Chapter 592: He Still Has a Backup Plan

“What about you and my brother? I think you two look great together,” Ivy said.

“What’s so great about us? Didn’t you see us bickering all day?”

“I think it’s great.”

“You need to get your eyes checked, Ivy! Besides, this is just a cooperative agreement. We’re getting divorced in a few months.”

Sleeping on her side, Ivy looked at Nina. “Do you want to divorce my brother?”

Nina paused, taking a while before she replied. “It’s not a matter of whether I want to or not. It’s an agreement; we were meant to divorce from the start.”

“You hesitated! You clearly don’t want to, do you?” Ivy said, catching her pause.

“I do not! Why wouldn’t I want to divorce? Being single is great. I can go after young, handsome guys without any baggage!” Nina shot back.

“I think you do. Anyway, my brother isn’t a bad person, nor is he that annoying. What if you two end up in one of those legendary ‘marriage first, love later’ situations?”

Nina almost buried herself entirely in the blankets. “Stop talking about me! Let’s just sleep! Sleep, sleep!”

Ivy buried her head under the covers too, and the two burst into laughter together.

Jason Summers’ legitimate front companies were nearly wiped out by the joint efforts of Quentin Blackwood and the Mercer family. Although they weren’t his primary sources of income, they were crucial for laundering his money.

Right now, Quentin was still conducting a carpet search for him across all of Aethelgard. Jason had also found out that the Princess had been captured by Quentin. It seemed the events of the past had all been exposed.

If he had known earlier, he should have killed the Princess. That useless woman who accomplished nothing but ruined everything had been stupid since she was young, as if she had grown up without a brain. If it weren’t for him, how could the Princess have attained her current position? How could she have married Ovillette?

Now, she actually dared to sell him out.

It was all because he was one step too late. The only problem now was that these people all wanted him dead. He had to find another way to secure advantageous bargaining chips. He needed to threaten them first so they wouldn’t dare touch him. Coincidentally, whether it was leverage against the Mercer family or Quentin Blackwood, he had it all. He had always liked to take the initiative and keep everything firmly in his own grasp.

Jason was currently in hiding, staying in a rather subpar hotel. He picked up his phone and made a call.

The call was quickly answered by a woman. “Hello?”

“Claire Sherwood,” Jason addressed her directly.

“How did you know it was me? Who exactly are you?” Claire shuddered. Even without seeing the person, just hearing the voice sent a chill down her spine.

“I just want to make a deal with you. I know you’re in a difficult situation right now. You are the only one left in the Sherwood family, aren’t you? You used to have a perfectly good family, but now you have nothing. Don’t you hate Ivy Sherwood?”

Hearing Ivy’s name, Claire’s heart skipped a beat. “Who are you? What do you want?”

“Who I am isn’t important. I know you want to get close to Quentin Blackwood, but Quentin only has eyes for Ivy. You also tried to make a move on Elijah Hawthorne, only to find that he doesn’t want you at all; his eyes are also solely on Ivy. And the Mercer family serves as Ivy’s backing. Growing up, as long as Ivy was around, no one else even noticed you.”

“You’re spouting nonsense! I am ten thousand times better than Ivy! What the hell is she anyway!” The thing Claire couldn’t stand the most was someone saying she was inferior to Ivy. It was utter nonsense. She was the most outstanding one. Ivy had only graduated from an ordinary university, while she had attended top universities abroad!

“So what? Your jealousy of Ivy is useless. With your abilities, what do you think you can even do to her?” Jason continued to manipulate her, magnifying Claire’s disgust for Ivy.

“What exactly do you want? What are you trying to say? I’m going to hang up if you don’t get to the point!” Claire had reached the limit of her patience.

“As long as you help me do one thing, I will grant you a request,” Jason said. “You can ask for money or power, and I can even help you kill Ivy.”

“I don’t even know who you are. Why should I trust you?”

“My name is Jason Summers. You have no choice. I can take your life at any moment. Help me, and you’ll receive a handsome reward.”

Claire’s mind raced as she weighed her options, quickly agreeing. “How can I help you?”

Jason swiftly explained his plan. After listening, Claire asked, “Will this work? Quentin certainly won’t care about my life.”

“Rest assured, he will care,” Jason said, a look of absolute certainty flashing in his eyes.

After making arrangements with Claire, Jason dispatched his people to infiltrate the surroundings of the Mercer family villa in Lustre. If they couldn’t sneak in, they would find a way to bribe the people there. In short, everything had to be under his control.

Two days passed like this. With nothing else holding her back, Nina prepared to return to Lustre.

Ivy also planned to go back with her. Her brothers said Aethelgard wasn’t safe. Although Quentin hoped she would stay, he respected her choice.

Xavier said, “It’s better to go to Lustre. Jason Summers is here now, and it’s truly hard to have peace of mind.”

Ivy thought about it and decided to head to Lustre together.

Upon learning that Ivy and the others were leaving, Ovillette hurried over. “Can I go to Lustre with you?”

He wanted to see exactly what kind of city it was that had made Winter Mercer choose to live there. Just hearing the name, Lustre must be a very beautiful place. He wanted to go and see the place where Winter had lived.

“Of course, that’s not a problem. But won’t there be issues if you don’t return to Elandra?” Ivy asked. The King’s identity was so important. If he left casually, what if something happened in Elandra?

“I’ve taken half a month off. I will handle my work remotely.” Ovillette, of course, had arranged everything. “As for the Princess, could President Blackwood release her first? I will have someone escort her back. Don’t worry, I will arrange for people to keep an eye on her. She absolutely won’t dare to do anything else.”

Quentin looked at Ivy. Only after she nodded did he agree. “Fine.”

The Princess hadn’t been in a good state these past few days. Although they hadn’t actively frightened her anymore, she had been scaring herself. She constantly believed that since Winter Mercer had lived in that place, her ghost was still lingering. She had become paranoid, and her mental state was quite fragile.

Quentin released her, and the King immediately arranged a private jet to secretly send the Princess back.

Ayre was completely unaware of the truth behind this matter, assuming his sister had simply finished her tour and gone back. Moreover, with Ovillette present, it was impossible for Ayre to suspect much.

Knowing that Ivy was returning to Lustre, Ayre asked, “Can I tag along with you guys? I didn’t get a good chance to explore Lustre last time, and I want to see this beautiful city too.”