Ivanka’s expression was indifferent as she looked at the girl who spoke and said calmly, “You can speak, but you’ll have to bear the consequences of your words.” Many people looked at Ivanka with immense dissatisfaction. Did she think that being a lawyer made her superior to them all? She was even specifically threatening people with what she was good at. The nerve! Ms. Lynch glared at her. “Ms. Ivanka, we’re just discussing this matter within the company. There’s no need for talks of legal actions for this. We just want you to explain yourself about this. If you can’t defend yourself…” Ms. Lynch left her statement hanging. The attendees tensed, and some were inexplicably excited. They wanted her to say all these words. Ivanka’s relationship with Michael had already made some girls who liked Michael jealous. Although Michael was not a celebrity, people treated him as an object of affection. Sometimes, if their idol had a girlfriend, many girls would get very upset. Some m
After Ivanka finished talking, she had no intention to say anything else. Her implications were clear. Michael frowned. His expression grew increasingly sullen. He stared at Ivanka. Then, he finally spoke in front of everyone. “Why do you think I should believe you?” Ms. Lynch was a bit shocked. The employees in the conference room were also surprised. But the next moment, everyone was happy! If Michael questioned Ivanka like this, then it proved that Michael was also suspicious of Ivanka. It would be even harder for Ivanka to stay in this company! That was good for them!Ms. Lynch’s mood was so much better. Her confidence was no longer faltering like before. Instead, she looked at Ivanka and sneered. “Ms. Ivanka, the best thing to do now is to explain yourself properly. If you continue to keep being stubborn and acting holier-than-thou, then this might not end well for you.” If not for the fact that this was not the right place to do so, she wanted to just say, “Stop
All the previous efforts to ease tensions were completely shattered by Ivanka’s words.Yet, Ivanka remained unaware of what was in Michael’s mind. She simply said calmly, “Do you all accept this explanation?”The crowd remained silent.The explanation was utterly flawless. It left no room for rebuttal.Michael gave off such a grim and bone-chilling glare that it sent shivers down the spines of everyone in the conference room.To whom was Michael’s fury directed toward?Was he displeased with Ivanka, or enraged by their targeting of her?As everyone squirmed in anxiety, Michael suddenly spoke in a deep voice, “Carry on with the meeting.”The crowd felt speechless.They finally realized at the moment. Michael believed Ivanka and chose to keep her.Their prior words were like waving a red cloth in front of a raging bull. Michael was upset!They remained on edge until the end of the meeting. It was not until Michael had left for quite some time that they were able to breathe a s
What’s so funny?”“So what if she’s Black-eyed Susan?” The voice on the other end dripped with disdain.Chiara was a little surprised by her reaction, but she did not seem to take Black-eyed Susan’s capabilities seriously. Yet, for some reason, Chiara could not relax.But since she had said so, Chiara could not refute her. She could only say, “So what do you want me to do next?”“Well, it’s time for you to make your move.”Chiara’s eyes flickered with expectation. Just as she thought, the mystery person was asking her to act.“What do you need me to do?”...For the next three days, everything remained calm and peaceful.However, the storm within Barkworth’s Group intensified even more than the previous days.That was because, after Michael changed the system, no one could crack it anymore. However, things were different when Ivanka first learned that the company’s secrets were leaked.This led to more and more discussions among the company’s employees about Ivanka.Every t
“I understand your feelings. I know you don’t want to hurt anyone. I didn’t see you to ask you to harm Ivanka. I simply refuse to accept their remarriage. If it can’t be me by his side, then I hope it’s you, not Ivanka! Do you know that she doesn’t really love Michael? It’s all just...”Chiara paused intentionally. As she expected, leaving the rest of the sentence hanging piqued Tanya’s curiosity.Tanya gazed at Chiara and waited for her to continue.Chiara sighed with resignation. “Ivanka is getting close to Michael with an ulterior motive. Why do you think we fell out? Why do you think I wanted them to divorce?”Tanya furrowed her brow and asked with a calm expression. “Why?”Chiara snorted. “When Ivanka’s father was still alive, I once overheard them plotting in a room.”Tanya’s expression froze slightly as she stared at Chiara silently.Chiara scoffed. “Do you really think they had good intentions? They were scheming from the start. After Ivanka married Michael, they planned
This way, it would make Tanya appear as if everything she did was for the sake of justice. Any action she took was merely a response to Ivanka’s excessive behavior.However, Chiara was not concerned about these appearances. As long as Tanya was willing to act, that was all that mattered to her.The next moment, Chiara spoke calmly, “I can assure you, I do have evidence to support my words. I’ll send it to your phone later. And if, after seeing the evidence, you still feel like turning a blind eye, then I won’t bother you again. If you don’t cherish Mr. Barkworth, I will do nothing more.”Tanya’s gaze flickered with mixed emotions as she watched Chiara silently.Suddenly, Chiara seemed unwilling to say much more to her. She put her mask and sunglasses back on.Seeing Tanya still staring at her, she simply said with an indifferent expression, “I’ve said all I needed to. I’m sure you don’t want to waste any more time on me, so I’ll take my leave. If fate allows, we’ll be in touch aga
Ivanka looked at the photos in stunned silence. She felt a myriad of emotions swirling inside her, but she could not articulate any of them.Suki sighed softly. “When I stumbled upon this, I was quite shocked too. You’ve been in the dark about your mother all these years, and I thought this might be of some help to you.”Ivanka had never seen her parents’ marriage certificate or divorce papers.Despite her best efforts over the years, this had been intentionally obscured. She could not find any traces at all.She did not expect Suki to find these photos.It was possible that the person behind the cover-up was not aware of the existence of these photos.Suki gazed at Ivanka, who had a solemn expression, and sighed softly. “For now, these are the only leads I could uncover. Your father’s affairs remain a mystery.”Ivanka’s eyes flickered thoughtfully. “It’s not exactly a mystery. Jonah gave me some leads regarding my father.”Suki looked surprised. “What leads?”Ivanka’s lashes
Suki sighed wearily. “Yes, he might lie to you for his own interests. He may be leading you into a trap.”Ivanka sneered. “Forget it, let’s put this matter aside for now. I’ll take my time to investigate it.”She had never seen her mother before. Although her obsession with her mother ran deep, at the moment, there were many things she needed to do. She needed to investigate all of it.Suki nodded. “All right.”Ivanka said, “It’s getting late. I’ll head back now. You should get some rest.”Suki watched as Ivanka stood up. She quickly followed suit to see her off.After Ivanka went home, she kept staring at the printed old photos.... The next day, Tanya was having a meal with her friend Maeve in a private room.Maeve noticed that Tanya was distracted. Tanya was pushing around her food with her fork and not eating much. Maeve asked with puzzlement, “What’s going on with you?”Tanya snapped out of her thoughts. “Nothing.”Maeve set down her spoon. She stared at Tanya and said
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