Theodore’s expression changed. “Miss McNeil, that’s not true.”Sandy snorted coldly. She wanted to mock him, but eventually decided against it and stayed quiet.Suki did not even bother to look at Theodore and his family. She turned to Ivanka with a gentle look on her face. “Your father has already long passed. Sometimes it only upsets you to bring them up again. Iv, why don’t we let this go?”Theodore was alarmed.Since Ivanka had come to meet him, it showed that she indeed wanted to know more about Fernando, and Theodore had made the right bet. But if people around her kept telling her to let it go, she might just give up.As expected, Ivanka nodded in agreement. “You’re right. The more I know, the sadder I’ll get. I’ll only miss him more.”Theodore and his family paled slightly. Before they said anything, Suki immediately nodded with a smile. “Yes, just let it be, and don’t dwell on the past. Your father would want you to be happy.”“Yeah! He’d have been upset to see you like
Once again, the room was theirs.Ivanka’s patience had already worn out.Seeing that Lyla and Theodore kept refuting an irrefutable fact, she ignored them, picked up her cutlery, and started eating.Ivan was speechless and wondering how she managed to have an appetite after all this time. But he, too, began eating.Naturally, Sandy and Suki picked up their cutlery as well.They were here to grab a bite, after all.Theodore’s expression darkened. All this while, he never said it was okay for them to start eating.But they did that anyway, which was highly disrespectful. Did they not realize that they were in the middle of a discussion?Inhaling deeply, Theodore controlled his emotions and raised his glass at everyone else.“Since we’re already eating together, why don’t we have a drink too?”There was a polite smile on his lips. He acted like he was drinking with his business partners.But he did not expect that after he lifted his glass, only Lyla followed suit.The people
Theodore shook his head and sighed as various emotions brewed within him. “It’s really—”“I don’t have time for your sentimentality. Just get straight to the point” interrupted Ivanka impatiently, which surprised Theodore.He thought Ivanka would resonate with him through this. He tried to stay composed but he was already simmering with anger. Lyla could sense that he was already too upset to speak. So, she quickly intervened, “Wait, Ivanka. Don’t be mad.”This time, she did not dare to waste her time beating around the bush and went straight to the point. “Before your dad passed away, he left us a message for you.”Ivanka narrowed her eyes. Before Fernando passed away, he had also spoken to Michael.Did he also say something to them?She frowned. Could Fernando also have told them to tell her not to take revenge when she learned the truth?!Ivanka’s expression turned colder. She seemed to have figured out something. Theodore and the rest had no idea what was on her mind. He
Ivanka subconsciously bit her lip. She was struggling to contain her sadness and maintain her composure.Whenever she thought of her father, she could not control her emotions because she always felt indebted to him. Had it not been for her past obsession with a love that should not have happened in the first place, she and her father would not have ended up in their current unfortunate situation.If she had prioritized her family more back then, things would not have deteriorated to such dire straits.The recording continued playing.Chiara felt satisfaction and relief seeing Ivanka distressed. Until now, Ivanka had always seemed aloof and stoic.Chiara longed to see Ivanka in pain and could finally witness it. She took a deep breath as she intently watched Ivanka. She did not want to miss any of her emotional reactions.“Iv, honestly, I hadn’t planned on leaving you this recording, but I worried you’d feel down without memories of me. So, I kept this recording with Theodore. I
Sandy felt so disgusted seeing Theodore’s pretentious facade that she let out a cold snort.“Iv, dear. Goodbye. I love you.”Those were his final words.Her heart wrenched with pain, but Ivanka tried to rein in her emotions and not show them too prominently.Lyla and the others waited, hoping Ivanka would speak up. As moments passed in silence, Lyla finally spoke with hesitation. She said softly, “Iv, I know you’re hurting inside. But your father is already gone. You...”Before she could finish her sentence, Ivanka shot her a sharp gaze. Lyla was startled. Ivanka’s intense gaze cut off her words.Ivanka’s icy gaze was filled with hostility. This terrified Lyla.Theodore, Lyla, and Chiara panicked instantly. They were unsure of what to do next.Ivanka kept looking at them before letting out a cold laugh. “My father is already gone, you say?”Lyla’s heart skipped a beat. Oh no... did she just say the wrong thing?Theodore’s expression shifted. He was about to say something, b
Chiara immediately stood up and anxiously approached Ivanka.She quickly grabbed Ivanka’s hand when Ivanka reached for the door handle.“Iv, where are you going? Are you just going to the washroom? You don’t need so many people to go with you. I’ll just go with you!”Ivanka shook off Chiara’s hand. She ignored Chiara and deliberately opened the door.“Ivanka!” Chiara’s eyes widened with frustration. “You can’t just leave! We’re not done talking! We’ve played the recording and shown you our sincerity. At least give us a response!”Chiara was on the verge of yelling about how unreasonable Ivanka was. She felt close to exploding with anger.Ivanka continued to ignore her. Lyla and Theodore hurried to catch up to her. Chiara grabbed Ivanka’s arm tightly and refused to let her take another step. She did not care if outsiders heard them because she was not saying anything crucial.Sandy could not stand watching this anymore. She stepped forward and forcefully pulled Chiara’s hand aw
Lyla was feeling extremely agitated.“What should we do now?!”Back then, Lyla would never say such things. She would directly think about what to do next.However, at that moment, she wasn’t thinking of any solution anymore!She felt really anxious. This was her last resort, yet it did not work on Ivanka! In fact, Ivanka got even angrier after hearing the recording!Lyla was truly at a loss.Chiara bit her lip. “We shouldn’t have let her listen to the recording!”Theodore started the car engine. He gritted his teeth and said, “It doesn’t matter anymore. Things have already gone down this path. There’s no use talking about it anymore!”Chiara’s expression turned dark. “I don’t care anymore. I’m going to call that mysterious person!”Theodore frowned but remained silent.Lyla also felt uneasy about the situation. There really was no other solution. She sighed and said, “Give it a try. If she wants to use you, you must have significant value to her. She wouldn’t just watch you
“Hello?!”Chiara was indignant. She became even more anxious when she did not hear anything on the other end of the line.“What should we do?! She insists that I tell the truth. If I don’t, she won’t help us!”Lyla’s expression darkened. She remained silent. She had run out of solutions.Theodore was still driving. He felt so frustrated that he could just drive into something to vent his anger.Chiara gritted her teeth. “If it really comes to it, we should just tell her. She can’t do anything to us for now.”“No way!” Lyla retorted.Chiara looked at her in frustration. “Well, if you all have run out of ideas, what are we supposed to do? Just sit here and wait for disaster?!”Lyla looked at her with disapproval and said in a low voice, “Even if we have no solution left, we must not tell her. She wants us to admit it so she can use this evidence against us later. She’ll force us to do things for her. The situation could get even worse!”Chiara’s expression shifted in realization