The Kiss that Sparked it All

Ivy had been up since the dawn broke, busy in the kitchen preparing a hearty breakfast. After baking some scones and frying up a batch of eggs, she decided to finish off with a pot of oatmeal.

While the oatmeal simmered gently on the stove, Ivy’s stomach gave an unexpected lurch. She glanced over at Leila, her expression a mix of discomfort and urgency. “Leila, I gotta go to the bathroom. The oatmeal’s not ready yet. Could you keep an eye on it for me?”

“Sure thing, Miss,” Leila replied, watching Ivy rush off, and a cryptic smile crept over her face.

When Ivy returned, she noticed that Leila had already served the oatmeal. “It’s ready, huh?”

“Yes Miss, all set.” Leila was setting the table with three breakfast plates. “I’ll go fetch Mr. and Mrs. Howard for breakfast.”

Ivy nodded with a smile and took a seat in the dining room.

Something made her uneasy though – the way Leila looked at her seemed strange, almost as if she harbored some dislike. But Ivy shook off the thoughts, hoping she was just being paranoid.

their way into the dining room.

up at the sight of the spread. Alyssa, with her grandmotherly

ladled some oatmeal into bowls for them. “Grandpa, Grandma, I made this oatmeal specially for you. Tell me if it’s to

adored the thoughtful girl and gladly took the bowl

also took a sip, giving Ivy

and she even ate more

the old couple before heading back to her room

was a frantic knock at the door. Ivy opened it to find Talia, the maid in charge of caring for Alyssa and Dean Howard, with a panicked expression. “Miss, emergency! The master and mistress are both terribly sick. They’ve got the runs. The butler’s already arranged to have them

and quickly followed Talia out. “What happened? They were fine just a moment

feeling ill, then Mrs. Howard too. After several trips to the bathroom, they could barely stand. I rushed to get the butler, and he had the