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
But Ivanka said absent-mindedly, “It’s a possibility.”“What will you do about it?”Ivanka cut some pork on the chopping block and said calmly, “I’ll just observe how things go and react accordingly.”“Huh?” Sandy suddenly became a little anxious. “You plan to continue waiting?”Ivanka smiled wordlessly.She did not answer any further questions from Sandy.Just as Sandy started panicking, the braised pork was done.It captured all of her attention immediately. “Whoa, my long-awaited braised pork is finally ready!”Ivanka’s lips curved into a smile. “Yeah, prepare to dig in.”Since there were only the two of them, Ivanka did not prepare too much food. There were just two dishes and one pot of soup. They finished cooking in no time.“It’s tasty! It’s so tasty!” Sandy cried tears of joy. “I wish I could cook as well as you!”Ivanka smiled again. “Take your time and learn. I’ll teach you.”“Forget it… I don’t think I can master this skill. I might as well enjoy the food first.”
Theodore’s expression turned grim. He quickly shook his head. “Of course not!”He shook his head instinctively even though no one was around and he was on the phone with Chiara.“Really? Dad, I’m not sure if I should believe you.” Chiara’s voice sounded anxious. She was like a deer caught in the headlights, filled with fear and distrust.Despite feeling sorry for her, he knew it was not the time to reveal the truth. He immediately said, “Chiara, of course you should believe me. I’m your father. Why would I lie to you?”Chiara’s expression was complicated. After hesitating for a moment, she said, “Mrs. Levine told me it’s all true.”Theodore became increasingly anxious but managed to keep his voice steady. However, after hearing what Chiara said, his anger came through in his words. “She’s lying!”Chiara took a deep breath and remained silent.Theodore wanted to explain further, but after thinking for a moment, he asked, “What happened earlier? What else did she say?”Chiara pur
Instead, she remained standing in front of Jimothy and studied the group of men with a smile.“He works at our company. Since I’ve run into him, I’m obligated to come over and check on him. Pray tell, what has happened between you and why do you feel the need to resolve it with violence?”Jimothy stared at Candice while she stood with her back facing him. The look in his eyes was conflicted.The men exchanged glances with each other and saw a hint of astonishment in one another’s eyes.The man at the front of the group, who was likely their leader, said, “We just get paid to do this, lady. You should stay out of it.”When Candice heard his advice which also sounded like a threat, she did not intend to back down at all. Instead, she asked him, “Oh? How much did you get for this? I’ll pay you double. I just told you that this guy works for us, so I have to intervene.”The leader started laughing, and so did the men behind him. They did not even bother to hide the mockery in their t
Candice ordered some food she liked, and the dishes arrived soon after.Sandy suggested that they all took a picture together.The others did not object.Sandy gave her phone to the waiter.Then the five of them moved their chairs to sit in a row.Michael and Ivan each took the outermost seats.Naturally, Ivanka was seated next to Michael while Sandy, who paid for the dinner, was right beside her.Next to Sandy was Candice, who sat awkwardly in her chair. Ivan was beside Candice.The second the waiter took the picture, Ivanka and Michael exchanged glances inadvertently. Meanwhile, Ivan stared past Candice, and his eyes fell on Sandy.Sandy and Candice were the only people who looked into the camera.But each and every one of them had a genuine smile on their face.Once they had taken a picture, they started eating together.It was a nice, relaxing dinner. They did not talk about work or how annoying Coco had been.They mostly chatted about the fun anecdotes they had he
The call was soon answered, but the person who picked up was not Rosie. It was Mrs. Ruth.“Ms. Lane, you finally called! Mdm. Barkworth will be over the moon when she wakes up!” Mrs. Ruth sounded quite excited as she spoke.Ivanka smiled and asked, “Is Grandma resting now?”“Yeah, she hasn’t had a good rest after learning that you’d be kidnapped. Once you were safe, she finally allowed herself to rest.”Ivanka nodded and told Mrs. Ruth to take good care of Rosie. She later said that she and Micheal would visit Rosie soon.With that, she hung up the phone.Meanwhile, she also reflected upon herself.Rosie had gotten old, yet Ivanka always made her worry. From that moment on, Ivanka would consider the consequences before making any decision. It was not only for the sake of herself, but the important people in her life, who also cared about her.As she contemplated this, Ivanka inevitably thought of the gathering. It would be quite fun.Before they were about to get off work, San
Coco practically ran out crying.Candice glanced at Ivanka worriedly and asked, “Will something bad happen to her?”Ivanka was not concerned at all. “What could possibly happen? She is an adult. Even if something bad happens, she has to bear the consequences of her own action.”Hearing that, Candice no longer fretted over the matter.She was not really worried about Coco. She was just afraid that something would happen to Coco, and Ivanka would be blamed for it.But Ivanka had made a good point. Candice did not want to trouble herself with Coco’s matters. It would only be an unnecessary emotional burden to her.Everyone in the office began discussing the progress of their project.Perhaps it was because Ivanka had made an example of Coco, the other employees became especially energized and diligent during their discussion.They were even more focused than before, since they were all afraid that Ivanka would treat them harshly as well.Hence, they were particularly efficient.
“Why don’t we leave now so that you can deal with this matter, Ms. Ivanka?”The director of the project department, who was perceptive and shrewd, planned to leave right then. Ivanka shook her head and signaled everyone to sit down.They were all uneasy, and they kept giving Coco weird looks.Two people had dared speak to Ivanka like that in the past—Ferris and Mandy.But those two were no longer with the company.At the thought of those people, the project department staff began looking at Coco with pity.However, Coco could not care less. All she wanted was to make a fuss.She wanted to see how shameless Ivanka could be.Unruffled, Ivanka stared at her. She did not get angry and seemed rather affable as she asked, “Tell me what upset you. Have we falsely accused you of something you didn’t do?”Before Coco said anything, Ivanka added cruelly, “Oh, I forgot that you aren’t familiar with the protocol here, so you have no idea what you did wrong, right?”Coco paled. Undoubte
Candice was momentarily stunned by his answer. She was a little offended.“Then why did you come to my office for this conversation?” Jimothy’s grin was mischievous. “To prove your company’s HR is blind, and you just lost a great talent. That’s all.”With that, Jimothy stood up, dusted off his sleeves dramatically, and turned to leave.“Your resume!” Candice called after him.Jimothy waved dismissively without looking back. “Keep it. Enjoy reading it. And don’t let an incompetent HR handle your interviews again.”Candice stood there for a moment and processed the scene before an involuntary chuckle escaped her lips. This one had personality.Regardless, the incident served as a wake-up call for Candice.It became glaringly clear that Coco was not only incompetent but also prone to overestimating her abilities.Before the task was assigned, she had the chance to decline. Candice had given her the opportunity and explicitly asked if she could handle it. Yet, Coco confidentl
The college student finally believed her and walked toward Candice.On the other hand, Coco seemed guilty and was desperate to prevent it. “He has no respect for our company! Are you really going to hire someone like him who won’t follow orders?” Coco’s tone was sharp. Her finger trembled as she pointed at the young man.She scanned the room for backup in hopes that the people who had been flattering her earlier would speak up in her defense.Unfortunately, no one stepped forward.Those who flattered Coco only did so out of respect for Ivanka. Yet Candice had a close relationship with Ivanka and was the company’s vice president.The gap between a vice president versus an intern was as vast as night and day.Anyone with common sense knew where to align themselves.Coco felt a mix of despair and resentment.Candice ignored her entirely. Why Ivanka was so wary of someone as clueless as this was beyond her comprehension.Coco was simply dumb.Without wasting another thought o
However, reality proved she had worried for nothing.Candice had called her over merely to ask if she had the most basic professional knowledge and whether she could handle the afternoon’s interview.Coco let out a deep sigh of relief before patting her chest confidently and assuring Candice she was more than capable.Knowing Coco came from the mountains, Candice was naturally skeptical, so she asked again, “Are you sure?”Coco thought to herself that it was just an interview. All she needed to do was just ask the candidates some questions. They could just choose someone who wrote the resume well.Not wanting to embarrass herself in front of Michael’s cousin, Coco pretended to be confident and accepted the task.Candice was half-doubtful, yet she still gave her instructions and let her go.However, Coco’s firm assurance eventually led to trouble....“Your company must be a joke to hire someone like you for HR. You’re offended? You’re not even a real professional. What? You ca
Word quickly spread within the HR department. After learning about Coco’s connection to Ivanka, some colleagues were vying to curry favor with her.Although some observant individuals noticed that the relationship between Coco and Ivanka was not as harmonious as it seemed, it did not deter the opportunists. Relentless flattery and attention poured in.One moment, a male coworker would offer to grab her food while placing his own lunch order. Next, a female coworker would ask if she wanted to order some coffee too.At first, Coco was caught off guard and politely declined. However, as she realized their intentions were purely self-serving, she began to accept their gestures without hesitation.By midday, Coco had become the department’s little queen. Ironically, as an intern, she should have been the one fetching coffee, running errands and collecting mail. Instead, she had colleagues practically lining up to do those tasks for her.Coco quickly assembled her own little e