Chapter 45

“Oh, I get it now…” Katrina caught on quickly, her tone lightening. “Alright, I’ll talk to him. You get ready, okay?”

“Mm-hmm, don’t worry. I’ve got this.”

After hanging up, a sly smile crept back onto Ivy’s lips.

Looks like Emma fell for it after all.

Emma had probably run off to confront Micah, and the two must’ve gotten into a fight. Micah, feeling wrongly accused, would then come to question her.

It seemed their relationship was fragile – crumbling at the slightest nudge.

A surge of satisfaction rushed through Ivy. She picked up her phone to scroll through the group chat, but her ears couldn’t help but catch Jamison’s voice beside her as he spoke on his own call.

And as luck would have it, he was talking about the stock market.

“I know what I’m doing, why are you nagging me like my mother? Yeah… I’ve got it under control. You cashed out that much? Ha, Naylor… Right, I’m ‘at the property office,’ yeah… That duplex. I’m paying? You rake in millions and expect me, the one losing money on the house, to treat? Fine, fine, talk later – if I don’t have to work late…”

When Jamison ended the call, he felt nothing but disdain for his old friend Naylor.

No wonder people complain about ruthless capitalists. That guy had made a killing in the last market swing, cashed out three hundred million, and added even more weight to an already fat bank account.

Ivy swore she wasn’t trying to eavesdrop.

But the moment she heard the word “cashed out,” her ears perked up, and she started listening in earnest.

“It’s people like you – these greedy investors – who short the market, cash out, and leave regular folks holding the bag. No wonder the market’s such a mess.” Ivy’s sense of justice got the best of her, and the words tumbled out before she could stop herself. She just assumed Jamison had also made a killing in the last market frenzy.

Jamison had barely put down his phone when he was hit with a totally unexpected accusation.

He turned, catching the fiery look in Ivy’s eyes. A mocking smile flickered across his sharp, handsome features. “So, Miss Ivy, you must be one of those small-time investors who got burned.”

Ivy scoffed, “Sorry, can’t say I’ve ever been burned.”

“Oh? So you don’t play the market.” Jamison misread her meaning.

To be fair, Ivy’s words did sound like she’d never even touched stocks.

Who would ever suspect that a young woman like her could be a hidden stock market prodigy and a professional analyst?

“Probably for the best. With your temperament, you wouldn’t last five minutes.” Jamison continued.

“Excuse me?” Ivy’s small face scrunched with disbelief as she turned to glare at him. “Mr. Ludwig, you call yourself a gentleman? Criticizing a girl to her face – don’t you have any manners?”

Instead of backing down, Jamison just grinned. “Equality, Miss Windsor. If you can come at me, why can’t I give it back?”

Just as another argument was about to erupt, the realtor hurried over, smiling nervously at both of them. “Mr. Ludwig, Miss Windsor, we’re ready for you. Let’s get those papers signed.”

Ivy swallowed her irritation, slung her backpack over her shoulder, and followed the realtor.

Jamison trailed behind, his eyes cool and thoughtful behind his glasses as he studied the girl in front of him. A faint trace of doubt crossed his mind.

He couldn’t quite grasp it – how could a girl kidnapped and trafficked for three years, subjected to so much suffering, come back and seem so… normal?

She looked delicate, almost fragile, but there was an unexpected strength in her.

Most people, after enduring something so harrowing, would be haunted for life, unable to ever escape the shadows.

The process went smoothly.

Half an hour later, the transfer was complete.

Since this was a one-stop service center, Ivy simply walked over to another counter, handed in her documents, and received the deed to her new place on the spot.

As she stared at the papers, a wave of excitement bubbled up inside her.

She finally had a place of her own.

No more being locked up like livestock, no more being shoved into a kennel and humiliated.

Whenever she tired of living in the Windsor family’s maid’s quarters, she could move out any time, and step into her own luxury duplex.