Ivanka frowned even further. “Let me go.” She stressed again. It was only then that Michael slowly let go of her hand. He then walked over to the couch and sat down on it. Ivanka gave him a strange stare. She increasingly thought that he was behaving like a child. Perhaps he behaved differently when he was sick. Without saying anything, Ivanka went to take the med kit. It did not take long before she went to Michael, then passed him a glass of warm water and pills. “Take the pills.” Michael frowned. He remained motionless and did not even glance at the pills. Ivanka felt speechless. “Why do you hate pills so much? You’re diagnosed with cancer. You can’t be inconsistent about this.” Michael pursed his lips and said nothing else. Ivanka frowned. “You’re so uncooperative. It mustn’t have been easy for Xander to still keep you this fit at this level.” Michael’s gaze turned gloomy. The next second, Ivanka looked like she figured out something. She looked at him and a
With those few words, Ivanka did not say anything else. Michael’s expression clearly grew darker. Still, he pursed his lips and said nothing else. Ivanka fell speechless. She felt extremely speechless with him. If not for Rosie and the fact that he was diagnosed with cancer, she and Michael would not have that much contact. “You don’t need to stay around my house. Since you’ve finished dinner, you should leave now.” This time, Ivanka snapped at him without hesitation. Nonetheless, Michael did not fly into a fit of rage out of humiliation. Instead, he sat down on the couch and switched on the television with ease. Ivanka was puzzled. She wondered if she had not made herself clear, or if Michael did not understand English. She thought. “Isn’t the b*stard aware that it’s time for him to get lost now?! I’ve already made myself clear, yet he still sticks around my house!” Ivanka sucked in a deep breath and said again, “Michael, please get out of my house now.” She had expl
Kathy Houston was stunned. She looked at them in puzzlement. “What are you talking about?” Kathy looked at the people surrounding her in puzzlement. She was not in a hurry to leave. Instead, she was eager to find out what was going on. The reporter looked at her and asked, “May I ask, are you somebody else’s mistress?” Kathy’s expression instantly turned dark. “Nonsense! What do you mean by saying I’m somebody else’s mistress?!” The reporter could care much less about all this and went straight to the point. “We heard that you gave birth to a daughter with Theodore. He bought you the mansion where you’re currently residing, which is under your ownership. May I ask if all this is true?” A hint of panic darted across Kathy’s eyes, but she quickly masked it by saying, “Enough of this nonsense! My private life has nothing to do with you.” The reporter refused to give up and asked again, “Since you refused to answer the question and have instead stressed that it’s your personal
“Quick! Hurry up!” Someone in the crowd shouted. Kathy was eventually sent to the hospital. The fact that Kathy fainted showed that she really was in a relationship with Theodore and that they had a daughter together. When they arrived at the hospital, the reporters still refused to retreat because there was no sign of Kathy awakening yet. When they began to disperse from the ward, Kathy finally opened her eyes slightly. If one truly fainted, they would still be in puzzlement after they awakened. But Kathy was not. Instead, everything became clear to her. Apparently, she knew what was going on just now. She did not really pass out. She was just acting. ... She then recalled her memory. The previous night, she was inside a private room in a restaurant. Kathy glanced at the address in the message on her phone before letting the attendant take her to the private room. After she entered the private room, a woman sat by the window. The window was drawn with a layer
While saying this, the woman deliberately paused for a moment. Kathy looked at her in puzzlement. “It could be what?” “Couldn’t you find an excuse to cover up your current situation? Couldn’t you add a tinge of ‘color’ to your life?” “Do you mean to—” “Of course you can make it sound like both you and Theodore are innocent and make Lyla bear all the responsibilities. By then, the two of you can get yourselves out of the trouble perfectly and no one will pay attention to this. Besides, after your relationship with Theodore is made public, it will only bring you endless benefits.” “Endless benefits for me?” Kathy naturally knew what the benefits were. “I came for you knowing that you would have your doubts. Hence, besides telling you the benefits you’ll receive, I have something else to offer.” ... Kathy then stopped recalling her memory. She lay down on the bed motionlessly and calmly. She looked extremely calm. At the same time, she was somewhat panicked. She turn
Michael’s expression grew increasingly dark. He felt irritated the moment they mentioned Ivanka. Michael put down the glass. He instantly lost the appetite for anything including alcohol, not to mention water. `Ivan clearly sensed his irritation and asked in puzzlement, “What’s wrong with you? Are you worried about Rosie? Didn’t you say Ivanka has a way of dealing with it?” Xander cast him a glance and said nothing else. Apparently, he disagreed with Ivan. Both Ivan and Michael were frustrated over similar issues. Michael kept quiet. When Ivan saw this, he gulped his glass of red wine before putting it down in annoyance. “I feel irritated too! That d*mn woman is brain-dead! She just stopped talking to me and blacklisted me. I feel like strangling her to death!” Ivan had previously felt frustrated because of Sandy. He seldom brought her up because he was worried that Xander and Michael would laugh at him, and Ivan did not want to lose his dignity. At that moment, he
Ivan was really frustrated too, but there was nothing he could do about it.Xander patted his shoulder and said calmly, “Since things have come to this, all you can do is think of some way to salvage this. You have your ways to please the ladies, right?” “My ways don’t work on her. What else can I do?” As soon as he said this, Ivan became even more annoyed. “You guys still don’t believe me when I said that she’s a tomboy! I’ve used every trick in the book to attract a girl’s attention on her! I’ve also used them back when I was fighting over things with her, but it was no help at all. What could I do?” Ivan was really utterly helpless and devastated. Meanwhile, Michael said calmly, “It’s not that your ways don’t work on her, it’s because you used to have ulterior motives, so, she has lost faith in you a long time ago.” “D*mn it!” Ivan became even more annoyed when Michael hit the nail on the head. “Why is it just so difficult?!” He never felt how troublesome it was to pursu
“Of course you have to state it clearly!” Ivan could not stand it! He wanted to see what kind of words Michael would say next to convince him that he was better than Ivan! Of course, in Ivan’s opinion, Michael was just bragging. There was no way Michael could be better than him. Michael glanced at the water in front of him. He said calmly, “She can cure both Grandma’s and my illness, but I won’t say that she’s better than Sandy because of this. It’s not comparable.”Ivan fell silent. He frowned slightly. Ivanka was Violet Cress, after all. They had run so many experiments too. Also, Violet Cress never lied. It was one thing to lie to Michael, but she had said the same to Xander. So, it was only right that she could cure Michael’s illness. But what about Rosie’s…? Ivan was a bit skeptical. “Is there something you want at the auction?” “Yes.” Surprise suddenly flashed across both Xander’s and Ivan’s eyes. Ivan asked again, “Are you sure?” “Yes.” “Ah! I see! That m
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