Chapter 80

On the surface, Ivy always seemed timid and meek, but every word she spoke was laced with barbed sarcasm, quietly mocking her younger sister. She’d mastered this act—the perfect blend of playing the victim and sly manipulation—so well that even Emma, the resident drama queen, couldn’t compete.

After speaking, she pulled out her phone and brought up the footage from the car’s dashcam. “Look, see for yourselves… This is how Emma was driving. The road ahead was totally clear, but she insisted on crawling along at barely twenty miles an hour, slamming on the brakes every few seconds…”

Ivy turned the phone toward the family, her voice trembling as she revealed the “truth,” playing the martyr to perfection. The Windsors glanced at the phone, then over at Emma in her hospital bed, their expressions a complicated mix of disbelief and discomfort.

Not in her wildest dreams had Emma expected Ivy to strike first. She was still scrambling for a counterattack when Ivy swooped in and stole the spotlight.

Seeing her parents’ uncertain faces, Emma started to panic. She quickly explained, “Mom, I was driving slow because I’m pregnant! Safety first. Ivy’s just trying to mess with me!”

Ivy set a basket of fruit on the nightstand, her expression growing more woeful by the second. “Emma, I’m a dying woman. Do you really want to argue with me?”

She looked away, her voice trembling. “I saw the specialist today. He said… there’s nothing more they can do.”

She looked utterly defeated, eyes cast down as if on the verge of tears. “For the sake of your baby, can’t you just let it go and be kind, for once?”

Emma was speechless, her words stuck in her throat. She clenched her fists beneath the blanket, seething. Ivy had twisted her own words into a trap—there was simply no way out.

That’s what it meant to steal someone’s path and leave them nowhere to run.

Watching Emma get caught out and unable to fight back, Ivy could hardly contain her glee. She had to struggle to keep a straight face.

But Emma wasn’t about to give up that easily.

Forcing down her frustration, she quickly regrouped and flashed a poised smile. “Fine, let’s not argue. We’re family, after all. Besides – Micah’s marrying me soon. With a wedding coming up, we should focus on getting along.”

Ivy nodded serenely. “Congratulations, sis.”

Emma blinked, caught off guard. “Aren’t you upset?”

She’d meant to provoke Ivy, but Ivy’s reaction was nothing like she’d hoped.

Ivy smiled, “Why would I be? I hope you two end up together… forever and ever. May you be stuck with each other for all eternity, and spare the rest of us!”

Just as the words left her lips, the hospital room door swung open. Everyone turned as Micah walked in, looking visibly shaken.

“Micah, what happened to your face?”

“Are you alright?”

Micah pressed an ice pack to his temples, trying to ease the throbbing around his eyes. He was about to launch into his complaint, but as soon as he spotted Ivy, his temper exploded. “Ivy! How dare you show your face here! I must have been blind to ever fall for someone like you!”

The Windsors exchanged confused glances, completely lost.

Ivy’s brows knitted together; she put on her most pitiful expression again. “Micah, I came to apologize to Emma. Is that not allowed?”

Micah snorted, his bruised face as red as a baboon’s. “You, apologize? You’re just here to make everyone miserable!”

Ivy lowered her gaze, silent for a moment, then spoke with a tremor in her voice. “Believe what you want… I was already upset after the doctor told me there’s no hope for me. That’s why I lost my cool when I saw you with Katrina. I even paid for your medical bills – and your emotional damages…”

Micah flushed with humiliation at the mention of the money—like he needed her charity. But the words “no hope for me” gave him pause, softening his expression.

Ivy finished her performance to perfection. “Never mind… I won’t stick around and be a bother. I’d like to be alone for a while.”

With that, she slumped her shoulders and walked out quietly.

The room fell silent. No one spoke for a long moment.

Finally, Rosetta began to sniffle. “Ivy… she’s just so pitiful.”

Emma, realizing her parents had been won over by Ivy’s act, grew desperate. She clutched her stomach and let out a pained “ow!”

“Emma, what’s wrong?”

Emma immediately switched to her own performance, eager to grab their sympathy. But deep down, she made up her mind—

Ivy had to disappear. She couldn’t wait for illness to take care of her; something had to be done.

But how? How could she make Ivy vanish without anyone suspecting?

Would she have to resort to hiring someone again?

Ivy spent half the day in her duplex, reading and studying for her stockbroker’s exam.

By evening, when she returned to the Windsors’ house, the living room was eerily quiet.

She found out Rosetta was still at the hospital with Emma, and Adkins and Baillie were out at a dinner event.

Back in the housekeeper’s quarters, she fed the black–and–white king snake, wondering when she should finally return the little creature to its owner.

Her phone kept buzzing—it was the WhatsApp group.

She hadn’t posted any market analysis lately, thanks to her health, and now several people were @-ing her for an update.

She opened the group and chatted for a bit, noting that Dr. Handsome hadn’t appeared. She figured he must still be busy.

Then, suddenly, his avatar flashed—a private message.

He hadn’t spoken in the group at all, yet now he was messaging her directly?

A strange warmth bloomed in Ivy’s chest. She couldn’t quite put her feelings into words.

Dr. Handsome: Professor Penn was seeing patients today. Did you go?