Chapter 106: Another demanding task

Ivy’s pov

The door to my father’s office swung shut behind me immediately with a click.

Holy shit. I needed soap to wash my eyes. To scrub every inch of what I had just seen away from my memory. I was going to puke all over my clothes.

My knees buckled, and I stumbled back against the cool, plaster wall of the hallway, my hand flying to my mouth to stifle a sob. Ugh, I could still smell it. The air was thick with cheap perfume and my father’s cologne, a nauseating combination that made my stomach churn.

I had seen it. I had seen her.

Some woman had been on her knees in front of my father’s desk, her head bobbing in his lap as he leaned back in his leather chair, eyes closed, a look of grim satisfaction on his face.

Yeah, that had to be the most shocking thing to happen to me in like... forever. It stole the air from my lungs. I had stood there, frozen, for, what, full ten seconds maybe, before my brain screamed at me to run.

And boy did I run. I had fled like my ass was on fire, my heart pounding like crazy while I reached up to drag at my hair, wishing I could erase those ten seconds from my memory.

This was all my fault. I shivered outside in the empty hallway, shaking so violently my teeth were chattering. It was my fault. All of it. If I hadn’t killed her, if I hadn’t accidentally caused my mother’s death all those years ago, he wouldn’t have lost the love of his life.

He wouldn’t be so broken, so empty, that he was now seeking solace between the legs of any other woman. It was all my freaking fault.

If I hadn’t pushed mom down the stairs, if I hadn’t just...I buried my face in my hands, screaming into them, fighting the tears, but it was a losing battle. They burned the corners of my eyes and streamed down my skin.

I wiped them off angrily, while the guilt tripled in my stomach, pulling me down into the abyss. ℴℴ𝘮

A few minutes later, the office door opened again. The woman scurried out, her head bowed, her eyes darting everywhere but at me. She kept her gaze fixed on the marble floor as she scurried down the hall to the elevator.

Wait, didn’t I know her?

As she passed under a light, I recognized her. She was one of the junior executives from the marketing department. I felt sick.

How long had this been going on? I knew I had no right to dictate his life or judge my father for what he did in private. But this... this felt wrong. Was she sleeping with my father to get a promotion or something?

Taking a deep breath, I straightened my shoulders and pushed the door to Dad’s office open again. I couldn’t look him in the eye, so I kept my gaze fixed on the massive desk between us.

"What do you want?" he asked in a crisp and impatient voice. Was he mad at me for interrupting? "Did you not attend the meeting?"

"I-I attended," I replied quietly, my voice barely a whisper, while I wiped my hands nervously on my navy pants. "When I didn’t see you there, I came to check on you."

"There’s no need for that," Dad grunted, waving a dismissive hand at me. "I’m fine." He leaned back in his chair, and when I stole a peek at his face, my cheeks lit on fire in embarrassment. I couldn’t even ask any questions about what I had just witnessed.

"What news do you have from the Knight mansion? They haven’t made any moves against Kingsley & Co. lately. They must be dealing with something."

My stomach twisted. Get your head back in the game, Ivy. I straightened my spine, meeting Dad’s gaze head-on. I couldn’t be shaken by something like this; he would never entrust the company to me. "Yeah. Their... uh, their best friend... turned out to be a traitor."

My father’s eyes gleamed, and he leaned forward, slapping his palm hard on the table. "Really?!"

I nodded, and he cackled. "Those annoying bastards. They are always proving high and mighty but didn’t know they had a snake growing next to them?! I wish I could have seen the look on that pompous fool’s face."

I winced, wondering who among the brothers he was referring to. Dad had never been so insulting about them before. Or had he always been, and I didn’t notice?

"Give me the details."

I recounted what happened but spared him the details, like the fact that they had likely tortured Milo for information. I only explained how Milo had been blackmailing me and how I had orchestrated a scene to expose him.

"Smart of you." My eyes widened at the rare note of approval in my father’s voice. "Fool the enemy to make them think you’re on their side."

The excitement I felt at being praised by him finally crashed into a fresh wave of guilt. That wasn’t why I did it. I hadn’t been thinking about some grand strategy; I had been thinking about them, about protecting them.

"I... I don’t think we can plant the trackers now," I changed the subject. "The brothers are too suspicious. They’ll be watching everything."

"Then you must be better. You must act better as my eyes and ears in that mansion." He reached under his desk and slid a black gym bag across the polished surface towards me.

I unzipped it to see inside were several small, neatly sealed bags of a fine, white powder. "What’s this?"

My father lowered his voice, his eyes glinting with a dangerous light. "Cocaine."

I gasped, snatching my hand back as if I had just touched fire, stumbling back in horror. "Where... where did you get this?"

"Shut the hell up," My father hissed and leaned forward. "You’re going to plant it in that house."