Buying My Forever Wife novel Chapter 16

Ivy put her heart into helping Stella practice her reading and writing.

That night, Stella insisted Ivy sleep with her, and after getting Mr. Foster's permission, Ivy crawled into bed with the little girl.

The next morning, she accompanied the driver to drop Stella off at St. Jude's Preschool.

Only then did she head to work at Metropolitan General.

When Ivy arrived at the hospital, the way her colleagues looked at her had completely shifted.

They stood around in small clusters, whispering behind her back.

Someone finally couldn't hold back anymore and approached Ivy to ask.

"Ivy, do you have connections in upper management?"

If she didn't have someone pulling strings at the top, how could the administrators possibly exempt her from night shifts?

Everyone else clocked in at eight in the morning and left at six in the evening.

Yet she got to start at nine and clock out right at four in the afternoon.

Ivy had no idea how to explain to her coworkers that it was all arranged by a husband she barely knew.

She just offered a polite smile, giving a vague non-answer as she prepped her medication cart and hurried off to change dressings and set up IVs for her patients.

When she walked into Ethan Foster's room, Ivy saw that it was packed with people.

They all looked to be in their twenties, young, handsome, and full of vibrant energy.

Among them was her ex-boyfriend, Patrick Sterling.

Ivy pretended not to notice him, holding her breath and keeping her head down as she approached Ethan's bed, silently doing her job.

The crowd of guys looked slightly stunned when they realized the young nurse was Ivy.

"Holy shit, Patrick, isn't that your girlfriend?"

"Your girl is a nurse at this hospital?"

"Patrick, why isn't your girlfriend saying hi to you?"

The Patrick in question was lounging on the sofa by the window, dressed in a white button-down and casual slacks, his textured hair styled meticulously to give him a clean, sharp look.

He didn't look surprised to see the ex-girlfriend he had broken up with a month ago.

Because he already knew Ivy worked here.

Patrick immediately shot up and chased after her.

Leaving a room full of eager gossips scrambling to the door to eavesdrop.

Ivy hadn't made it far down the hall before Patrick caught up and blocked her path.

"Ivy, I didn't cheat on you. I haven't even agreed to be with that girl yet. We only started talking after we broke up."

Ivy had no idea why Patrick felt the need to chase her down just to say this.

A month ago, she had indeed still been with him.

But that was back when she sought him out in desperation for thirty grand.

The moment she had brought up the money, Patrick had immediately dumped her.

Ivy knew full well the massive gap between their worlds, and she hadn't tried to force it.

Trying her best to keep her dignity intact, she looked up to meet Patrick's gaze and smiled.

"Since we're already broken up, who you date is your own business. You really don't need to go out of your way to explain it to me."