Unfortunately, her sly cousin beat her to it.Defeated, Candice rubbed her nose awkwardly and sat down opposite Ivanka.Rosie saw what happened between them and could not stop smiling.When Rosie was young, she was stern and decisive. She implemented strict household rules and banned everyone from talking during mealtime. But as she got older, she seldom had a chance to meet up with her grandchildren.Therefore, she started chatting with them at the dining table.Rosie started off by asking how Candice was doing.Candice was modest. “I’m doing fine these days. Hopefully I have not caused trouble for Ms. Lane.”“I see,” Rosie said. She looked at Ivanka and said teasingly, “What about you, Ms. Lane?”That form of address startled Ivanka. She nearly choked on her soup. She turned away and started coughing. Rosie told Mrs. Ruth to bring her a glass of water.Before the water arrived, Michael reacted quickly and immediately put down his cutlery. He wiped his hands on the napkin
But given the state of Ivanka’s relationship with Michael, it was not appropriate for them to move back home together.Ivanka tucked her hair behind her ear. “I don’t think it’s a good idea. I don’t want to be a bother to Grandma.”Rosie disagreed with her. “You won’t be a bother. I’d be thrilled to have you both back. You’ll keep me company!” Ivanka smiled, but deep down, she was trying to come up with an excuse to persuade Rosie while not hurting her feelings.If she did not handle this matter properly, Rosie would bring this up again, even if she backed down this time.Candice could tell how conflicted Ivanka was, so she came to her rescue. She said to Rosie in a child-like manner, “Am I not enough to keep you company, Grandma? What have I done wrong?”As expected, Rosie shifted her attention to Candice. She tapped a finger between Candice’s eyebrows adoringly.“You brat. Are you getting jealous? Of course I adore you. I just want all of you in the house. No one is getting r
Ivanka later realized that Michael’s excuse had been a trap!But at the end of the day, she would never expose his lie and embarrass him in front of Rosie. With that in mind, Ivanka gave a cold snort.She would let him off the hook just this once. If he did that again, she would certainly teach him a lesson!Ivanka felt lethargic when she came to work the next day.Candice saw her when she came over to hand her a contract. She could barely hide the smile on her lips.Seeing Candice’s smile, Ivanka knew that she must have gotten the wrong idea.But at that point, Ivanka did not have the strength to explain herself, so she let Candice be.After signing the contract, Ivanka capped her pen and said, “Do you need me to go with you? This is not an ordinary assignment. The other party would come prepared. I’m worried that something might happen to you.”Candice picked up the contract on the table and said with a smile, “We live in a society with laws and regulations. What are they goi
Candice’s heart sank sharply, and her face instantly fell.She had considered different possibilities, but she never thought that he would be the boss of Victory Edge Corporation!“It has been a while, Candice.” The man wore a pair of sunglasses. There was a mocking smile on his lips. He opened his arms, as if to give her a hug.Candice stood still and stared at him fixedly.“Leonardo, how did you get out of jail?”It was her obnoxious, cheating ex-fiance!Leonardo took off his sunglasses. There was a regretful expression on his face.“It has been a long time since we last met. I thought you’d be thrilled to see me. But the first thing you did was ask me how I got out. You broke my heart.”Leonardo approached her as he said that.Candice watched him cautiously and stepped back out of reflex until she was backed into a wall and there was nowhere else to go.Thoughts raced in her head as she tried to figure out what happened.How did Leonardo get out? Was he the only one who m
Sensing the vibration from her phone, Candice was finally relieved.Her emergency contact was Ivanka. A while ago, Candice had gone shopping for a phone with her, and Ivanka had made Candice set her number as the emergency contact.Candice was immensely grateful for Ivanka’s foresight.As the distress message was sent, Leonardo was done dealing with the waitress.The waitress was fired on the spot.Candice was not in a mood to worry for the waitress. All she could think about was sending Ivanka another message without alerting Leonardo.Leonardo was still putting food on her plate. Seeing that Candice was unmoved by his gesture, his expression darkened. But he did not explode with anger, and the look on his face was inscrutable.He simply asked, “Why aren’t you eating? Is the food not to your liking?”Candice shook her head. “I’m not hungry at the moment.”Leonardo chuckled. “Impossible. You ate some stir-fried noodles at noon and haven’t had a single bite of food since you le
Before Ivanka said anything, Candice started rambling about a random request.Ivanka refrained from saying a word, because she sensed that something was off.Perhaps Candice had not mispressed the emergency button. Her distress message was real!Just then, Leonardo snatched Candice’s phone right out of her hand and put Ivanka on speaker.Ivanka’s voice rang out. She sounded calm and did not betray a hint of emotion.“Go on. What is it?”Candice knew that Ivanka must have realized that she was in a dangerous situation.She heaved a sigh of relief. Her plan worked to a certain extent.She said, “I realized that there are some mistakes in the contract Dan Geralds submitted. Please review it as we need to submit it soon.”On the other end of the line, Ivanka frowned. There was no one named Dan Geralds in the company.She instantly knew that Candice was in a very dangerous situation.Ivanka inhaled deeply and made sure that she sounded as calm as possible so that whoever was th
Ivanka knew she had been out of line, so she immediately apologized.“I didn’t mean to offend you. This is urgent. Candice went to a business meeting today, but something happened. I need your help to ask the police to track her phone.”About five minutes later, the conference room door opened again. Evan stepped in. He looked apologetic.He lowered his head and said to the board members, “I’m sorry, everyone. Mr. Barkworth has some urgent business.”Ivanka and Michael left the company and split up after that.One of them returned to the office to check where Candice might be and investigate Victory Edge Corporation’s background. The other went to the police to ask them to locate Candice’s phone.Fifteen minutes later, Michael sent a location.Twenty minutes after that, they were both heading to a mountain resort.Michael called her and asked, “Do you know who’s behind this?”His expression was grim.Ivanka looked troubled, too. Speaking through her Bluetooth earpiece, she re
Candice had a feeling that there was something in the wine.She looked at him and shook her head.“Thanks, but I don’t want to drink. I need to head back later.”“Head back?” Leonardo’s smile turned sinister. He seemed to find it incredibly amusing and burst out laughing.Candice flinched at his reaction. She quickly grabbed her pepper spray from her bag. She kept a close eye on him and was wary of his next move.Before she could think, Leonardo held the wine glass in one hand and grabbed her chin with the other.His grip was so harsh that it hurt her.Candice placed both hands in front of her chest and tried to create some distance between them. She immediately began struggling violently.Leonardo became even more ruthless. He pinned the back of her head and tried to force the wine into her mouth.Candice realized she could not break free. So, she reached out and knocked the wine glass to the floor.The glass hit the floor and shattered into pieces.Some of the shards even
Ivanka glanced at him. She did not say anything and walked ahead on her own.Everyone else had already landed except for two people, Ferris and Mandy.Central Island was massive. Ivanka had just chartered the whole island up.When they landed, it was 6 p.m. Ivanka brought everyone to the dining area after they had fun for a while until 6:30 p.m.The dining area was a buffet-styled ball.Food was on both sides, with plenty of cold cuts, charcuterie and fresh produce. They were all very fresh too.In the center was the dance floor.Everyone could invite their desired dance partner to dance with them here.Ivanka sat by the side as she watched the men and women on the dance floor. She drank quietly by herself.A man approached with a glass of wine.Ivanka noticed and looked back at him.The man gave a slight greeting toward Ivanka and sat down next to her right after. However, he kept a respectable social distance between them so that Ivanka would not be able to plan anything.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Clark. I was busy just now and did not receive your call. Ms. Lane is still socializing, and she can’t leave. Her phone is with me.”Ferris kept his anger down and asked, “I’m asking you this now. What do we do now?”Candice said unhurriedly, “Here’s the situation, Mr. Clark. Ms. Lane took into consideration that it would be unsafe to land after dark. So, she set the time to be 4 p.m. on the dot. The both of you were late. But out of sentiment, Ms. Lane has prepared a separate boat for you. As to whether you two want to come or not, it’s all up to you.”After saying that, Candice directly hung up the phone.At that exact moment, a man in a fisherman’s attire approached.When he walked in, Mandy raised and pinched her nose.The fisherman looked embarrassed but remembered his purpose and asked, “Are you Mr. Ferris Clark and Ms. Mandy Cruella?” Mandy refused to speak. Ferris tidied his suit while almost humming a syllable from out of his nose.The fisherman said,
Ivanka was silent.Michael suddenly remembered something and said, “In fact, you are not much older than Candice. She can cry when things happen, and she can be afraid. And you… don’t need to force yourself to hold on.”Michael was trying to say that he had Ivanka’s back. But in the end, he could not say it.Ivanka smiled. It had a hint of mockery in it, but was beautiful and eye-catching.Compared to her, the blue sea instantly seemed to lose its color and became a backdrop to frame her beauty. “I’m not forcing myself to hold on. I simply am unaffected.”With that said, Ivanka left and began greeting everyone.One by one, people boarded the ship. By 4 p.m., almost everyone was here. Most of them were relatively punctual.Ferris and Mandy were exceptions.Candice had just come out of the captain’s room. She walked through the crowd with rushed steps and found Ivanka in a hurry.She said, “The captain asked if we should set sail now. If we keep staying, he’s afraid we won’t
For once, Michael did not listen and slow down. He stepped on the gas pedal.The car did not stop until they reached the dock.Ivanka glared at him. She said nothing and did not rush to get out of the car. But it was clear that she was angry.Michael looked at Ivanka being all puffed up from anger and could not help but feel a little amused. Just as he reached out his hand to rub her hair, Ivanka dodged it.Michael’s hand froze in mid-air.He resentfully withdrew his hand and apologized, “I saw that people are already arriving one after another. If people saw you getting off halfway, it would seem even more suspicious, right? It’s better to be graceful and alight at the pier together. No one will overthink or ask too many questions.”Ivanka still did not answer. However, her expression was not as cold as before, at least it softened quite a bit.Her glare was not as cold as before either. Ivanka unbuckled her seatbelt and got out of the car.Michael also followed right after
It was from Michael.[How long till the celebration banquet? Don’t forget to invite your benefactor.]Ivanka looked at her cell phone and snorted.If word got out that the great Michael Barkworth cared so much about a spot on a luxury cruise, people would laugh at him. She wanted to tease him for a bit.[We forgot about you. There are no more spots.]He did not reply for a long while. Just when Ivanka thought he would not reply, Michael sent a message.[What? Really? That’s too bad. Then you’ll need to compensate me privately.]For some reason, Ivanka could not stop thinking back to that kiss…Ivanka shook her head as she tried to shake those unrealistic thoughts out of her head.In the end, she sent it over.[Saturday night, 4 p.m., Freshbrooke Pier, The Duchess.]Immediately after that, she did not look at her phone and set it aside.Time passed by rather quickly. Before she knew it, it was Saturday.It was rare for Ivanka to stay home and not go to the company.Natur
Everyone looked at her.Ivanka smiled mysteriously. “It’s fine to have a celebration banquet. But it’s my treat. We’ll go on a cruise. After all, it’s not just credit to the Project Department alone. The other departments and the other high-level managers have also pulled multiple all-nighters as well.”Naturally, the crowd had no objection.Candice smiled coyly and said sheepishly, “I didn’t think about this thoroughly then. Everyone has truly worked hard during this period.”Ivanka laughed. “Then everyone should quickly go back and get ready!”With a cheer, the crowd dispersed.They left Candice and Ivanka behind. Michael, who was squeezed aside a long while ago also remained.Candice finally realized Michael was there. With some surprise, she called out to her cousin.Michael, who had been ignored, stared quietly at Ivanka. “I’ve figured out what favor I want to be repaid with.”Ivanka stared at him and signaled with her eyes for him to speak.“I want… To attend your celeb
Candice’s hands were trembling when she went to sign the contract. She felt surreal until the stamped contract was in her hand. It took her a while to recover from her shock. She wanted to share this joy and achievement with Ivanka immediately. But after looking around, she did not see her. Candice was puzzled and got the other staff to look for Ivanka everywhere. At that very moment, Ivanka had just come out of the washroom. She was wiping the water from her hands while looking downward. By the time she realized a shadow was looming over her, it was already too late for her to look up Suddenly, she slammed into a solid wall of flesh.Ivanka let out a hiss and took a half step back.While rubbing the aching corner of her forehead, she looked at the person who came along.Who else could it be, if not Michael? At that moment, he had his hands in his pockets as he stared at her calmly.Ivanka looked around, then stared at his lips.“What? Aren’t you going to thank m
Yoda’s smile instantly turned stiff. Before he could school his smug grin, the atmosphere became awkward. Ivanka and her group maintained their composure and politeness. But their subordinates snickered behind the back. At the same time, they thanked Michael from the bottom of their hearts. One word from him and the situation was reversed. His statement caught Yoda off guard. Yoda rose. He wanted to burst into anger but he dared not. He wanted to say something, but no words came out. Only after he composed himself, he said, “Mr. Lucas, as you already knew, the other party cannot offer a lower price than this. As a businessman, we don’t always reveal everything from the beginning. I believe you can understand this well too, right?” Lucas said nothing. But his smile was unreadable. He figured out that Michael only wanted his wife to win the tender. The old coot had simply not realized this. Meanwhile, Ivanka sneered, and the crowd turned to her. She said, “Mr. Yoda, are
Lucas marveled while looking at Michael as if he was seeing a ghost. The tender officially started. This time, five companies were involved. Ivanka had presupposed the possible outcome: Yoda Technology would be the only company that could threaten Lane’s Group. As expected, the other three companies were temporarily asked to leave after giving a round of speeches. The second round of speeches followed. Candice was the chief planner. She naturally had to present the speech on her own this time. “Don’t be nervous.” Ivanka inclined her head and looked at Candice. Candice kept wiping the sweat in her palms. Candice smiled sheepishly. She did not look nervous. Still, this was her first time. Ivanka said, “We’ve done the rehearsals many times before. The proposal is all good. Besides, the promised return is very tempting. You just need to deliver the speech as usual. Cheers.” While Ivanka was saying this, she made a cheering gesture. Candice nodded. After the representative f