Chapter 7 A Battle of Truth

Spencer stood at his office window later that night, city lights flickering across his tired face. His phone buzzed. A message from the lab:

*"Results will be ready tomorrow. Would you like to collect in person or receive them digitally?"*

He didn't answer right away.

There was a heaviness in his chest that had nothing to do with Ivy's lies. It was Maya. The way she looked at him after Ivy's visit - guarded. As if every step they'd taken toward understanding had been swept away by doubt.

He needed to fix that.

---

The next morning, Maya was watering the dead roses in her front garden when Spencer arrived. He didn't say anything right away. Just stood next to her, watching.

She didn't look up. "Is this about the results?"

"No. It's about you."

That made her pause.

He took the watering can from her hand and set it down gently. "I hate what Ivy did to you. What she brought into your space."

"It's not just about her. It's about this whole arrangement," Maya said softly. "Sometimes I feel like a placeholder."

"You're not."

"I'm carrying a life that isn't mine, Spencer."

He stepped closer. "That child is mine. But you... you're not replaceable."

She finally looked at him.

"I don't know what's happening between us," he continued. "But I want to figure it out. With you."

Maya's lips parted, but she didn't speak. There was too much she couldn't say. Not yet.

---

That afternoon, Spencer arrived at the lab.

He insisted on opening the results in front of the doctor.

The envelope was unsealed. The truth, bare and undeniable.

*"The tested woman, Ivy Monroe, is not pregnant. No fetal DNA detected."*

Spencer blinked, then looked up. "So she never was?"

The doctor shook his head. "It was all fabricated. And... she tried to bribe me to lie about it."

Spencer's jaw tightened.

"Thank you," he said, pocketing the result.

He drove straight to Ivy's hotel.

---

She opened the door in silk - already smiling. "I knew you'd come around."

He tossed the paper onto the bed.

She picked it up.

And froze.

"You lied to me," Spencer said, voice low and dangerous. "You used a pregnancy test. You forged ultrasound images. You tried to manipulate my family."

"I did it for us."

"There is no *us*."

Her eyes narrowed. "You think your little charity case will love you back? She's just doing a job, Spencer. She'll take her money and walk."

"She already had the chance to do that."

Ivy scoffed, but there was panic beneath it.

"Stay away from Maya. Stay away from my family," Spencer said coldly. "Or next time, I won't handle it quietly."

He turned and left her standing there, her world collapsing in silence.

---

At Maya's house, she heard the knock before she saw him.

When she opened the door, he looked lighter.

"Ivy was never pregnant," he said. "She faked everything. And I ended it - fully, finally."

Maya's shoulders sagged in relief.

He handed her the envelope. "No more lies between us."

She opened it and scanned the page.

"I'm sorry she brought this to your door," he added. "But I promise - from now on, I'll protect what's mine."

Maya looked up. "Including me?"

He didn't answer with words.

Just stepped forward, cupped her face, and kissed her gently - not out of passion, but certainty.

She didn't pull away.

Because for the first time in a long time, she believed him.

***

Ivy Monroe sat on the edge of her hotel bed, the DNA result clutched in her perfectly manicured hand, crumpled beyond recognition. The once-luxurious suite now felt like a cage, and her reflection in the mirror showed a woman she barely recognized - wild eyes, streaked mascara, a mouth fixed in disbelief.

She had always known how to win. Always known how to twist truth into loyalty, charm into control. But this time, she'd lost.

Spencer had walked out. Worse, he'd *chosen* her - the surrogate. The nobody.

Maya.

The name echoed in her skull like a curse.

Ivy hurled the paper across the room. "She's nothing!" she screamed to no one. "A walking womb with soft eyes and poor taste!"

No answer.

Just the silence of her disgrace.

She paced the room, her heels clicking hard against the tiles. She couldn't believe he had turned his back so easily. She had lied, yes. But it was for love. For survival. For everything she and Spencer were *meant* to be.

And now he was playing house with the help?

No.

No.

She stopped pacing, her breath ragged.

If she couldn't have him...

Then Maya sure as hell wouldn't either.

-

The next morning, Ivy slipped into dark glasses and a plain coat - a disguise, if only for herself. She walked the back streets of the city like a shadow, until she reached an address she hadn't visited in years.

The man who opened the door was lean, hollow-eyed, and smelled faintly of smoke.

"Rick," she said sweetly.

He stared. "Thought you disappeared."

"I did. But I'm back. And I have a job for you."

"I don't do that kind of work anymore."

"You will for me," she said, stepping inside and shutting the door behind her. "It's nothing serious. Just... keep an eye on someone."

Rick raised a brow. "Who?"

She handed him a photo of Maya, pulled from an old file Spencer once left open on his desk. She'd taken it months ago - out of curiosity, she told herself then. But even now, just looking at it made her stomach twist.

"That's her," Ivy said flatly. "The one pretending to be something she's not."

"And what do you want from her?"

"Nothing. Just watch. Learn her schedule. Tell me when she's alone."

Rick studied her carefully. "This about a man?"

She smiled without humor. "This is about ending the game before she wins."

---

Back at the hotel, Ivy poured herself a drink. Her hands were finally steady.

She sat by the window, watching the traffic, her lips curling at the corners.

"I gave him everything," she whispered.

"And now I'll take everything back."

---