Falling in Love : I love you, Today and Forever

Ivy walked back to her room, worrying about the childish man who was waiting for her. Though they had argued a few minutes before Noah and Aria arrived, it was not a huge matter. And from Joshua's looks alone, she was sure that he had not taken her threats to heart. He was just throwing a tantrum at her to gain her attention.

But Ivy was pleasantly surprised when she saw Joshua working on his laptop instead of waiting for her with a sulking face. He was focused at work, and Ivy could not help marvel at his charming face. Her heart skipped a beat as soon as she saw his side profile, and she sighed softly in awe. 

Her sigh did not go unheard, and Joshua lifted his head and stared at her. His serious expression broke and a wide smile landed on his lips. He raised an eyebrow at the awestruck girl, waiting for her to come out of her trance, enjoying her attention on him. He folded his hands as he too stared back at her, admiring her pretty face to his heart's content.

It was only when Ivy's eyes started to sting that she blinked and came out of her stupor. She cleared her throat in embarrassment and lowered her head, awkwardness hitting her when she noticed her man's intense gaze on her. It was too overwhelming, and she did not know what to do and where to go.

"Are you done gawking, Ivy?" Joshua teased as soon as he saw her lower her head and fidgeting in her place. "I am honored and delighted to know that you consider me handsome and worthy of your gaze." He beamed, and Ivy almost rolled her eyes at him. 

"What were you doing?" Instead of answering him, she decided to change the topic. She crawled on the bed and peeked at his laptop, trying to find out what he was up to. But Ivy did not even have to take the stress. Joshua pushed his laptop towards himself to take a look, and Ivy frowned when she saw the confusing words on the screen.

"What are these?" She queried and went through the programming codes which she could not understand.

"I am trying to crack an application which Maggie found on Jared's laptop. Apparently, she found this information in Jared's computer, and she is unable to crack the password to unlock it. I am wondering what he has stored in this application to have it safeguarded with high-level security. I presume it must be something helpful for us to deal with."

Ivy nodded after listening to Joshua's words. Why would Jared safeguard his files if they did not concern with some important matters? "I presume it has to be something related to what he wanted to do in the future. Perhaps, his next plan?" Ivy said with a dubious tone.

"Maybe. We do not know about it yet. I am yet to decode the password, and the security walls are quite strong to open up the application." Joshua sighed as he typed a string of codes on his laptop.

"Can't you try cracking the password?" Ivy gave him a confused look, only to find him shake his head.

"No, I can't. Jared is smart. He has only allowed only one attempt. If we input a wrong password, the application will crash completely and we will lose the data in it forever."

"Oh, in that case, this file must have been extremely important for him."

"I assume it to be the case. So, I am trying my best to crack the code and break through its security."

Ivy could not make a head or tail of what he was doing. So, she just laid down and closed her eyes. "Joshua."

"Hmm?"

"Go to sleep." It was not a request but an order and Joshua smiled in joy.

"As you say, darling." He placed his laptop on the table beside his bed and laid down beside her. But before he could hug her sleep, Ivy turned away from him.

"You are hurt. You will have to recuperate first before we hug." She stated, making the man let out a whine pitifully.

"Why? Why should I not hug you while sleeping?"

"Because you are injured. Now, go to sleep. I will have to get up early. I have a meeting with the President in the morning."

"Are you going to the Princep House in the morning?" Joshua queried, excited by her revelation.

This time, Ivy turned around and faced him. "Yes, we need to disclose the truth to the President first before we decide what to do. This is also related to the military. We cannot act on our own without consulting them."

"What time is your meeting?"

"Some time in the morning. The President has a press meet tomorrow. I will meet him after that." Ivy stifled a yawn, and Joshua chuckled before he patted her tired face.

"Go to sleep, Ivy. I will watch over you."

"What about you? You need to sleep too." Ivy protested and tried to get up but Joshua stopped her.

"I slept in the noon until you returned home. I am not that sleepy yet. Let me work on the code. We might find something useful to us." Joshua did not allow her to complain. His reason was enough to coax her to sleep, and Ivy eventually gave up. No sooner did she close her eyes, she drifted off to sleep.

Joshua kissed her on her forehead and focused on his work, trying to crack the code. 'Who made this application?' He wondered with a frown, his face losing its smile immediately. 'The security wall is too strong. What is he hiding in this?'

Joshua waited for a long time, almost until the wee hours of dusk when he could finally break the security and invade the application. He sighed in victory and started checking its content. And what he saw made his eyes widen in shock. There was a folder that held details about the Carter and Martin families as well as a lot of photographs that had been taken without their knowledge. But that was not what shocked him. It was one of the photographs in an album that spooked the hell out of him.

Noah's grandfather, Jonathan Carter was dining with Charles Miller, and both the men had blissful smiles as they stared ahead while posing for the photo.