In an instant, Sandy’s appetite returned. She was sure she could eat like a horse!Ivanka, on the other hand, quietly remained by Sandy’s side.Even though she did not want to see Michael, she followed Sandy downstairs anyway because she did not want to make her best friend worry.Besides, she had to admit that eating would help her wounds heal faster.She would just ignore Michael and Ivan.Ivanka and Sandy washed their hands and sat at the dining table. As they started eating, Ivan and Sandy stood up and sat down at the same time to get more food. Sandy looked at Ivan as he continued to scoop more food. She could not help but feel appalled as she said, “Are you a pig or something? How could you eat seven or eight meals a day? Even pigs can’t eat as much as you!”Ivan’s expression darkened. He had a strong urge to kill this damn b*tch!But he lost the bet. He had to take this woman away tonight, so he could not afford to provoke her at that moment.He took a deep breath
Ivan pretended not to notice Michael’s gaze as he casually looked away.If Michael had not called a doctor, she would have contacted her own doctor herself. However, since the doctor Michael called was already on her way, she chose not to call her own doctor to avoid them running into each other.After a while, the doctor arrived.She was surprised to see that it was the same female doctor who changed her dressing yesterday.Had Michael called her over?Ivanka instinctively looked at Michael.Michael said calmly, “It’s better to have only one person handle your wound.”Sandy looked at Michael with confusion.Was Michael this caring before? Did he really have feelings for Ivanka?He seemed genuinely worried when Ivanka was not around this morning. The way he knocked on the door sounded very urgent. He even snatched her phone quite rudely. He looked extremely concerned. His behavior seemed almost instinctive.Well, she did interact with him before. He and Ivanka were married be
Michael had always believed that being so self-reliant was a way for a person to flaunt superiority.However, Ivanka never troubled him with anything. He was always the one who took initiative.He frowned as his expression soured.Sandy could not bear seeing the pain and exclaimed, “It’s really f*cking painful, isn’t it?! I’ve never experienced this level of pain, but even much milder injuries are hard for me to handle! Voicing the pain can actually help relieve it a little, you know?”The female doctor did not interrupt their conversation. It could be a distraction that could lessen Ivanka’s pain. The doctor tried to be gentle with her movements to ease Ivanka’s discomfort as much as possible.Ivanka smiled and replied softly, “I’m fine. Don’t worry.”Her voice was light and dainty. There was no sign of pain at all.Sandy sighed resignedly. “Iv...”She knew that Ivanka could endure a lot of pain. Plus, Ivanka probably did not want to worry her or become Michael’s laughingstock
Ivan’s expression darkened. “Why do you want to stay?”He tried to restrain his anger as he silently mouthed, “Are you planning to keep being a third wheel here? If you stay, their relationship will only become more strained!”He did it slowly enough for Sandy to catch most of it and understand enough.She hesitated and felt conflicted for a moment.Should she stay?It did not feel right.But if she left, Ivanka would be alone. What if Michael did something extreme to her?Ivanka was still injured. Michael seemed very strong and capable. There was no way Ivanka could stop him.Ivan thought there might be hope when he noticed Sandy hesitated. But before he could speak, Sandy said firmly, “I’m not leaving. I’m staying here tonight! Since Ivanka is injured, it’s inconvenient for you two big guys to stay here. Obviously, I should stay to take care of her!”Ivan’s expression turned grim. Sandy was being reasonable, but the way she said it sounded absurd. He gritted his teeth and re
The next moment, Ivanka came back to her senses. She smiled sarcastically and said indifferently, “You really don’t have to go to such lengths for me. I’ll be fine. Grandma won’t blame you for any of this. You can leave.”It was obvious that Ivanka did not want him around. Michael’s face turned pale with anger. He even had to restrain himself from strangling Ivanka. He headed upstairs wordlessly.Ivanka frowned irritably as she watched Michael go upstairs. She just could not drive him away.After hesitating momentarily, she decided not to bother with that jerk anymore and went back to her room. The two of them were like strangers living under the same roof.If Ivan and Xander found out how awkward Michael was, they would definitely mock him, especially Ivan. Xander might be a little more understanding.Soon, it was nighttime.Michael could not sleep at all and was plagued by persistent coughing throughout the night. He frowned in discomfort but chose to remain silent. He took a
Ivanka frowned. She stared at Michael unhappily. Despite not having said a word, she had explicitly shown what she really meant through her behavior. Michael, on the other hand, acted as if he had not noticed anything. He sat on the couch and read the documents. Ivanka fumed silently. She stared at Michael coolly. “What’s the point of doing this? Why are you doing this?” Michael sneered, “What do you think?” “I think you’re no different from common thugs! It’s almost as if I’m the only one for you. Stop making me have such illusions about you! I’ll only find you to be disgusting! Please leave now.” The veins on Michael’s forehead throbbed. He stared at Ivanka coolly. His eyes were filled with mockery. “You’d better stop having such an illusion about me. You’re not worthy.” “Get lost, then! Can’t you see I feel extremely irritated seeing you now?!” Apparently, Ivanka was furious at Michael’s words. Hence, she sounded cold and harsh. If one listened carefully, one could se
Michael opened the door without hesitation, but he could not find Ivanka inside the room. Michael’s expression darkened. He checked every room inside the house but could not find her. That meant she had left the house from upstairs. She had jumped out of the house. Michael thought. “Damn her!” At that moment, the veins on Michael’s forehead bulged. Clearly, he did not expect Ivanka to do that. He seethed in anger. Ivanka did not even leave him a message. It was clear to see that she hated him to the core. Through her actions, she had explicitly warned him not to interfere with her life. At that moment, Michael even had the urge to strangle Ivanka! He contacted Ivan. Right after Ivan answered his call, Ivan heard his bone-chilling voice. “Find out Ivanka’s whereabouts now.” Ivan was stunned. He became stupefied. He wondered. “Hasn’t she been staying in his house? “Did she sneak out? “If Mr. Barkworth is at home, he would certainly know if Ivanka has left th
A hint of bitterness flashed in Anna’s eyes. “I haven’t seen him for a long time. After he learned that I had a crush on him, he has been intentionally avoiding me. Perhaps he doesn’t want to give me hope.” Sandy frowned. “You can’t go on like this. The three of you are in a complicated love-hate relationship, but we’ve been best friends for a very long time. Shall we ask Hanson over and have dinner together tonight?” Complicated emotions flashed in Ivanka’s eyes. She recalled Hanson’s words. He had asked her not to ignore him. However, at that moment, he avoided Anna. Human relationships were complicated. Ivanka thought about it before nodding. “Okay. I’m fine with that.” Anna was eager to see Hanson, so she said, “Me too.” Sandy nodded. “Good. I’ll inform Hanson now.” Anna was extremely nervous. Soon, Sandy’s call was picked up. “Hello, Sandy.” “Hello. What are you doing now? Am I interrupting you?” Hanson chuckled. “No. To what do I owe the pleasure?” “I miss
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