After a pause, Jonah said calmly, “I’ll leave this task to you. Why don’t you go through the plan in detail?”Cole turned his head away, refused to spare his friend a glance, and ignored what he said altogether. Plan? Was this all a joke? He lost his precious films!Ivanka was sitting next to Jonah. She had no opinion regarding this plan. Since Jonah had made the arrangement, he must have been prepared. She might not need to intervene or mind this all that much.The most important thing to her was designing some good products. Of course, she had other commitments and needed to wrap them up as soon as possible.Heath could not help giving a cold snort. “Dirty things are all he can think about right now. I wonder if he has room for something else. He is doomed. Sooner or later he will die on a woman!”“That’s a beautiful way to die. Don’t you think so?” Cole was unabashed as he said that and was affected by Heath’s insult.“You’re really something.” Heath eyed his friend with a loo
“Sorry, they are lost for good,” Ivanka replied to him out of courtesy. Then she turned to Jonah. “Do you have anything else to discuss? I have to head back.”Jonah smiled. “I’ll drive you home.”“It’s okay. I can go home on my own. You stay and have fun.” Since Jonah had come here to hang out with his buddies, Ivanka did not intend to make him follow her out of the bar.However, Jonah would not possibly let her go home alone. Besides, he would seize every chance to keep her company. He immediately stood up. “It’s fine. Let them hang out on their own. I’ll drive you.”With that, he walked ahead of her and opened the door for her.A strange emotion flashed in Ivanka’s eyes. Before she said anything, Heath, who seemed to have read her mind, immediately said, “Come on, Mrs. Sadler, let him drive you. Or else he’ll be absent-minded throughout our meeting. His soul would have left with you. What do we want his empty shell for?”Ivanka frowned and looked at Heath. She said calmly, “You
Jonah raised his brows and turned to Ivanka. Seeing how serious she was, he gave a faint sigh. “I know what you want to say. But sometimes, even if you say it, I might not listen.”Ivanka furrowed her brows slightly. She looked at him and did not say anything immediately. But deep down, she already felt irritated. If he kept acting this way, it would invite trouble for them both.However, given Jonah’s attitude, her ultimatum might not be effective at all.Just as she was troubled, Jonah sighed again. “Ivanka.”She looked up at him without a word.Jonah said calmly, “You never trust me and always assume that I approach you with ulterior motives. I just want you to know that it takes time to truly know somebody.”When her expression became conflicted, and she was about to retort, he added casually, “Since you haven’t managed to tell if I’m sincere, I can keep waiting.”They were alone in the car at the moment. Jonah was no longer in a hurry to start driving. If Ivanka wanted to t
The two of them fell silent.Ivanka stared calmly at Jonah. Jonah did not hurry to start the car. Instead, he sighed and looked at Ivanka. “Iv, I didn’t want to pressure you, but if I don’t take action, you’ll only drift further away from me.”Ivanka’s gaze flickered with caution as she observed him. She remained silent but was still on guard.Jonah found her reaction amusing and chuckled. “Relax, I’m not going to do anything to you.”Despite his reassurance, she maintained her caution and did not let her guard down.Jonah looked at her seriously. “Starting tomorrow, I’ll drive you to work.”Ivanka looked irritated. “You know this will completely end our collaboration, right?”Jonah continued to gaze at her without saying a word.He knew she disliked this.But what he said was true. If he did not take proactive steps to get closer to her, she would only drift further away. He might never get another chance to be with her.At that moment, despite his high emotional intellige
Why was Michael here?How did he get in?Ivanka stared at him coldly in silence. Though she did not speak, her displeasure was evident.Meanwhile, Michael, who had initially worn a stern expression, was momentarily surprised to see Ivanka emerge wrapped in only a towel.Neither of them spoke or moved closer. They maintained a distance of about three meters between them.Ivanka had only come out to check the situation, so she had not turned on the lights. The faint glow from the bedroom was the only source of light.As time passed, Ivanka’s expression grew darker. She then asked sarcastically, “How did you even get in? Did I forget to lock the door?”Her tone dripped with cold irony. She knew she had locked the door and would have been warned if it had not been properly locked.Instead of answering, Michael stepped closer to Ivanka until they were only a meter apart.“What have you been up to today?” he asked calmly. There was no accusatory tone in his voice.Yet Ivanka detect
Ivanka quickly stepped back in fear. However, if she continued backing away, she would end up in her bedroom. The situation could not have been worse.“Michael Barkworth!” she shouted his full name. She was afraid that he might not be sober and might do something foolish.Even after their divorce, he had hugged and kissed her. She was worried he would do something to her now.At that point, she did not dare to think any further. Despite reminding herself not to be self-absorbed, she found it hard to ignore the things Michael had done to her recently.If he really hated her, why did he kiss her?Her expression turned darker when she noticed Michael was trying to get closer to her again. She quickly ran into the bedroom, closed the door tightly, and locked it.However, she realized that after locking the door, there was still a key inserted from the outside. She had her back against the door as she frowned. Her expression was extremely grim.She frowned as her expression turned
Ivanka’s mocking remark instantly darkened Michael’s expression. His eyes reflected a mix of emotions as he looked at Ivanka with a sarcastic smile.He pursed his lips and remained silent.Then, Ivanka said to him seriously, “My issues are none of your concern, Mr. Barkworth. I’ll handle yours and Grandma’s illness to the best of my ability. Other than that, we have nothing to do with each other.Her final words sounded light and nonchalant as if she had truly detached herself from him.This attitude appeared either as a facade or the result of enduring so much hardship that she had reached a state of calm acceptance.“We have nothing to do with each other, huh?” Michael repeated coldly as he sneered.Ivanka frowned deeper as Michael confronted her coldly, saying, “Throughout it all, we’ve never truly been separate. So where does this ‘nothing to do with each other’ come from?”Ivanka’s frown deepened. “Michael, we’re already divorced.”At that moment, Ivanka was visibly angry.
Michael’s expression darkened instantly.Seeing Ivanka point at the door, he raised his hand and grabbed her wrist. He looked at her and spoke angrily, “Ivanka, do you even have a heart?”Ivanka could not help but laugh at his words.She had lost count of how many times Michael had asked her that!And she had responded twice already. Did he not know she was in love with him back then?How could he question if she had a heart? What about him? He should ask that of himself.The thought enraged her even more. She glared at him furiously and retorted, “I wish I didn’t have a heart. Then I wouldn’t have wasted three years of my life loving you and being toyed with!”Michael’s expression grew even colder. Before he could say anything, she continued speaking coldly, “I wish I were heartless. Then I wouldn’t have endured those three miserable years! I wish I could be cold-blooded. I wouldn’t have yearned for you and tolerated you getting close to other women for three long years! I must
Ivanka frowned deeply. Michael was in a horrible state. He had been poisoned and suffered gunshots. He had a strong tolerance to medicine and pain. But it was his mental condition that caused him to fall into this state. Not being fully recovered also added to the burden. Ivanka gave him a white pill which she had formulated by herself. After that, she had the security guard carry Michael into her car. Then, she sent him to the hospital. They arrived at the emergency department. Xavier had finished attending to his patients. When he walked out of his office, he saw Michael being carried into the hospital. He then saw Ivanka beside Michael. Xavier frowned. His expression became tense, and he asked solemnly, “What’s happened to him?” “He’s weak and had previously been poisoned. Since you’re around, you can look after him.” Ivanka summarized Michael’s condition. After hearing Ivanka’s brief explanation, Xavier gave Michael a checklist and put him on a drip. After that,
Since Jonah had come to this and Ivanka was not an ungrateful person, she nodded and gave her word. “Jonah, I’ll give this my all. Don’t worry. As long as it’s within my ability, I’ll help you.” Jonah had to be bound to the wheelchair at the moment. Since Ivanka had shared a similar experience when she took over Lane’s Group back then, she naturally figured out how wolfish and greedy his adversaries would be. Jonah was injured because of her. She swore to give her all to save him from whatever crisis he was facing. Jonah took advantage of this and asked, “What time are you coming tomorrow? I’ll have my assistant get ready.” Ivanka thought for a moment. “Tomorrow afternoon.” She needed to manage her company affairs during the first half of the day. Jonah was content upon hearing her answer. “Good. I’ll wait for you tomorrow.” “Okay.” Ivanka nodded before hanging up. When she returned to her office, she did not expect to see Michael sitting on the couch. She nearly jum
There was only one possibility. Ivanka was calling somebody else. Michael wondered who could strike up such a long conversation with her. Sandy and Ivan had returned to the country. Ivanka’s besties were around her. Even if Ivanka deliberately approached Chiara, she could not possibly have so much to chat with Chiara. If Ivanka’s phone call was business related, there was no need to chat this long. Michael eliminated the possible reasons one by one. In the end, he thought of Jonah. Michael’s expression instantly turned as dark as thunderclouds. His gaze was dull and cold. Evan noticed it. He also saw the call record on Michael’s phone. Evan quickly persuaded Michael, “Mr. Barkworth, Ms. Lane could be tied up with her work, so she couldn’t answer your call. We could go to her workplace now.” Michael said nothing. He gave a cold glance at Evan. Evan got a shock. The next second, Michael turned around and left his office. Looking at Michael’s fading silhouette, Evan wi
It was why Ivanka still came for Jonah in spite of her unpleasant experience with Margaret in the hospital last time. Jonah had been injured because of Ivanka. She came for him only. The other people did not matter to her. Jonah’s heart sank upon hearing her words. His expression tensed up. He could imagine the indifferent look on Ivanka’s face right at that moment. She had that expression on her face simply because he was never really important to her. Jonah was upset precisely because of her indifference to him. He wanted to say something to her but did not know how to begin. He was also not in the position to say that. It did not take long before Ivanka’s gentle but rather indifferent voice rang in his ears, “Jonah, don’t worry. I’ll treat your legs until they recover. Don’t run into any conflicts with your mom because of me.” Her words pulled Jonah’s wandering mind back into the present moment. He felt a heavy weight on his heart. “Iv, I trust you. You don’t need to
Margaret became frustrated and grabbed Ivanka. She could not understand why Ivanka was fine while Jonah ended up in such a bad situation after the accident.Then, Jonah defended Ivanka. There was also all the talk about Ivanka’s treatment. Margaret was curious to see what kind of miracle medicine Ivanka could develop.In the end, Ivanka’s treatment did not work. Moreover, her relationship with Jonah, which had finally started to improve, was once again ruined because of Ivanka.Jonah scoffed. “Mom, I’m not an eight-year-old anymore. You’re saying all this because you want me to go along with your plans for an arranged date, right?”Margaret had not expected Jonah to guess her thoughts. She was about to insist on her point when Jonah spoke first. With a mocking smile, he said sarcastically, “Do you think anyone would date someone like me?”He had a point. But Laura might be one such person.However, Margaret did not like her. She would do anything to keep Laura from becoming her d
“That’s because you want him to fall in love with you!” Margaret snapped.Ivanka chuckled softly. Her tone was edged with sarcasm. “Love? Does it really matter that much?”Margaret felt humiliated and furious. She pointed a finger at Ivanka’s face with a hostile expression. “If it doesn’t matter, why are you doing all this? Stop pretending, Ivanka!”Ivanka let out a bitter laugh. “Pretending? What am I pretending for? Is being divorced a crime? Margaret, you’re a woman too. How would you feel if someone accused you like this?”She hoped Margaret would take a moment to reflect. After all, she was Jonah’s mother, and Ivanka did not want their conflict to escalate.But Margaret was unmoved. Her glare turned colder, sharper, and filled with hatred.“You think I’ll just let this go?” Margaret said sharply. “If it weren’t for you, Jonah wouldn’t be in this mess! I meant every word I said, and nothing will change that.”To her, Ivanka was nothing more than someone scheming to use Jonah
“Ivanka,” Margaret took a deep breath while trying to compose herself. When she looked at Ivanka again, her expression was calm. She said, “I don’t know how deep Jonah’s feelings for you run. What I fear most is that once he becomes fixated on you, that’s it. When he falls for someone, his heart won’t make room for anyone else. In that way, he’s just like his father.”Ivanka’s gaze wavered. She bit her lip and was unsure of what to say.“I beg you, don’t hurt Jonah anymore!” Margaret’s voice carried a note of desperation.Ivanka’s expression turned extremely complicated.There was a time when Jonah came to her only to use her. Back then, they were both using each other. It made things simple.But later, Jonah unexpectedly started talking about marriage. Perhaps it was to provoke Michael, or perhaps he simply wanted to keep her close because she was useful to him.At some point, though, it seemed Jonah had become serious about her. She could not pinpoint when it happened. Perhaps
Jonah frowned in clear disagreement, but he stayed silent. Ivanka’s confident smile reassured him and made him trust her.Eventually, he let go of her wrist.Ivanka noticed Margaret putting on her shoes. She quickly followed, stepping outside just as Margaret was about to get into her car“Margaret,” she called out.Margaret frowned slightly and stood still.Since Jonah had not come out with Ivanka, she decided she could spare a moment to speak with her.She turned and looked at Ivanka coldly.Ivanka softened her tone. “Let’s take a walk.”Margaret did not respond, but her silence was enough of an agreement.They walked slowly around the edge of the mansion. The surrounding area was all part of the Sadler family estate.Margaret suppressed her anger and glanced at Ivanka before speaking in a composed tone, “Alright. What do you want to say?”Ivanka met her gaze briefly before looking ahead and said, “Do you know what will happen if Jonah’s coughing continues?”Margaret’s he
Margaret glared at Ivanka and scoffed, “If there’s an issue, I’ll get another doctor to handle it. It’ll be anyone but you, Ivanka. Haven’t I made myself clear enough? I’ve told you this before.”She hated how Ivanka ignored her warnings and kept coming back to visit Jonah time and again. What if Jonah got too close to her and ended up ruining his reputation? If Jonah had not been here, Margaret would have been even harsher.Ivanka frowned as she met Margaret’s sharp gaze. “I’ve never tried to get close to Jonah like that. We’re just friends. I know I’m not good enough for him, so I’ve never even thought about it.”“You might not have, but he has!” Margaret snapped, raising her voice.“Mom!” Jonah’s expression darkened.Jonah was usually calm and polite. This was the first time Ivanka saw him looking so upset and was about to lose his temper.Ivanka’s eyes flickered with hesitation. She was unsure of what to say.Explaining Jonah’s coughing would do no good. Margaret would not