“What is it?” Ivanka knew that he would only put away his pride and talk to Ivanka for Rosie’s sake.She also cared about Rosie, so she would certainly help if it was within her capacity.She would not waste time humming and hawing when it came to such matters.Michael said nothing. Before Ivanka even picked up the call, he had already turned off the car engine.Therefore, it was completely silent on their end of the line. Samuel did not know that Ivanka had put him on speaker.Soon enough, Samuel sighed and said with resignation, “I know you won’t be amused when you hear what I’m about to say later, but I genuinely regret it. I hope you’ll believe that I am sincere.”He was too embarrassed to be straightforward. All he could do was divulge his intention in a roundabout manner.Ivanka could guess that he wanted to talk about how he had mistreated her back then. She merely responded calmly.“It’s all in the past. Please don’t worry about it.”Throughout their conversation, Ivan
“I was quite embarrassed to say anything when I came to you. But at this point, Rosie’s condition is too worrying. I don’t want it to worsen whenever she gets upset. The previous incident really scared me.”“It’s alright. Tell me what you need.” Ivanka believed him. She had seen how concerned Samuel was that day. Besides, she also witnessed how close he and Rosie were all these years.Samuel gave a long sigh and said slowly, “I just hope that you and Michael will get back together.”Ivanka froze all of a sudden. Her eyes widened.Even Michael, who sat in the driver seat, reacted to this. His expression changed slightly.But he said nothing as his gaze fell on Ivanka’s phone.Before Ivanka said anything, Samuel’s voice rang out again.“Back then, I disapproved of your marriage. I was a fool for that. I even tried to get Chiara married into my family. Such foolish things I’d done! Please don’t resent an old fool like me. Iv, the first marriage is always the best one.”Ivanka slow
If Ivanka was simply playing “hard to convince”, she could have phrased her rejection in a roundabout way and tested Samuel’s attitude. He would not mind begging a little longer and softening his attitude further. But her direct refusal caught him by surprise.After a pause, Samuel said, “Iv, don’t you want to consider? After all, you were each other’s first spouse for three years. As the saying goes: one day as a couple means a life-long devotion. How many days had it been for you both?”Samuel was doing his best. He genuinely hoped that they would remarry.The surprise in Ivanka’s eyes grew. She did not expect Samuel to love Rosie so much. For her, he would come to plead with the person he looked down on and even beg her to be with Michael again.After all, for someone like Samuel, he must have been as humble as he could possibly be.This was how far he was willing to go for Rosie. Ivanka suddenly envied the kind of love they shared.Ivanka sighed softly. “Sometimes it isn’t th
Ivanka wasted no time and quickly replied. “Please don’t say that.”In fact, all those years ago, her marriage with Michael had nothing to do with other’s attitude. Rosie had always wanted them to stay together while Samuel had told them to split. Their attitudes balanced each other out.Since there was already a balance, the main reason for the divorce was actually Michael’s attitude toward Ivanka. Michael had always loathed her. It made sense that he did not want to be with her.Therefore, there were no catalysts or external factors behind their divorce. Ivanka simply accepted the fact that they were not meant to be.Seeing that Ivanka did not plan to say anything else, Samuel eventually sighed with resignation and said gently, “In that case, I shan’t bother you. Kiddo, I hope that you’ll take some time to consider. Don’t make your decision in a rush.”Ivanka replied with a hum. Her expression had been calm the entire time, and she was only shocked once or twice throughout the
Jonah: In that case, how do you plan to make it up to me?His words had always carried a deeper meaning.Seeing that, Ivanka froze. For a moment, she had no idea how to reply him.Ignoring him was not an option.But if she replied, it might seem like she was giving him a chance.Ivanka frowned slightly. She thought for a moment and replied with an expressionless emoji.Jonah: Remember to treat me to a meal someday.Ivanka: Okay.That was all she sent. She did not type anything else. Jonah, who had always been sensible, stopped replying as well.For the next few days, things were breezy for Ivanka. Rosie’s condition had stabilized. She received another injection during that period of time. When she saw Ivanka and Michael getting closer than before and even going on dates, she was ecstatic. She no longer appeared reluctant whenever she had to get an injection, because both Ivanka and Michael would be there with her. As time passed, Rosie even began to look forward to an injectio
Tanya had no idea how she managed to survive the past few days.Even when she saw Michael at the banquet, he still planned to ignore her. Worse still, he only stared at Ivanka and even became upset at the sight of her chatting with other men!What could this be if it was not love?Tanya refused to keep fooling herself. Michael was certainly in love with Ivanka!Seeing that Michael was about to walk up to Ivanka, Tanya did not want to watch them being all lovey-dovey at the banquet. Therefore, she immediately went over to Ivanka.She believed that if she did, Michael would stop in his tracks.Tanya was right.It was just as she expected. Even though she was walking in Ivanka’s direction, she still watched Michael from the corner of her eye. When she saw that he turned around and spoke to someone who suddenly walked up to him, she gave a sigh of relief.Seeing that Ivanka was still surrounded by some men, Tanya strode up to them with a smile. “You all seem to be having a great ti
Even though Lane’s Group was not as powerful as the Cullen family, many people saw Ivanka and Tanya as equals. Some even believed Ivanka was far more impressive compared to Tanya.Tanya was still not fully in charge of Cullen’s Group. She still needed to follow the orders of Hermes even though he had delegated some responsibilities to her. Despite Tanya’s outstanding performance, people still tended to favor Ivanka when comparing the two.This was because each of Ivanka’s exposed secret identities had a global impact. They were so influential that they instilled fear and commanded respect worldwide.Given her formidable reputation and achievements, it was almost laughable to consider her inferior to Tanya.Moreover, her aliases had helped her earn immense profits. Combined with her earnings in Lane’s Group, she might be just as competent as Tanya, if not more so.Upon hearing Tanya’s words, Ivanka merely smiled and responded politely, “As I should.”Ivanka had no desire to conver
The red wines from the trays spilled everywhere.After being bumped into, Tanya instinctively grabbed Ivanka’s arm.When Ivanka tried to steady Tanya, someone nearby turned and blocked their path and left them no way to avoid the collision. Both of them ended up falling to the ground.The red wine from the waiters’ trays spilled all over Tanya and Ivanka. Since Ivanka was closer, she ended up getting more wine on her.Her light blue dress was mostly soaked in red wine. Fortunately, it did not become see-through despite being wet.On the other hand, Tanya was not in a good situation.She was wearing a thin light pink dress. Some parts of it became see-through when soaked with red wine and revealed her curvy figure more clearly.The situation caused quite a commotion.Tanya and Ivanka were prominent figures who were constantly in the public eye, so their sudden fall attracted everyone’s attention.People started rushing over to check on them. Someone even shouted, “Oh no, look!
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