Markus couldn't hide his frustration when he heard Tally say she couldn't handle it."You're telling me you can't handle it?"Tally replied, "That's right, I can't.""Tally Johnson!" Markus snarled. "Don't snarl at me like that. There was never anything between us, and I'm not to blame for how things have turned out," Tally shot back. The room fell silent. Markus' eyes bore into her with a sharpness akin to a hawk's.Back in their days at Albert Group, Tally used to feel a bit intimidated by Markus' intense gaze. But now, she wasn't afraid anymore.Looking into Markus' eyes, she snapped back. "And you've made it clear you didn't want anything to do with me.""I may not want anything to do with you, but today, you owe me an explanation for these two things." Markus' tone was unusually forceful.To him, Tally was willing to do things as extreme as burning down houses and desecrating graves, yet she thought she could just slip away without being held accountable.There was no
Tally left.With only Irina and Markus left in the office, Markus gave Irina a cold look and remarked, "You're turning out to be quite the loyal dog Victor's keeping around."Irina didn't respond. But inside, a surge of anger ignited."Are you biting at whoever you come across now?" she calmly shot back.To Irina, Markus now appeared to be nothing short of a bull in a china shop. It felt like anyone not on his side was automatically his enemy, and he wouldn't hesitate to confront them.And now, he was calling her a dog. Even if that was the case, she was one who knew how to bite back and wouldn't let him get away with it.Markus said, "She's not going to a meeting, is she?"Aware that Irina was firing back at him, he felt annoyed but chose not to engage further. He was getting fed up with anyone associated with Victor.Listening to his confident tone, Irina couldn't help but sneer. "You know, you're pretty clever. But it seems you're not putting it to good use."Markus was ren
Irina stood up, looked him straight in the eye, and said, "Mr. Markus, you're actually quite rational, aren't you?"Markus scoffed, "Are you trying to talk your way out of this?""No, I honestly think you're rational," Irina insisted.Offering validation at the right moment could help ease one's agitation.Markus did not reply. He glared at her fiercely, as if he could see right through her.Despite his intimidating gaze, Irina merely returned a faint smile, utterly unperturbed.Getting up, Markus shot her a cold look and remarked, "You're quite the loyal lapdog, aren't you?"Irina seethed in silence. His words stung.Markus didn't say another word. He just turned and walked away.Watching him leave, Irina felt the urge to explode, but she bit her tongue. In any case, ensuring he left without further confrontation was the best course of action.Otherwise, given the way things had escalated with Tally earlier, who knew how long the argument would have dragged on?Tally was in
When Irina looked at Tally, she said seriously, "You really need to get Mr. Hunt Senior to dislike you even more." Tally caught on as she met Irina's determined gaze.Elijah was really fond of his son Markus, so much so that he was willing to compromise anything for him.Irina kept going, saying, "It'd be great if you could somehow get Mr. Hunt Senior to set up a marriage for Mr. Markus right away. That would really seal the deal and take all your worries off your plate.""Set up a marriage?""Yes," Irina confirmed with a nod.Tally fell silent. Irina noticed her puzzled look and explained further, "Lately, the Hunt family has been caught up in quite a few scandals. They've almost become the talk of the entire Harborlean."If the Hunt family were to announce Mr. Markus' engagement now, considering Mr. Hunt Senior's prideful nature, everything would go smoothly with the engagement."Tally fell silent, mulling over Irina's words."He's prideful?" Tally questioned herself.Tr
Irina nodded, saying, "Yes!""Could you look into which wealthy young ladies enjoy spending time in those places?""Are you suggesting we find him a rich one?" Irina asked. "At the very least, let's find him someone who's, you know, normal," Tally suggested.Even though there was a lot of bad blood between Tally and Markus, she wasn't the kind of person to do something morally wrong. So, in that situation, her main goal was to completely cut ties with Markus rather than risk her life by getting involved."If I really got Markus into bed with a bar girl, Mr. Hunt Senior would surely kill me."Then, it hit Irina. So, morality wasn't really the issue there. It was more about Tally's own survival. When Tally mentioned it was "unethical", she was just trying to be nice. Deep down, she was fully aware of what was really going on. Irina gave a nod. "Got it."Tally suggested, "You should go find out. It would be even better if they had a bit of a crush on Markus."Irina stayed s
At about 2:00 pm, Kathryn dropped by to see Tally. Even though they had discussed today's events over the phone, Kathryn still couldn't shake her worries.But Tally just smirked mischievously at her. "Relax, babe, nothing's gonna happen!"Clearly, Kathryn was worried that upsetting the Hunt family might lead to trouble for Tally. Tally, on the other hand, didn't seem bothered by it.Kathryn seemed doubtful. "Are you really sure? I mean, that's Mr. Hunt Senior we're talking about."Tally reassured her, saying, "I know. But isn't this whole thing about making that old man dislike me? Well, looks like I've nailed it!"Just like Victor and Irina had pointed out, if Elijah stopped supporting her relationship with Markus, half of her troubles would vanish.Kathryn, however, seemed a bit unclear. "Does it really matter if he likes you or not?""It does! They took my dad this time, and it's a direct threat to me," Tally shared."A threat?" Kathryn exclaimed in shock.Kathryn was surpr
Kathryn proposed, "Come on, you two, just get that marriage certificate and smack it right onto Markus' face!"Tally sat in stunned silence.Smack their marriage certificate onto Markus' face?Upon hearing Kathryn's words, Tally couldn't help but be shocked. She looked at Kathryn in disbelief.She couldn't believe Kathryn would suggest something so savage."Yeah, why didn't I realize that earlier? Just getting the marriage certificate with Victor would have done the trick, right?" Tally exclaimed. Tally wondered why she chose to make things so complicated for all this while. But considering Elijah's threat to her, it was still necessary to ensure he disliked her.Kathryn nodded. "Exactly. Once you two have that marriage certificate, it's basically the same as being fully married, right?"Theoretically speaking, Kathryn was right. If Tally and Markus had gone to register their marriage earlier, Elijah might have stuck his nose in. But now, this was indeed the perfect timing.
Kathryn was confused when Jessica suddenly shoved her into the car and promptly closed the door. With her hand still gripping the door handle, Kathryn looked up at Jessica and suggested, "Uh, how about dinner tonight?"Upon hearing Kathryn's dinner suggestion, Jessica paused before nodding and responding, "Let's talk about it later. I'll give you a call."Jessica seemed really busy, and Kathryn could tell from the way she talked that she was in a rush.Kathryn couldn't help but feel for Jessica as she watched her close the car door and hurried off toward the nearby office building, waving goodbye as she went.Kathryn found herself wondering who Jessica was in such a rush to meet.Kathryn couldn't resist stealing a glance back as the car pulled away. In that brief moment, Kathryn's heart skipped a beat as she saw Jessica walking alongside Lloyd. They were heading toward the glass doors of the building.Before Kathryn could double-check what she saw, the car had already turned.