Ivy tugged on the corner of Luke’s shirt, her voice as soft as water, but her eyes held a calculating glint. "Luke, your wedding to Sister Vesper is the day after tomorrow. Don’t go back tonight. Stay with me and the baby, okay?"
Luke glanced down at her intentionally pleasing face, but the image of Vesper’s cold, piercing eyes surfaced unbidden in his mind. A sudden, inexplicable wave of irritation washed over him. He flung her hand off, his tone frigid as ice. "I’ll have someone take you home. And don’t come to the office again until the baby is born."
"Is this because of Sister Vesper?" Ivy choked back a sob, her fingers still clutching the fabric of his shirt corner. "How can she be so selfish? Can’t she see how hard you work? You’re doing so much to give her a better life, how can she be so inconsiderate and always cause trouble for you..."
Luke shot her a cold look. "Since when are my affairs with her your business to comment on?"
Ivy bit her lip, not daring to say another word.
Usually, whenever she bad-mouthed Vesper, Luke would play along. But today, his attitude was so cold he seemed like a different person.
She had spent two years by his side, pouring her heart and soul into pleasing him, yet she still couldn’t win against Vesper.
’Why?’
’Besides that pretty face, what about Vesper was better than her? She was Luke’s most devoted lover, his most capable partner!’
A bitter resentment swelled in her heart. As she stared at Luke’s retreating back, a vicious thought took shape. ’If Vesper were to be publicly shamed and lose her virtue before the wedding, would Luke still marry her?’
She took out her phone, her fingertips flying as she sent a text message to Vesper.
...
When Luke returned to their home in Repulse Bay and pushed open the door, he was met with nothing but darkness and cold air.
A strange panic gripped his heart. He strode into the entryway, only to find that Vesper wasn’t home.
His face darkened as he dialed her number, only to remember that she had blocked him.
He walked over to the sofa, picked up the landline, and dialed again.
"Where are you?"
Vesper was curled up on a large, soft bed. A flicker of surprise crossed her delicate features when his call came through.
’At this hour, shouldn’t he be with Ivy?’
Her expression remained neutral. "I’m out buying a few things. Are you keeping tabs on me?"
’She was leaving tomorrow; she didn’t want any trouble before she went.’
Luke’s tone softened instantly. "I was just thinking about our wedding tomorrow. I’m a little nervous, so I wanted to come see you."
’More like checking if I’ve run off, afraid he’ll be humiliated at the wedding by himself.’
Vesper softened her voice, her tone laced with a deliberate submissiveness. "According to custom, the bride is supposed to spend the night before the wedding alone. It’s only auspicious if the groom comes to pick her up at the proper time the next day. Luke, since you want to marry me, let’s not break with tradition."
’The woman who said she wouldn’t marry me just this morning has already compromised?’
Luke felt a sense of relief, certain that she couldn’t leave him after all.
"Vesper, don’t worry. If you still can’t accept me within a year of our marriage, we can adopt a child from an orphanage. We’ll build a good life together. And this business with Ivy, I swear it will never happen again."
Vesper sneered inwardly. ’His damned lies. She didn’t believe a single word.’
"Alright, I believe you. You should head back now."
"See you tomorrow."
The moment she hung up, her phone chimed with a text alert.
From: Ivy
Vesper, I’m pregnant. But don’t worry, I won’t fight you for the title of Mrs. Lockwood.
Attached was an ultrasound photo, the outline of the gestational sac stark and glaring on the screen.
Expressionless, Vesper saved the text, along with all the other provocative messages Ivy had sent her, into an encrypted file.
She replied: The Peninsula Cafe. Let’s meet.
In the cafe, Ivy called out timidly, "Vesper..."
"There’s no one else here. Drop the act. Let’s talk frankly."
Vesper looked up at her, her eyes as still as a deep well—devoid of hatred or resentment, holding only a dead calm.
Seeing her like this, Ivy dropped her facade, a smug smile spreading across her face.
"Sister Vesper, I love Luke, and now I’m carrying his child. I’m not leaving him. Luke himself said he’s obsessed with my young body. He even agreed to let me have the baby for you to raise. I imagine you’re not the type to turn a blind eye, so you probably wouldn’t be willing to raise another woman’s child, would you?"
She took a sip of her coffee, her tone airy and nonchalant, as if she were discussing someone else’s life.
"Tell me about you and Luke."
Unsure of Vesper’s intentions but assuming she had conceded defeat, Ivy immediately opened up, spilling all the details of her history with Luke in a boastful torrent.
"Last March, on your birthday, Luke took me on a business trip to Hong Kong. He chartered a yacht just for us and spent the whole night watching the lights of Victoria Harbour with me. In April, when you were in the hospital for acute appendicitis, he had just signed the surgical consent form when I told him my lightbulb had burned out and I was scared of the dark. He left you at the hospital in a heartbeat and rushed over to be with me. During that storm in June, he told you he was working overtime on a project, but he was actually shacked up with me in his office for days. And on your two-year anniversary, I told him a client was giving me a hard time, and he ditched you without a second thought to come find me..."
Vesper listened in silence. Every word was like a fine needle stabbing into her heart, causing a dull ache, but also bringing her a piercing, absolute clarity.
’So every time she had been understanding, it had only emboldened him to betray her. Every time she had waited for him, she had merely been the backdrop to his romantic trysts with Ivy.’
’On her birthday, she had cooked a table full of his favorite dishes, only to receive a call about his "last-minute business trip." The day of her appendectomy, she had been lying in a hospital bed, shaking with pain, while he used an "urgent work matter" as an excuse to be with another woman. On their second anniversary, she had waited for him at the restaurant for two hours in her new dress, only to be dismissed with a nonchalant, "I’ll make it up to you next time."’
’All this time, her sentimental self-delusion had been nothing but an utter joke.’
The corner of her mouth lifted in a deeply sardonic smile. "Since you love Luke so much and are so desperate to be Mrs. Lockwood, then why don’t you... take my place at the wedding tomorrow."
Ivy froze, but the proposition made her heart race with temptation.
"You’d be willing to give him up?"
Vesper recited a passcode.
"That’s the security code for the house in Repulse Bay. You can go over tonight."
Ivy looked at her warily.
"This isn’t some kind of trap you’re setting for me, is it?"
’If Luke found out she had taken Vesper’s place, he would be furious, and she’d be the only one humiliated.’
"Luke and I are having a traditional wedding. The bride wears a veil during the procession, and it isn’t lifted until we’re in the hotel ballroom. Luke cares more about his reputation than anything. He would never make a scene and lose face in front of all those guests. By the time the ceremony is over, what’s done will be done. He’ll have to accept it, whether he likes it or not."
She paused, a flicker of mockery in her eyes. "Didn’t you say Luke can’t get enough of you? With your... talents, after a little sweet-talking, won’t he be wrapped around your little finger?"
Her words were like a shot of adrenaline; Ivy’s hesitation wavered.
"And you?"
"I’ll leave Ashmore and never come back."
With that, she rose and walked toward the cafe exit without a backward glance.
Watching Vesper leave, Ivy dialed a number.
"It’s time. Do it just like we planned. I want high-definition close-ups of every single step. Don’t miss anything!"
Her voice was laced with an irrepressible, vicious excitement, and the venom in her eyes was like a viper poised to strike.