Falling in Love : I love you, Today and Forever

Chapter 554 - Background Check

Aria, Ian and Stuart followed the nurse to meet the police while Ivy decided to stay in Ian's office. Though she too wanted to find out what was happening, she knew she would not be allowed to hear the conversation between the trio and police. They would make sure to keep the press out of it as much as possible, and Ivy herself did not intend to make it difficult for her friends until they found out the cause of Linda's death.

Ivy watched the three people leave the office with a deep sigh. But before leaving, Aria did not forget to hand over her phone to Ivy, who took it from her a puzzled look, not understanding what her sister had in mind.

"Open audio recordings." That was all Aria whispered before she left the office, and a still confused Ivy did as she was told only find the recording of the conversation between Linda, Aria, and Ian. Though she did not know why her sister had handed over her phone to her, she listened to it to see if she could find out anything else from it.

But there was nothing else significant other than what she had already learned from Aria and Ian. Except for Linda's shocking words regarding Noah's grandfather, everything else was completely what she had already known. So, she was not that affected by it. 

What mattered to her more was Linda's unusual death and her accusations regarding the old Carter. Now, Ivy wanted to find how everything was connected and who wanted the woman dead. How would anyone benefit if she were gone from the surface of the earth? 

'I need to find out everything about this woman. I need to know what had happened to her and how she got involved with Jared. And I know just the person who can help me.' Ivy smiled softly before she placed a call to her boyfriend. Though it was Maggie who had first come to her mind, she recalled how the girl had been exhausted beyond imagination. She had been on a vacation since the time she had escaped from Jared's den. Moreover, she was now assisting her father with his work, spending her time fruitfully.

On the other side, Ivy knew how bored to death Joshua was. She remembered the man begging her to allow him to work from home, for he had nothing else to do. It was only after Ivy threatened him did he relent to her wishes and gave up his desire to work in the condition he was in. 'Joshua, be ready for an exciting assignment.'

Without wasting another minute, Ivy called the man who at that time was staring at his laptop with such intensity that the lifeless object too felt itself crack and shatter in fear. 

"How did Grandpa Carter meet Jared and Charles? What has happened that I do not know about?" He mused and continued scrolling through the ambiguous pictures that had kept him awake and his thoughts occupied since the time he had seen them. "What mystery is this? How do I reveal these pictures to Noah?"

Joshua was so lost in his thoughts and in observing the pictures that he did not see the caller ID when his phone rang. He just answered it, his tone coming out quite bland and listless.

"Joshua, why do you sound weird?" Ivy being the attentive one, did not miss his usual tone and her face scrunched up in anxiousness. "Did something happen? Is it your injuries? Did they rupture again? Are you bleeding again?" Her mind went berserk as soon as the notion hit her and as a result, her tone rose an octave in worry.

"I will be there soon. Wait for me!" Ivy could not conceal her panic and she picked up her bag, ready to bolt out of the hospital when Joshua stopped her.

"Ivy, stop." His voice came out as a command, and Ivy halted in her place automatically. It was as though her mind was willing to do anything he was telling her to make sure that he was fine. "I am perfectly fine, sweetheart." He tried but Ivy interrupted him immediately.

"I don't think so. You sounded strange just now. I am afraid you are lying to me. I will be there shortly. Wait for me. Let us visit the hospital and get you checked." Ivy rushed out of Ian's office and almost ran towards the entrance gates.

"Ivy, stop. I am perfectly fine and my wounds are fine too. In fact, they are healing right now. You do not have to worry about me."

"Then, why did you sound off? What happened?" Even though Ivy was not convinced, she slowed down but did not stop moving towards the entrance.

"I was working on a project, and I was stuck at some problem. I was trying to solve it. Maybe that caused a little stress and my voice sounded different." Joshua lied conveniently. Even though guilt embraced him immediately after, he did not back down.

Ivy was not the person he wanted to discuss the matter that was eating his head first. He did not intend to reveal everything to her before he spoke to Noah about it. All he could do was apologize to her silently for his mistakes and vow to make it up to her in the future.

"Didn't I tell you not to take much stress? See how sickly you sound." Ivy grumbled, and Joshua could not help but laugh at her words. He shook his head lightly and placed the laptop on the bed before he got off it.

"I am alright, Ivy. It was just menial work that needed my attention." Joshua glanced at the photographs on his laptop before he moved towards the window. "How did your interview go?" 

"It went well. I have called..." Ivy stopped speaking suddenly. Her idea of handing over the task to Joshua did not seem reasonable all of a sudden. He was already stressed, and she did not intend to add more to his work. 

"You have called? Continue, Ivy. Why did you stop?" Joshua probed. He had caught onto the sudden seriousness in her tone, and he now wanted to know what had happened.

"I just wanted to check on you What if you were over-exerting yourself in my absence?" She tried to change the topic but Joshua did not believe her. He knew there was something else bothering her, and she had called him to discuss it with him. But had stopped speaking when she heard about his workload.

"Ivy, will you start speaking or shall I make you to?" Joshua lowkey threatened her. This was the only way she would reply to him honestly and just as he had expected, Ivy gave up lying.

"It's fine, Joshua. It's just a small matter. I will look for Maggie. You need to take a rest. I won't stress you more."

"Ivy."

Ivy did not even have the opportunity to continue when Joshua intervened suddenly, his low, commanding voice stopping her from speaking any further.

"Tell me. I am here."

That was all it took for Ivy to break her resolve, and her mouth got running at once. "I wanted to find out about a woman. Do you mind looking at her information? She is damn suspicious. I want to find out everything, every small thing about her."

"That's it? This is an easy job for me."

"But all I have is her photograph. Although I know her name, I don't know if it is her actual name."

"That's fine. Send me her picture. I will find out all you want."

"Amazing. Joshua, you are incredible."

"I know. But save it for the time when you are thoroughly satisfied by me."

"I am done listening to your nonsense. I have other work to do. Find out everything you can about her." Ivy did not even wait for Joshua's response and ended the call while all he could do was chuckle to himself.