“Sleeping. I told her there’d been an accident, but I didn’t explain everything.”
“You don’t have to explain tonight.”
Maya was quiet.
Then she whispered, “Thank you for protecting me.”
Ivy looked toward the bag containing her ruined uniform.
“Maya, tomorrow I want you to do something.”
“What?”
“Write down everything you remember. Where you were standing, what happened with the tray, what Vivienne said. Do it while it’s fresh.”
“Okay.”
“And don’t change the facts just because you’re worried about me.”
“I won’t.”
After the call, Ivy sat at her kitchen table with a notebook.
She wrote the date.
The approximate time.
The names of the people standing nearby.
The words Vivienne had used.
And the exact moment the first blow struck her shoulder.
She paused when she reached Ronan’s arrival.
Then she continued.
Because what happened before he entered the room mattered just as much as what happened afterward.
The first attempt to change the story came two days later.
Vivienne’s attorney sent a letter to the Blackwood household office describing the incident as an unfortunate confrontation that had been exaggerated by an employee.
According to the letter, Ivy had behaved aggressively toward Vivienne after a service accident, and the riding crop had made contact during an attempt to move past her.
Ivy learned about the allegation from the attorney she’d retained after speaking with Naomi.
Her attorney, Elaine Foster, read the letter carefully.
“Does that account match what happened?”
“No.”
“Then we’ll respond with the facts and the evidence available.”
The professional videographer had been recording the ballroom during the incident.
The original footage showed Ivy standing with Maya behind her, Vivienne speaking, the first strike, and Ronan intercepting the second.
