The air was thick with the scent of new money—flashy, overbearing, impossible to ignore. Yet Emma clung to the man’s arm with practiced intimacy, as if entirely unbothered. Ivy couldn’t help but admire her—truly, she had to hand it to Emma’s shamelessness. She must be starving, Ivy thought, to stomach anything at all.
The two pairs drew closer, making avoidance impossible. The split second Emma’s eyes landed on Ivy, her expression shifted—shock, a fleeting flash of panic, and unmistakable guilt. Almost instinctively, Emma yanked her arm free from the older man’s grasp, as if suddenly aware of how ridiculous she must look. Clearly, she knew just how laughable her choice of "support" appeared.
The distance between them vanished. Ivy had no intention of engaging—there was no point—but Emma couldn’t help herself.
To Emma, Ivy was public enemy number one, the woman she dreamed of destroying every night. If she could ruin Ivy’s life, end her outright, only then would she feel satisfied. So, given this accidental encounter, how could Emma possibly waste the chance to lash out?
“Did you have someone follow me?” Emma sneered as soon as they were face-to-face, eyes cold and sharp. “You knew I’d be here, so you showed up just to humiliate me, didn’t you?”
Ivy offered a cool, unbothered smile, meeting her gaze with a nod. “Absolutely,” she admitted without a trace of shame.
Emma’s face froze.
Ivy kept smiling. “So, is this dashing gentleman supposed to be my new brother-in-law? Aren’t you going to introduce us?”
The man—Zack, apparently—stared at Ivy, his eyes wide and fixed, like a cartoon wolf ogling a goddess. But at the mention of “brother-in-law,” he snapped out of it, puzzled. “Wait, what do you mean? Emma, is this your sister?”
Emma narrowed her eyes, jaw clenched, but before she could answer, Ivy cut in.
“Used to be. Now? Well, I doubt she still has the guts to call me that.”
Zack looked more confused than ever, but Emma was already losing patience. Her mask slipped, revealing a twisted scowl. “Ivy, are you determined to ruin me? The Carters kicked me out. The Windsors won’t take me in. Micah tried to help me, but you lot dragged him away and locked him up. Now, when I finally find someone to rely on, you show up just to humiliate me again!”
Ivy snorted. “Do you ever listen to yourself? Besides threatening the Windsors not to keep you, none of the rest is on me. If nearly everyone in your life turns their back on you, maybe—just maybe—you should be asking what you did wrong, instead of blaming everyone else.”
Zack, who’d been listening closely, frowned in disapproval. “Aren’t you family? Why would you gang up on her? She’s all alone—how could you be so heartless?”
Ivy hadn’t bothered sparing Zack a glance before—he wasn’t exactly easy on the eyes. But hearing him leap to Emma’s defense, she shot him a polite smile. “You’re a real saint, aren’t you? Maybe we should carve out a spot on Mount Rushmore for you. You’d fit right in.”
“You—what did you just say?” Zack’s face turned red with anger, catching the insult immediately.
Jamison, who’d been silently observing, trusted his wife to handle things. But when Zack bristled with rage, Jamison’s expression darkened, his icy gaze radiating an unmistakable threat.
Standing at barely five-seven, Zack had to crane his neck to look up at Jamison, who towered a full eight inches above him. In an instant, Zack’s bravado wilted; his scowl melted into meekness.
Emma, sensing another lost battle, latched onto Zack’s arm and muttered, “Come on, Zack, let’s go. They’re not worth our time.”
He nodded eagerly, squeezing Emma’s hand and forcing a smile. “If they don’t want you, I do. Let’s go buy you something nice.”
Emma smiled, satisfied.
But as they brushed past, Jamison turned to Emma, his voice calm but cutting. “You should get yourself checked out at a hospital—soon. A full exam.”