“I can win,” Ivanka said confidently.And Jonah believed her.As he stared at the beautiful woman before him, he fell into a daze.Weren’t pretty women supposed to be empty in the head? Ivanka did not seem to be that sort of person.Jonah nodded and said gently, “Tell me what the condition is. If I’m able to fulfill it, I will do it.”Ivanka placed one of her hands on the table and started tapping arrhythmically on the wood. She looked at Jonah and smiled as she said, “I heard that the former master of the Morris family will hold his birthday banquet in ten days.”Jonah sized her up. “Yes.”Ivanka tilted her head slightly. She asked with a grin, “Do you have a plus one?”A trace of surprise flashed in Jonah’s eyes. The next moment, he chuckled. “The pleasure is mine. I’ll pick you up at night. Give me your address.”Ivanka took a sip of her fruit juice. Her cherry lips were moistened by the liquid. She then pursed her lips and said with a smile, “That’ll be boring. I’ll go to
Ivanka waved her phone and said, “See you soon.”And she left without waiting for Jonah’s response.Jonah sat motionlessly in his chair. Suki smiled at him before grabbing her phone and following Ivanka.The duo got into Suki’s car, but Suki did not start the car immediately. Instead, she turned to Ivanka incredulously. “Iris, please tell me you’re not using that playboy to heal your broken heart after splitting up with Michael. Taking advantage of Jonah isn’t going to help you heal. Aren’t you worried about falling in love with him and getting your heart broken again?”Ivanka was stunned. It took her a moment before she recovered her senses. She laughed in resignation and said, “What on earth are you talking about? Love is the one thing I hate the most right now. Why would I fall in love with him?”Moreover, how could Jonah possibly want to date her?Ivanka could not help but laugh again. “You’re being a worry wart. Jonah wouldn’t want to date me even if I asked him.”Suki frow
For a moment, Chiara was in a dilemma. “B-But he usually takes Ivanka with him to these events to show that they’re a loving couple, and he does it for his company’s benefit. Why would he bring me along this time?”Lyla smirked scornfully. “Things have changed.”“Huh?”Lyla tugged on Chiara’s arm and sat her down. “Ivanka is no longer who she was. Your father has gotten his hands on all of her family’s belongings. Ivanka has nothing left in her name. You’re the real princess of the Lane family now, do you understand?”“If that’s the case, it’s even unlikely for Mic to bring me along to the banquet. The public will think that the Barkworth family is heartless for casting Ivanka aside at the moment her father lost his position.”“Pfft! Money is the thing that makes the world go round these days. Although your father is not as powerful as the Barkworth family, he is still one of the leading figures in Bostone. The reason Samuel Barkworth allowed the marriage between Ivanka and Michae
Rosie stood up and went over to Michael. She was upset with his refusal to change for the better. She pinched his shoulder with all her might and said, “That’s because you hurt her deeply, you brat! Make her come back to you!”“Grandma, I’ve made up my mind.” Michael’s expression darkened.“Do you want to drive me to an early grave?!”As Rosie was speaking, she thought about feigning unconsciousness, but Samuel growled, “That’s enough. Your grandma is not feeling well. I’ll be leaving with her now. You’re a grown-up. Make your own decisions.”“Noted.”Rosie’s expression turned dark. Samuel completely destroyed her plans to feign unconsciousness! Samuel dragged her out of Michael’s office before she even had time to say anything else.“Let go of me! I’m not finished!”She struggled to break herself free, but she could not overpower Samuel. In her anger, Rosie turned her head around and shouted, “I’m warning you, you’re not allowed to split up with Ivanka!”Soon, Michael was left
Michael’s expression slowly turned into one of cold fury as one thought popped up in his mind. “I knew it! I knew she was up to something!“I can’t delay the divorce anymore. Otherwise, Grandma is going to kick up another fuss. She almost jammed up my phone today with the calls she made.’Chiara’s face stiffened up as she thought. “What are the odds of meeting Ivanka here?“Both of us saw her. At this point, there’s no way I can pretend to have not noticed her.”Chiara sighed slightly and smiled as she said cordially, “Hi, Iv.”Ivanka looked a little surprised when she saw Chiara. She smirked when she noticed how close Chiara was to Michael. “What a coincidence.”When Chiara noticed Michael was looking at Ivanka from the corner of her eyes, she became nervous. But in the next moment, she produced another elegant smile. “Iv, are you here for Mic? We’re both getting something to eat, too. Why don’t you join us? He thought the worst when he saw you and your upperclassman having a dr
Chiara frowned. She looked at Ivanka like a caring sister and said, “Iv, hearing each other out would solve many problems. You can’t stubbornly insist that you have made zero mistakes!”Ivanka thought. “I can’t stubbornly insist that I have made zero mistakes?“There goes Chiara and her wordplay again. Isn’t she implying that I’m the promiscuous, disloyal wife to Michael?”Ivanka then noticed Michael’s eyes had turned colder. She pressed the corresponding floor button. With a smile, she said, “Since you two are not going to get on the elevator, we’ll leave first.”After speaking, she pressed the close-door button.Jonah gave Ivanka a slight smile. Even after the elevator door closed, he did not sense anything wrong with Ivanka. He could not hide his surprise. “So, all these years, you and your husband have been putting on a show?”Ivanka tilted her head slightly. “Mr. Sadler, you’re a smart man. Why bother asking?”Jonah smiled. He clicked his tongue when he noticed there was no
The corners of Ivanka’s mouth twitched as she thought. “What a small world.”She had initially wanted to ask Michael when he would get a divorce with her, but this man seemed to go out of his way to deliberately embarrass her. She did not plan to look for trouble, so she turned around to return to her room.However, the world suddenly spun. Before Ivanka could realize what had happened, Michael forcibly dragged her to another empty room!Bang!He closed the door.Michael clasped her wrists. She could not move.She looked at the paranoid man in front of her, frowned, and sneered at him. “Mr. Barkworth, what are you doing?”He was the one who wanted to get a divorce and date Chiara, so why did he act like this when she was only having a meal with Jonah?If she had been none the wiser, she would almost believe that this man liked her.However, she was well aware of the life she had in the past few years. She would not repeat the same mistake and naively think she could make him f
Michael was taken aback. Ivanka took advantage of this opportunity and suddenly broke free from Michael. Then she raised her leg to attack him.Michael quickly moved away, and his veins popped on his forehead.“Ivanka!”He never knew that a day would come when she would lash out at him with her words and even attack him.Ivanka sneered and said, “Mr. Barkworth, Mr. Sadler is still waiting for me. Goodbye.”After that, she walked out.More veins popped on Michael’s forehead, but he did not stop her. The drastic change in Ivanka’s personality made him feel that she was a stranger. He felt she had been putting on a show for the past three years.He thought. “I was right. After Ivanka learns that she can’t get anything from me, she plans to become hostile to me.“No, she must be playing hard to get!“I won’t change my mind and fall into your trap!”He kept staring at her. Ivanka had originally intended to grab the doorknob, and after bringing her hand up to it, she could place he
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