The change was instant. Ivy stopped crying as if a switch had been turned off. Her fists relaxed, and she pressed her cheek against Marcus’s chest with a tired little sound. The entire staff held their breath. Lena covered her mouth in shock. Marcus wasn’t looking at anyone. His eyes were locked on a small silver pendant hanging from Ivy’s neck. It was old, worn smooth with time, and Ivy gripped it tightly like something precious. The color drained from Marcus’s face. He knew that metal. He knew the initials engraved on it. His fingers hovered, shaking, before he gently turned the pendant. When the light caught the letters, his breath stopped. “J.C.” The mansion faded away. That necklace had belonged to only one person in his life—and that person was gone.
Before Marcus could speak, Ivy lifted her head and stared at him, studying his face as if searching for something familiar. Then she reached out and touched his jaw with her tiny fingers. The innocent gesture hit him like a memory he wasn’t ready to face. He gently handed her back to Lena, and the moment Ivy left his arms, her face crumpled and the crying returned, sharp and desperate. She squirmed, her eyes fixed only on Marcus. Suddenly, she slid from Lena’s arms onto the cold marble floor and crawled straight toward him. Gasps filled the hallway as she grabbed his pant leg, looked up, and smiled for the first time that day. Marcus knelt without thinking and lifted her again. Ivy melted into him, resting her head against his chest as if she had finally found where she belonged. Marcus swallowed hard, staring at the silver pendant glowing softly against her small body—a past he had tried to bury, now returning through the arms of a child.