After the commotion died down, Van and Ivy left the hotel but rather than going right back to her place, they went to a nearby restaurant to talk. "First of all Ivy, let me apologize for all that transpired between us. Normally, I'm not the type of guy that would do anything to hurt a woman and honestly, asides from Bianca, you're the only other woman I've ever been with. I'm not trying to praise myself or anything, I just want you to know that I'm not a bad person.""Yeah, I hink I know that now." Ivy didn't want to admit it but Van felt like the perfect father figure for her kids. In fact, she was almost glad to have someone like him as their father. "Not to be rude or anything but you need a change of outfit. I wouldn't want our kids to see you wearing that."When she said 'our kids' rather than 'my kids', Van felt a warmness in his heart. He was a father, for real. It wasn't a joke or a prank, he really was a father. It was overwhelming but at the same time…pleasant. "Yeah, I fi
Van was surprised to find another of his classmates at the boutique. It felt like he had seen almost all the people he went to school with. "Jessica?""Oh wow, if it isn't my old classmate. It's been a while, hasn't it?""Yes. It really has. Have you been well?""I think that is pretty obvious. Don't you?""Well that's nice.""Would you let go of the poor security now? It's a bit rude to rough handle him like hat. Don't you think?"Back when they were in school, Jessica wasn't one of the Queen Bs but she came from an averagely okay family. Both her parents had to work hard to support her educational needs and she did her best to stand out from other students. Lacking in both fame and wealth, Jessica decided to stand out with brilliance. But even that was difficult for her, and so Van took on the job of tutoring her after class and during weekends. They never actually became close friends but among the others, she was the least annoying. Looking at her now, Van wasn't so sure if she
Before Ivy got pregnant, her grandmother had arranged for her to get married. "But grandma, I can't possibly get married now, I'm only nineteen! There are so many things I would rather be doing with my life than planning a wedding.""Ivy, listen to me. As a businesswoman, I understand the idea of wanting to improve in what you do. I understand the way you feel, you want to make a name for yourself in the business world, you want to become the best at this. And I think I know why.""Look grandma, I really don't –""This is because of your grandfather, am I right? You feel bad about what happened to him so you want to live up to his legacy and probably even surpass it. You want to prove to your father that you are more than just the child of a mistress. Isn't it?Well sweetie, I understand that. But the longer you stay single, the more people begin to speculate that maybe you're just like your mother.""And what is so wrong with being like my mother?!" Ivy was always on the defensive w
Ivy didn't know what to say, she just stood there, frozen in shock. Did he actually make the transfer? It couldn't be a fake alert right? There was no way Van would try to dupe someone like that…even if Pharrell was a huge asshole. But where on earth would he get such a huge amount of money?Pharrell and Jessica couldn't hide their surprises either. Their eyes were glued to the phone, reading the alert message over and over again. "I…impossible! This must be some kind of trick." Pharrell said, facing Van. "There is no way that a sorry looking person like you could ever afford such anount of money. This must be a fake alert!""Yes… that's true." Jessica agreed. "Even before he went to prison, Van was a nobody. And for the past five years, he has been in prison. So tell me, where does a prisoner get this much money?""A fake alert huh? Very well then. Shall we confirm? But keep in mind, once it's clear that it's real, you'll have to apologize to me and my wife for insulting us in publ
As Van walked through the little gates of his mother house, he noticed her standing by the door, a worried expression on her face. "Oh goodness me, you had been gone for so long that I was starting to worry." She said as he let himself into the little house. "Sorry about that mom, it has been a very long day. And in the end, I couldn't even get any shopping done. But it's alright, because I got something even better." He announced with a smile. "Oh? And that might that be?""Mom, we're moving out of this place.""What?"On his way back home, Van had placed a call to his chauffeur and asked him to contact an agent that could provide a new, comfortable place where he could raise a family. He was going to have to get permission from Ivy for that, but he just decided to get the place first. "I know it's shocking, but I want you to know that your son isn't doing anything illegal." That alone would not suffice as an explanation for his mother, and he knew that. "I met someone, a woman.
Elaine decided to go shopping to clear her mind. She hadn't been able to get Van out of her mind. To think that he would boldly turn down the offer to marry a woman like her, and in front of people too! The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. What did Ivy have that she didn't? Was it beauty? She was very beautiful, and she wasn't just praising herself. Different companies had approached her with various offers for her to become the face of their products. She had even reached the top five of most beautiful woman every year for three years in a row. Was it intellect?She graduated at the top of her class in highschool and college. Her father was always commending her on how she was doing a good job managing his business. She had even come up with some ideas that fetched millions for her father's business. Or was it wealth? It was no secret that her family was filthy rich. And everything her parents owned also belonged to her. Plus, she could say that she helped in gett
After getting their outfits and jeweleries, they were done. They got a taxi all the way back to Oakland and made their way to Ivy's residence. When they got there, Van suddenly started to feel nervous, like he was going for a job interview or auditioning for a movie role. He cleared his throat as he knocked on her door. A couple of seconds later, the door was opened and behind it, a little girl with a few missing teeth smiled at him. "Are you my daddy?" She asked, a confused expression on her face. "Yes. Yes I am." Van replied with a soft smile. "Mommy! Mommy!! It's daddy, daddy's here." She announced with an enthusiastic excitement, running from the front door over to Ivy and back. "Daddy?" A little boy stared at Van, and tears began streaming down his face. "Is daddy going to get a hug?" Van went down on his knees and opened his arms, hoping the kids didn't actually hate him for not being around all those years. Taking one cautious step after the other, both kids approached h
"What?" Ivy had to take a minute to fully understand what Van said. "You…you want to take the kids with you?" She asked. She knew what he meant but she just wanted to be sure. "No, of course not. I want all of us to live together. You and the kids, me and my mom …as a family. I already asked someone to contact an agent and when there's an available place, we can go and check it together.""So …you want to live with me.""Yes. Don't take this the wrong way, this isn't me asking you out." He explained. "Oh." Ivy didn't know why but she felt disappointed when he said that. He seemed to notice too because he quickly added. "Not that I'm not going to ask you out– I mean, I'm not going to ask you out if you don't want —what I'm trying to say is this. I want us to bond as a family. I want to spend as much time as I can with the kids, and I also want to spend time with you. I want to get to know you better, I want to be your friend…and if our relationship blooms more than that, being your