Chapter 31: Being blackmailed by the real Ivy

Ivy’s pov

The words died in my throat. Standing on the doorstep was a young lady, possibly around my age or a few years older, her black hair in a ponytail that had several stray hairs sticking out, with sweat dripping down her face.

I had no idea who she was, but it was the brown name tag hanging on her black, rumpled dress that made the blood freeze in my veins.

Ivy Thompson.

"Oh, thank goodness." Her eyes were glued to the floor as she wrung her hands nervously.

"Good day, I am so, so sorry for being a month late. I’m Ivy Thompson. I’m the housekeeper assigned to this residence by the agency. I just feel awful about it. You see, the address they gave me was for ’Knight Manor’ on the north side of the city, but there are two residences with that name!"

"One is a small, charming bed and breakfast. Can you believe it? I’ve been cleaning up after tourists for a month, wondering why a single family needed so many tiny bottles of shampoo!" She let out a nervous little laugh.

"It wasn’t until the B&B owner asked me to fluff his pillows this morning that I realized something was terribly wrong. I double-checked the agency email, and sure enough, I was at the wrong address! So, I packed my things and came right over."

Her cheerful, rambling apology trailed off as her eyes finally lifted and focused on me. To be more precise, they zeroed in on my uniform.

Her smile faltered, replaced by a deep, confused frown. "But... if you’re the maid... did the agency already replace me?"

Doom. That was the only word in my head. The person standing before her was the maid whose identity I had stolen.

After a month of living this lie, I thought the universe was on my side, and now the lie itself was standing on the doorstep, ready to expose me. If the brothers found out, I was dead.

Panic seized me. I quickly stepped out of the house, pulling the massive front door shut behind me with a soft click. I wiped my nervous hands on my apron, my mind racing. What could I possibly say?

The other Ivy... frowned at me, her suspicion growing. "Who are you? Do you work for a housekeeping agency? Because they don’t know there’s a maid here. I was the one assigned. I just found my error and came to resume."

"Please, could you lower your voice?" I whispered, glancing back at the door, terrified Gideon or his brothers would appear. Or worse, that preppy blonde of his.

But my plea only made her eyes narrow even more. "Why? What are you hiding?" she hissed, pulling a cheap cell phone from her pocket. "I’m calling the agency right now to sort this out."

"No!" The word tore out of me. In a blind panic, I lurched forward and slapped the phone out of her hand.

It flew through the air, skittering across the pristine cobblestones before landing with a sickening crack.

We both stared at the device whose screen was shattered and lying on the ground, then slowly looked back at each other. I mentally face-palmed so hard I saw stars.

Smooth, Ivy. Real smooth.

The woman hissed, her blue eyes wide with shock and fury. "What did you do that for?!" she yelled, scrambling to pick up the broken device. "Do you know how much these costs?"

"I’m sorry! I’m so sorry, I’ll buy you another one, a better one!" I babbled, grabbing her arm.

"Just listen to me, please! Look, I won’t be here for more than another month. I only needed the job for something urgent, so I-"

The other woman’s eyes widened in dawning horror. "You impersonated me?"

Just then, a smooth, familiar voice cut through the tension. "What’s all the commotion out here, Vivi?"

My blood ran cold, and my head whipped in the direction so fast I heard a snap. Roman was strolling from the direction of the garage, holding a ridiculously large bouquet of vibrant blue roses.

I didn’t have the time or even the effort to gush over how pretty they were. The other Ivy, Thompson, immediately cowered behind me, intimidated by his sheer presence, a reaction I knew all too well. My mind went into overdrive. She was going to expose me!

Taking advantage of her fear, I grabbed her hand, forcing a bright, brittle smile.

"Roman! This is my cousin. She just showed up with a family emergency." I turned to the gaping woman, my eyes pleading with her to play along.

"I need to take a break. Can I?"

Roman’s face fell into a dramatic pout, his hazel eyes gazing sadly at me. "But I just got back. I rushed to see you and everything."

My heart hammered against my ribs. "Please, just twenty minutes. We’ll be in the garden."

He grumbled, but his eyes softened. "Fine. I’ll be waiting."

As I started to pull the stunned woman away, my gaze fell on the roses. A petty, bitter thought struck me. "Oh, and Roman? Miss Titty-Tatiana is back."

His entire face lit up. "Really?" Without another word, he spun on his heel and jogged into the mansion.

Of course. It would seem they all liked her. Who was she to them? Some sort of shared girlfriend?

In the secluded part of the garden, the other Ivy ripped her hand from mine and slapped my arm. "What in God’s name is going on?!"

I launched into the most convincing, pity-filled story I could cook up on the spot.

"I-I needed a job so badly. There was a family issue, and I... Look, I was desperate. I went to the Knight company for an interview, and when I approached the front desk and introduced myself as Ivy, the receptionist immediately thought I was the new housekeeper."

"I was so embarrassed, but I needed the money so badly... I thought I could just work for a month, get the salary, and then disappear before anyone noticed."

It was technically not all lies. The family issue was real, even if the reason for being here was total bullshit.

Oh my god, how many more lies would I have to tell? I guess it was true after all. If you lie to enter a house, you would have to keep lying to stay in it.

The maid scoffed, curling her lip in disgust. "You have some nerve."

I knew I was in the wrong. But I was so close. I couldn’t let it all end like this. I rubbed my palms together, my voice dropping to a desperate plea.

"Please. Give me some more time. Just until the end of February. Please, don’t tell anyone or call the agency. Once it’s over, you can take my place. We can tell the Knight brothers I retired or something. Please."

"I need money too!" she shot back, her voice rising.

"I have bills to pay. I was counting on this job. The Knights pay so well. Where am I supposed to get money without working when-" She stopped, her eyes narrowing as a slow, sly smile spread across her face.

"Or maybe... we can come to an agreement?"

I frowned, not liking the look on her face one bit. "What agreement?"

She moved closer, leaning in to whisper. "You can take as much time as you need. But you’re going to pay me. Double for last month, and triple for every month you keep impersonating me."

I let out a short, disbelieving chuckle. "You’re blackmailing me?"

"Not yet," she said with a casual shrug.

"If you don’t pay me, then I’ll squeal to those devils inside. And from all the news we keep hearing, I wonder what their sick punishment for an impersonator is."

I swallowed hard. Or what their punishment would be for a Kingsley spying on them.

Ivy Thompson leaned back then, folding her arms, smiling smugly at me. "Now I am blackmailing you. Do we have a deal or not?"