Thad knew Carla still harbored resentment toward Ivy, and he worried that seeing her might set Carla off, sparking another confrontation. But now, it seemed Carla was so obsessed that she mistook every young woman she saw for Ivy.

“Carla, it’s me, Davina,” Davina said softly, gently tugging on her arm. “Come on, let’s go home.”

Carla seized her wrist, her voice rising with agitation. “Where’s Ivy? She disappeared, and Micah’s been searching for her everywhere, for years…” “No, wait–Micah! Where’s Micah? Why isn’t he here? Did he go looking for Ivy again?”

Her words tumbled out in a confused rush, completely disjointed–her memory so broken that she had forgotten her own son had passed away. “Micah’s waiting for you at home. Why don’t we go back and see him, okay?” Davina soothed her, playing along.

“Micah’s at home? All right… let’s go, let’s hurry…”

After a long round of gentle coaxing, the group finally managed to get Carla into the car.

They piled into a seven-seater van, the driver up front, and the rest of the Ludwig family in the back. Davina stayed beside Carla, but Thad wasn’t comfortable leaving his wife alone to handle her, so he squeezed into the back row, taking the seat on Carla’s other side.

Jamison sat in the middle. Suddenly, Jamison’s phone chimed–a WhatsApp message from Ivy. She’d gone to work as usual that day, but knowing Jamison and his brother were picking someone up from police custody, she couldn’t help but check in.

Ivy: Did you get her?

Jamison: Yeah, just left the station.

Ivy: How’s Carla? Is she calmer now?

With Micah gone, all the old grudges had faded into insignificance. Ivy now called Carla “sister-in-law” without a second thought.

Jamison: She’s a bit better, but her memory’s a mess. She’s not making much sense.

Ivy stared at the message, not knowing how to reply for a long moment. Just then, Manager Zoe approached, and Ivy hurriedly typed a quick, “Busy with work, talk later,” before putting her phone away.

Catching up to Zoe’s brisk pace, Ivy asked, “Manager Zoe, what’s up?”

“Mr. Shaw wants to see you,” Zoe said. “He has some questions about the Windsor Group.”

“The Windsor Group?” Ivy was surprised. “How did Mr. Shaw get interested in them?”

Zoe explained, “The Windsor Group is planning a major restructuring. Baillie Windsor reached out to us directly.”

Ivy was quietly stunned. So Baillie really was making a desperate bid to stage a comeback. But a restructuring was complicated. Given the Windsor Group’s current situation, the chances of success were slim. Most likely, it would just be a lot of noise with nothing to show for it, and any new capital invested would be money down the drain.

Edmond Shaw had called Ivy in because he knew about her connections to the Windsor family, and he’d heard she’d once tried to acquire the Windsor Group herself–only to pull back at the last minute. He wanted to get the lay of the land and avoid walking into any traps.

When Ivy met with Edmond, she laid out everything she knew about the Windsor Group.

Afterward, Manager Zoe hesitated. “Mr. Shaw, maybe we should just let this one go? The Windsor Group is finished. There’s no point wasting our time.”

But Edmond shook his head. “I think there’s still a glimmer of hope. Just imagine—if we can pull this off, won’t it make the entire industry sit up and take notice?” After all, Baillie had already approached two other investment banks and been turned down.

Edmond was nothing if not ambitious, and he loved a challenge. Manager Zoe, who ran the proprietary trading division and wasn’t responsible for restructuring, saw that her boss had already made up his mind. She fell in line, offering a compliment. “You have a proven track record, Mr. Shaw. Baillie certainly knows how to pick the right person.”

Edmond gave a brief smile and turned to Ivy. “Would you like to join this project?”

Ivy was caught off guard. “Isn’t this outside my department?” she reminded him.

“I know, but if you want to make it in this field, you need to learn every aspect of the business. You already know the Windsor Group inside and out. When it comes to due diligence and valuation analysis, no one’s better suited than you.”

He was right–joining the project would be a valuable learning opportunity for Ivy, and her expertise would be a real asset to the firm. It was a win-win.

After a quick moment of thought, Ivy nodded. “As long as it’s within company policy, I’m happy to help.”

Edmond was pleased. “You’re an intern–it’s normal for you to rotate through different departments. I’ll be supervising this project directly, so just coordinate with me.”

“Understood.”

That evening, Ivy told Jamison about the new assignment.

He frowned, clearly uneasy. “Do you really have to be on this project? You and the Windsors are at odds–they’re not going to welcome you with open arms.”

“That’s true, but this is my job. As an intern, getting to work on a familiar project is a rare opportunity.” After all, she already knew the Windsor Group inside out.

Seeing Jamison’s hesitation, she turned to him, squeezing his hand and speaking gently. “I’ll be careful. The security team is with me every day. I’ll be safe. Besides, Baillie’s counting on our firm to save his company. He can’t afford to mess with me.”

That much was true. Baillie had pinned all his hopes of a comeback on this restructuring project–he wouldn’t dare risk it.

Chapter 765