Transmigrated: I Became My Nemesis's Woman

The atmosphere inside the car had turned unusually quiet.

Neither Ivy nor Xander spoke a single word during the entire drive back from the Old Emerson Residence.

And honestly, that alone was enough to make Benny and Teddy deeply concerned.

Usually, Ivy was the one constantly talking, teasing someone, or creating chaos every five minutes.

But now, she simply sat silently by the window, lost in her thoughts.

Even Teddy kept glancing nervously through the rearview mirror every few minutes.

Meanwhile, Xander remained quiet beside her, though his eyes occasionally drifted toward Ivy before looking away again.

The strange silence continued until the car finally reached the Emerson Mansion.

The moment the vehicle stopped, Ivy quietly opened the door and stepped out without even sparing Xander a glance before heading straight inside.

Everyone: "..."

Even Xander frowned slightly, watching her disappear so quickly.

At first, he assumed she might simply be upset about leaving Leo behind for the weekend.

But recalling how cheerful she had been while saying goodbye to him earlier, that explanation no longer made sense.

Unsure what exactly was bothering her, Xander eventually shook his head and stepped out of the car before following after her.

Meanwhile, the moment both of them disappeared inside the mansion—

The guards immediately gathered together like detectives investigating a national emergency.

"Something is wrong," Benny whispered dramatically. "Madam didn’t say a single word during the whole drive. And just now she walked away without even looking at Boss."

The man genuinely sounded emotionally disturbed by the situation.

Percy folded his arms thoughtfully.

"That is suspicious."

But then Nico suddenly interrupted with realization.

"Wait... maybe it’s because we ignored her earlier." 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

The others blinked.

Nico nodded seriously.

"She tried apologizing to us before we left, remember? Maybe she noticed we were avoiding her and now she thinks we’re upset."

Benny’s expression immediately changed.

"...Oh no."

Slowly, all three men turned toward Teddy at the same time.

Teddy instantly frowned nervously.

"What?"

"You were the last person she talked to before we left the Old Emerson Residence," Percy pointed out suspiciously. "What exactly did you say to her?"

Three pairs of eyes narrowed dangerously at him.

Seeing their expressions slowly shift into interrogation mode, Teddy immediately gulped.

"I-I didn’t say anything!" he defended quickly while avoiding eye contact.

Then awkwardly added,

"She did try apologizing... but I kind of ignored her."

The others instantly frowned at him.

"Tsk." Percy clicked his tongue dramatically. "Then maybe that’s not the reason."

Benny suddenly snapped his fingers.

"Wait! Maybe something happened because of Second Madam’s visit earlier."

Instantly, realization struck the group.

Their mouths slowly formed identical shocked O shapes.

"Ohhh..." Nico muttered.

"Right," Benny nodded emotionally. "How did we forget that?"

Still, Percy frowned thoughtfully afterward.

"But what exactly happened in there that made Madam go completely silent?" he wondered aloud.

The group collectively fell into deep thought.

Unfortunately not a single one of them could figure it out.

Meanwhile, inside the mansion, Xander was equally confused by Ivy’s sudden silence.

Watching her walk away earlier without even acknowledging him had left him strangely unsettled.

What’s wrong with her? He wondered while walking upstairs.

Then another thought crossed his mind.

Is she upset because of what Clara said earlier? The thought gnawed him.

Xander might have shut Clara down before things escalated too far, but he couldn’t ignore what happened afterward.

Even though everyone returned to normal and breakfast continued peacefully, his attention had unconsciously remained on Ivy the entire time.

And he noticed it clearly.

The moments she suddenly zoned out. The way her smile occasionally faded and how she barely reacted even when Aaron kept cracking ridiculous jokes nonstop.

Something had clearly bothered her.

And strangely enough, realizing that made Xander feel uneasy too.

***

Ivy stepped into her room and quietly shut the door behind her before walking toward the bed and dropping onto it heavily.

The mattress bounced slightly beneath her as she stared blankly at the ceiling.

No matter how much she tried distracting herself, she still couldn’t forget the look on Leo’s face earlier.

That brief moment when his smile faded after hearing Clara mention that his mother had abandoned him.

The memory alone made Ivy’s chest tighten painfully.

"That woman..." Ivy muttered angrily while sitting up again. "How can someone be so heartless? Bringing up something so sensitive in front of a child."

The more she thought about it, the more irritated she became.

Suddenly, Ivy forced herself off the bed and stormed toward the tall mirror near the dressing table.

Staring at her own reflection, she pointed accusingly at it.

"It’s all your fault, Ivy," she snapped at herself. "How could you abandon your newborn child like that?"

Her reflection naturally offered no explanation.

Which only annoyed her more.

Even though the face staring back at her technically belonged to someone else, Ivy still found herself scolding the woman as though she were personally responsible.

Raven had never truly understood maternal love before.

Growing up in the underworld, survival always came first.

Feelings, attachments, family—those things had always felt distant and unfamiliar to her.

But in these few days, Leo unknowingly showed her something she had never experienced before.

The unconditional love of a child.

The boy wasn’t even her real son.

Yet the way he trusted her, clung to her, smiled at her...

It was impossible not to grow attached to him.

Leo had the kind of warmth that could make anyone fall in love with him naturally.

And that was exactly why Ivy couldn’t understand how someone could willingly leave him behind.

She stared at herself for a few more seconds before finally sighing deeply and walking away from the mirror again.

Still, no matter how much she tried distracting herself, the frustration inside her refused to settle.

Then suddenly— Ivy stopped mid-step, her eyes widened slightly.

"Oh right..." she muttered.

"I was supposed to go check on Sal."

The moment Ivy remembered Sal, her thoughts instantly shifted away from everything else.

Honestly, with his personality, leaving him unattended for too long was practically dangerous.

Since Xander had already told her where Sal was staying, it didn’t take long for Ivy to leave her room and head toward the opposite side of the mansion where the guest rooms were located.

However little did she know, the man she was going to meet was already planning his escape.