Chapter 1: Physician, Heal Thyself

A skill is like a gun; useless until you pull the trigger.

Ivy Benson had worked hard to build her empire. She had come from nothing, building her mansion from rocks thrown at her, throughout her life.

Raised by her grandmother, after her mother had abandoned her as a baby, she had known she would have to fight for her very right to live. Just living was not enough for Ivy, she had to thrive.

At the age of sixteen, her grandmother had died. On her deathbed, she had left Ivy with the most powerful inheritance she could ever get; advice.

“Your life is agonizing and unpleasant, but it’s yours, and you only get one! Now stop feeling sorry for yourself and make the most of yourself!”

Now at the age of twenty-seven, Ivy looked at her computer screen and blinked. Ivy could feel her hands trembling with rage. She would not allow anyone to destroy what she had worked so hard to build.

Ivy had acclaimed matchmaking skills that had gotten her from sleeping on some dusty floors of an old farmhouse to sleeping in a Monarch Vi-Spring bed, wrapped in the comfort of cashmere and lambswool luxury blankets. To have this man throw shadows of doubt in the direction of her capabilities as a matchmaker was drawing the battle line.

‘Miss Ivy Benson is a classic example of a hypocrite. She doesn’t walk her talk! She has built an empire by selling ‘guaranteed love!’ If you are still paying Ivy Benson your hard-earned money to give you love advice or help you make any love connections, then you truly have money to throw away! How are you paying a woman who can’t use her advice and matchmaking application to find love for herself?’

“How gorgeous is he?”

Ivy looked up from the computer screen and rolled her eyes at her secretary and best friend, Jane. “You think that he is gorgeous? Did you just hear what that idiot said about me?”

Jane shrugged. “Well, he is still gorgeous. Maybe the twelve million people watching his livestream were too distracted by his perfectly chiseled chin and impeccable white teeth to even be paying attention to what he was saying about you!”

Ivy drew in a sharp breath. Who was this Andrew Logan?

“For two weeks now, he has been writing articles and posting videos about my company. What is his problem with me? He knows nothing about me or my personal life to be calling me a hypocrite!” Ivy spat angrily.

“It has been bad for business! Our subscription margins have dropped significantly since he started speaking negatively about Mirror Love Connection,” Jane replied.

“Gorgeous, huh? If those margins drop any further, you can kiss your Christmas bonus goodbye! I hope looking at Mr. What’s His Name’s gorgeous face will put a turkey on your table for Thanksgiving!” Ivy said as she pushed back her chair from her huge desk. She flexed her muscles and strolled over to the floor-to-ceiling panes of glass that overlooked the teeming streets of Johannesburg city.

Ivy turned around to her friend, who stared back at her with gimlet-eyed steeliness.

“What should we do, boss? Andrew Logan is an award-winning journalist. He has a huge following, and people hang on his every word! Who wouldn’t with that voice and those hypnotic eyes?” Jane queried as she bit her lip.

“Andrew Logan is out to get me! I wonder if this is just about Mirror Love Connection and its credibility since his broadcasts have quickly moved from focusing on my company to my personal life?” Ivy wondered loudly.

“You ARE Mirror Love Connection though,” Jane pointed out.

Ivy shook her head and walked back to her desk.

“I built Mirror Love Connection to unite kindred souls searching for love. I am good at it! I have had so many love connections ending up in marriage! What does my relationship status have to do with my matchmaking skills?” Ivy queried.

Again Jane shrugged. “Have you ever met Andrew Logan in person?”

“No, I doubt we have had the pleasure…rather the displeasure… of actually meeting in person. I definitely would remember meeting such a pompous, entitled jerk who thinks he has everyone figured out! That’s why I am wondering why he is attacking not just my company but my personal life!” Ivy scowled.

“We need to come up with a way to do some damage control before it is too late! He is well respected you know? People will buy whatever story he keeps spinning about us… I mean about you!” Jane suggested.

Ivy sucked her teeth. This man was intolerable, but she needed a great comeback to get back on top.

“I once read an article about the famous Andrew Logan. He is also a single man with an appalling reputation as a h*ll-raiser!” Ivy protested fiercely. “Scarcely the type of guy to be calling me names just because I am single!”

“You would be in dangerous territory with that argument, Ivy. Given that the man’s every word is worshipped like a demigod. Anyway, yes he is single, and maybe a player or whatever, but you are the face of Mirror Love Connection and not him. You teach people to believe in love. Our slogan is, ‘We can only learn to love by loving.’ You could see where he is coming from,” Jane retorted.

Ivy reddened at the humbling reminder of the slogan she had created back when she started her billion-dollar company. Those were different times when she started Mirror Love Connection. She was happily engaged to be married back then.

“I get what you are saying, but has my company failed to make great love connections for our clients? Without love myself, I have still given great advice and brought together people that are still living their happily ever after!” Ivy argued.

“I am not denying that, Ivy. I, of all people, know how great you are at this matchmaking thing. You brought Bobby and me together! Four years on and it still feels like we are on our honeymoon. Listen, I would never trust a doctor with a crooked nose, uneven eyebrows, and mismatched eyes to perform reconstructive surgery on me. How should people trust you when you have a great matchmaking application and claim to know every trick in the book to get love, yet you can’t secure love yourself?” Jane asked and shrunk back in her chair when Ivy gave her a death stare.

“Whose side are you on, Jane?” Ivy barked.

Jane swallowed, “Your side, Ivy! Always yours. I am just saying, for us to do damage control we have to see where Andrew Logan is coming from!”

Ivy frowned. “He is coming from the pit of a urinal and speaking through his a*s!”

“Calm down and think rationally as the business mogul that you are. We need to be smart about this and not lose our heads,” Jane reasoned.

“What do you suggest then?” Ivy asked.

“We need to disprove everything Andrew said. We just need to find a way to do that!” Jane said.

“Umm…. If Andrew wants me to use my matchmaking application and advice to find love, to prove it works, I will do it! I will not allow that egotistical reporter to ruin everything I have worked so hard to build. If he wants war, I will give him war. What does he know about Ivy Benson? Jane, call the obnoxious Mr. Andrew Logan and set up an appointment for me. It’s time I meet the man hiding behind the camera and taking jabs at my very life!” Ivy declared.