Ivanka tugged at Sandy and stopped her from arguing with the man.Pulling Sandy over and putting herself between the two of them, Ivanka gave a courteous but mirthless smile.“It has been a while indeed, Mr. George.”The man who just touched Ivanka’s shoulder was none other than Mr. George.After Michael and Ivanka drove him away outside the supermarket, Mr. George had not shown up for a long time.Later on, things happened at Lane’s Group, and they ended up stranded on the island, so they did not run into Mr. George.Yet, Ivanka suddenly bumped into him at the cafe. Although she felt rather surprised, she was mostly vigilant. Mr. George responded with a smile. There was a chilling glint in his eyes.“This time, there aren’t any cops around, right? Ms. Lane?”Ivanka knew that he was referring to their previous encounter outside the supermarket.Who would have thought that this man would hold a grudge for something like that?Ivanka smiled and snapped back undauntedly. “You’
Ivanka had expected this. Her heart sank.She looked up at Mr. George and tried to negotiate with him.“I’ll go with you alone. My friend has nothing to do with what happened between us, and she doesn’t know you personally.”Behind Ivanka, Sandy squeezed her hand. Ivanka’s expression remained unchanged as if she had not felt the squeeze.Mr. George laughed heartily and pointed at Ivanka. “Well, you’re such a good friend. But unfortunately—” His tone suddenly switched. “Neither of you are allowed to leave!”He raised his voice and attracted the gazes of everyone around them. They all gave him weird looks like they were watching a freak show. However, when Mr. George met their eyes, they all looked away.Allegedly, people who had killed before would reek of death. There was a murderous air about them.Even though Ivanka was not intimidated, she still felt uneasy standing beside Mr. George.“So, there’s no room for negotiation?”Ivanka’s tone did not sound as courteous as befor
“Boss, is this the woman you told us about? Do you need me to teach her a lesson first?”A man with a scar on his face walked over and bumped his fist against his palm. He seemed ready to beat Ivanka up as soon as Mr. George gave his order.Ivanka did not doubt that the man would do this. There was a murderous look in her eyes.Mr. George immediately stopped the man and patted him on the chest.“Hey, don’t be so violent. These two ladies are my guests. Didn’t I teach you how to treat a guest?”With that, Mr. George gave Sandy what he thought was an amiable smile.Little did he know, it was horrifying.He gestured to the van. “Please get into the vehicle, madam.”His burly subordinates also returned to the vans and left just two men outside the vehicles with Ivanka and Sandy. The men urged them to get in.Ivanka started walking but halted in her tracks.The men behind her immediately looked at her vigilantly.Ivanka blinked innocently. “You two can get in first. I want to sit
But it did not matter much to Mr. George.Ivanka managed to fool the man, but before she sighed in relief, he took out two black gunny sacks and said with a ferocious smile, “Please put these on, ladies.”Ivanka glanced at the gunny sack and sighed internally.She could not avoid being treated like that.Therefore, she did not hesitate to accept her fate because it was pointless to hum and haw.Ivanka took one of the gunny sacks and put it on Sandy. She adjusted it to make sure that her friend could breathe properly.Then Ivanka took the other one and put it on herself.The man flashed her an odd smile and said nothing.Ivanka shut her eyes with unease.…Meanwhile, Michael and Ivan went to a French restaurant, and Ivan was ordering.As he flipped through the menu, he said he would order the most expensive items and bankrupt Michael.Michael did not even react or look up from his phone as he tapped on the screen. He was waiting for Ivanka to contact him.Soon enough, he re
On Ivanka’s side, the car drove for a while before stopping at an unknown location.Ivanka guessed they were in the countryside, likely near a factory. The sounds of honking cars from the city had been replaced by roosters crowing, dogs barking, and the hum of heavy machinery.Her hood was yanked off. The sudden light made her squint, and it took a moment for her eyes to adjust. She narrowed her eyes and looked around. After a brief glance, she confirmed she was right. It was an abandoned factory.“Let’s go, Ms. Ivanka,” Mr. George called out from ahead. He signaled the people behind him to escort her and Sandy into the factory.Ivanka pulled her arm free from the hand trying to grab her. With a cold gaze, she said, “I can walk on my own.”“Well, will you look at that?” the man sneered. He pointed at her and smirked at the others around him. “She’s a feisty one. I wonder if she’ll be this feisty when pinned under me.”Ivanka frowned when she heard the crude joke and lewd laughter
The most important thing was that once they located the small town, it was underdeveloped and barren. Even high-tech surveillance would be completely ineffective here.Once they arrived, they lost their bearings.This area covered at least thirty acres, all of which was industrial land. Checking each factory would take forever.So, they needed to reach out to others for urgent help quickly. “We have to find a way to escape the factory,” Ivanka said with a serious expression.Sandy nodded and looked warily outside. She lowered her voice and asked, “What do we do now?”Ivanka paused for a moment and then said, “We wait.”At that moment, waiting was their only option. The most important thing was to figure out why Mr. George had taken them.It could not be for money. If it were, he would have contacted Michael for a ransom already.When they stole the Ganoderma Nebula, Mr. George must have realized that she and Michael were close. If he wanted money, it would have been a large
Ivanka felt hurt when she heard him say “good price.” It practically confirmed that her suspicions were correct.The man was completely unaware that he had just exposed something. He smugly leaned against the doorframe and stared at them.Ivanka raised an eyebrow. “Are you drunk?”The man’s expression froze. His confidence visibly faltered.“What... what’s it to you?”Ivanka smiled. She stood up, dusted herself off, and walked over to him.“If I’m not mistaken, you’re on night watch tonight. Does Mr. George allow you to drink while on duty?”Something clicked for the man. His body suddenly trembled.Ivanka’s smile widened.She knew she had guessed correctly.She patted his shoulder.“Let’s just pretend you didn’t do anything wrong. We’ll all turn a blind eye. But if you get caught drinking tonight, the punishment won’t fall on you alone. Your whole group of friends will be in trouble too.”Ivanka said no more. The man was smart enough to understand.After thinking it throu
Ivanka held out her hands. “Untie me, will you? Or are you planning to pull my pants off for me?”The man was caught off guard by her blunt words. Partly because he had not expected such a brazen remark and partly because it was the kind of thing he might say.Despite his initial hesitation, he foolishly untied her hands.Once her hands were free, Ivanka and Sandy headed behind the large tree.The tree appeared to have been alive for a long time. Its massive trunk was so wide that it would take three adults linking arms to encircle it. It was the perfect spot to stay hidden from view.Ivanka shot Sandy a look and silently signaled to her.Meanwhile, the man guarding them kept glancing toward the tree. He craned his neck and hoped to catch a glimpse of what they were up to.Then, out of nowhere, there was a loud thud. It sounded like something heavy had hit the ground.A moment later, Ivanka’s shoe appeared from behind the tree. Sandy’s voice followed as she said in a trembling
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