“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
When Michael heard Ivanka say that he was no longer worthy of her, his expression abruptly darkened. He had not expected her to say such things to him. As he looked at her, he saw the seriousness in her eyes.His visible fury intensified. Yet another emotion seemed to overshadow it. It was almost as if he had forgotten the reason for his anger.His expression grew increasingly unpleasant as he stared into Ivanka’s eyes, which were growing colder by the moment.At that point, Ivanka felt utterly worn out. She no longer wanted to look at Michael, so she turned away and calmly said, “Just leave.”She did not want to waste any more energy on him. She felt that such extensive conversation with him would be pointless. It was as if she could not move on from him.She saw no point in sharing all the resentment she had accumulated over the years if he did not believe a word she said. It would only make him detest her more. He would see her as a joke and ultimately cast her as a fool.Her