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
“Who do you think you’re badmouthing, woman?” Sandy’s words all died on her tongue. Even her eyes were filled with surprise! Was she hearing things? Without any further thought, she gradually turned her head around. When she saw that Ivan was sitting behind her with a dark look on his face, Sandy’s eyes were filled with shock! “Why are you here?” Sandy felt as if she had seen a ghost! How could this be?! When did Ivan come, and how did he end up sitting behind her so silently? How was this possible? Not only was Sandy surprised, but even Suki was in disbelief. When did this happen? Ivan’s expression was darker than a thundercloud. He clenched his teeth and said, “Why can’t I be here?” Sandy was dumbstruck. For some reason, at that moment, she actually felt a little guilty. However, of course she could not show it on her face. She just sneered, “You’re right. No one can stop you where you want to go.” After saying that, Sandy turned back and refused to
Theodore’s expression grew darker. He knew this was his only way, but he could not stand it! Also, Lyla was not done talking yet. She looked at Theodore grimly. “As for the income for these past few years, it doesn’t matter if she had cheated us of those. At least, we are not going to give her that again. Otherwise, not only do we need to give her the shares, we’ll also need to pay her extra money on top of that. We’ll be losing out big time.” Theodore gritted his teeth. “No! That’s not a good idea! How could I return the shares to her? We already put in so much effort to kill Fernando in the first place. She has already cheated us of two billion dollars, and we’ve lost all of our income for the past few years. If we let her take the shares back and let her demand an extra billion or so more of our profits, then not only will we not earn a single cent, we’ll also have to compensate her with two billion after all our troubles. How are we going to pay her, then?!” Lyla frowned. Th
“About that, I want to ask for your advice. Can you help me contact the judge? Tomorrow’s case will be Ivanka’s case against me. I wonder if the judge can…” Theodore sounded a little helpless, but he did not finish his words. He was being very obvious. If the assistant could not tell, then he was not fit to stay by the judge’s side. When the assistant heard this, he finally sighed in resignation. “Mr. Lane. I’m really sorry. I can’t help you with such matters.” Since Theodore had made it clear, he could reject it outright. Theodore’s expression instantly changed, but once he thought that this might be the other party’s attempt to ask for more, he quickly spoke again, “Please, Mr. Berg. I know this is an inconvenience for you, but these shares are really important to me. I really need your help to mention this to the judge. Rest assured; your efforts will be rewarded. I will definitely show you my sincerest thanks! You could even state your price!” The judge’s assistant sig
“Mr. Theodore has taken my father and my assets. Before this court session, I have discussed this matter with him multiple times, but to no avail. So, I have no choice but to sue him. I have the right to demand that Mr. Theodore return all of his shares and all the profits over the years in full.” Theodore was shocked! He was about to explode from rage! She demanded he return all the profits in full? Even so, before he could dwell on it, Ivanka said, “When I request for Mr. Theodore to return all of his shares, I mean all of it. Mr. Theodore will not have a single share left.” Theodore was dumbstruck. Chiara and Lyla’s expressions were ugly beyond words as they watched from the audience seat! “Has Ivanka lost her mind?!” Chiara gritted her teeth, but she did not dare to talk too loudly. She said in disbelief, “No matter what, Fernando gave the shares to Dad back then. In fact, they had a proper contract. How could she do this?!” However, just as she said that, she sens
“Mr. Theodore and his family are responsible for the murder of my father. They have no right to inherit the shares.”Theodore’s heart skipped a beat. His face contorted as he shouted, “That’s nonsense!”Lyla and Chiara panicked!They never expected Ivanka to say such a thing there!That immediately caught everyone’s attention!Even Ivan had forgotten about his anger toward Sandy. He stared at Ivanka in disbelief.Wow! Ivanka sure had guts. She actually announced that there! Did she already find all the evidence?If not, striking prematurely would only make the other side more cautious.Looking at Ivanka, Ivan noticed her calm and emotionless demeanor. He found himself intrigued, even a bit resigned. If only he was allowed to turn on his phone, he would broadcast this live to Michael!But it was okay. He would convey it to him later. He had to show Michael how interesting Ivanka had grown.Ivanka’s words left everyone momentarily stunned. Theodore, upon reaching the courtroom,
As the recording was about to be played, Theodore quickly looked at the judge and spoke anxiously, “Your Honor! Everything she said is false. I never did any of those things. You can’t...”The judge frowned slightly. Clearly displeased with Theodore’s outburst, he still responded formally. “True or false, since evidence has been presented, it must be examined.”Theodore felt helpless.What was he supposed to do now?He could not tell whether Ivanka’s recording was real or fake. They had indeed said a lot about wanting to get rid of Fernando. What if Ivanka had actually recorded them?At that moment, he was truly panicking.He immediately turned to his lawyer. “You need to figure something out, now!”The lawyer looked like he was about to cry. In a low voice, he said, “Mr. Theodore, there’s nothing we can do now. Whether the recording is real or not, we have to listen to it first, and then we can refute it afterward.”Theodore gritted his teeth. He could say nothing more.The j
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