Two hours back.

After the meeting with Noah, Ivy had gone to Max's house to plan their next step and had stayed there until four. Later, she had come home as Max had to go meet someone who would be of their help in planning. Not having any other work, the others too had departed one by one and Ivy too reached home with a mission in her mind. She had to take revenge on Joshua for his behavior in the morning.

She waited for almost an hour when she heard the door open and Joshua entered with a smirk on his face. She glared at him without blinking, waiting for him to notice her. She saw him smile mischievously and she narrowed her eyes even further. He was about to say something to her when she stood up suddenly and punched him in his abdomen using all her strength, rendering him dumbfounded. She punched him again and gave him a proud look while she examined her biceps and blew on her fists. It was as though she had just won a boxing championship.

Joshua's jaw dropped on being punched out of nowhere. He was not hurt by her light punch. It was nothing but a feather falling on him. But he was shocked seeing her never seen aggressive behavior and was confused all the more.

"Why?" He blurted out the question as he blinked continuously.

If Ivy had not seen his shameless actions in the meeting room, she would have assumed him to be the most innocent boy in the world. But now, no way would she trust this man before her. He was a wolf who always trying to get to her and ever ready to eat her. She could feel his desires even if he was meters away from her. She could sense his burning gaze on her every time they were in the same room and it just meant one thing. His longing for her was increasing as the day passed and she had to be careful. He was just like a man in heat and there would come a day when he would devour her completely.

"You shameless man. How dare you treat me that way in front of everyone? What do you take me for?" She punched him again and this time Joshua knew why she was angry and the reason for her to lose her cool. He grinned suddenly seeing her furious face.

"Why Ivy? Did it affect you? Did you like whatever I did to you in the conference room?"

Ivy could see what Joshua was doing here. Instead of apologizing to her, he was trying to flirt with her and get her to succumb to his wishes. But she would not relent to his wishes this time. He ought to be taught a lesson. Ivy gritted her teeth in anger and the next second, she kicked his right calf. Joshua's smile faltered and he felt her kick to be painful, just like a mosquito biting him before sucking on his blood.

"You cheater. You cheated your way into winning this bet." Ivy seethed. If she had the power, she would have smacked his face right against the wall or would have put him in the washing machine until his brain was washed off of the perverted thoughts he had in mind. If these two punishments were not enough, she wanted to chop him into pieces and grind him in a mixer. She had never been this embarrassed before and it was all because of this pervert.

She remembered the knowing smile Noah had given her when he was walking out of the room and that was enough for her to find out that Noah knew everything about them. Also, his mischievous eyes clearly told her that he had seen what they were doing and Ivy had been agitated since then. She did not know whether to cry or laugh seeing the situation she was in. She could only sigh in relief at that time on seeing that none of her friends had noticed anything out of ordinary. Ivy had then made up her mind to get back at him later that day and now his time for retribution had come.

"I get it now. I finally get it. You are angry because you lost the bet and here I was thinking that you were irked with my behavior this morning." Joshua smirked, his eyes twinkling in amusement. This only made Ivy want to wipe that smile off his face. It was highly annoying.

"You cheated this time. You did not play fair."

"Everything is fair in love and war, sweet Ivy."

"Is it? Which category did this strategy of yours belong to, love or war?" Ivy asked with her hands folded and head held high.

"Love war," Joshua answered immediately. "We are about to fall in love and we had our first war. So, love war. Coming back to the topic, now that I have won the bet, you will have to follow my orders for a day." Joshua grinned evilly and Ivy did not have to be a genius to guess that he had conspired against her. Nothing good would come out of it and she was sure everything he had mind would only benefit him.

Ivy rolled her eyes seeing his arrogance. She had to retaliate somehow or else this man would definitely crush her beyond belief. She was thinking about how to handle the situation when she got an idea. But she did not divulge it before him yet. It was her trump card which she would lay before him at his weakest point.

"We will decide a day for it. It should the day when none of us have any work to do. I do not want you to run off in the morning and skip the time we could spend together. No. The penalty was fixed for an entire day and it will be just like that." Joshua gave a long speech, which more or less seemed like he was talking to himself. "I have a lot of ideas for that day and I am not going to miss any of them."

Ivy's heart thundered in her chest when she heard his determined, yet lust filled words and she was sure all his ideas were nothing but sexual desires he had for her. Though he could not have sex with her for now, it did not mean he could not do anything else.

Joshua suddenly raised his head and gazed at her, his eyes burning the side of her face. "But I cannot wait until that day and as I said earlier, I am going to get compensation in return. Are you ready for it?" He asked as he bit his lower lip. Ivy almost got seduced by his beautiful soul-sucking eyes. But she had made up her mind to stay strong. So, she did not give in.

"Compensation?" Ivy asked and received a nod from Joshua. "Sure. I'll give you a befitting compensation."

Her words brought a huge smile on Jo's face and he was already imagining what all he could do to her when she spoke her next words, throwing cold water on all his ideas.

"As a compensation, you are not to touch me or kiss me for the next three days."

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