"The most important thing is not to mention that you have an older sister. Discuss this with Old Man Yates in advance and make sure you don't slip up," Cynthia instructed. Shirley agreed to all of it. She had heard many stories about Joshua's business successes, his flawless decision-making, and his status as a legend in their industry. She had seen him at business banquets before but never imagined he would be her brother-in-law. Not long after Cynthia finished briefing Shirley, she received a call from Mr. Cheyne. He asked her where she was, offered to pick her up, and informed her that the meeting place had been changed to the hospital where Shirley was staying. Cynthia told him she would wait for him at Nexuria's First People's Hospital and hung up the phone. When she left Nexuria's First People's Hospital, she withdrew some cash. At half-past five in the afternoon, Mr. Cheyne and Joshua arrived at Nexuria's First People's Hospital on time, meeting up with Cynthia. Joshua was
When they reached a fork in the road, Mr. Cheyne went in the correct direction, while Joshua deliberately went the wrong way. He wanted to see how Cynthia would choose. In truth, Cynthia would not choose at all. Regardless of whether she knew or not, between Joshua and Mr. Cheyne, she would unhesitatingly choose Mr. Cheyne. This was what Joshua had taught her. "Boss..." Yoel noticed his boss going the wrong way and stopped, calling out, "Mrs. Neal's room is this way; you've gone the wrong way." Joshua turned back, and the three continued walking. Joshua focused on Cynthia, who had been calm from the beginning. "How did you know this was the right way?" "Because Mr. Cheyne is leading," Cynthia replied, silencing all of his suspicions. Joshua fell silent while a panicked Mr. Cheyne worried that his boss might suspect something improper between him and Mrs. Neal. After all, he was the one who accompanied her shopping, made dinner reservations, and picked her up when she went out. Wh
Joshua sensed some hostility from Mr. Yates, but upon closer inspection, he figured he was just overthinking it. "I'm talking about the artificial intelligence project." "We have several AI projects." Mr. Yates replied quickly, his gaze focused on Joshua, "Which one are you referring to?" Joshua clarified, "The AI robot project." "That is indeed an impressive project, but we've already partnered with another company for it," Mr. Yates said. "No problem," Joshua replied, knowing he was not there for serious business. He glanced at Cynthia and, with a meaningful smile, asked, "I'm curious, aside from Shirley, does Chairman Yates have any other daughters?" "What do you mean?" Mr. Yates responded naturally. At that moment, Shirley looked up at them. Joshua continued calmly and seriously, "Some time ago, I heard someone in Jiverton claiming to be an heir to Yates Group. I thought maybe Chairman Yates had another daughter besides Mrs. Neal." "I'm my father's only daughter," S
"I remember when I was in elementary school, I fell down the stairs because someone pushed me. At that time, you even went to check the surveillance footage with the police..." Shirley continued, speaking earnestly. As Shirley spoke, she became more serious. Mr. Yates realized that if he continued to pretend not to remember, he might reveal more. So he followed her lead, feigning realization, "Are you talking about Cynthia?" "Yes, yes, yes, yes!" Shirley was ecstatic. "You're that Cynthia?" Mr. Yates asked Cynthia standing next to Joshua, seeking confirmation of her identity. Cynthia had not expected the two of them to be such good actors. She responded with a faint, "Mhm." "Cynthia, is that really you?!" Shirley was thrilled, not giving away any hints of deception. "I'm Shirley, the little girl with short hair who fell into the pond, and you saved me when we were kids. Do you remember?" "I remember." Cynthia nodded. How could she forget? That rascal had snuck away to pic
Both sides knew they were not talking about business cooperation. Joshua was talking about going to the Yates Group another day to talk was just a pretense. In the business world, it could not be considered a done deal unless a contract was signed in black and white.After Joshua and his companions left, Shirley immediately took out her phone and sent several WhatsApp messages to Cynthia.[Shirley: Cynthia, when you married Joshua, was it because you were attracted to his looks?][Shirley: He doesn't seem nice to you at all.][Shirley: He's not worthy of being my brother-in-law.][Shirley: He's just not good enough!!!]In just one minute, Shirley had sent several WhatsApp messages to Cynthia. She did not know about anything else, but she did not see any love or affection in his eyes when he looked at Cynthia. If it were not for Cynthia hiding her true identity, Shirley would have suspected he was only interested in Cynthia's money!Cynthia felt her phone vibrate, and she knew
"Isn't it?" Joshua said with a painful frown, still radiating a cold aura."Even the worst person on earth wouldn't say something like that." Cynthia was furious and felt that he was superficial. "Why should I feel inferior for your mistakes? Without Jayleen, I would only live better.""Go ahead and give it a try." Joshua was irate too and spoke without thinking twice, "Let's see who else would be willing to give you so much in a divorce settlement.""Cynthia, we need to know our place. I admit you're outstanding, but there's no shortage of outstanding people in the world," Joshua continued."Business people are most concerned with their interests, and there will be a prenuptial agreement before the marriage. Once you divorce them, you won't get a penny," Joshua warned.After punching him, Cynthia's heart was a little calmer. "Are you done?""The Yates family is not your backing, and you are not Shirley Yates," Joshua said."I don't need you to remind me. I didn't get married to
Yoel's phone rang. When he noticed it was Jayleen, he turned around and said, "Mr. Neal, it's Ms. Shaw.""That's none of my concern," Joshua snapped at him. He was in a foul mood. "Don't you know I can't contact her now?"Yoel remained silent and continued driving, planning to reply to the message when they returned.Meanwhile, Cynthia returned to the hospital after leaving Joshua. Mr. Yates was still waiting for her in the ward. Despite having a distant relationship with Cynthia, he was still her father, and he wanted to care for her and did not want to see her being bullied.After waiting for half an hour, Shirley got impatient and discussed with Mr. Yates, "After Cynthia comes back, we must find out why she and Joshua are divorcing and not let Cynthia suffer in vain.""Okay," Mr. Yates agreed.Just as they were about to say more, the door opened, and Cynthia walked in, still with the same calm expression as before. It was as if her anger toward Joshua earlier was all just
Shirley was furious. How could someone be so annoying? How could Joshua treat Cynthia like this!"By the way, are you going to make him leave with nothing after the divorce? Leaving you for another woman is also a form of infidelity." Shirley, a young woman in her prime, had always been intolerant of such things."Shirley is right," Mr. Yates agreed."No, we split our assets," Cynthia replied, observing their emotions. "How are you splitting them?" Mr. Yates and Shirley both asked, seeming particularly curious about this issue.Cynthia explained that they had agreed on the same terms they had discussed: one of his expensive supercars, a villa in the suburbs, and 40% of his post-marriage income for her.She had thought they would praise her for doing well, but..."Are you still in love with him?" Shirley frowned with concern. "He sent you away with so little money?""The Neal Group's annual net profit is worth tens of billions of dollars, so giving you so little might not be en
Isabella glared at Nick. He actually betrayed her! Caught off guard by Luther's honesty, Nick quickly explained, "Don't look at me like that. Luther forced me to do it. If I didn't agree to his request, he would've spilled my past to my current girlfriend.""Current girlfriend?" Isabella looked puzzled.Nick confessed honestly, "My new girlfriend."Isabella was at a loss for words. Nick was very handsome. His looks could rival top celebrities. Naturally, with his face and charisma, he had no shortage of admirers. That led to a habit of frequently changing girlfriends."I made my rules clear to her. No shady behavior allowed," Nick added quickly, sensing what Isabella was thinking.Hearing this, Isabella did not say much.A moment later, Luther, seeing that their conversation had wrapped up, took Isabella's hand and left. On the way back, he deliberately brought up the topic of proposals."What kind of proposal do you like?" Luther asked."Anything works," Isabella replied
There was a time when Isabella considered letting Luther propose to her. However, he had not shown any signs that he would or asked for her ring size. There was no need to overthink it; that fool probably had not even thought about it. Nonetheless, Isabella did not blame Luther. After all, she was well aware that everyone expressed love differently. Yet, that was also precisely why she wanted to propose to him, to make him understand just how much she cared."What's wrong?" Annie asked, concerned."I'm just worried," Isabella replied. The ring sizes had been a constant worry for her."Because of what you just mentioned?"Isabella nodded. "Yeah.""Why do you want to propose to him?" Annie looked toward a dark corner. "In most relationships, the boyfriend proposes to the girlfriend, right?""I want him to feel loved," Isabella answered simply.Luther was different from most people; he always suppressed his negative emotions and limited his freedom. He no longer wanted to restr
"No," Luther declined; he still wanted to be the one proposing to her."Okay," Joshua agreed readily.Luther nodded, letting his mind wander. In the following days, Isabella kept checking on the progress, each time being informed that there was no opportunity to measure Luther's finger.In the blink of an eye, three days passed.Cynthia and Matthew had a conversation with Isaiah.Due to prior preparation, Isaiah handled Cynthia and Matthew's questions smoothly. Although they knew Isaiah had not been entirely truthful, based on his attitude toward Sandra, they agreed to the marriage without excessive probing into his relationship with her.As for Isabella, she waited for a few days but had not received any news. Frustrated, she decided to go to Jiverton herself to find Luther.When Joshua heard about her plan, he asked her to give him a bit more time. He assured her he would have the sizes by next Friday at the latest."Really?" Isabella was worried about running out of time.
"Okay." Isaiah already had a plan in mind.After discussing the matter, the two did not say much more. In the following two days, Cynthia and Matthew stayed home while Isabella prepared the details and processes for the proposal.However, after going through the general plan, Isabella suddenly realized a problem. She did not know Luther's ring size. How could she prepare a ring for the proposal without knowing the size?Realizing this issue, she immediately thought of flying to Jiverton to find out but hesitated due to Luther's caution. If she returned so soon after just coming back, he would surely be suspicious. After much contemplation, she came up with a solution—Joshua.When Isabella called, Joshua happened to be having a meal with Luther."I'm not busy, what's up?""I need your help with something," Isabella said, trusting Joshua's abilities, "but Luther can't know about it."Joshua instinctively glanced at Luther.Luther was confused. He glanced at Joshua's phone and
"Quit the act," Matthew said to Isabella, "It's too bad."Isabella stayed quiet. Matthew bluntly stated, "Isaiah currently oversees the company, and the annual revenue has been consistently increasing under his management. He even took a few subsidiaries public.""And?" Isabella inquired."He has a talent for this," Matthew hinted, leaving Isabella puzzled as she struggled to keep up with Matthew's pace."He's barely in his twenties, so there's no rush to get married," Matthew explained. He saw through everything, understanding Isaiah well, adding, "If there were truly such a concern, he could easily establish a company under Sandra's name in the next few years, operate it until it goes public."With Isaiah's abilities and connections, starting a company and taking it public would be a simple task. After the IPO and proper management, Sandra's value would naturally rise. This would effortlessly 'shut their mouths'. Isabella wanted to say something, realizing her dad's words
"That depends on the secret he's keeping," Matthew responded immediately, taking the opportunity to tease Isaiah, "If it's something against our moral values, it'd be hard not to form an opinion, even if we try not to.""He's not that kind of person," Isabella defended Isaiah.Matthew did not respond but just sat there. Their father-son dynamic involved banter and teasing, but when it came down to it, they genuinely cared about each other."He's just worried that you might object to Sandra's background," Isabella continued to spin her tale convincingly.Cynthia and Matthew were confused, both staring at Isabella.Isabella felt a bit uneasy. Something seemed off with her parents' expressions. "What's wrong?""Are you sure Isaiah is worried about this?" Cynthia asked.Why was their beloved daughter so bad at lying? Not catching on, Isabella nodded, "Absolutely.""Setting aside the fact that we've always taught you not to treat people differently based on their family background
"Ah, I see." Isabella breathed a sigh of relief and purposely asked, "Is it possible that Isaiah got to know Sandra through Uncle Yves and Uncle Sean?""It's unlikely," Cynthia denied. Even though they had not arranged any blind dates or rushed Isaiah into marriage, given his personality, he would not seek an introduction from anyone."Whenever you have time, ask Isaiah to bring his girlfriend home," Cynthia said, truly wishing for her children to find happiness. Isabella agreed, "Sure.""Isabella," Cynthia suddenly spoke up.Putting away her plan book, Isabella responded, "Hmm?""Do you think I look stern?" Cynthia sounded gentler than usual, lacking the usual nonchalance.Having been accustomed to being herself, Cynthia found it a bit awkward to take on the role of an elder suddenly. If she left a bad impression on Sandra during their first meeting, it could easily jeopardize Isaiah's relationship."Not at all," Isabella spoke sincerely, looking at Cynthia affectionately. "Y
Isaiah had seen through their plans. He knew that his parents' friends enjoyed watching him banter with Matthew. Every time something was like this, they would eagerly make things difficult for him.Early the next morning, Mitchell and the others began implementing the plan. Initially, Matthew did not suspect anything and thought they genuinely had urgent matters to attend to and brought Cynthia back home first.Considering Luther's upcoming proposal, they decided not to travel the world but instead explored nearby cities. After Mitchell and the others called Matthew aside, Isabella approached Cynthia. Cynthia was surprised to learn about Isabella and Isaiah's plan."Aren't you afraid of getting in trouble?" Cynthia asked."Not at all," Isabella responded very directly, her mind focused on planning her and Luther's engagement. "Isaiah said he can handle this matter, so let's discuss the proposal first. I've thought about several options, but none seem good enough.""Okay," Cynth
Isaiah was surprised."Take her to shoot wedding photos first," Isabella suggested seriously. After giving it some thought, Isaiah said, "I'll ask her during dinner.""Why bother asking?" Isabella thought Isaiah's emotional intelligence was lacking, and Sandra's expectations were too low. "Just pick a few reputable studios and let her choose one she likes."During their conversation, Isabella noticed that Sandra was slightly anticipating a wedding, although she had refused for some unknown reason. If she was not truly opposed to weddings, there should not be an issue with pre-wedding photos."If you give it directly to her, she'll probably say she doesn't need it," Isabella coined. She could see through people and was quite clever.Isaiah clearly did not consider this possibility."Take a look at these studios. My friends suggested them," Isabella had already made the selections and recommended them to him. "Weren't you against my decision before?" Isaiah, not understanding h