[Ford House]
Since Nora had absolutely nothing important to do that day besides admiring herself in the mirror, her peaceful moment was suddenly interrupted by the nonstop buzzing of her phone.
Her brows furrowed in irritation.
"Why are they being so noisy?" she muttered while reaching for the device beside her.
The notifications were all coming from one particular group chat.
Curious, Nora immediately opened it.
Eli: [Ivy agreed to come to the get together. She even said she’s looking forward to seeing everyone.]
Nora’s brows slowly knitted together as she reread the message carefully.
Then more notifications appeared.
Polly: [Now this is what I call entertainment.] followed by a laughing emoji.
That response alone made Olivia smirk from the other side of the chat.
Olivia: [Nora, you better not go soft on her after everything she did to you.]
The corners of Nora’s lips slowly curled upward.
She quickly typed a response.
Nora: [No, I’m actually happy Ivy is coming. It’s about time we let go of the past and try being friends again.]
The message was so perfectly polite that anyone reading it would immediately assume she was the victim trying to reconcile.
Exactly the image Nora always maintained.
Olivia replied almost instantly.
Olivia: [There you go again, acting all forgiving and kind. You can do whatever you want, but I’m definitely not being nice to her.]
Olivia had been close friends with Nora for years.
And according to the version of events Nora had carefully fed her over time, Ivy was the selfish outsider who constantly mistreated Nora inside her own home.
Naturally, Olivia had grown to despise Ivy without ever questioning the full story.
Another message soon appeared.
Polly: [Same here. She may have agreed to come, but I doubt she’ll survive the gathering for long.]
Nora’s smile widened further while reading their reactions.
Over the years, she had carefully built the image of herself as the kind and neglected daughter while portraying Ivy as unstable, jealous, and difficult.
And unfortunately for Ivy, she had always been too straightforward and emotionally impulsive to defend herself properly.
By the time Ivy tried explaining anything, Nora would already have twisted the situation enough to make herself look innocent.
Honestly speaking, manipulating people had never been difficult for Nora.
Especially when they already wanted to believe her.
Resting her chin against her hand, Nora stared thoughtfully at the group chat.
’So Ivy finally decided to show herself again,’ she thought slowly as a strange excitement flickered in her eyes.
She had honestly expected Ivy to avoid the gathering entirely after disappearing from their social circle for so long.
But now that Ivy had agreed to come willingly... things suddenly became interesting.
Very interesting.
Her fingers lightly tapped against the phone screen as a new thought crossed her mind.
She quickly typed on her phone and sent a message before returning to admire her.
***
[Globe International]
"Have you explained everything to Lola?" Xander asked calmly while reviewing the documents on his desk.
However, the moment he looked up and saw Taylor’s expression, his eyes twitched faintly.
Taylor still had not recovered from his meeting with Lola earlier.
The man stood there smiling like a lovesick idiot, completely ignoring the deadpan stare directed at him by his boss.
Xander silently watched him for several seconds.
Then he finally cleared his throat.
"Ahem."
Taylor blinked and slowly snapped back to reality.
The second he realized Xander was staring directly at him, his entire body stiffened awkwardly.
"Oh, Boss," Taylor coughed lightly while instantly straightening himself. "Miss Lola has already been informed about everything. She said she’ll personally take care of Miss Ivy."
Xander simply nodded and returned his attention to the files in front of him.
But instead of ending the conversation there, Taylor’s expression slowly turned troubled.
"...But who’s going to take care of Miss Lola?" he muttered under his breath.
"What did you say?" Xander suddenly asked from the side, clearly hearing him despite the whisper.
Taylor immediately looked conflicted.
Then he forced out an awkward smile.
"Boss," he started cautiously, "I still think we should encourage Miss Ivy to pursue another career instead of modeling."
Xander finally looked up again.
Taylor sighed dramatically before continuing.
"Didn’t you see how dangerous her walk was?"
The moment he mentioned it, the memory of the video Benny had secretly sent him resurfaced in Taylor’s mind.
He still remembered almost choking on water after watching Ivy attempt a runway walk inside the mansion.
Unfortunately, his reaction had ended up attracting Xander’s attention too.
And once Xander saw the video personally...
Even he had gone silent for several seconds.
A rare moment, honestly.
Meanwhile, Xander’s expression subtly stiffened after recalling the same memory.
A trace of uncertainty briefly crossed his mind.
But he quickly pushed it aside.
"She asked for this herself," he replied calmly. "There’s nothing I can do now."
Taylor stared at him in disbelief.
Nora: [Mr. Emerson, could you please thank Ivy for agreeing to attend the get together? I haven’t been able to reach her.]

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