Chapter 157: The ball is in your court

Ivy

I wiped my face with the heel of my hand and squinted at the screen. It was Irene.

Shit, I totally forgot she had been at the scene.

"Hi Irene," I sounded like a frog.

"Ivy! Oh my god, are you okay? I saw you leave in the ambulance behind that guy. Duke wouldn’t let me follow, he said you needed space, which is the dumbest thing I ever heard."

It seemed Duke was around because I heard a grunt of protest and Irene snapping. "Yes you heard me. It’s dumb!"

"I’m fine," I replied thickly. "I’m okay. It was just a lot but I’m fine, Irene, really."

There was a pause before she scoffed. "Could have fooled me, You don’t sound fine. Have you been crying?"

"No."

"You’re a terrible liar. You’re literally the worst, for a spy."

An awkward giggle cracked out of me, and then it morphed into a wail, I pressed my knuckles against my mouth to push it back.

"I miss them," I whispered. "I miss them so much, Irene, I don’t know what to do. I miss all of them, every single day, and I can’t...I can’t even contact them."

"Oh, Ivy." Her voice went so soft I almost couldn’t stand it. "Sweetie. I know. I know you do."

"I’m sorry. This is so stupid. You came to have lunch and I ruined it."

"Shut up. You didn’t ruin anything. Where are you? I’m coming to you."

"No, don’t. I’m okay. I just needed to say it out loud." I pressed the back of my wrist against my eyes. "Thank you for calling."

"We’re redoing lunch," she said fiercely. "That one doesn’t count, okay?"

"Deal," I breathed. "Do they... do they talk about me at all-"

Three sharp knocks rattled the bathroom door, cutting me off.

"Harper." My father’s voice cut through. "I know you’re in there. A nurse saw you go in. Come out, we have a mess to clean up, thanks to you and Angel, and I would like to do it before the press arrives."

"I have to go," I whispered to Irene, and hung up before she could answer.

A deep sigh left my lips as I rose to my feet. As I walked out of the stall toward the sink, my eyes caught the mirror in the bathroom. My reflection stared sadly back at me.

Who are you doing this for, Harper Ivy Kingsley? Why am I still hanging on to this, to the company, to everything?

"Harper?!" My father’s voice boomed impatiently.

"I don’t have a choice," I mumbled, tearing my eyes away.

If I give up now, then I would have lost it all. I washed my face at the sink, until my skin stung.

Pull yourself together, Harper.

I dried my hands, squared my shoulders, and walked out. My father was waiting in the corridor on a phone call. His eyes immediately zeroed in on me, going from my head to toe. "You were there for a long time."

"I felt sick from the smell of the hospital. It has been a long day."

"Mm. Do you know the man who attacked Angel?"

"No." Crap. I replied too quickly.

That would obviously sell me out. Shit, how could I screw this up. For several long seconds, he just gazed at me. My foot was tapping against the floor so I made it stop.

"It’s one of those devils, isn’t it?"

"I don’t know who he is," I made myself hold his gaze. "I have no idea, Father."

"Then why is your face all red and puffy? Your nose looks like a ripe tomato. You were clearly crying in there."

"I told you, I felt sick-"

"Oh, don’t tell me." His mouth curled in a cold laugh. "Don’t you dare tell me you caught some silly feelings while you were spreading your legs for them?"

Father might as well have slapped me in the face. How could he say that? How could he belittle me like that? I dug my fingers into my right thigh. "There is really no need for a remark like that, Father. I told you. I don’t know who the man is."

He shrugged, as if he had lost interest in the argument. "Good, then what you have to do next won’t be a problem."

"What do I have to do?"

"The press will be here tomorrow morning. I called them myself. We cannot afford a scandal, Harper, especially with the board vote in July. Right now the whole city is watching a video of the Kingsley heir being rescued by a madman, and her ex-husband being thrown through a planter. Do you have any idea what that does to our stock prices?"

Was that all he cared about? What about me? Father hadn’t even asked just once if I was okay.

"So we’re going to give them an official statement and it will also put a stop to all this nonsense about Angel assaulting you."

"But he assaulted me." I defended myself. I could take everything else, but there was no way I would cover up that pathetic bastard laying his hands on me.

"Keep your voice down."

"No!" I yelled, unable to stop myself. A nurse passing with a clipboard glanced over, and I could not find it in me to give a shit.

"Why should I? He put his hands on me, and you’re standing here talking about stock prices? Did you even ask if I was okay? You came to see Angel. You sat by his bed. Not once in this entire day did you ask whether I was hurt!"

Twenty-six freaking years waiting for a hand on the shoulder, a simple ’well done’ or, ’where does it hurt, Ivybear’. But no ever since mom died, I had no comfort until I met them.

How could they be devils when all they did was take care of me?! Roman had bought me a whole building because the place I lived in was too dirty and dingy.

Gideon had dropped everything the day Milo strangled me, just to tend to my wounds. Kai had done the same so many times, even when he was on shift at Dr. Meyers’ hospital... but my father couldn’t care less.

"I will not cover it up. I won’t do it. Angel assaulted me, and I’m not going to stand in front of a camera and pretend that he didn’t."

My father raised his eyebrows slowly."Well, well," he murmured. "Are you talking back to me now?"

My mouth closed tightly. I dug my nails into my palm so hard. Pathetic. Twenty-six years old and you still go quiet like a child. Grow the fuck up, Harper.

"That’s what I thought." He sighed, as if I had forced his hand. "Fine. If you can’t manage that, then there’s a second option."

He pulled his phone back from his pocket, thumbed the screen, and held it out to me.

"You just have to read what’s in that document. Word for word, into the cameras. You can manage that much, can’t you?"

I took the phone and my fingers went numb. My stomach turned as I read the words in front of me again.

"No." I looked up, shaking my head. "Father, this...this is a lie-"

"And so what? What’s new about that?" He tilted his head. "You’re an expert at telling lies, aren’t you? You can stand in front of a few reporters and read that paragraph."

"If I don’t?" I whispered.

"Then we find another way to stop the story." He reached over and, very gently, took a loose strand of hair from my shoulder and tucked it behind my ear.

"You go back to Angel. You move back into his house, wear his ring, and stand beside him as his wife again. By next week, nobody will remember that you were ever divorced."

He patted my shoulders and took the phone out of my hands. "I’ll send the document to you. Read the statement to the press, Harper, or go home to your husband. The ball is in your court."

My phone buzzed in my pocket. I didn’t need to open it to know it was the statement. I read the first line anyway, and my stomach turned.