Plain ivy? No more!!

Ivy's pov

I did not just fly for 9 hours in heels for this.

I had just closed the biggest deal of my fashion career, it was a new runway show in Paris, my brand is now all over Vogue, and even that editor from Elle has finally started calling me “iconic.” I was on a roll.

That was until the private jet showed up, and the assistant whispered into my ears, “Your father urgently requests your presence.”

So now, here I was, standing in my father’s penthouse living room in Manhattan. Still in full glam. My hair in perfect waves and my outfit that is worth more than most people’s rent.

And yet, all I could do was stare blankly at my father.

"I'm sorry, marry who?" I asked again, slowly, hoping and praying to all the gods in heaven that I misheard.

My father, Charles Monroe, the infamous business tycoon, billionaire, and proud drama king, who, despite being in his sixties, could still pass for a 40-year-old man, avoided my eyes as he repeated himself.

"I said, marry Liam Calloway."

Dead silence.

I could feel the air changing as I blinked. Once. Twice.

Then I let out a sharp laugh.

"You’re joking, right?" I said. "Please tell me you’re joking."

He didn’t answer.

I dropped her designer bag on the couch and stared at him like he had grown two heads. "Liam Calloway? That...That guy?!"

"Ivy....." I cut him off.

"The same guy who made high school a nightmare? The one who laughed when someone poured soda on my dress? The one who spread the rumor that I stalked him? You want me to marry him?!"

"It’s a contract marriage. You know what? Just endure it for one year," he said. "And it’s for the family."

She blinked at him again.

"I’m sorry, did you hit your head while I was gone?"

My father sighed like I was being unreasonable. "Listen. The Calloways are finalizing a merger. Their company and ours... it’ll become one of the biggest luxury empires in the world. But the deal only seals if the two families are united. It’s tradition. Their board and ours wants assurance."

"So you want to marry me off like a pawn?" I snapped. "Seriously? You’re using me as a bargaining chip?"

"I’m asking you to protect the Monroe legacy." My father snapped back this time.

I felt something twisting in my chest at that moment. That word.

Legacy.

My whole life, it had been thrown at me like a crown I didn’t ask for.

"Ivy," he said again, gentler this time. "You’re strong and smart. You're my daughter, I know you’ll be able to handle him."

"But i don’t want to handle Liam Calloway. I never even want to see his stupid face again."

My father looked tired now. "Just meet him. Once. Hear the proposal. Then decide."

I scoffed, grabbing my bag. "No need. My answer is still no"

"Ivy....."

"No. You can find another daughter for this ridiculous arrangement."

"What other daughter, there is no other daughter!"

That stopped me, that's right, I am an only daughter. That was dumb of me to say.

"I mean it," he said. "The board is watching. The press is watching. If this goes public before the deal is secure, everything crashes. Everything we built."

I swallowed hard.

The brand. The company. Everything I worked for.

I hated how it pulled at me.

I thought about the factories in Italy. The seamstresses I had promised I was going to hire. The scholarship fund that was in my mother’s name.

One year.

Just one year.

I should marry the guy who once called me 'Plain Ivy' in front of a cafeteria full of people.

Fake a relationship, smile for the cameras.

And then walk away richer than ever.

My phone buzzed, a text from my assistant/friend, Mason.

"congrats again, boss. Everyone's talking about you. You're unstoppable."

I stared at it for a second, making up my mind.

Then I looked up at my father.

"Fine, I’ll think about it," I said quietly.

My father smiled then, because deep down, we both already knew my answer.