He was filled with hatred!If not for this wretched girl, how could he possibly be living such a miserable life now?If not for Ivanka, his family could have been living happily instead of living in the current state of utter despair.He was now genuinely grateful that he had bought a house under his mistress’s name back then. Otherwise, he would have been left with nothing!Taking a deep breath, Theodore suppressed the anger burning inside him. He forced a strained smile and reverted to his earlier humble demeanor. “Iv, you’ve seen how I’ve been doing. I’m living a lesser life than a dog. You’ve seen it yourself. Although we had some misunderstandings in the past, you know your aunt was only doing what she thought was best for your father. She was trying to fulfill his wishes. Iv, I know you’re still angry, but those who deserved punishment have already been punished. Can’t you give me a way out?”Ivanka suddenly smiled. “A way out?”Theodore quickly nodded. His face contorted i
She did not say anything and just raised an eyebrow. She seemingly waited for Theodore to continue.Theodore discreetly observed her. Even though he had anticipated her lack of response, he still felt a mix of annoyance and struggle.Why could he never gain the upper hand against Ivanka?If he had known this girl would be so difficult to deal with, he would have made sure to get rid of her along with Fernando, no matter how troublesome it would have been. That would have eliminated all future problems!Look what happened now?He deeply regretted not doing so!However, he had no choice but to face reality. When Ivanka remained indifferent, she was clearly not interested in asking questions unless he spoke up first. Theodore finally sighed and said, “I know your trust in me might be completely gone, but no matter what, we share blood, Iv. I’m your uncle! You have to believe me, I never intended to harm you or your father.”Ivanka snorted and glanced to the side before responding i
Before Theodore could finish saying “threat,” Ivanka interrupted him impatiently. “Uncle, the truth of your words is not my concern. I know exactly what’s going on in the company. Your attempts to sow discord won’t work.”“Sow discord?” Theodore instantly felt deeply wronged. “I’m telling the truth!”It was true. Theodore’s claims were not entirely baseless.The company’s lack of progress was largely due to his incompetence, but there was a small part that was indeed connected to the actions of these two spies.However, Ivanka’s disinterest and her accusation of sowing discord left Theodore seething with frustration. Yet he could not express his anger.When had he ever been treated like this?Since Fernando’s death, he had been the head of the family and the leading figure in the company. Even with people like Thomas and Jillian around, they could not truly challenge his authority, especially with the number of sycophants he had around him. No one dared to oppose him.However, t
Ivanka: Yeah, if she refuses to come clean, threaten her a bit before you leave. Tell her that if she still refuses to comply, I’ll show no mercy.Peachy: Alright.Ivanka did not reply and returned to the work at hand. After two hours, Peachy sent her a text message again.Peachy: Ms. Lane, when I headed over, that lady simply played dumb. She even asked about her daughter but said nothing else.Peachy: Before I left, I told her what you said, but she behaved just the same.Ivanka: Got it. Get someone to spread this around.With that, she sent Peachy a document. It contained some text and photos.When Peachy saw this, she was astonished!It was because she never knew about these things before. After replying to Ivanka, she got to work.Everything went on as usual. But because of the document Peachy had given to the media, Twitter blew up again.The hashtags on Twitter trending summarized it well.#TheodoreCheated #TheodoreKeptWoman #TheodoreIllegitimateDaughterThe claim
As long as Tanya was not in a meeting, her assistant ought to immediately report to her if anything happened.The assistant did as she was told.When the topic about Theodore started trending, she believed that it had something to do with Ivanka. Hence, she quickly came over to Tanya’s office.After reading the post and some comments, Tanya put down her phone with a chilling smile on her lips. “Ivanka has really played her hand. That’s very smart of her.”The assistant was confused. She did not understand why Tanya would say that, so she asked doubtfully, “What’s her intention? Theodore has already lost everything—his reputation and power. He poses no threat to her.”In the beginning, she assumed that it was nothing serious. Ivanka hated Theodore, so she hired someone to expose him and make him miserable.But when she heard Tanya’s comment, she sensed that something was not quite right.Tanya gave a faint smile and looked at her assistant. “Ivanka is a smart woman. Everything sh
The assistant was startled and blurted out, “She’ll certainly fall apart. Then her actions will become even more extreme and leave an opening for Ivanka to strike.”“She’ll be more extreme, yes, but only slightly.” Tanya shook her head. “Technically speaking, her attitude isn’t that important.”“Then…” The assistant was even more confused. She did not know what Tanya was talking about.Tanya looked up at her. “When it comes to things like this, you ought to think. How will she cope when she finds out about her father’s affair, considering how close they are all these years? Do you think she will try to meet up with him, or help clear his name?”The assistant’s expression changed slightly. Then a realization dawned on her, and she said, “I get it now. Ivanka did all this so that Chiara would give herself away!”“The mysterious person has been using Chiara because of her feud with Ivanka as well as her value. What Ivanka intends to do is to trace their trail through Chiara and force
Katiana’s expression darkened further.“Did you just ignore what I told you? Didn’t you hear what I just said? Are you seriously asking me to intervene for you?”Katiana sat facing Chiara. She dressed in fancy clothes, which clearly indicated that she was nouveau riche.Her golden earrings swayed slightly, and she wore a pair of gold-rimmed glasses. She was already in her fifties. Even though she had been taking good care of her body, she no longer looked young.She had wrinkles on her face.Since she was afraid of pain, she did not get a facelift.Chiara inhaled slightly and quickly shook her head. “No… I’m not asking you to intervene entirely, or expect you to exact revenge for me. I just hope you’ll take down the hashtags. That’s all I ask…”She knew that she had no right to take action or ask for Katiana’s help. But if she could remove the hashtags, then people would not engage with this topic that much.It was basically a piece of cake to Katiana.However, she had underes
Katiana left as soon as she finished. She opened the door and walked out without looking back.Chiara was left alone in the room. She wanted so badly to take out her phone and call her father.But she did not dare do that. Katiana was right. If she gave herself away at this time, she would never get her life back. Still, she could not help wondering if her father had really cheated on her mother.Did he really have another woman and even have a daughter with her?Since Chiara and Lyla were no longer around, Theodore would finally reunite with his kept woman and illegitimate child. They would live as a family of three!Chiara was broken by this. She immediately picked up her phone to read the posts on Twitter. When she saw a picture of the three of them, she felt a tremble in her heart, because she realized that Theodore’s illegitimate daughter looked like her younger self!Before this, she did not believe the rumor at all. She thought that someone was slandering Theodore. But aft
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