CHAPTER 153: CHAPTER 153: CAPTURED

But Silas lowered his head close to her ear, his voice a low growl. "Don’t move."

Ivy froze at once. Her heart skipped a beat when she felt a strange stiffness pressing against her from behind. Her entire face turned bright red.

’Oh no... this guy... he’s impossible!’

Silas buried his face in her hair. "I missed you," he admitted softly.

Ivy bit her lip, her heart racing. ’Why does he keep saying things like that? He is becoming more and more shameless.’

The minutes dragged on until she finally coughed lightly. "How much longer will this... take?"

Silas chuckled and whispered, "If you help, it won’t take more than half an hour."

Her eyes widened, and she gritted her teeth. "How long do I have to stand like this?"

"Mm... if you don’t want to stand, I can carry you to the sofa instead. Then we can cuddle."

Ivy felt like her soul might float away. Her cheeks burned. "You... you keep twisting my words! It sounds like I’m saying dirty things when I’m not."

She glared forward, refusing to look at him. "Fine. How long will it take if I don’t help? Just tell me."

Silas answered in a calm voice, "One hour."

Ivy’s jaw dropped. "I... I can’t stand here for that long!"

Silas chuckled again, his chest rumbling against her back.

"Relax. I was only joking." With that, he finally released her and stepped away. Then, before Ivy could scold him, he hurried to his room.

She heard water running soon after and realized he was taking a foot bath.

Her face was still warm as she touched her cheeks. "’That man... he’s too much. Way too much.’"

..........

An hour later, Silas came out of the bathroom wearing only a bathrobe. His hair was damp, and he walked straight into the dining room.

His eyes immediately landed on Ivy, who was patting her cheeks, still pink from earlier.

He laughed, his deep voice filling the room. "What’s wrong? Are you scared?"

Ivy rolled her eyes, though her face was still red. "If you keep acting like that, anyone would be afraid."

Silas only shook his head and sat down. They ate together quietly. The food was simple, but both of them enjoyed it.

Compared to the chaos outside, this peaceful meal felt like a rare treasure.

Silas watched Ivy as she ate and felt his chest tighten. He thought to himself, ’I like this moment. Just me and her, sharing food, like a family. I could get used to this.’

But then another thought crossed his mind, and his expression turned grim. He quickly masked it, not wanting Ivy to worry.

When dinner ended, he cleaned the dishes and walked into the living room. Ivy was sitting on the sofa with the remote in her hand, flipping through the TV channels.

Most of the screens were dark. Many news stations had already stopped broadcasting. The few that were left only showed the same clips again and again.

There was no real news anymore.

If someone wanted to know what was happening in the world, they had to search on the internet.

But even that was beginning to fail. Websites were shutting down. Countries were cutting off connections. The world was shrinking into silence.

Ivy’s eyes dimmed as she stared at the empty screen. A heavy sorrow filled her chest.

’The end is coming. Technology is fading. And just like that, we will fade too. I know this will last for more than ten years. I already lived through it once.’

Her hand tightened around the remote. The memories of her past life were heavy, pressing down on her heart.

Silas noticed her mood and quietly sat beside her. He reached out and patted her shoulder, his touch steady and warm.

"It’s alright. Everything will be restored one day. It might take time, but it will happen."

Ivy looked at him, her lips pressed into a thin line. She nodded slowly, though her chest still felt tight.

Her gaze shifted back to the dark TV screen.

’Why did these zombies appear? Why are they so hard to kill? Even the government sent armies, but they still couldn’t stop them. Where did this virus come from? How can it end? No one knows.’

She clenched her fists on her lap.

’In my last life, even after ten years, no one ever discovered the truth. And now, we’re starting the same path all over again.’

Silas took a deep breath and leaned back, his eyes on Ivy. "Don’t think too much about it. Even if you try, you might not reach the end of it."

Ivy nodded slowly. She knew he was right.

Even if she spent hours or days thinking, she still might not find the real truth.

Instead, she looked at him carefully and asked, "Then what about you? You’ve been worrying about something, haven’t you?"

Silas’s lips curved into a small smile. He chuckled softly. "You really do understand me better than my parents."

Ivy smiled faintly at that.

’Of course I do. In my last life, I lost him too soon. Now I’m so sensitive to everything about him. His moods, his expressions, even the way his eyes shift when something bothers him. I can’t ignore it anymore.’

She remembered clearly how, back at the dinner table, she had seen the shadow in his expression. He had tried to hide it, but she could tell.

Silas sighed and finally told her the truth. "My sister... she wants to meet her fiancé. She asked me if she could leave."

The words made Ivy stiffen. Without thinking, she said sharply, "No. She can’t leave."

Silas frowned, his voice heavy. "Ivy, I can’t keep her locked up forever. I can’t stop her from roaming around too long."

Ivy felt her chest tighten with frustration.

Her voice rose as she argued, "If she leaves now, if she goes to meet him, then she will be captured by the Black Vultures!"