“Whatever Mr. David did in this department before has nothing to do with me. But from now on, anything under my leadership is all on me,” said Ivanka as her voice remained firm.David’s expression soured further, while Ivanka coldly surveyed everyone.“Michael’s orders for you are to obey me without question. Remember this rule. I won’t screw over anyone even if there’s a financial loss. It’s just because Michael has more money than sense. He’s willing to trust me, so you all have no choice but to obey.”What she said sounded presumptuous, but nobody thought she took advantage of Michael’s authority to do as she pleased.Instead, the attendees were overwhelmed by her dominance.She even openly addressed him by name and stated that he had more money than sense...This stirred up various emotions among many people in the meeting.What was more, Evan was in the meeting as well!Would he tell Michael what Ivanka said?At that moment, everyone looked at him discreetly.To their su
For some reason, everyone in the meeting felt envious.Some sneered inwardly, “Did she seriously think she could get away with anything just because she has got a bit of talent? Would Michael let her have her way?”Michael and Ivanka were locked in a silent gaze, both with cold and indifferent expressions.For some reason, the rest of the people in the meeting room felt as if they were non-existent to the two of them, unable to blend in anymore.No one dared to even take a deep breath. They were uncertain about Michael’s mood. In fact, some had already begun to fear his wrath might be unleashed upon them.Amidst everyone’s contemplation, Michael turned to look at them and said nonchalantly, “Did you all hear that?”Everyone was at a loss for words.They were bewildered and wondered if they had misheard him.But the next moment, they realized he was actually agreeing with Ivanka’s approach!Seriously? How could he?!David was the last to come back to his senses. He was so f
Michael ignored everyone as he continued to watch Ivanka until she was out of his sight.As he stood up, Evan also rose from his seat and glanced at his watch before saying, “It’s getting late. Let’s head back and get back to work.”No one uttered a word as Evan followed Michael out.They were moving sluggishly in the meeting room as they exchanged glances.One of them could not help but say, “From now on, let’s just obediently follow orders, or else we might really face consequences.”David’s expression darkened. Even so, he had no dignity left. Michael had stripped him out of it just to protect that flower vase!He took a deep breath and suppressed his anger as he walked out briskly.Many people in the room looked at him with contemptuous smirks.His good times there would eventually come to an end if this continued.He deserved it.Jake, who previously spoke up for David, was now nervous and confused. He walked out in a daze, unsure what to do next. ... The entire comp
Of course, many netizens criticized them for speaking nonsense. There was no way the aloof Michael would do such a thing.Ivanka had enough and silently logged out of Twitter.Sandy could not help but speak again, “Tell me, what exactly happened between you two? There must have been something to cause such an uproar. You two definitely have something going on!”Ivanka twitched her mouth. “No way! Earlier in the meeting, I was just putting pressure on everyone and mentioned that if they disobeyed my orders again, they shouldn’t blame me for being ruthless.”“And then?”Ivanka briefly recounted what happened earlier and left Sandy in total shock.“Seriously? Iv, you’re not lying to me, right? That’s it?” Sandy was in disbelief.“That’s it.”“Wow...” Sandy was speechless. “This news is so over-the-top and unreliable. Netizens are just something else...”Ivanka’s face showed a hint of worry as she asked, “What about Hanson? Did he see it?”“Oh no! What are we going to do? If Hans
“Iv…” Hanson grew increasingly sad. Yet he was at a loss. When he first saw the Twitter post, he felt sad, angry, and a whole slew of other complicated emotions. However, at that moment, he no longer intended to demand answers from Ivanka. He just wanted to know what had happened to her. Before he finished speaking, Ivanka interrupted him. He became more panicked. As he was thinking about what to say, Ivanka chuckled and said, “You don’t need to defend yourself. After all, I’m the cause of this issue. You’ve done nothing wrong.” Ivanka only said that to him. She did not tell him exactly what had happened. The fact was, Hanson wanted to know the truth behind it. For a moment, they became silent. Ivanka had nothing to say. Meanwhile, Hanson had a lot to say, but no words came out of his mouth. “Are you busy now?” Ivanka answered, “Yes. I’m working now.” “Are you sure you can’t reject the collaboration with Barkworth’s Group?” When Hanson said that, he felt slightly sad an
After Ivanka hung up, Hanson stared at his phone. He looked increasingly depressed and sad. Ivanka never explained anything to him. She only asked for his trust. Hanson trusted her. But he would rather hear her explanation. He did not care about the truth behind it. He only wanted to know if she cared about him. If she cared for him, she would explain matters to him. If this were the past, Ivanka would more or less give him a brief explanation in spite of her cool nature. However, she did not say anything just now. She was so aloof that he trembled in fear. The thought rooted in his heart filled his mind. “No way! That’s impossible!” Hanson felt his back was drenched with cold sweat. Emeralda went downstairs when she happened to see Hanson muttering to himself. He looked as pale as a ghost. It was clear to see that Emeralda’s heart ached for her son. She had just seen the trend on Twitter when she was upstairs. Hence, she naturally figured out what would happen to Han
Emeralda sighed wearily. “I know you’re in a bad mood. I can’t bear to say much to you. But you need to carefully consider why Ivanka agreed to be your girlfriend right after the car accident and not before.” Hanson felt as if his heart had been squeezed so hard that he groaned in pain. Despite knowing the answer, he refused to believe it. “Mom. Enough!” Emeralda sighed. Staring at Hanson in his current state, she stopped probing him. She patted his shoulders in resignation. “Okay. But you need to calm down.” In the end, Emeralda could not bear to say much to him. She cared for Hanson. She was worried that he would only sink deeper into his fruitless relationship with Ivanka. ... Meanwhile, Chiara and Lyla saw the Twitter post too. They were inside the room, and Chiara trembled as she held the phone. Clearly, she burned in rage upon seeing the post. Lyla was worried that Chiara would be agitated upon reading the post and said, “That’s not possible. Michael is ar
“You need to set your mind right now. Since you’ve given up on Michael and even want to take your revenge on him, it’s of great benefit to us that they hook up with each other.” Chiara gritted her teeth and sucked in a deep breath again. “I naturally know about this.” “It’s good that you’re clear about it. You need to persuade yourself that you shouldn’t look back again once you give up on him. If not, do you know what you’re about to face?” Chiara inevitably looked at Lyla, and Lyla patiently “educated” her. “If you still can’t give up on him, you’ll be hesitant when we lay our hands on him. For example, when we are about to succeed in something and he finds out about it, he might try to please you and even agree to marry you. When that happens, will you become soft-hearted and lose your rationality just to be together with him? If you did that, do you think you would still be able to get out of the situation by the time he finishes his investigation and sends you to jail?” Ch
Ivanka frowned deeply. Michael was in a horrible state. He had been poisoned and suffered gunshots. He had a strong tolerance to medicine and pain. But it was his mental condition that caused him to fall into this state. Not being fully recovered also added to the burden. Ivanka gave him a white pill which she had formulated by herself. After that, she had the security guard carry Michael into her car. Then, she sent him to the hospital. They arrived at the emergency department. Xavier had finished attending to his patients. When he walked out of his office, he saw Michael being carried into the hospital. He then saw Ivanka beside Michael. Xavier frowned. His expression became tense, and he asked solemnly, “What’s happened to him?” “He’s weak and had previously been poisoned. Since you’re around, you can look after him.” Ivanka summarized Michael’s condition. After hearing Ivanka’s brief explanation, Xavier gave Michael a checklist and put him on a drip. After that,
Since Jonah had come to this and Ivanka was not an ungrateful person, she nodded and gave her word. “Jonah, I’ll give this my all. Don’t worry. As long as it’s within my ability, I’ll help you.” Jonah had to be bound to the wheelchair at the moment. Since Ivanka had shared a similar experience when she took over Lane’s Group back then, she naturally figured out how wolfish and greedy his adversaries would be. Jonah was injured because of her. She swore to give her all to save him from whatever crisis he was facing. Jonah took advantage of this and asked, “What time are you coming tomorrow? I’ll have my assistant get ready.” Ivanka thought for a moment. “Tomorrow afternoon.” She needed to manage her company affairs during the first half of the day. Jonah was content upon hearing her answer. “Good. I’ll wait for you tomorrow.” “Okay.” Ivanka nodded before hanging up. When she returned to her office, she did not expect to see Michael sitting on the couch. She nearly jum
There was only one possibility. Ivanka was calling somebody else. Michael wondered who could strike up such a long conversation with her. Sandy and Ivan had returned to the country. Ivanka’s besties were around her. Even if Ivanka deliberately approached Chiara, she could not possibly have so much to chat with Chiara. If Ivanka’s phone call was business related, there was no need to chat this long. Michael eliminated the possible reasons one by one. In the end, he thought of Jonah. Michael’s expression instantly turned as dark as thunderclouds. His gaze was dull and cold. Evan noticed it. He also saw the call record on Michael’s phone. Evan quickly persuaded Michael, “Mr. Barkworth, Ms. Lane could be tied up with her work, so she couldn’t answer your call. We could go to her workplace now.” Michael said nothing. He gave a cold glance at Evan. Evan got a shock. The next second, Michael turned around and left his office. Looking at Michael’s fading silhouette, Evan wi
It was why Ivanka still came for Jonah in spite of her unpleasant experience with Margaret in the hospital last time. Jonah had been injured because of Ivanka. She came for him only. The other people did not matter to her. Jonah’s heart sank upon hearing her words. His expression tensed up. He could imagine the indifferent look on Ivanka’s face right at that moment. She had that expression on her face simply because he was never really important to her. Jonah was upset precisely because of her indifference to him. He wanted to say something to her but did not know how to begin. He was also not in the position to say that. It did not take long before Ivanka’s gentle but rather indifferent voice rang in his ears, “Jonah, don’t worry. I’ll treat your legs until they recover. Don’t run into any conflicts with your mom because of me.” Her words pulled Jonah’s wandering mind back into the present moment. He felt a heavy weight on his heart. “Iv, I trust you. You don’t need to
Margaret became frustrated and grabbed Ivanka. She could not understand why Ivanka was fine while Jonah ended up in such a bad situation after the accident.Then, Jonah defended Ivanka. There was also all the talk about Ivanka’s treatment. Margaret was curious to see what kind of miracle medicine Ivanka could develop.In the end, Ivanka’s treatment did not work. Moreover, her relationship with Jonah, which had finally started to improve, was once again ruined because of Ivanka.Jonah scoffed. “Mom, I’m not an eight-year-old anymore. You’re saying all this because you want me to go along with your plans for an arranged date, right?”Margaret had not expected Jonah to guess her thoughts. She was about to insist on her point when Jonah spoke first. With a mocking smile, he said sarcastically, “Do you think anyone would date someone like me?”He had a point. But Laura might be one such person.However, Margaret did not like her. She would do anything to keep Laura from becoming her d
“That’s because you want him to fall in love with you!” Margaret snapped.Ivanka chuckled softly. Her tone was edged with sarcasm. “Love? Does it really matter that much?”Margaret felt humiliated and furious. She pointed a finger at Ivanka’s face with a hostile expression. “If it doesn’t matter, why are you doing all this? Stop pretending, Ivanka!”Ivanka let out a bitter laugh. “Pretending? What am I pretending for? Is being divorced a crime? Margaret, you’re a woman too. How would you feel if someone accused you like this?”She hoped Margaret would take a moment to reflect. After all, she was Jonah’s mother, and Ivanka did not want their conflict to escalate.But Margaret was unmoved. Her glare turned colder, sharper, and filled with hatred.“You think I’ll just let this go?” Margaret said sharply. “If it weren’t for you, Jonah wouldn’t be in this mess! I meant every word I said, and nothing will change that.”To her, Ivanka was nothing more than someone scheming to use Jonah
“Ivanka,” Margaret took a deep breath while trying to compose herself. When she looked at Ivanka again, her expression was calm. She said, “I don’t know how deep Jonah’s feelings for you run. What I fear most is that once he becomes fixated on you, that’s it. When he falls for someone, his heart won’t make room for anyone else. In that way, he’s just like his father.”Ivanka’s gaze wavered. She bit her lip and was unsure of what to say.“I beg you, don’t hurt Jonah anymore!” Margaret’s voice carried a note of desperation.Ivanka’s expression turned extremely complicated.There was a time when Jonah came to her only to use her. Back then, they were both using each other. It made things simple.But later, Jonah unexpectedly started talking about marriage. Perhaps it was to provoke Michael, or perhaps he simply wanted to keep her close because she was useful to him.At some point, though, it seemed Jonah had become serious about her. She could not pinpoint when it happened. Perhaps
Jonah frowned in clear disagreement, but he stayed silent. Ivanka’s confident smile reassured him and made him trust her.Eventually, he let go of her wrist.Ivanka noticed Margaret putting on her shoes. She quickly followed, stepping outside just as Margaret was about to get into her car“Margaret,” she called out.Margaret frowned slightly and stood still.Since Jonah had not come out with Ivanka, she decided she could spare a moment to speak with her.She turned and looked at Ivanka coldly.Ivanka softened her tone. “Let’s take a walk.”Margaret did not respond, but her silence was enough of an agreement.They walked slowly around the edge of the mansion. The surrounding area was all part of the Sadler family estate.Margaret suppressed her anger and glanced at Ivanka before speaking in a composed tone, “Alright. What do you want to say?”Ivanka met her gaze briefly before looking ahead and said, “Do you know what will happen if Jonah’s coughing continues?”Margaret’s he
Margaret glared at Ivanka and scoffed, “If there’s an issue, I’ll get another doctor to handle it. It’ll be anyone but you, Ivanka. Haven’t I made myself clear enough? I’ve told you this before.”She hated how Ivanka ignored her warnings and kept coming back to visit Jonah time and again. What if Jonah got too close to her and ended up ruining his reputation? If Jonah had not been here, Margaret would have been even harsher.Ivanka frowned as she met Margaret’s sharp gaze. “I’ve never tried to get close to Jonah like that. We’re just friends. I know I’m not good enough for him, so I’ve never even thought about it.”“You might not have, but he has!” Margaret snapped, raising her voice.“Mom!” Jonah’s expression darkened.Jonah was usually calm and polite. This was the first time Ivanka saw him looking so upset and was about to lose his temper.Ivanka’s eyes flickered with hesitation. She was unsure of what to say.Explaining Jonah’s coughing would do no good. Margaret would not