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
Michael had been staying in Ivanka’s house and never left her house. Evan touched the tip of his nose in embarrassment. He wondered how he should convey Sandy’s words to Michael. If he conveyed Sandy’s words to Michael bluntly, it would only make Michael feel even worse and directly affect everyone’s lives. But if he did not, it would mean lying to him. Hence, Evan was in a dilemma. He hesitated for a while before saying, “Mr. Barkworth, I called Ms. Sandy. She said Ms. Lane is staying with her. Ms. Anna is with them too. The three of them are together, so nothing will happen to Ms. Lane.” Michael’s expression turned icy cold. He said nothing. Evan was embarrassed. For a moment, he was lost for words. Since the situation had reached this state, he continued, “Ms. Sandy said she can take good care of Ms. Lane, so you don’t need to look after her. She doesn’t want you to have your work affected because of you taking care of Ms. Lane.” At that moment, that was all Ivan could
Sandy nodded. “That’s right. You need to stay with us. If not, you can have Michael take care of you.” Ivanka was speechless. Sandy hesitated. In the end, she could not help but say, “I more or less know what sort of person Michael is now. Based on his actions over the past few days, he has grown more humble. Although it’s because of him that you got hurt, you have explicitly shown him through your actions that you don’t need him. If he doesn’t care about you, he should be living a carefree life. He could simply get a caretaker to take care of you. Or, he could just ignore you. After all, you’ve got us.” Anna nodded. “Right. I also feel the same. Iv, it could be because you’re different from last time, so he started to pay attention to you.” Ivanka’s lips twitched. “I don’t care. He can do whatever he wants. I won’t entertain him. Everything is good so long he doesn’t interfere with my life.” “Tsk. Since you decided to stay with us, he’ll certainly have someone to keep an eye
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