Ivanka frowned. She stared at him in confusion. “Why can’t Evan come over to help? I’m not your full-time caretaker. I have my own things to do and my personal life.”Michael’s expression turned serious. His voice was firm. “Evan’s a man.”She stared at him, incredulous. Was he serious?She glared at him. “Aren’t you a man too?”Michael, however, made a clear distinction. “It’s different with me and Evan.”The moment he said it, Ivanka instantly understood what he meant.Michael was referring to the fact that he was her ex-husband and once lived under the same roof. However, during those three years of marriage, the number of times they saw each other could be counted on one hand.Since they were divorced, there was supposed to be a clear line between them.Michael’s logic was absurd. Not wanting to argue further, Ivanka said, “If you don’t want Evan, then call Xander, or hire a female caregiver. That works too.”Michael rejected the idea. “Xander’s tied up with academic lec
Anna had heard enough and decided not to be the third wheel anymore. “Since you have something to attend to, I shall take my leave first, Sandy.”“Hey, wait…”Sandy wanted to grab Anna, but Anna turned around and left quickly.Ivan was the only person who remained in front of her.Sandy crossed her arms. “Why do you assume that we both will back down together? Also, what are we? Why would I go on a trip with you?”Puzzled, Ivan asked her instead, “Aren’t we friends? Besides, if we’re no longer in charge of this case, why can’t we go on a trip together?”The case they were dealing with was a divorce lawsuit. Although the man was not as rich as Michael, he owned some assets. The woman was a homemaker. Her ex-husband had cheated on her.The man had asked his ex-wife to leave without paying him a penny while also getting child custody. Before the woman was married, she had worked as a secretary. Sandy represented her while Ivan represented her ex-husband.The woman held many pieces
“Looks like you really enjoy arguing with me.”Ivan sighed with resignation.Meanwhile, he stepped forward and approached Sandy while still maintaining distance. Sandy frowned. “What do you mean by that? When I took the case, I didn’t know you were hired by my client’s ex. Besides, what’s the point of talking about all this? Do you have anything important to discuss? If not, I’m leaving now.”She and Anna were shopping. Ivan had interrupted them.Sandy detested him!Seeing that she was about to leave, Ivan chased after her. “Why are you leaving? Anna is gone, but I can shop with you.”Sandy stared at Ivan, who caught up to her, with a grim expression. “Aren’t you broke? If you shop with me, can you afford to pay for my things?”Hearing that, Ivan had to address this issue, since he was the one suggesting that they shopped together. “I can’t afford them right now, but I can carry your stuff.“This is why I asked you to drop the case. I’m penniless and need money, but I don’t wan
After Michael hung up the phone, Ivanka started tidying up his room.She initially planned to let him stay in a spacious room so that he would not run into furniture when he moved around. Moreover, she was worried that since he grew up with a silver spoon, he might not get used to staying in a small room.The larger room was quite a distance away. It was not really a big deal to Ivanka. On the contrary, she thought that it was a good thing. It was better for them to leave each other alone and coexist in peace. But Michael did not like this arrangement.He said that if they were too far apart, Ivanka would not be able to learn about Michael’s condition should anything happen.Ivanka was quite bewildered. What was the worst that could happen?“Given your condition, I don’t need to keep monitoring you. There won’t be any issues.” She crossed her arms and looked at Michael casually. She wanted to see what other excuses he could come up with.Michael did not plan to make any excuses
Michael stared at Ivanka greedily and hungrily. She knelt before the coffee table with slightly disheveled hair. There was an air of sensibility, restraint, and passion in her beauty. Michael’s eyes traced her eyes to the round tip of her nose. He swallowed reflexively.She was even more beautiful when she focused on doing something. Perhaps he was seeing her through rose-tinted glasses? She was more stunning than ever.Unaware of his thoughts, Ivanka put down the pen and handed the shopping list to Michael. He reflexively looked away and refused to meet her eyes, which puzzled her.Michael turned away and inhaled deeply. After he was certain he had regained composure, he looked back at her and took the list.He looked through the list and picked up the pen to add a few items. It did not take long. Ivanka had gotten almost everything covered.Michael returned the list.Ivanka wondered why he became so considerate all of a sudden. Perhaps there was a catch. When she got the list b
Ivanka’s intention was clear. She wanted him to deal with the young women without getting her involved.But Michael would not let her get away with it.He smiled at her. It sent a chill down her spine. She had a bad feeling about what was going to happen next.Ivanka’s fear came true when Michael said to her gently and pleadingly, “Let’s go, my dear wife. Aren’t we going to shop for my underwear?”Stunned, the two young women gawked at each other. For a moment, they were too shocked to excuse themselves and leave.Awkwardness spread among them.He had called her his wife and even mentioned underwear. Anyone would get the wrong idea about their relationship.But the only people feeling awkward were the young women who asked for Michael’s number. Ivanka’s eyes widened with disbelief. She gave an angry bark of laughter.Meanwhile, there was a sly, smug smirk on Michael’s face.“What the heck? She’s his wife but she said nothing when we approached him. She just wants to embarrass
Michael found the worked-up side of Ivanka was adorable.Every time he saw her like that, he would wonder why he had never noticed this side of her before.But it was not too late. He had a chance to make it up to her.They shopped around the food aisles and the fruit section. Ivanka did the picking. Michael did not have anything that he particularly wanted to eat. Once in a while, he would take some items, but they were all Ivanka’s favorite food. No one could say for sure that it was on purpose or just a coincidence.After buying the groceries, Ivanka took Michael to the underwear store.Perhaps it was because of their exchange with the two young women earlier on, Ivanka stopped feeling awkward. She was rather at ease.The strange, romantic tension between them gradually faded.The sales assistant asked who Ivanka was shopping for. She pointed to Michael and let him tell the sales assistant what size he wore.Noticing that Ivanka was not in a good mood, Michael stopped stalli
They worked in the kitchen for a while and produced a table full of scrumptious dishes.Ivanka was a great cook. It surprised Michael a little.After all, when they were married, he had only seen her make a bunch of dishes and place them on the table. He never touched them.Seeing Michael’s expression, Ivanka gave a faint, bitter smile. “The cook didn’t always come over. I couldn’t starve myself to death when I was home alone, right?”Michael kept his head down and said nothing. He knew Ivanka was implying that he rarely came home when they were married.But he would not let it happen again.He would try his best to make it up to her.When they were eating, Ivanka switched to a news channel. She deliberately did it to avoid further interaction with Michael.Oddly enough, she could stand dining with Michael at the same table.But she could not bring herself to properly converse with him during mealtime or bedtime.It was too private of a pastime. She did not want Michael to ge
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