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
Ivan fell silent. He did not want to talk anymore. But did he think that he would have a perfect ending just because he started this whole mess? However, Michael looked at him and said calmly, “I haven’t told her that she could come to the auction.” Ivan was confused. He did not seem to understand. However, Xander suddenly laughed. Ivan frowned and looked at Xander. “What are you laughing at?” He was like a highly strung bow at the moment and felt that Michael’s words were meant to make him annoyed, but he still could not figure out what it was. Xander smirked at him. “Figure it out yourself.” He felt that Ivan would get even more hurt if he said it out loud. Ivan instantly said impatiently, “Can’t you just say it outright? Would I need to ask you if I could figure it out myself?” Michael looked calm and did not show too much reaction. Instead, Xander could not help but say, “He means that if he tells Ivanka about the auction, they’ll have a new chance to
Michael frowned, like he was ignoring him. Ivan scoffed coldly. “Here’s my advice to you: it’s best not to be so confident. Now that you’re at this point, do you think we can’t tell how much attention you’re giving her?” Michael frowned again as he looked at Ivan coldly, but he did not say anything. Still, he was clearly hinting to him to shut up. But Ivan scoffed coldly again, “What’s going through your mind? As your best friend, I can see what’s going on clearly. But I have no idea if you’re denying it simply out of your pride or if you really haven’t noticed it yourself yet. You like Ivanka, alright? Don’t be like me.” Michael looked at him coldly. “You’re not me. You can’t judge me.” “I’m not judging you! I’m only saying this because I’m your best friend. Do you think I’d care if it was anyone else?” Ivan’s voice had a tinge of displeasure in it. But since Michael was his friend, he could do whatever he pleased. Xander also looked at Michael. “Ivan is now changing his
The times he dreamt about Ivanka were not few either. In fact, Ivanka was a regular in his dreamsHer every frown and smile, her joys and sorrows. Surprisingly, he remembered them all. Once upon a time, he wondered why he remembered every side of Ivanka so clearly, but he just realized that he even dreamt of her. Michael’s frown deepened. But he could not believe he had been rendered speechless. It was a really awful feeling. Xander looked at him blandly. “Admit it, you like her. There’s no need to be all awkward about it anymore. Besides, are you sure that it was really Ivanka who planned the thing all those years ago? You were her childhood friend. Do you really think that Ivanka could do such a thing?” Michael’s expression was dark. “She’s hiding so many of her identities from me. If she really treats me like a friend, why would I not know any of it?” He was implying that since she could hide so many things from him, she could totally hide her character as well. I
When he said this, Ivan paused and spoke again with a somewhat odd expression. “Ivanka is so much smarter than Sandy. He’ll have a harder time than me when the time comes.”“Let nature run its course. Ultimately, he has to recognize it himself. No amount of talking from us from the sidelines is going to help.” Ivan did not say anything. He continued to drink while feeling depressed. Both of them had no intention of leaving. …It was getting late. Michael arrived home and took a shower before coming out to sit on his bed. At that moment, he did not even have the patience to look at the mountains of documents. Instead, he looked at the phone in his hand. Once upon a time, the thing he hated the most was having incoming calls on his phone, because those calls would only disturb him from working. The only exception was Evan’s calls. But at present, he found his phone to be disturbingly quiet.It was so quiet that he was not used to it. Even if it had not rung not too many ti
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