Chapter 1995
After today’s charade, Balfour seemed to see a different side of her.
She had orchestrated the whole scene, igniting in Clara a hope for acting, only to have her schooled during the audition.
And she had cleverly left behind leverage that could be used to threaten Clara. This woman appeared to be quite the schemer.
“An actress?” Ivy asked, puzzled by his question. She walked over, plugged the USB drive into her laptop, and began to copy the necessary security footage. “Why would I want to be an actress? I’m not Clara. She dreams of fame and the red-carpet lifestyle but I don’t want that much attention.”
Balfour cracked a faint smile, “Really? But I thought you outperformed your sister back there. You’ve got a natural talent so you must have a future in it.”
Realizing he was ribbing her, Ivy felt embarrassed about her performance in Clara’s scene. “Balfour, if you’re here just to mock me, then please, get your laughs and leave!”
“No mockery,” he assured her with a half-smile that seemed to carry a secret. “You put on a good show and are an actress with so much potential.”
Ivy seldom saw Balfour’s smile, but she had to admit his smile looked stunning on his good-looking face.
Alright, if teasing her brought him joy, she’d let him have his moment.
After all, his mockery wouldn’t cost her anything!
With that thought, she turned her attention back to the progress bar on her computer screen.
Silence fell in the security room and Balfour’s gaze turned scorching as he stared at her back.
The moment only to be interrupted by Ivy’s stomach growling at the most inopportune moment. Embarrassed, she clutched her belly.
In order to act out today’s scene, Ivy had been here early in the morning watching them set up the scene, and hadn’t even got to breakfast. It was past one in the afternoon, and her hunger was asserting itself naturally since she hadn’t eaten lunch as well. Feeling humiliated at the thought of her growling stomach in front of Balfour, she wished the earth would swallow her up.
She now expected that Balfour didn’t hear her stomach’s growl.
“Are you hungry?”
His voice petrified her on the spot. He had heard.
Well, of course he had. The room was silent apart from them, and her stomach was embarrassingly vocal. It would have been surprising if he hadn’t heard.
The file transfer was complete and Ivy pulled out the USB drive, “Yeah, I missed breakfast and lunch for today’s act. How could I not be hungry?”
Balfour frowned slightly, “Skipping meals for such a trivial matter?”
Ivy’s expression turned serious, “I’ve been planning this for a while to give Clara a taste of her own medicine. I had to make sure everything went off without a hitch.”
Balfour understood the sting of being falsely accused, and he knew Ivy’s silent suffering, “It shouldn’t be so hard to make her suffer a little. You don’t have to do it yourself; Quinton could handle it for you.”
