h4Chapter 169: Unnned/h4

    Inside the car, Ruby leaned back against the seat, finally allowing herself to exhale. Stefan took her hand again and brought it to his lips, kissing her knuckles softly.

    "You okay?"

    She nodded. "I am now."

    Rayna twisted around from the passenger seat, grinning. "Honestly, that was kind of exhrating."

    Ethan chuckled, sliding in beside her. "Only you would enjoy a media ambush."

    "Hey, we made it out alive, didn’t we?" she winked.

    As the car pulled away from the chaos, the bright lights fading into the distance behind them, Ruby rested her head on Stefan’s shoulder, her fingers still entwined in his.

    It was finally over.

    Or so they thought.

    While they were happy with what had happened, Regina Quinn on the other hand mmed her palm against the armrest of her velvet couch in anger, the remote control flying to the ground with a loud crack as her television screen went ck.

    "Stupid! Idiot!" she shouted, pacing her opulent living room in furious strides, her fluffy slippers barely making any sound across the marble floor. "What the hell was she thinking?"

    The Livestream had ended, but the damage was irreversible. Ivy’s face, twisted in rage and hate, had been seen by millions. Her threats, her confession—all of it was out there. The Quinn name was sttered across social media, tangled in yet another public scandal.

    Barely a month ago, she’d had to convince everyone Ivy had no hand in what happened to Eliana, yet here Ivy was, causing another problem.

    Regina growled as she yanked her phone from her side table and dialed Ivy’s number.

    It rang once, twice but there was no answer.

    "Pick up the damn phone, Ivy!" she barked, redialing with trembling fingers. Her heart pounded with a mix of fury and dread. "You little fool—what have you done?"

    Still no answer.

    Regina flung the phone onto the couch and ran both hands through her styled ck curls, ring at therge framed portrait of the Quinn family hanging above the firece.

    Her gaze locked on Ivy’s face in the paintingposed, proud, and elegant. A face that now, thanks to her daughter’s recklessness, had be aughingstock.

    How could she be foolish enough to say all that in public? What had been going through her thick skull when she was spilling those words?

    Was trouble the only thing she knew how to bring?

    The sound of the front door mming shut had her spinning around.

    Ivy stormed into the living room like a whirlwind, her wavy hair disheveled, makeup smeared, eyes wild. Her heels clicked unevenly, one strap broken from the scuffle earlier.

    "Well," she said, throwing her purse to the floor, "that was totally unnned....."

    Regina’s nostrils red. "What did you just say? Unnned? Did I just hear you say unnned?"

    Ivy dropped into the nearest chair, exhaling sharply. "You saw it. Everyone did. No point pretending it didn’t happen but like I said, it was unnned. I never knew they’d do that."

    "You absolute disgrace!" Regina shouted. "Do you have any idea what you’ve done? You didn’t just embarrass yourself—you humiliated this family! The Quinn name! I should disown you this second!"

    "Oh, please mom," Ivy snapped, waving her hand as if swatting away a fly. "Like your precious name hasn’t been dragged through worse. A couple of dramatic lines on camera, and everyone’s suddenly acting like I killed someone."

    As if the situation wasn’t humiliating enough, her mom was here making it all worse.

    "You might as well have," Regina growled. "If I hadn’t worked so hard covering for your messes in the past, you’d be in jail right now. Jail, Ivy!"

    Ivy’s lips curled into a bitter smile. "Maybe I should be."

    Regina’s chest heaved. "Don’t you dare y victim. Not when you’ve wrecked everything we’ve built. Now tell me. What’s the n? How do we clean this up? Since you had the nerves to say those things in public, then you should have a n. Let’s hear it."

    Ivy’s expression hardened. Her hands gripped the edge of the chair, the humiliation she experienced a few hours ago fueling her anger.

    "I want her dead."

    Regina blinked. "What? Who?" she asked, wanting to be sure.

    "Ruby, of course!"

    "What?" Regina asked in disbelief. The look on Ivy’s face told her Ivy wasn’t joking. No matter how much she didn’t like Ruby, she was still her child and there was no way she’d stay back and watch her child die in the hands of her own sister.

    Ivy, oblivious to the thoughts going on in her mother’s mind, nodded. "I’m done ying nice. I should’ve killed her when I had the chance," Ivy spat, voice trembling with venom. "For the humiliation I endured today, for the way Stefan looked at her—even in front of me—she must die. And when she does, he’ll feel it. He’ll feel the heartbreak of losing someone he loves. That’s how I win. Killing Ruby and putting Stefan in misersy. Since he loves her so much, he might decide to even follow her in death," Ivy said with a bitterugh.

    There was a long silence as Regina wrecked her brain for what she could say or do.

    Then Regina shook her head slowly. "No. That’s reckless. You can’t kill her——"

    "And why is that?" Ivy asked with a frown.

    "If you kill her, and they’ll know. You were just caught threatening her on a livestream, Ivy. If Ruby ends up dead, you’ll be the first person they suspect. And I’m not spending a dime trying to clean up that mess. I couldn’t even clean it up if I wanted."

    Ivy mmed her hand on the table. "Then what do you suggest?"

    Regina stepped closer, her voice dropping to a deadly whisper.

    "Make her forget."

    Ivy frowned. "What?"

    "Erase Stefan from her mind. From her life. That’s worse than death," Regina said with a cold smile. "Make her wake up and not even recognize him. Not love him. Not remember anything. That’s enough to destroy him. Having her but unable to have her love. What could be worst than that?"

    Ivy’s eyes narrowed, calcting. "Memory loss... That’s not easy."

    "It doesn’t have to be. You don’t have to do it yourself. Just set it up." Regina leaned in. "I’ll handle the rest."

    Ivy was quiet for a moment, then she nodded slowly. "Fine. We do it your way but I’ll handle everything. I really want to see her suffer."

    Regina gave her a satisfied nod. "Whatever, as long as you’re not killing her. Now, there’s something else."

    Ivy arched an eyebrow. "What now?"

    "Eliana," Regina said darkly.

    The name hung in the air like a ghost. Ivy had to admit that she’d actually forgotten all about Eliana especially after that scandal Elizabeth had caused using Eliana.

    Though she was yet to carry out the n, she already felt good knowing that very soon, both Elizabeth and her soon would be going through the pain she’d be inflicting on them.

    Not only would they lose Ruby’s love but they’d lose that baby they so cherished. She thought with a smirk.

    Ivy shook her head, turning to her mother. "What about her?" she asked, returning to the subject.

    "It’s time to end her life."

    Ivy blinked. "You can’t be serious. She’s still unconscious."

    "Exactly. And if she wakes up, she’s a threat."

    Ivy scoffed. "How? She doesn’t even know I was involved in her ident."

    "She doesn’t," Regina agreed, "but she’s not stupid. She’ll see what’s going on, connect the dots. You called her and didn’t show up before the ident. All she needs is the current headlines to fill in the nks."

    A shadow passed over Ivy’s face as she considered it. "You really think she’ll figure it out?"

    "It’s only a matter of time. Even if she doesn’t, she’d see the news about your visit to her and all you said," Regina said coldly. "When she finally figures it out, she’ll expose you. I’m not about to risk everything for that girl. If we act now, it’ll just look like she never recovered. Quiet. Clean."

    Regina was right. It was better to take care of this risk before it bes too much to handle.

    Ivy reached for her phone, but Regina caught her wrist.

    "No. You don’t make the call."

    Ivy looked confused. "Then who—?"

    "I’ll do it," Regina said, her voice like ice. "I suggested we kill her so it’s only right I do it. You shouldn’t stain your hands while I’m here."

    For a moment, neither of them said anything.

    Then Ivy smiled—slow, wicked, satisfied.

    "Okay," she said even though she was going to be a murderer soon.

    Seeing how her mom had smoothly saved Ruby, there was no way she’d tell her mom about that n. Thest thing she wanted was for her mother toe up with another silly excuse to save the child.

    Her mom might have gone soft, but not her. Not after the humiliation she had had to endure today.