Old Ivy is gone II

Ivy’s POV

I walked back to my pile of belongings and started going through boxes, looking for my phone charger. My hands were shaking so badly I could barely open them. Clothes I’d worn on our anniversary. Books he’d given me for birthdays. A coffee mug that said “Mrs. Carter” that I’d bought as a joke after our wedding.

All of it meant nothing now.

I found my phone at the bottom of my purse and scrolled through my contacts. Who could I even call? Not my parents. Not Natalie. I had some work friends, but not the kind you ask to help you move out after your husband throws you out.

Then I remembered Jessica. We’d gone to college together, lost touch after graduation, but she was a real estate agent. I’d seen her posts on social media about apartments in Queens.

I pulled up her number and hit call before I could overthink it.

“Hello?”

“Jessica? It’s Ivy. Ivy Carter.” My voice was shaking. “I know this is random, but I need help finding an apartment. Today. Right now if possible.”

There was a pause. She’d probably heard about the party. Probably seen the photos somehow. Everyone probably had.

“Okay,” she said finally. No questions. No judgment. Just okay. “What’s your budget?”

I did quick math in my head. I had about thirty thousand in my personal savings account that Ethan didn’t have access to. It was money I’d been putting away for years, my safety net.

Guess I was using it now.

“Something cheap,” I said. “I can’t afford much. Maybe a studio? Something in Queens?”

“I’ll send you some listings. Can you meet me at two?”

I looked at my phone. It was eleven thirty. “Yeah. Thank you, Jessica. Really.”

“Don’t mention it. We’ve all had bad breakups.”

Except this wasn’t a breakup. This was an execution.

She hung up, and I started loading my stuff into a pile on the curb, planning to call a moving service. That’s when my phone buzzed with an email notification.

FROM: Human Resources, Carter & Associates

My dad’s company. The company where I’d worked for the last six years in marketing. The company where I’d thought I was valued and respected.

I opened the email with trembling fingers.

Dear Ms. Carter,

Due to recent personal circumstances that have affected your professional reputation and the reputation of this company, we regret to inform you that your employment has been terminated effective immediately. Your final paycheck will be mailed to your address on file.

Best regards,

HR Department

I read it three times before the words actually sank in.

They fired me. My own father’s company fired me. He probably ordered it himself, too ashamed to have a “cheater” working there.

I sat down hard on one of my suitcases, right there on the lawn in front of all the neighbors, and laughed.

It wasn’t a happy laugh. It was the kind of laugh that came when you’d lost so much that losing more became funny. Absurd. Like the universe was playing some cosmic joke and I was the punchline.

Husband gone. Home gone. Family gone. Friends gone. Job gone.

Everything I’d built over thirty years, wiped out in less than twenty-four hours.

My phone buzzed with texts from Jessica, apartment listings popping up. Studios in Queens. One bedroom if I got lucky. Places that cost half my savings just for first month, last month, and security deposit.

This was my life now. Starting over from scratch in some tiny apartment, alone, with everyone I’d ever known thinking I was a cheating whore.

I looked up at the house one more time. At the window of our bedroom where I could see Ethan’s shadow moving around.

“I hope you’re happy,” I said quietly.

Then the moving service i called arrived and i started loading my life into boxes, ready to disappear into a city that didn’t know my name or my shame.

Ready to become someone new, because the old Ivy was dead anyway.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​