Chapter 3 - The Fiancée Who Never Existed
Diane dropped the torn pieces onto Ivy’s desk.
“Maybe now you’ll stop pretending.”
Daniel appeared in the doorway.
“What did you do?”
Diane turned sweet instantly.
“Ivy was upset.”
Ivy almost admired how quickly their cruelty disappeared when witnesses arrived.
Daniel picked up the letter.
“You tore this?”
Diane laughed.
“Oh please. It’s paper.”
“It was hers.”
Stella stepped in.
“That’s enough.”
Then she looked at Ivy.
“You’re creating tension in my family.”
Ivy closed her notebook.
“Your family had tension before I arrived.”
Daniel stared at his mother.
For the first time, Stella realized he was no longer automatically standing on her side.
So she changed strategy.
She smiled.
“Daniel, darling, you’re tired. London exhausted you. Why don’t you go upstairs? Your fiancée will be arriving Friday.”
The room went silent.
Daniel frowned.
“My what?”
Stella’s smile faltered.
Diane jumped in.
“Victoria.”
Daniel actually laughed.
“I dated Victoria twice.”
Stella’s face tightened.
“You’ve been discussing marriage for years.”
“No. You have.”
Ivy looked away.
She had already heard Stella whispering about the imaginary engagement.
But something else bothered her.
Victoria Montgomery was not simply some society woman.
Her family controlled Montgomery Biologics, a company currently negotiating a merger with Harrington Medical Systems.
A marriage between Daniel and Victoria would strengthen the corporate alliance.
Stella wasn’t matchmaking.
She was consolidating power.
Daniel saw Ivy’s expression.
“You knew?”
“I heard.”
“And?”
“Your personal life isn’t my business.”
Stella snapped.
“That is the first intelligent thing you’ve said.”
Daniel turned sharply.
“Mom.”
Ivy raised one hand.
“Don’t.”
He stopped.
She did not want him fighting battles she had been documenting carefully for months.
Later that night, Daniel found her outside behind the service entrance.
“You’re angry.”
“No.”
“You’re a terrible liar.”
“So are you.”
He smiled.
Then asked:
“Would it matter if I was engaged?”
Ivy looked at him.
“Would what matter?”
“This.”
“Coffee?”
“You know what I mean.”
She did.
That was exactly why she stepped back.
“You’re my employer’s son.”
“I don’t employ you.”
“Your family controls where I sleep.”
His expression changed.
That was the imbalance he had not considered.
Ivy continued:
“Whatever this is, Daniel, I don’t get to pretend we meet as equals while your mother can throw me onto the street tomorrow.”
Daniel said nothing.
Good.
She did not want promises.
She wanted understanding.
Then Stella appeared behind the glass doors.
Watching.
The next morning, Ivy discovered a letter under her bedroom door.
Termination notice.
Effective immediately.
No final wages.
No housing extension.
At the bottom:
Leave by midnight.
But Ivy noticed something Stella did not.
The signature was copied.
And the date was wrong.
Stella had created the letter two weeks earlier.
Long before Daniel’s return.
May you like
Meaning she had already planned to remove Ivy.
The question was why.
