"What do you want?"
"I want you gone," she says. "Tonight. Right now."
"I can't?—"
"You leave," Penelope commands. "You pack your bags and drive back to the city. You leave a note saying you couldn't handle the pressure. You broke it off."
"And leave Brooks alone?"
"He won't be alone. I'll be there," she says smoothly. "I'll step in. I'll comfort him. We'll be seen together at the party on Monday. United in a difficult time. The board will love it. The vote will go through."
She checks her watch.
"You have one hour, Ivy. If you're still on the property, I show this photo to Betty. And then I call Page Six."
"He gave me a waiver," I say, desperate. "He released me."
"Good," she says. "Then you have no reason to stay."
She picks up the photo album again, clutching it to her chest.
"One hour," she says. "Or I burn his name to the ground."
She walks past me, smelling of expensive perfume, and exits the library to go back to Betty.
I stand there, staring at my phone on the desk.
The screen goes dark. But the damage is done.
I walk back to the cottage.
Brooks is waiting on the patio. He sees me coming. He smiles. It's the most beautiful, open one I have ever seen on him, and it devastates me.
"Did you find it?" he asks.
"Yes," I say, clutching my phone tight enough to crack the screen.
I walk past him into the kitchen. I don't stop to hug him. I don't stop to breathe. I go straight to the table and pick up the envelope with the check and the waiver.
"Ivy?" Brooks asks, following me inside. "What's wrong? You look pale."
I turn to face him.I have to do this. I have to be the best actress in the world, right now, for five minutes. If I crack, he loses everything.
"I'm taking the deal," I say.
Brooks stops halfway across the room. "What?"
"The check," I say, holding up the envelope. "Five hundred thousand. It's... it's a lot of money, Brooks. I didn't expect this. With the waiver and this money, Ever After is safe from any lawsuit. It secures our future."
"Ivy," he says, a confused laugh bubbling up. "You can have the check and stay. That's the point. You're free."
"No." I force my voice to be cold. I force myself to channel the "Shields Up" energy from the last four weeks. "I can't. Because this... us... it was just a job. Remember?"
His face falls. The smile vanishes, replaced by a flash of fear. "Ivy, don't. We just talked about this. You said?—"
"You talked," I interrupt. "I listened. And I realized... you were right the first time. Everyone is a liability until you find their price."
I wave the envelope between us.
