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. “What does that have to do with you? Is there anything else I can help you with?”“Where are you?” Michael’s voice sounded even colder than before.Ivanka was baffled. However, judging by his tone, he seemed well enough. She did not want to deal with Michael any further, so she simply hung up.The air in the bedroom was suffocating from Michael’s anger....On the other side, Ivanka walked out after ending the call.She had returned to the study just now to retrieve something. The people outside did not know she was on a call, otherwise they would not have called for her.Ivanka stepped out and apologized. “Sorry about that, I had to take a call. We can continue now.”As she said that, she held up the document in her hand.Thomas looked a little surprised. “I didn’t realize you were on the phone. I shouldn’t have called for you.”“It’s fine, it wasn’t anything important. Let’s carry on.”Jillian looked at Ivanka with admiration. “It’s rare to see a young woma
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