“Has procurement actually looked into this properly?
Has anyone from the company even been out to the factory?” Something about this felt off to Ivy immediately.
She’d personally inspected that facility years ago, a family-run operation with decades of history, run by a manager who knew the trade inside and out.
Three years of partnership, and not a single slip-up before this.
A factory with that kind of reputation, that kind of track record, why would it suddenly implode over something this careless?
“Procurement’s already gone through everything on their end, and they’re not finding anything wrong on our side.
We sent someone out to mediate, and the factory workers actually roughed him up.
He’s in the hospital now.
If this drags on, it’s going to blow through the production timeline, and that timeline is tied directly to the Barrow order.” The production manager sounded genuinely rattled.
“You signed off on this factory personally, Director Hart.
They’ll only deal with you at this point.
Could you head out there yourself, as soon as possible?”
She’d put her own name on that contract.
Walking away from the fallout now wasn’t an option.
Ivy kept her voice steady.
“I’ll head to Ironbridge right away.
Coordinate with HR and have them pull Hazel to come with me.”
Hazel wasn’t subtle, but she was tough, and stronger than she looked in a real fight.
If she hadn’t managed to pin Gregory down that day, things could easily have ended much worse.
She’d barely finished briefing the team when the phone rang again this time from Barrow Group’s line.
She assumed it was Amy checking on the order status.
Instead, Sebastian was on the other end personally.
“Wolfe Jewels seems to be falling apart at the seams lately, and now you’re leaving town again.
Makes me wonder if we signed this deal too early.”
Ivy kept her tone even.
“Mr.
Barrow, there’s no need to worry.
I’ve overseen this partnership from the start, and I intend to see it through.”
Sebastian’s tone gave nothing away.
“I heard someone nearly killed you and left you scarred while you were tracking down the mole.”
“That won’t interfere with how I handle the Ironbridge situation.
No need to worry on that front either.” Ivy couldn’t quite place the point of this call; it didn’t feel like he was actually checking up on her work.
Young as he was, he had all the instincts of someone twice his age.
“I respect that you don’t back down, Director Hart.
If Nathaniel and Wolfe Jewels ever decide they can’t hold onto you, my offer stands.” Sebastian delivered it lightly.
On the surface it sounded reasonable enough.
Underneath it, Ivy caught something pointed, she couldn’t quite pin down.
Given the urgency, Ivy and Hazel left for Ironbridge that same afternoon.
The whole trip, Hazel hovered protectively near Ivy’s face, terrified she’d bump it against something, visibly more distressed about the injury than Ivy herself seemed to be.
Young people feel everything at full volume.
“Boss, from here on, you’re the only boss I answer to.
Wolfe family or not, you’re the toughest woman I know.” Hazel meant every word, genuinely moved by how little Ivy had let the injury slow her down.
While her husband gallivanted around with his girlfriend, his badly injured wife was out here personally cleaning up the mess outmaneuvering Thornwood on a major account, tracking down an internal mole, handling all of it with barely a hitch.
And she wasn’t even angling to milk the situation on her way out the door.
She just did what needed doing.
Hazel couldn’t reconcile any of this with the soft, harmless image everyone had painted of the boss’s wife for years.
“Boss, did you know Nathaniel took Chloe abroad, officially calling it ‘business’?” Hazel studied Ivy’s completely unbothered expression, clearly agitated on her behalf.
“Men go soft for the helpless act every time, boss.
You don’t have to carry all of this by yourself.
You’re injured and the one the company keeps calling on.
This is the perfect moment to call him, play it up a little, be soft for once.
We can’t just let Chloe walk all over this.”
That woman is unbelievable.
“Focus.
The factory’s people are already here.” Ivy glanced at her.
“Keep work and personal life separate.
Nathaniel’s the president.
Who he brings on a business trip is his call to make.
He doesn’t answer me.”
“But”
“I genuinely don’t care either way.” Ivy was already walking toward the two people waving them over.
A man and a woman stood waiting.
The woman heavyset, in her forties, warm and instantly familiar was Fran, the factory’s operations lead.
She’d spent years accompanying the plant manager to industry events, and she remembered Ivy immediately.
The young man beside her was dressed head to toe in flashy labels, somewhere between trendy and genuinely tacky.
Ivy didn’t recognize him at all.
Hazel had clearly done her homework and murmured under her breath, “Tall, skinny one’s Tyler Ashby.
Nephew of the plant manager.
Word is the older Mr.
Ashby’s health has been failing, so this one’s been running things temporarily.
Except he doesn’t actually know how to run a factory.
He’s been burning through the place at parties and nothing else.”
“I’ve tried reaching Mr.
Ashby directly and can’t get through.
Quietly see what you can find on where he actually is,” Ivy said under her breath.
“Director Hart, we’ve been waiting on you!” Fran spotted them and hurried over, pulling Tyler along.
Catching sight of the bandage on Ivy’s face, she gasped.
“What happened to you?
Is it serious?”
“Just a minor thing, nothing to worry about.
Fran, it’s been a while you look wonderful as always,” Ivy said, keeping things pleasant.
Fran let out a long sigh.
“We’ve taken a real hit on our reputation this time, and none of it is deserved.”
She launched into the full account, tearful and frustrated.
“Every shipment goes through machine inspection, manual sampling, a full double-check process and procurement signed off on all of it at delivery.
We sent out genuine top-grade materials, and somehow they turned into substandard products by the time they hit your production floor, and we’re the ones getting blamed?
Where exactly are we supposed to take that complaint?”
Ivy tried to offer reassurance, but Tyler cut her off, visibly impatient.
“We’re a century-old operation.
We turn away major clients regularly.
My uncle only signed with Wolfe Jewels because he respected your character specifically, Director Hart.”
His gaze dragged slowly over her, head to toe, something unreadable in his smile.
“So you owe it to us to make this right.”
Fran looked uncomfortable but didn’t step in, quickly making introductions instead to smooth over the moment.
Ivy found Tyler’s whole demeanor grating careless, entitled, nothing like a man who should be running anything and declined the welcome dinner they’d arranged, citing her injury and the need to rest.
The second they stepped outside, she ran straight into the last person she wanted to see.
“Small world.” Desmond rolled down his car window, sparing barely a glance at Tyler and Fran, and offered Ivy a ride and a room at a hotel under his name.
She turned him down flat.
“We’ve already got a hotel booked.
We’ll head over now.” Ivy and Hazel climbed into a waiting cab.
In the rearview mirror, she caught Tyler taking a few steps toward Desmond’s car before Fran yanked him back.
Do those two actually know Desmond?
And what exactly is he doing out here in Ironbridge?
“Boss, Thornwood’s been circling us for a while now, and Desmond keeps turning up wherever we are.
Should we loop the president in?
Otherwise someone could spin this meeting into something it isn’t,” Hazel offered, already bracing for the worst.
Ivy closed her eyes and let the question sit there, unanswered.
Why would I call Nathaniel, of all people, the one time I’ve actually gotten a little peace and quiet?
Whatever was between him and Desmond ran too deep for a single phone call to untangle, and she had no intention of trying.