“Fine. We’re not going to talk about money. We’ll do things based on my last sentence.” Ivanka was caught out by Michael’s question. She paused for a moment before continuing. Michael did not say anything else. Ivanka assumed his silence as admission. “200 million dollars.” Mr. George offered 200 million dollars for the Lumiere Divine Cup. Mr. Jacob got agitated and said to his lackeys, “Whatever Mr. George bids for tonight, follow him. Don’t worry about the money. I’ll pay for everything.” “300 million dollars.” “500 million dollars.” Mr. George added 200 million dollars to his bid. He got agitated. They were wealthy men. The moment they decided to bid for an auction lot, and with somebody else bidding the same lot with them, things got rough. They would try to oppress the other party. After all, regardless of the amount of money spent, it was their dignity that mattered the most. After Mr. George increased his bid by 200 million dollars, Mr. Jacob refused to admit def
As Ivanka expected, the minimum opening bid for the Ganoderma nebula had changed. It was no longer 100 million dollars but 500 million dollars. Many people came from far away just to bid for the famous Ganoderma nebula. It was impossible for humans not to fall sick, and wealthy men wanted to live a long life or even become immortals. “1 billion dollars.” The man inside the private room that had successfully bid for the Golden Burial Suit raised his bid card. His room was opposite Ivanka and Michael’s. Even though the rooms were separated, they were opposite each other, so Ivanka and Michael could see everything inside the private room. Aside from seeing a tall, tanned bodyguard in a black suit inside the private room, they saw no one else. However, Ivanka noticed a raising hand behind the black beaded curtain. It was a man’s hand. He wore a black suit and was big-boned. The man did not reveal himself. But undeniably, he was filthy rich, and powerful. He had successf
Was this… the same person? When this thought flashed through Ivanka’s mind, the man with the silver-white mask had already turned around. Ivanka felt that no matter what, this man with the silver-white mask was no ordinary person. She was about to talk to Micheal about this when she heard a knock on their private room’s door. Michael gave Evan a look. Evan went to open the door. The host was making a speech for the auction’s closing ceremony. But at the moment, they were more concerned about the person seeking them out. The door opened. Several tall men in black suits with the same buzz-cut hair appeared in front of them. One of the men who was more tanned stepped forward. He nodded toward Ivanka as he said, “Are you Ms. Lane? We’re from Kingzillion Casino. Our boss would like to see you.” “If there’s anything he wants, he can come here and say it in person,” Michael instantly frowned and said coldly. He had seen that man once before on the rooftop. That man did not s
Chiara was calling. Tanya was still furious. Then, she remembered Chiara said that she would make the plans for tonight. But she had waited for her plans till after the auction had ended. Everyone had left too. How was she supposed to meet Michael anymore? “Are you toying with me?” Tanya spat. “I’m not. I’ve arranged for everything. Isn’t Michael in the room next to yours? He just drank some spiked wine. If you go over there now, wouldn’t this be a perfect chance encounter?” Chiara’s cute young girl’s voice made her sound so innocent. As soon as Tanya heard this, her eyes lit up. “Are you sure? You aren’t just trying to make me happy, right?” After all, the auction was already over. It was normal for Tanya to question it. However, she was still hopeful after hearing these words. If Chiara did not lie to her, then this would be the perfect chance encounter. This way, she could blame Michael for the loss of her virginity, even though that was not true. When the time
His throat was unusually dry. His gut felt tight. There was a rush of heat coming from within him. Even though the air conditioning was turned on in the room, his whole body still felt hot. Considering his situation, it was obvious that there was something wrong with the drink he just had. Michael’s expression grew sullen as he immediately took out his phone and dialed Xander’s number. He was in Mirvania. Xander was back at home. There was a time zone difference. However, it so happened that Xander was on-call in the hospital today. When he received Michael’s call, he frowned slightly. He was a little surprised. “Yeah?” Based on the current time, Michael should be lying down and resting in Mirvania. His intuition told him that Michael’s call meant that something was not right, considering the hour. In the next second, he heard Michael gasp while saying, “I’ve been drugged with an aphrodisiac. How do I deal with it?” Xander frowned slightly. Michael was so careful. How
Jackie stared at Evan sternly. The anger in his eyes was obvious. In his opinion, Evan was nothing more than a dog by Michael’s side. Michael only seemed rich and powerful because his boss allowed Michael to do so out of courtesy! If not for his boss not wanting to hold them responsible, how could they have possibly left the casino alive that day? Evan’s face instantly became somber. He also understood that Kingzillion Casino was the largest casino in Mirvania. There was no way it would be able to make it to this point if they did not have some real authority and power. There was no need for Kingzillion Casino to deny having done such a thing. If the casino’s boss did not ask to meet Ivanka, then it must have been someone else! “Thank you for letting me know. Something has happened on our end. As assurance, we’ve already paid up to one-third of the ten trillion dollars. We’ll settle the remaining payment after we’ve finished handling the problem on our end. If you’re stil
“It’s a coincidence,” the man standing across from her said indifferently. He wore a black mask. Although it only showed his jaw and chin, he appeared cold and aloof. Those dark eyes did not hold any warmth in them either. Ivanka saw him and the people behind him put away their guns. “You think I’d believe that?” Ivanka scoffed at once. If he showed up alone and said it was a coincidence, she would have believed him. But this man brought his men and dealt with those who were trying to kill her. He was ruthless and decisive. Who would bring so many people along with them if they were to save someone by “coincidence”? “I happened to know that someone is trying to harm you. Is this how you treat your savior?” Alexander could not help but narrow his eyes. He stared at Ivanka, who looked indifferent, in front of him. This woman really was not grateful at all! If he had been any later, Eleanor’s men would have already taken her life. Then, they would have recorded the
“Michael?” Tanya walked in and pushed the door open, only to see Michael dripping wet. His shirt clung to the lines on his body. His toned muscles were shown clearly. At that moment, he looked alluring. Although Michael’s consciousness was getting wrecked by the drug, he still held on to a small part of his rationality from splashing himself with cold water, as Xander instructed. When he heard the voice, Michael looked toward the sound. Tanya stood in the doorway, under the light. Although Chiara told her that Michael had already drunk the spiked drink and told her to hurry up, she still panicked. Just in case, she was even wearing a special mask that looked exactly like Ivanka’s face. Even so, she still felt a little guilty. “Iv?” Michael noticed the face. Under the light, the skin was smooth like cream, and she looked beautiful. Michael immediately stood up at the same time as he called out. He was swaying. When he almost fell, Tanya rushed toward him at onc
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