Chapter 249

• "Shhh, baby, it's okay," Ivy murmured, pacing back and forth in the room with the crying Lucas in her arms. "Mommy's here."
• The nanny, Maria, sat on the couch, watching them with concern, occasionally standing up and sitting back down on the couch in frustration.
• Lucas's cries only intensified, his small body writhing in discomfort. He was unusually fussy, refusing his bottle and arching his back in distress. Ivy had tried everything – changing his diaper, offering him a pacifier, singing lullabies – but nothing seemed to make him calm down.