After some thinking, Tanya rested her hand on her forehead and said calmly, “I’ve got other plans for this. Just use the design concept and come up with a design. I’ll send someone to look for Papaver, but be ready in case we can’t find her.”Everyone nodded and did not say anything further.The meeting was then adjourned.Tanya was quite interested in Papaver.She had considered collaborating with her before. However, Papaver was aloof and had never revealed her true identity. This made her extremely elusive. Tanya had never been able to contact her.The Design Department’s approach seemed very reasonable to her. Collaborating with Papaver would be a significant advancement for them.Another reason she wanted to collaborate with Papaver was to hope that Michael would regard her more highly. By becoming more exceptional and achieving more, she hoped to be worthy of Michael and have him pour his attention on her instead of his ex-wife. ... The deadline Ivanka gave Theodore w
Ivanka seemed to be waiting for Theodore’s agreement.He had to call Lyla immediately!... Sandy, Anna, and Hanson were at Ivanka’s house. It had been a while since they last gathered.Ivanka had prepared some food for them. The other three were helping out in the kitchen.Once everyone settled down, Sandy eagerly picked up her utensils. “I can finally eat Iv’s cooking again!”Anna chuckled, “Hey, don’t be greedy! I miss Iv’s cooking too.”Sandy snorted, “See?! You miss her food too! I’m not the only one who’s greedy!”Hanson smiled and picked up his utensils.Ivanka’s wounds were almost completely healed, but they still did not let her drink alcohol. So, everyone could only drink juice instead of wine.After they toasted, Sandy took a sip of her juice and looked at Ivanka. “Iv, is Theodore’s family still acting indifferent?”“Mhm.”Hanson frowned. “Even after you threatened to sue them? Aren’t they afraid?”Anna found it hard to believe. She laughed and said, “How can th
Hanson’s heart skipped a beat. He nodded immediately. “Okay, I’ll stay.”Ivanka’s eyes flickered in panic as she said, “I’ll arrange for bodyguards. You don’t have to stay.”“Meh, I know it’s just words. Alright, it’s settled then. Hanson will stay downstairs. The three of us will stay upstairs! As a way of thanking us, you can cook delicious meals for us for the next few days!” Sandy said with a longing expression as she imagined indulging in Ivanka’s cooking for days to come.Anna chuckled. “Iv is very busy. She won’t have time to cook for you!”“Hahaha... occasional meals from her work too!”Their dynamic made it clear they were not leaving. Ivanka had no choice but to comply as she felt grateful for them. Hanson quickly hired five bodyguards—two females and three males. The females were for Ivanka’s assistance, while the males focused on outer protection.Ivanka felt touched. She knew it was a dangerous time. So, she gave in and accepted their kindness.That night, after t
Ivanka paused for a moment and was surprised that Evan was about to send her the proposal so soon.She frowned, “Did Michael ask you to send it only to me?”Evan cleared his throat. He often found himself in a difficult position between Ivanka and Michael.Both Ivanka and Evan seemed to have the same thoughts. They were both astute and sharp and possessed enough mutual understanding without needing to say anything directly.At that moment, he knew he could not lie to her.Finally, Evan said softly, “This project is newly approved by the company and has huge potential. Normally, Mr. Barkworth would choose Cullen’s Group for collaboration, but this time, he asked me to contact you directly.”Without needing him to spell it out, Ivanka understood what he intended. Evan saved himself the trouble of engaging in an awkward conversation as well.It was no secret that given the current situation, Cullen’s Group was much more advantageous to Barkworth’s Group than Lane’s Group. A win-win
Michael was no longer in the mood to handle his tasks in Barkworth’s Group. His expression had been dark all day. After a moment, he got up, walked to the window, and looked out. His office was on the top floor. If he looked down, there was not much to behold. But if he looked up, he could see the sky and clouds. The weather outside was pleasant. The air was fresh and clean. Michael opened the window. When he felt the cold breeze, he became calmer. No one knew how long he stood by the window. He stared off into the distance. It was as if he were looking at something. ... Five days passed. Everything seemed calm. Theodore and his family were eating dinner. After a couple of peaceful days, they were no longer that tense and felt more relaxed. Theodore even drank today. After drinking a mouthful of whisky, Theodore parted his lips and exhaled. He ate some food before saying with a grin, “As we expected, Ivanka was just lying to us.” Seeing that Theodore was in a good m
Chiara said through her gnashed teeth, “I wish that day would come soon. But that person just keeps observing the situation and hasn’t attacked Ivanka. How much longer is she going to wait? Why isn’t Ivanka dead yet?!” “Ivanka will die eventually.” Lyla looked grim. Theodore and his family lose their appetite for food because of Chiara. Upon seeing the delicious dishes served on the table, Theodore took his cutlery. “Eat the food now. Don’t starve yourself. We need to save up energy and try to fight back against Ivanka. If we starve ourselves to death, we won’t get any chance to fight back against her. Lyla nodded and turned to Chiara. Lyla took Chiara’s cutlery and passed it to her. “Eat now.” Chiara bit the bottom of her lips. She wordlessly took the cutlery from Lyla. But, a phone call made them completely lose their appetite for food. The moment Theodore’s phone rang, he and his family frowned. Their expressions turned dark. Apparently, they somewhat disliked answer
Within the blink of an eye, it was the day of the court. Theodore and his family had waited for Ivanka to come to them over the past few days. Unfortunately, Ivanka never bothered to entertain them. Theodore and his family panicked. They believed Ivanka could not possibly take any action against them based on the agreement on the transfer of shares. They thought she was just scaring them. Hence, they decided to wait. The worst scenario would be to show up at court. After all, Theodore and Ivanka had already fallen out, and everyone knew what was going on. Regardless of whether Theodore returned Ivanka her and her father’s shares, everyone had already gossiped about the issue fervently. Theodore thought they might as well enjoy the profits earned from the shares. With the power in his hands, people would stop gossiping about him.” While Theodore and his family were conflicted about the issue, it was time for the lawsuit. Ivanka had already taken her seat. Theodore hired an
Under the crowd’s gazes, Ivanka finally pointed out the loopholes. “Please look carefully at the clauses on the agreement. Clause 24 explicitly stated that…” Ivanka read the loopholes sentence by sentence. Theodore’s lawyer became dumbfounded. One could not see anything wrong with that clause alone. However, with Ivanka’s professional ability, when she combined two clauses together, it unexpectedly led to loopholes. How did it become like this?! Theodore did not understand what Ivanka was reading. But, he saw with his own eyes that his lawyer’s expression had turned as white as sheets. How did it become like this?! He subconsciously whispered to his lawyer. “What’s going on?” “She’s too good…” the lawyer whispered to Theodore. The lawyer sounded like he had run out of ways to refute Ivanka. Sandy had the photocopy of the agreement on the transfer of shares with her. While Ivanka was pointing out the loopholes in the clauses, Sandy read the agreement carefully. Her
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