Chiara restrained her anger and smiled at Ivanka. “Iv, what are you doing here? And who is this?”Seeing Aalto’s face, Chiara was in a daze for a moment. It was as if her uncle had come back to life.Ivanka ignored the encounter. She simply turned to Aalto with a faint smile. “Sir, shall we go inside?”Aalto did not want to get involved in Ivanka’s personal affairs and simply nodded in agreement.The smile on Chiara’s face stiffened for a moment, but in the next instant, she could not help but sneer. Ivanka ignoring her was perfect. That would let Michael see how rude she really was.However, just as they took their first step, Michael suddenly spoke, “Mr. Aalto.”Chiara’s expression subtly changed. He...Aalto paused and turned to look at the person who spoke.“Mr. Barkworth, is there something you need?”Michael addressing Aalto as “Mr. Aalto” did not impose any pressure on Aalto.Aalto was a principled, headstrong man. Michael had previously gone to great lengths to recrui
Everyone knew that Michael only intervened on someone’s behalf when he had a reason.By assisting Aalto, Michael was essentially gaining a significant favor from him.His sharp and unique perspective could provide invaluable assistance to any company and eliminate any concerns.After Aalto rejected him several times, Ivanka finally felt a sense of relief.She wanted nothing to do with Michael.Michael glazed at Ivanka coldly but said nothing this time. Instead, he calmly suggested, “How about we talk about it after dinner?”Aalto was slightly surprised but after some consideration, he nodded, “All right, we’ll talk later then.”Chiara was speechless.She had originally planned to continue her date with Michael after dinner with a movie or something.Chiara felt like she was about to spit blood.Little did she know, Michael had never sincerely asked her out. He did everything with an ulterior motive. She was nothing more than his pawn.Aalto looked at Ivanka and smiled. “Youn
“Young lady, what do you want to eat?” Aalto showed a rare smile as he asked.Ivanka smiled back. “Anything is fine, sir. You decide.”“I’m buying you dinner. It’s not right for me to order. Look at the menu and tell me what you want.”With that, Aalto handed the menu to Ivanka, who, without further protest, chose a few dishes. Aalto added a couple more.The waiter noted their selections.Once the waiter left, Aalto got straight to the point. “So, you took the initiative to get close to me, and now you want me to treat you to a meal. I understand that you miss your father, but I assume there’s another motive?”Ivanka sighed. “There is a motive. I want to collaborate with you.”Aalto snorted and expressed an ‘I knew it’ expression.Ivanka smiled. “You might be more upset to know that you dislike this sort of project the most.”Aalto was speechless.Aalto squinted and looked at the young girl in front of him. He felt a little tongue-tied. “You’re joking with me, aren’t you?”“
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that. If you were just an ordinary person, perhaps I’d chat with you casually. But who are you? You’re the elite lawyer, Iris. Every word I say might turn into evidence in your favor. What if you exploit it to your advantage?”Ivanka was speechless.Ivanka sighed resignedly. Aalto was on high alert. She sighed again. “Looks like no matter what I say, you won’t believe it.”Aalto responded briskly. “Just state your purpose. I won’t miss any of the five meals I promised you.”Ivanka sighed again. She was in no hurry and said, “Be a little patient. Let’s chat a bit more.”“Young lady, your approach is irritating me.”Since Aalto was being impatiently blunt, Ivanka shook her head. “I just want to discuss this proposal with you. If you refuse, I won’t bother you anymore. However, since you’ve invited me to five meals, that means you’ve given me a chance, right?”Aalto remained silent.Ivanka smiled. “Everyone has their own home and their own self-started
The next moment, Michael suddenly snapped out of his thoughts. His expression turned even grimmer.What was he thinking just now?Why did he keep thinking about Ivanka?“Mic...”Concerned, Chiara looked at him. “Are you feeling unwell? Should we go back?”Michael would see Ivanka again later. He was going to discuss something with Aalto. She did not want to give them any more opportunities to spend time together. She was getting scared.Michael restrained his emotions and looked at her indifferently. “Eat up. These are your favorite dishes.”Chiara was speechless.Even if the dishes were her favorites, she needed to be in a good mood to enjoy them. Why was he being like this?He was thinking about another woman while they were on a date. Who could stand that?After a pause, she sighed and said, “Mic, something has been off with you recently. Is it because I…”She bit her lip, lowered her head slightly, and acted nervously flustered.She acted like she could not finish her s
Michael merely nodded lightly, rose, and headed for the door.Chiara followed him immediately.Regardless of how resentful she felt, she still wanted to stay by his side for her ease of mind.They barely touched the food they had ordered.Because of Ivanka, Michael lost his appetite, and Chiara lost hers because of Michael.Soon, the two of them arrived at Aalto’s private dining room.However, Michael did not see Ivanka there.Chiara was surprised as well. She asked with confusion, “Mr. Aalto, my cousin… has left?”“Yeah,” Aalto answered casually.There was a slight, imperceivable furrow in Michael’s brows.Ivanka had already left. Chiara was in a terrible mood. She no longer wanted to stay. She immediately said to Michael, “If that’s the case, Mic, I shall head back too.”“Sure.” Michael did not even bother glancing at her.Chiara inhaled slightly and left.The night wind seemed to be stronger than during the day. Her hair fluttered wildly in the wind. Chiara combed it wi
Hanson’s voice was sorrowful.“Iv, are you going to say yes to him?”Ivanka was puzzled.“Hanson, are you drunk?”Hanson sounded quite different from his usual gentle and elegant self.“Iv, answer me. Do you… like Jonah?”Ivanka was startled. She neither liked Jonah nor planned to say yes to him.However…Seeing Hanson like this, Ivanka thought that she might have to lie.After a pause, she said hesitantly, “Yes.”Hanson’s heart throbbed with pain.When Hanson learned that Jonah was openly wooing Ivanka, he was rather upset. But he assumed that she was recently divorced and was still recovering from a broken heart. There was no way she would say yes to Jonah, so Hansan let it slide.But now, he watched Ivanka and Jonah interact and appear together before him again and again. He kept seeing them trending on Twitter, and everyone said that they were a match made in heaven. As Hanson witnessed all these, he started panicking.Presently, Ivanka had even agreed to work with Jon
The man stared at her with a small grin. His starry eyes were dazzling in the dark of the night.Ivanka’s eyes flew open.But she could not be bothered with him at the moment, because a gasp sounded from her phone speaker.“Iv… You always know how to upset me. How could you shatter my heart?”Ivanka looked guilty. She inhaled deeply and said in a rush, “I have something else to attend to, so I’ll have to hang up. Don’t drink too much. Head home early and get some rest.”With that, she hung up.The other man’s grin only grew wider.“Iv, I heard everything.”Ivanka went pale a little. “Please don’t get the wrong idea. I-I just used you as an excuse to turn him down.”Jonah’s starry eyes looked gleeful. He took a step closer to Ivanka. “Oh, is that right?”Terrified, Ivanka quickly backed away and changed the topic. “Why are you here? Are you here for business?”Jonah chuckled and stared at Ivanka gently. “I knew someone liked me, so I rushed here to hear it myself.”Ivanka se