Ivan frowned. He had already gotten out of the car and walked to the back seat to open the door for her. “Get out, please?”Sandy glared at him in annoyance. “You wouldn’t let me out when I wanted to. Now that I don’t want to get out, you want me to? What kind of joke is this? Dream on! I’m not getting out!”Ivan was not angry. He had anticipated her reaction. Instead, he looked at her with a bemused smile. “Are you sure you don’t want to get out?”“No! What are you going to do about it, huh?” Sandy retorted defiantly.“Alright, you’ve made your choice. Don’t regret it later.” With that, he shut the car door.Sandy’s expression changed. She was momentarily puzzled by his words.“What do you mean?”Ivan ignored her. He got into the driver’s seat. Before Sandy could react, he started the engine and drove off.She frowned when she saw him driving again.“Where are you going now?”He ignored her and continued driving.“Where are you taking me, you jerk? Let me out of the car!”
Nonetheless, Ivan reached Sandy in just a few steps and grabbed her hand. Sandy tried to pull her hand out of his grip, but he was far stronger than her. She could not free herself even after using up most of her strength. “Do you have a few screws loose in your head?!” Sandy used up her last bit of energy when she yelled the words. But it was useless to say that. Ivan was just crazy!“I already have them to start preparing dinner. You’ll stay overnight here.” Ivan did not care if Sandy agreed to this as he dragged her into his mansion. “Let go of me! I’m not eating the food!” “You must, even if you don’t want to.” “Are you mad?” “Yes. I’m madly in love with you.” Sandy fell speechless. When had he started behaving like a rascal? “Let me go! We’re not even suited for each other. Stop wasting your effort on me!” “Try first and see if we’re really not suited for each other,” said Ivan expressionlessly. Sandy sucked in a deep breath. “B*stard! I don’t care about
When Ivan saw that Sandy finally listened to him this time, his mood improved. Prior to this, he had behaved so oddly because he wanted to keep his dignity regardless of the circumstances. However, in the end, he realized that he lost his happiness. After “confining” Sandy in his mansion, he felt an unprecedented level of happiness. After eating dinner, Sandy turned to Ivan. “Boss, it’s time for you to let me home. I can’t possibly stay overnight here, b*stard!” Ivan raised one of his eyebrows. “You’re right. We’re not married yet. I can’t possibly do something outrageous to you. I’ll send you home.” Sandy instantly heaved a sigh of relief. He was a man of his words. ... It was getting late. Ivanka had no idea what was going on on Sandy’s side. Ivanka stared at the design drawing on the computer screen. She focused on the screen and occasionally clicked using the mouse with her right hand and typed with her left hand. Suddenly, her phone rang. She collected her though
“That was my previous thought. I’ve stopped being obsessed with him. If not, I’ll only get myself screwed.” After finishing the sentence, Tanya smiled ruefully. She sounded serious. Ivanka said nothing. She did not plan to express herself yet. Tanya continued, “So, stop thinking too much into things. I won’t be tempted by Chiara and attack you.” Ivanka made a sound of acknowledgment. “Okay.” Her relationship with Michael had been the same. She did not plan to get back together with Michael. Nonetheless, she did not reveal this to Tanya. At the very least, she would not reveal it before Rosie completely recovered from her illness. Nothing mattered more than Rosie’s health. If Tanya was still obsessed with Michael in the future, perhaps Ivanka would tell her about it. Tanya was not surprised with Ivanka’s response. She said again, “Two, I want to collaborate with you. I’ll send you a proposal in a while. If you’re interested in it, you can inspect the site.” “Inspect the si
The corners of Ivanka’s lips curved upward. “Good.” Tanya sized Ivanka up before saying, “Come with me.” Whenever Tanya saw Ivanka, Ivanka always gave her a different feeling. Ivanka seemed to exude a mysterious aura and made one inevitably attracted to her. Although Ivanka stood right beside Tanya, Tanya could not read her mind. Tanya did not like this feeling. Tanya sucked in a deep breath and turned around. Ivanka said nothing and followed her. ... Meanwhile, Michael was handling his work inside the office. After Ivan sent Sandy back home, he felt frustrated, so he decided to accompany Michael to work overtime. Michael said nothing, but Ivan could not help himself from keeping quiet. He sat opposite Michael and stared at his calm countenance. “Do you think this really works? Would she grow increasingly disgusted with me?” Suddenly, Evan’s phone call made Michael tense up. “Mr. Barkworth, Ms. Tanya invited Ms. Ivanka to a remote place.” “Send me the locati
When Michael stopped beside them, Tanya snapped out of her daze. She paused for a moment before smiling at Michael. “Mr. Barkworth, I didn’t expect to see you here. What a coincidence!” Upon hearing this, everyone could sense her reluctance. Ivanka rested her gaze on Michael. He did not look awkward. Instead, he replied calmly, “Yes. I have a project to set up here.” Tanya looked puzzled. She thought. “He might as well say he has a house over here.” There was only one village in that area. Even if a project were to develop there, it could only be Ivanka and Tanya’s collaborated project. There could not possibly be other projects. But Michael shamelessly said he came here to oversee the project. Did he not think he was making himself a clown? Ivanka fell speechless. She was unsure of Michael’s intention for coming over. Although she felt doubtful and somewhat confirmed what she doubted was true, on second thought, she was not convinced. She thought she was just imagini
This would only make Michael find Tanya even more disgusting and raise suspicion about her. On second thought, did Michael suspect her? If not, why would he arrive at such a time? Tanya inhaled deeply again and quickly left. She swore that Michael would belong to her one day. By then, he would only love her, and he would only have his eyes on her. ... As Tanya gradually walked further away, Ivanka turned to Michael. They stood in place motionlessly. She asked, “When are you leaving?” Michael’s expression instantly turned darker than before. Seeing that Ivanka had not noticed anything yet, he grabbed her wrist. He ignored her reaction as he forcefully dragged her into the car. Ivanka instantly frowned. “What are you doing?!” She could not free herself, so she could only let Michael drag her into the car. Nonetheless, her expression looked absolutely dark. After the car door was closed, Michael turned to her in a darkened expression. “Do you know what sort of person
Tanya never won Michael’s heart. Despite that, his admirers viewed her as their love rival. Was this not the greatest irony on earth? On the other hand, if she were to be Michael’s lover, she would think that it was worthy even if she became everyone’s target. But the fact was, she was not even his lover at that moment! Meanwhile, Ivanka felt restrained. She felt frustrated and restricted. The car was already driven quite some distance away from the village. Michael seemed to be in a better mood. He turned his head around and cast Ivanka a cold glance. When he saw that she sat on the passenger seat quietly, his eyes were filled with endless mockery. His expression turned darker than before. “You’re not allowed to collaborate with her on any projects.” Ivanka said calmly, “After the collaboration ends, Lane’s Group will be pushed to a higher level, and Cullen’s Group will gain tremendous benefits too. She won’t harm me during this period of time.” Before she came to the villag
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