Chapter 10

He didn't find the answer.

But he felt like this feeling wasn't so bad.

At eight in the evening, Vivienne put Ivy to bed right on time.

"Ivy got a scare at the park today. You need to get some rest." Vivienne tucked the blanket around Ivy and gently kissed her forehead. "Good night, Mommy's little sweetheart."

"Good night, Mommy." Ivy obediently closed her eyes, her long lashes casting two small shadows on her cheeks.

Vivienne stood by the bed watching her for a long time, and only left and quietly closed the door after making sure her breathing was steady.

The moment the door clicked shut, Vivienne's gentle smile disappeared completely.

She turned toward the living room.

In the living room, Vincent was leaning back on the sofa with his eyes closed. Silas sat at his workbench wiping his folding knife.

Vivienne sat across from them, arms crossed, her voice quiet. "We need to go over what happened at the park today."

Vincent opened one eye, his blue gaze cloudy with sleepiness. "What's there to go over? I reacted fast, my technique was clean, the guy didn't even make a sound."

"You almost strangled a man to death right in front of Ivy." Vivienne slammed her palm on the coffee table, and a crack split straight across the surface.

"Vincent, have you forgotten we have a normal daughter in this house?"

Vincent looked unusually guilty and sank deeper into the sofa. "...I'll be more careful next time. I'll wait until Ivy's not around before I make a move."

"You still have the nerve to talk about a next time?" Vivienne shot him a deadly look.

Then she turned to Silas, her tone softening. "Silas, when you were with Ivy today, did you notice anything off?"

Silas's hand paused.

He answered without any expression, "No. Everything was normal."

"You're sure?"

"Sure."

Silas lowered his head and kept wiping the blade. "She didn't notice anything."

Vivienne let out a long breath. Her whole body relaxed. She leaned back against the sofa.

"I knew it."

Vivienne's smile came back, her voice carrying both pride and relief. "Our cover is a total success. Ivy hasn't picked up on anything unusual at all."

Vincent yawned. "Mm. In her eyes, we're just a bunch of regular people scraping by."

Vivienne's voice suddenly went soft, her eyes turning a little red. "So well-behaved and thoughtful, always thinking about the family. Her mind just doesn't work well. This kind of simple child is the most precious."

Vincent reached over and put his arm around Vivienne's shoulders, and for once didn't say anything to break the mood.

The three of them sat in the living room, all sharing the same strange feeling of satisfaction.

Ivy hadn't noticed a thing.

Their cover was flawless.

This family could finally keep being normal like this.

Upstairs, in Ivy's room.

In the darkness, Ivy lay in bed and slowly opened her eyes.

She wasn't asleep.

She was replaying everything that had happened today.

This family was truly strange.

At the park, she had seen it all very clearly. When Daddy choked that homeless man, he used so much force.

But that homeless man had been trying to steal Daddy's wallet.

He was the one in the wrong to begin with.

Mommy thought she hadn't noticed.

But she had noticed everything.

During the walk today, that man's hand was clearly reaching for Daddy's wallet.

Daddy wasn't choking him for no reason.

Daddy was protecting the family's money.

The choking was a bit forceful, but Daddy was a truck driver. Having strong hands was perfectly normal.

And that man got up and ran away in the end, didn't he? That proved Daddy hadn't actually hurt him. He was just scaring him a little.

What's wrong with being strong? Being strong isn't a crime.

Daddy was so smart, scaring the thief off without even throwing a punch.

Ivy rolled over in her blanket, and her thoughts drifted to the metal hedgehog Brother had made.

That thing was clearly not for catching rats.

She was young, but she wasn't ignorant about what a mousetrap looked like.

Those old-fashioned iron clamps, the kind that snapped shut on a rat's tail — she had seen them in the Shaw family's storage room in her previous life.

That thing Brother made, the teeth were so sharp, the spring so fast. How could it possibly be just for catching rats?

It was clearly for catching thieves.

Silas had told such a clumsy lie. That trap was for dealing with bad people. He just didn't want her to be scared.

The more Ivy thought about it, the more sure she became. The more she thought, the more touched she felt.

Brother was so good to her. She had to be even better to Brother in return.

And to Mommy and Daddy too.

Ivy hugged her blanket and gave a firm nod in her heart.

Daddy and Brother were both protecting the family in their own ways.

Mommy too.

Mommy had said she wanted to personally teach her how to protect herself, her tone so serious about it.

Mommy was just a chef. She must have built up a lot of strength from all that chopping in the kitchen. That was probably why she felt she could teach her.

Ivy hugged the blanket tighter.

This was what family was.

All of their brains seemed a little off.

Being a little off was fine.

She wasn't exactly normal either.

What normal person would just grab a random stranger on the street and call them Daddy?

Their whole family — a perfect match.

Ivy's thoughts began to blur, her eyelids growing heavier and heavier.

Ivy's injuries healed after a few days of rest.