in shock. However, Joshua did not react to her and held up the spoon filled with rice. He gestured for her to eat while he blinked at her innocently. Ivy narrowed her eyes unable to comprehend what the man was thinking. Nevertheless, she dropped the issue and ate to her fill. Why would she bring up the conversation again when the matter was something she was embarrassed about but something Joshua loved the most. 

Joshua too did not stress on it and decided to change the topic to a more serious issue. "What were you working on?" It was not that he wanted to probe into her life. He just wanted to know what she was dealing with in case problems arose in the future. Her line of field was not safe especially for Ivy who was an honest journalist and had gone against many people like Jared who was anything but civil. He did not how she had managed to stay safe until now. But with him around, she did not have anything to worry about. He would shield her from all troubles and make sure she would never get hurt.

Joshua had just finished feeding Ivy when he sensed her leaning her head completely on his chest and in a split second, she was out. Her hot breath hit his neck as she snuggled closer to him seeking warmth from his body. Joshua could only chuckle helplessly at his woman's actions. 'Do you not realize how dangerous it is to sleep this way before me? You are only adding fuel to the already ignited fire.' He sighed and closed his eyes to calm himself down.

He then picked his woman up carefully so as to not disturb her sleep and slowly took her to his room before laying her down on the bed. He then laid down beside her and hugged her to sleep, making a silent vow to protect her at all costs, be with her and face the dangers together.

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Hey guys,

The vote count crossed 1000 the last week and we also managed to stay in the top 150 in the rankings. So, there will be two bonus chapters released shortly. Thanking very much everyone for liking this book and supporting it.