Chapter 84: Fired?

Ivy’s pov

"Are you psychotic?" The words ripped from my throat, raw and disbelieving. "He’s the one who broke my mirror!"

Jake, my darling step-brother, gasped as if I had just slapped him. "Harper! How can you say that? Angel is just so sad and depressed, and that’s cause has to deal with your constant instability."

"Instability?" I stared at him, then at my father, whose face was a mask of total disappointment. "I’m not the one who shattered a mirror! He did!"

"Harper, please," Angel chimed in, looking like some wounded sailor. He even managed to make his eyes glisten, as if he were on the verge of tears. What a fucking actor.

"We just had a little disagreement. I told her a friend of hers couldn’t stay over tonight. I want us to spend some quality time together, you know? Reconnect. And she just... she lost it. She started throwing things." He gestured vaguely towards my room with a sad, resigned sigh.

"Go check her room if you don’t believe me."

Jake didn’t need to be told twice. He hopped up from the couch like an eager little puppy and practically ran down the hall. A moment later, his exaggerated gasp echoed through the house. "Oh my gosh, Dad! You have to see this!"

My heart plummeted into my stomach. "It’s a lie!" I pleaded, turning back to my father.

"All of it! He broke the mirror because he told me his pregnant mistress is moving in tomorrow, and I told him I’d rather die than let that happen!"

Angel let out a choked, disbelieving laugh. "Why would I do that, Harper? Why on earth would I do that? Does that make any sense to you? I’m trying to save our marriage, and you’re trying to wreck it. Why are you doing this?"

The urge to lunge at him, to wipe that smug look off his face, was so strong, but that would only prove his point.

I dug my nails into my palms, fighting it with every fiber of my being. Doing that would only make me the "unstable" one in my father’s eyes. I swallowed the bile rising in my throat, the migraine getting worse.

"I thought we talked about this." My father ignored my explanation completely. "I thought I made it clear. You will maintain this marriage, and you will not embarrass me."

I could see Angel and Jake out of the corner of my eye, exchanging a triumphant, knowing smirk. The sight of it made me sick. "I’m tired," I cried out, the desperation making my voice crack.

"He’s been cheating on me with her for months. He wants to bring her in here-"

"As if you haven’t too!" my father accused.

"Those Knight brothers you’re whoring yourself out to? Don’t think I don’t know! Is that not cheating?"

Tears burned the back of my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. I straightened my spine, forcing my voice to remain steady.

"He cheated first. Our marriage is a sham, and it’s no longer valid to me. I’ll endure it, father; I will hold this sham of a marriage together until the board makes its decision about the company. After that, I’m done."

My father looked at me with disgust scrawled all over his face. "You are too problematic; you killed your mother; you can’t give me a grandson because you’re faulty in every way, and now you can barely manage a home. It’s disappointing, Harper."

"Father-"

"The Knights found the listening device you placed." He rose from his seat, brushing off the crease on his clothes.

"I do not have time; you and your husband will sort your issues. As for the device, find a way to plant another, and you better be more discreet. Use that brain of yours."

Without another glance at me, he walked out. Jake followed, pausing at the door to blow a mocking kiss in Angel’s direction before winking at me and disappearing.

Angel remained, his smirk finally blooming into a full, victorious grin.

"You demon," I hissed through my teeth.

"Are you going to move out of that room?" His head dropped to the side.

"Or do I have to stage another little show for your father? As you can see, Harper, I hold the keys to your future, so you better show me some more respect."

He turned and sauntered down the hall to his room, leaving me standing in the ruins of my own life.

I didn’t remember storming to my room, but suddenly I was there, staring at the shattered remains of my mirror. My hands were shaking so badly I could barely get the cap off the bottle of my migraine pills. I shoved two, then three, into my mouth, swallowing them dry, breathing hard and fast through the pain.

They found the listening device. Was that why Kai was calling? Did they know it was me? I glanced back at the teddy bear on the bed that I had clutched through the night and made a beeline for it, shoving it under my bed.

A sob tore from my throat, but I choked it back. Crying was a luxury I couldn’t afford. I had to think. I had to come up with a lie, a plausible story for whatever Kai might have seen last night.

If he saw anything. I didn’t even dare turn my phone on. I needed time to process, plan, and build a new house of cards to protect myself before showing up in that house.

When the cab dropped me in front of Winslow Estate an hour later, my jaw almost hit the ground. There was so much hustle and bustle I had never seen before.

Several expensive cars were parked in the circular driveway, and some staff in uniform were carrying boxes and garment bags into the mansion.

There was a woman outside, probably in her forties, dressed in a crisp black housekeeper’s uniform, directing one of the men with a box.

A new housekeeper?

Oh my god, was I fired?