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
Eleanor nestled in Alexander’s embrace with her eyes closed and relaxed into him.He held her slender waist. It was as if she feared that she might stumble. His hands grew restless.It was not his lust driving him. He knew that whenever Eleanor approached him on her own, she was feeling horny.She closed her eyes as she enjoyed his touch. She let out a soft moan. As he continued, she pursed her lips and said, “Right now, Chiara and her family still haven’t fully submitted to me. They act for their own gain and are unable to devote wholly to revenge. But if I don’t intervene this time, it’ll fuel their hatred for Ivanka.”Alexander was taken aback. “So... will you step in to help?”“I’ve seen the evidence Ivanka submitted. If it comes to judgment, only one person will be convicted: Lyla.”“Hmm?” He hesitated a little but leaned closer to her lips.Eleanor laid down and had her hands around Alexander’s neck. She smiled faintly and said, “Having one person take the blame should s
Sandy and Suki drew near to Ivanka from the back seat. When they saw the codes on the screen persistently changing lines, they felt as though they were seeing stars. “Oh, my God… I’m feeling so dizzy just by looking at the codes... She’s absolutely amazing…” said Sandy to Suki. She spoke very softly for fear of slowing Ivanka down. Suki nodded. Her eyes were filled with amazement too. Even though Suki kept in touch with Ivanka and frequently contacted her, they only talked about legal business. She never knew Ivanka was Black-eyed Susan, the top hacker. Suki became dumbfounded after she learned that Ivanka was a hacker. This was her first time watching Ivanka deal with her hacking tasks. Ivan drove the car. His dark expression had faded. Ivanka sat beside him, and her laptop captured his attention. He found a spot and stopped the car. He said, “The signal is poor if the car keeps moving. Handle your tasks first.” Ivanka nodded silently. She focused on dealing with the stuff
The ladies said nothing else and silently agreed to Ivan’s decision. Ivan started the car engine once again. Ivanka was characteristically calm. Although she did not discover anything about that person, she remained composed. Even though Ivanka had not been able to locate her target from the given clues, she believed as long as she followed Chiara’s trail and as long as she herself remained alive, that person would be unable to hold back herself for long and would come to Ivanka soon. After all, Ivanka’s presence must have affected the culprit behind the curtains. The culprit was going all out to get rid of her. The ladies said nothing else. Ivan sent them back to their home or office. The last stop was Sandy’s. Sandy felt inexplicably irritated the moment she saw Ivan. She said, “You don’t need to send me back, I’ll call a cab on my own.” After all the time spent with Ivan, Sandy thought he always mistreated her or found ways to set her up. Ivan’s expression grew dar
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