Substitute Wife For The Blind CEO

Chapter 150: Like A Mother

Elizabeth exhaled softly as she stepped out of her car, the familiar sight of her grand estate bringing a sense of calm after the surprisingly pleasant morning she’d spent with Ruby.

For once, the day had started right. She’d seen genuine warmth in Ruby’s eyes, something she hadn’t expected when this charade began and especially after the way she’d treated her. noveldrama

Perhaps... perhaps there was still a chance to make things right in her fractured family. She thought, a part of her wishing Rayna would agree to come to Zeden for Ruby’s sake.

The butler met her at the door, bowing politely.

"Ma’am, you have a visitor waiting in the drawing room."

Elizabeth’s brows lifted slightly. "A visitor?" she repeated, her voice tight with suspicion.

"Yes, ma’am. Miss Ivy. She insisted on waiting."

The name hit her like a sharp jolt. Elizabeth’s jaw clenched. Of course. She should have known. She should have known Ivy wouldn’t sit quietly for long. The girl never could stand not knowing, not controlling.

Without another word, Elizabeth handed off her purse and coat, straightening her spine as she made her way to the drawing room, her heels clicking against the marble floors.

The sight of Ivy—perfectly poised, her legs crossed elegantly, her lips curved in that familiar saccharine smile—made something cold stir in Elizabeth’s chest.

If she could, Elizabeth would’ve dragged her off the chair, and slapping that smile off her face, but she couldn’t.

She sighed inwardly as she took her time stepping inside, her eyes sharp and unreadable.

"Ivy," Elizabeth greeted coolly, her tone clipped. "What are you doing here?"

"Elizabeth," Ivy greeted, rising to her feet with a soft smile. "I hope you don’t mind. I was nearby and thought I’d drop in. I just... I wanted to check on you. I may no longer be married to your son, but you’ll always be like a mother to me."

The words, so carefully crafted, so utterly insincere, made Elizabeth’s lips twitch into a humorless smile. She tilted her head slightly, her eyes narrowing. "Like a mother to you?" she echoed, her voice dry with disbelief. "As if you were ever truly married to Stefan or ever truly saw me as a mother in the first place.

Ivy’s expression barely faltered. She gave a soft, almost fragile laugh, her hands clasped delicately in front of her. "I know. I know things didn’t turn out the way we all hoped," she said, her eyes wide with mock sincerity. "But I.... still value you. We had a bond, you and I. I still want to look out for you whether you believe me or not."

A bitter laugh escaped Elizabeth’s lips then, sharp and humorless. She shook her head slightly as she took a step closer. "Let’s not pretend, Ivy. You were never truly part of this family and neither did you see me as a mother or someone you care about. Not in heart, and definitely, not in loyalty."

The words struck deep, and for the first time, Ivy’s mask of gentleness cracked—just slightly—before she forced it back into place. "I... I don’t understand," she said softly. "I just wanted to make sure you’re well. Since Stefan is still out of town, I thought perhaps you might need someone—"

Elizabeth’s eyes darkened. So that was it. She was fishing for information about Stefan.

Her lips curled into a small, dangerous smile. "I don’t need anything from you, Ivy. Not your concern. Not your empty affection. And certainly not your pretend loyalty," she said coolly. "Our ties were severed the day you signed those papers. You are no longer welcome here. Not in this house, not in my life, and certainly not in my son’s."

The air between them crackled with unspoken fury.

"Elizabeth," Ivy tried again, her voice strained now, her control slipping. "I didn’t come here to fight. I came because—"

"Because you think you can worm your way back in," Elizabeth cut in sharply, her voice rising slightly but still laced with icy composure. "But don’t deceive yourself. Or anyone else. You don’t care about me. And you certainly never cared about Stefan. You care about control. About appearances. And you lost that the moment you ran."

The words hit like steel-tipped arrows, and Ivy’s face twisted—first into disbelief, then into quiet seething rage. Her hands trembled at her sides, her eyes burning with fury she barely managed to conceal.

"Leave," Elizabeth said, her voice like iron. "Before I have you thrown out."

For a breath, Ivy stood frozen, her nostrils flaring as her carefully crafted facade shattered completely. Without another word, she spun on her heel and stormed out of the room, her heels pounding against the floor like gunshots. The front door slammed moments later, the sound echoing through the grand halls.

Elizabeth stood still, her heart pounding but her expression calm, composed.

"She won’t give up easily," she murmured to herself, her eyes flickering toward the window where the garden swayed gently in the breeze. "But neither will I."

And with that, she turned and walked away, her steps as unshakable as her resolve.

Outside, the car door slammed shut behind Ivy as she threw herself into the back seat, her breaths sharp and uneven with fury. Her hands trembled as she yanked the seatbelt across her lap, her knuckles whitening around the strap.

How dare she? How dare Elizabeth speak to her that way?

As if she was nothing. As if she hadn’t once been part of this family. As if she could just be discarded like trash. Why was she being extra mean? Perhaps, Stefan was back with Ruby that was why Elizabeth had gone there?

Her driver hesitated in the front, waiting for instructions, but Ivy was too consumed by rage to speak. She was about to bark an order when her phone buzzed in her bag.

She snatched it up, her eyes narrowing when she saw the name flashing on the screen.

With her jaw tight, she accepted the call and pressed the phone to her ear. "What is it?" she snapped, her voice sharp, the edges of her anger still raw. "This is not a good time."

"I thought you’d want to hear this," came the low voice on the other end. "I found out who overheard you at the hospital."

Ivy’s breath caught. Her entire body went rigid. "What?" she demanded, her heart lurching in her chest. "Who?"

The line crackled slightly before the man answered flatly, "It was Elizabeth Winters."

For a moment, Ivy said nothing. She blinked, stunned into silence as she tried to understand what she’d heard. "What?" she repeated, her voice quieter now, laced with disbelief. "

No. That’s... that’s impossible. If Elizabeth had been the one who saw her, Elizabeth would’ve confronted her right away. She wouldn’t have kept quiet.

"Are you sure you know what you’re saying?" she asked again, shaking her heard in disbelief.

"I’m sure," the voice replied calmly. "I dug around, discreetly. Turns out someone saw her at the hospital that day. I spoke to one of the staff who confirmed it. Apparently, she stood outside of the room and just left without entering and soon after, you stepped out."

Ivy’s heart pounded furiously. Her thoughts spun.

No. No—Elizabeth had been the one to practically force her to sign those divorce papers. Elizabeth had turned on her from the moment Ruby’s child came into the picture. But to think she’d go as far as to set this up? To humiliate her publicly and leave her no other choice but to sign the papers?

The voice continued, low and matter-of-fact. "Also, I found something else. The owner of the magazine that leaked the story—the one that started all this? She’s a close friend of Elizabeth’s. Been to her estate multiple times in the past. There are even pictures of them together."

Ivy’s stomach twisted. The last shred of denial slipped through her fingers like sand.

So it was really her. Elizabeth.

All this time, she’d thought some outsider had just overheard her mistakenly and had sold the story to get some money . But no—it had been Elizabeth.

Ivy’s eyes darkened, her lips pressing into a thin, bloodless line as her hands curled into fists.

"Of course," she whispered, her voice dangerously calm, venom seeping into every syllable. "Of course it was her. She wants to destroy me. She wants to erase me so that pathetic imposter can take my place."

Her nails dug into her palms so hard she felt the sting of skin breaking. "She forced me to sign those papers. And now she’s out to ruin everything my mother and I built. Our company. Our name. All so Stefan can get back together with Ruby."

Her eyes burned with pure hatred, the weight of humiliation and betrayal twisting deep in her gut.

"They think they’ve won," she murmured coldly, her voice almost a whisper now. "But I’ll make sure they regret this. All of them."

She drew in a sharp breath, her rage settling into something colder, darker. Her driver flinched when she barked, "Drive."

As the car sped away, Ivy sat back, her mind racing with only one thought:

She would make them pay.

And she wouldn’t stop until she burned every last one of them to the ground.