Chapter 1962
Clara burst through the door with a grin plastered across her face, catching the interviewers off guard. “Sorry to interrupt, but there’s something you just need to know!”
Ivy shot up from her seat, her heart sinking with a bad feeling. “Clara, what are you up to now?”
With a sly smirk, Clara glanced at Ivy before turning to the interviewers. “I just can’t bear to see you weary souls go through the trouble of interviewing all these stellar candidates, only to hire someone who’d drag the good name of the Harris Group through the mud.”
The interviewers exchanged puzzled looks until the one in the center spoke up. “What do you mean? Why shouldn’t we hire Ivy? She seems to fit the requirements perfectly.”
“Oh, Ivy?” Clara chuckled darkly. “She’s no simple girl. She’s got a sordid past, defied her parents’ wishes, cut ties with them, and now she’s involved with a married man!”
The interviewers were visibly shaken by Clara’s allegations, their gaze shifting to Ivy with newfound suspicion.
Ivy, seeing her hard-earned opportunity slipping away, was seething. “That’s not true! I’m not involved with any married man. Don’t listen to her nonsense!”
“Really?” Clara’s smile widened. “Then explain how you, jobless as you are, managed to flaunt three million dollars in front of your parents demanding a break from them. Unless you were being kept as a mistress, who’d give you that kind of money?”
Ivy struggled to contain her urge to lash out at Clara’s outrageous lies, knowing she couldn’t drag Balfour into this.
Clara’s smugness only grew as Ivy remained speechless. “See? Lost for words? Admit it, that money came from playing mistress!”
“Mistress?”
“If this gets out, it’ll tarnish our company’s reputation!”
“How did someone like her even end up here?”
The room buzzed with disbelief and relief that Ivy hadn’t been officially hired yet.
“Please, let me explain,” Ivy pleaded, desperation clear in her voice. “Clara is my half-sister, but everything she’s said is a lie. Yes, I took three million dollars to sever ties, but that’s because my family has always exploited me. I can’t go into details; it’s personal. But I assure you, my parents have always favored her and wanted to use me for her gain. That’s why I cut them off. The money was loaned to me, and I’m looking for work to pay it back. I swear, I’ve never done anything immoral!”
Clara crossed her arms and scoffed. “For my gain? Please, Ivy. I have my own career, a bit of a name in the arts. Do you really think | need a jobless sister for gain? You’ve wrecked a home, played the mistress, and the wife even showed up at our doorstep. If it weren’t for our parents’ settling with money, do you think you’d still be unscathed?”
Ivy fell silent, her situation a textbook case of being tongue-tied.
Clara would say anything to ruin Ivy’s chances of getting a job!
