“Then get some rest. I’ll get confirmation on this matter as soon as possible and contact you.”“Alright, thanks.”Jonah frowned. “I don’t like hearing that from you. From now on, if you want to thank me, you can say, ‘Jonah, I like you.’”Ivanka frowned silently.But Jonah added with a smile, “That way, I’ll know that you are thanking me. Rest assured. I won’t get the wrong idea.”Ivanka was speechless.“Alright, I’ll stop teasing you. Go to bed.” Jonah’s voice was gentle as always, but he hid his bitter sorrow well.“Um.”That was all Ivanka said in response. Without another word, the two of them hung up.Ivanka tightened her grip on her phone. She had not been sleepy to begin with. Now, she definitely did not feel like going to bed at all.“Iv, why aren’t you asleep? It’s late!”Sandy’s voice rang from the bedroom door. Ivanka quickly said in reply, “I’m going to sleep soon.”She had not fully recovered from her injuries and still needed someone to look after her. Theref
Chiara was dumbfounded.She gaped at Lyla with disbelief. “Mom… at this point, do you seriously still think we can get engaged?”“Chiara, why are you overthinking?” Theodore frowned. “I’ve already told you. If they really want to call off the engagement, they wouldn’t make a last-minute decision. This is not how they handle things.”Chiara furrowed her brows tightly. “Y-you’re not listening to me! But it’s exactly what I’ve felt!”Sometimes, one’s sixth sense was highly accurate!More accurate than any presumption!There was really something off with Michael!He was up to something! Lyla frowned slightly. “In that case, I’ll pay Mindy a visit. I’ll talk to her and see if there’s anything strange going on.”Chiara quickly nodded. “Yes, mom. Go over and look, or else I won’t rest easy. Lately, whenever I call him, his assistant would answer the phone instead. He was busy every time I reached out. I didn’t even have the chance to speak to him. If this goes on, then the two of us
Lyla frowned. “How could this be? She’s probably preoccupied. Maybe she is using the bathroom or something?”Chiara paled a little. “Call her again!”Lyla said wearily, “She’ll surely call me back when she sees my missed call. It’s rude to keep calling. What did I tell you last night? Be calm!”Chiara was speechless.At this juncture, there was no point in keeping calm anymore!She was totally helpless. All she could do was sit on the couch anxiously.Frustrated, she scrolled through her Twitter feed. But after fifteen minutes passed, Mindy still had not called them back.“Why don’t you call her again?” said Chiara.“Wait a bit longer.” Lyla’s expression darkened slightly. She sensed that something was off.But she thought that Mindy might really be busy with something, so she decided to wait for a while.However, after waiting for an hour, she had not received any call from Mindy. Lyla could not wait any longer.“Mom, call her again!”Lyla furrowed her brows tightly and to
Mindy immediately said regretfully, “That’s… bad timing. You’re outside my house? But I’m not home.”Lyla froze, but she quickly said with a smile, “I see. In that case, we…”She wanted to say that they could meet up some other day, but Chiara began talking to Mindy.“Hi, I’m Chiara.”Since Lyla had put the call on speaker, it was not too abrupt for Chiara to chime in.“Chiara?” Mindy’s voice was soft and casual.“It’s just bad timing. I happen to be out. What’s the purpose of your visit today? Why don’t you come back some other day?”Chiara paled a little. She had wanted to say that she and her mother would wait for Mindy to come home.Since Mindy was obviously asking them to go home, Chiara did not know what else to say.She looked over at Lyla in a panic and hoped that she would help her out.Lyla inhaled and said, “I see. Then we’ll come back another day. Have fun, Mindy.”“Alright, let’s meet up again someday.”Her voice was soft and gentle, but one could sense her urg
Seeing Samuel, Mindy immediately sighed in relief. Her son might not listen to her, but he would certainly obey his grandfather.However, Mindy was sorely mistaken.Michael firmly said, “We won’t get engaged.”He looked very calm and composed.Samuel nearly exploded with anger. “Y-you promised. Are you really going to call it off?”“Yes.” Michael looked at Samuel coldly and said, “I won’t get engaged with a liar.”“You brat… What liar?” Samuel clenched his teeth. “Do you know that if you call this off, our partnership with the Lanes will…”As he spoke, Michael cut him off with a solemn voice. “We don’t necessarily need to work with the Lanes in the future.”Samuel regarded Michael with a shrew look in his eyes. “What do you mean by this?”In truth, Samuel had been eager about the marriage of convenience between Michael and Chiara mainly because of Lane’s Group…But now that Michael had said that, Samuel could sense that he was up to something.Even Mindy turned to Michael.
Surprised, Sandy turned to Ivanka. She whispered, “Isn’t that Chiara? Why is she here? Did she call you beforehand?”Ivanka frowned and shook her head.Sandy’s expression turned sour. She then said in a low voice, “What should we do? Should we let her in?”Ivanka pursed her lips. Without hesitation, she said sarcastically, “Let her in. Since she decided to come here, it means that she doesn’t mind having witnesses see that she’s here, which also means she probably wouldn’t dare to do anything to me. Honestly, I want to see what tricks she’s up to.”Sandy looked worried and conflicted. However, seeing Ivanka’s determined look, she opened the door.When Chiara entered, she was stunned to see Sandy. “Why are you here?”Sandy looked at her with a puzzled expression and asked, “Is there a problem with me being here? What’s it to you anyway?”She was already being quite polite to Chiara, given how lowly she thought of her at the moment. Chiara’s expression changed instantly. She d
Sandy sneered. “I am Iv, and Iv is me! I’m not a stranger. I’m not some outsider. I’m way closer to Ivanka than you. You’ve only been a manipulative cousin to her. Back then, your whole family enjoyed exploiting her generosity, but now you’re trying to control her assets and pretend to give her challenges under the guise of fairness. Why not just let her quit and leave? Then you all can reap the rewards without lifting a finger! You know you’re shameless, don’t you?” “You—!”Chiara had always been accustomed to her high and mighty attitude outside. For years, no one dared to confront her like this. She never expected Sandy to say such things!Despite any personal dislike they had for each other in private, they had never openly clashed, unlike today!“Sandy.”Ivanka grabbed Sandy’s hand and pulled her back. She did not want Sandy to get involved. Chiara’s family was ruthless. She did not want Sandy to be dragged into this and end up getting hurt for no reason.But Sandy did not
Ivanka smiled at Chiara, She said, “I never intended to get along with Michael. So, you can rest assured about that.”Sandy sneered, “Exactly! You should focus more on Michael, Chiara. Have you been slipping up lately? It seems like you can’t maintain your lofty image anymore. Otherwise, why does Mr. Barkworth always ignore you and persistently pursue Ivanka?”Ivanka was speechless for a moment.She propped up her head with one hand. Sandy deliberately said those words to vent her frustration.“Sandy, that’s enough.” Ivanka emphasized.Sandy pouted unhappily and said, “I just couldn’t help it, okay!”Of course, she would happily confront her when an opportunity like this arose. Chiara was such a wicked person! She even started trouble in Ivanka’s place! She must be the kind of parent who would spoil her children!As Chiara clenched her fists, her eyes turned red. She could feel her whole being was on the verge of losing control and bursting with endless rage. But, she took a dee