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Isabella and Karina had simply said "we need to know if it's true"

"If what is?"

"Mum… did she sue you?"

Ivy looked visibly awkward, glancing away from her two sisters "I don't want to talk about this"

Karina frowned "Why not?"

"Because she's your mother, I'm not going to force you to hate her"

"We aren't exactly speaking to her anyway, you don't have to worry about us"

Ivy still looked uncomfortable and pulled a face, scratching the back of her hand distractedly "I… yes, alright, if you really want to know. She has sued me before"

"How many times?"

"… three"

"For what?"

"for stupid reasons, but it all stemmed back to trying to get money out me basically"

Karina muttered several swear words under her breath and Isabella shook her head "the worst part is that I'm not even that surprised"

Ivy glanced up at the sound of April driving the jaguar around the corner towards them "Look, I have to go and get back to the house" she pulled out a business card and passed it over "This is my number, if you want to call or whatever then I'll be here okay? I sort of just screwed our mum out an awful lot of money, so I'll probably be in Camps Bay for a few more weeks. You should come up to the House and see the twins, they could do with another set of aunts… the house is at the end of-"

"Ivy, everyone knows where the Van Rensberg house is, it's enormous, but thanks, we'll call you tomorrow?"

Ivy nodded and gave them a brief smile before walking over to the car and slipping in with April, who seamlessly joined the moving traffic.

The Van Rensberg name got you places in much of South Africa, but Cape Town and Camps Bay it could get you anything you wanted. Ivy had briefly considered making life a living hell for Daniel and asking all the Hotels to turn him away but had realised how utterly childish that was, and had simply asked for them to discreetly let her know if and when he checked in. It was less than fifteen minutes after one of the big hotels in the City had called to notify her of Daniel checking in that Ivy heard her laptop bleeping as a skype call came through. She saw it was from Ana and switched it off, not wanting to deal with that conversation right now. Even worse, it might have been Christian using her laptop, as she hadn't answered his three phone calls throughout the day, nor listened to the voicemails, and knew that her father and uncles had probably received calls as well from Christian trying to work out what was happening in South Africa.

It was yet another hot day and the driver from the day before was on the phone by the gates when Daniel came up, and he gave him a curt nod and allowed Daniel in, though his expression was distinctly colder than the day previously. He glanced up briefly and called "Miss Van Rensberg is around the back again"

He nodded, feeling the hot, damp and clammy heat all over him as he once again walked up to the frankly enormous building and around to the back, where he could hear voices.

As he rounded the corner Daniel caught a familiar tumble of long black curls and incredibly long thin legs, and saw that Ivy was wearing a short white summer dress, barefoot in the grass as she was standing speaking to her father, who was wearing a pain of beige trousers and a loose white shirt.

Daniel briefly thought about how attractive the Van Rensberg's all were, blessed with not only brains and beauty, but immeasurable wealth.

Lewis noticed Daniel first and muttered something that made Ivy turn around, and her grey eyes looked intently at her, and she spoke to Lewis briefly.

Whatever she said had clearly annoyed her father, and he glared at Daniel before turning and heading back towards the house.

Ivy was in the middle of the grass and a distance enough away from the house that those sitting on the patio table wouldn't be able to hear them.

Daniel came over with his hands in his pockets, looking as though he'd rather be anywhere else in the world, and it had nothing to do with the heat.

She looked incredible, and Daniel knew that over the stress of the last few days, he probably looked a haggard mess.

She spoke first "The twins are asleep, you can see them when they wake up if you want"

"thanks… Look, Ivy… about what I said the other day… You know I didn't mean it, I was so far over the line. You're past isn't my issue, and it's not my place to say… what I said. I know that it's none of my business and I can't say stuff like that, and I didn't mean it"

"I know you didn't"

"So-"

"But there is nothing left to save Daniel, what's the point in fighting anymore?" Ivy sighed "I am not going to use our children as weapons here, but I'm also not going to just go back to you because we have children together. I don't need you, the twins do, but I don't"

Daniel glanced past her and saw the two girls talking to her uncle Jacob and Lewis at the table which was in the shade and looked back at her "are they your sisters?"

"Yes, they wanted to meet the twins, and they've also fallen out with my mother… I'm the only family they have apart from their father"

"And you don't even want to fight for this, for us?"

"No. I don't have the fight in me any more Dan"

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