Substitute Wife For The Blind CEO

Chapter 127: Not Over Yet

Elizabeth stood from her chair and crossed the room to pour herself a glass of water. Her reflection in the mirror above the console table looked composed, calm, elegant. But behind her eyes burned a quiet intensity.

"I warned you, Regina," she murmured to herself. "You chose to protect Ivy even when you knew the truth. You let her hurt not just my son but someone else’s child. Now you’re learning what that costs."

She took a sip of water and let the silence settle around her like silk.

There would be more battles to come—she knew that. Regina wouldn’t give up so easily. She never did. But for now... Elizabeth had the upper hand. The footage was safe. Her identity was hidden. And Ivy’s reputation? Sinking like a stone in the sea.

She walked to the window and looked out over the quiet streets of Zeden. People walked by, busy with their daily lives, unaware of the storm brewing in the high circles of the city’s elite.

Let them gossip. Let them speculate.

Elizabeth would sit back and watch it all unfold.

And if Regina Quinn thought this was over, she had no idea what was still coming.

Elizabeth smiled again, a true smile this time—cold, triumphant, and full of quiet fury.

A soft knock on the door pulled Elizabeth from her peaceful thoughts.

"Yes?" she called out, not turning her head.

The door creaked open a little and one of the maids, young and always a little timid, peeked her head through. "Ma’am," she said carefully, her voice barely above a whisper, "Miss Ivy is downstairs. She’s in the living room waiting for you."

Elizabeth turned slowly toward the maid. Her smile, calm and steady, stretched wider. She didn’t even have to ask what Ivy was doing there. No one had to tell her. She already knew.

"She’s here," Elizabeth murmured, more to herself than to the maid. Her eyes twinkled, and then she chuckled softly. "Of course she is."

The maid stood awkwardly, unsure whether to retreat or stay, her hands nervously wringing the ends of her apron.

Elizabeth waved her off gently. "That will be all. Thank you."

The maid gave a slight bow and disappeared behind the door, closing it softly behind her.

Elizabeth leaned back in her chair, crossing one leg over the other as she rested her arms on the armrests. The grin on her face now was no longer restrained. It was full. Warm. Triumphant. The kind of smile someone wore when they had been waiting patiently—ever so patiently—for a day that had finally arrived.

So... Ivy Quinn had come. The runaway bride. The manipulative little fox who thought she could worm her way into her son’s heart—and home—and make it hers after so causing so much havoc. She had finally cracked. Elizabeth could already picture the look on her face. Pale. Nervous. Her hands probably wringing, mascara smudged from another round of pitiful tears. The poor little actress had reached the end of her stage play.

savor it. The silence. The sense of freedom that lingered just

was only one reason Ivy would show up unannounced, after all that had happened. After her humiliating stunt at the hospital. After the media firestorm. After Stefan had made

divorce papers," Elizabeth said aloud, with deep satisfaction. Her words carried through the empty room like

a kind of protective victory only a mother like her could

days, she had watched her son suffer just by knowing what Ivy had done and the fact that someone else had been the one loving him only to be discarded by him due to the little

pain

would be

smile without any form of guilt or being

who didn’t come with lies

know if this was what was best especially since it meant Ivy and Regina

had seen the way Stefan talked about her over the past few months. The gentleness in his voice. The way he leaned toward her, even

Ivy’s place had been totally unplanned for. But now? Now she believed Ruby was a gift from fate.

slowly, smoothing her hand down her blouse. She glanced at herself in the mirror.

Let her stew in her

need to appear desperate for her

walked calmly toward the stairs, she allowed herself one final indulgence. A quiet, private laugh. It slipped out like silk—amused, satisfied, and brimming with the joy of knowing the storm was

go free my

she descended the stairs to collect the victory Ivy Quinn had finally come to

the polished floors as she descended the grand

Quinn—standing stiff and guarded, arms crossed tightly across her chest, eyes

letting the corners of her lips tilt in a barely-there smile. "Ivy," she said smoothly, voice as polite as it was cold, "to what do I owe

a game? Did Elizabeth truly not know what had dragged

ready to speak, but Elizabeth cut

casually. "The last thing I need is to start

lips pressing into a hard line. The jab landed—quiet, precise, and infuriatingly polite.

papers?" she said bluntly.

"Now that is the best decision you’ve made since you came back," she said with a slow nod,

her shoulder

shuffle of footsteps answered her, and the timid young maid who had earlier

but commanding, "on the nightstand beside the bed—you’ll

a quick nod and

closely—too closely. There was something strange about how composed the older woman was. Too

to all this. Ivy could

to come. Had probably been waiting for this very moment