The Kiss that Sparked it All

Chapter 2179

“No worries, the food’s getting cold. Let’s dig in,” Ivy said casually, though her mind seemed miles away.

She listlessly picked at the slices arrayed before her, taste buds registering little of the meal’s flavor.

Even now, Balfour was serving her slices just as he always did, meticulously picking off the olives that he knew she detested.

As Ivy watched Balfour’s slender hands at work, she couldn’t help but wonder why. Everything was just so inexplicably odd.

“Something wrong? You’re looking a bit off. Didn’t you pick this place?” he inquired, pausing mid-motion to rest the slice he’d been holding back onto his own plate.

Ivy aimlessly poked at her food with a fork. “Oh, maybe it’s the whole Giselle incident from this morning that’s put me off. I wasn’t exactly starving, to begin with. I remember raving about this restaurant, but now that we’re here, it just doesn’t seem to hit the spot.

Balfour chuckled softly, not taking her disappointment to heart, “If you’re not into it, just leave it. We can get the housekeeper to whip up something you like when we get back.”

I’m not hungry, nothing really appeals to me,” Ivy declared,

his gaze, “Well, if you don’t feel like eating, then don’t eat. When you’re hungry, you’ll

tension between them thickened in an instant. Balfour’s head bowed, he absentmindedly nibbled at his

ask if he had forgotten his suggestion for her to reconsider their

it out now, but why wasn’t he

and no longer want to know her answer or pursue anything

back,” he said

home, they sat in silence, the awkwardness palpable.

to break, the tomb-like

in that diner, all she could think about was who that girl was. Someone was out there, in touch with Balfour in a way she wasn’t privy to, and

they might be with each other on the road, back home with Alyssa and Dean around, they had to play the part of the sweet,

sat dazed, unmoving in her