Vanessa's private elevator had some issues, so she ended up sharing the same elevator with the staff. She didn’t expect to overhear such explosive content and perked up her ears to listen closely to the conversation between two employees in front of her.
“Ah, come on, it’s hard to define something like this,” one said hesitantly.
Hearing the doubt in the other’s voice, the first person got anxious. “How could I possibly be mistaken? It’s that actress who has been coming to our company often. I bumped into her at a restaurant once, and the way they interacted felt overly intimate.”
“No wonder Mariah is cold toward every man. There were a few guys in our department who wanted to pursue her, but she outright rejected them,” the other employee replied.
Finally grasping the situation, Vanessa felt a bit surprised.
Recently, Cassandra had been coming here frequently. Coupled with what she
Luca had already done enough for her; there was no need for him to risk himself alongside her.Of course, Vanessa also harbored a secret thought. Luca’s presence and support had made her start to hesitate. She didn’t want to accept too much from him for fear that she might be unable to resist seeking revenge against him later.So, Vanessa discreetly gathered information about the situation of those people and went to visit them alone.Unfortunately, these individuals all found various excuses to avoid seeing her.After being repeatedly turned away, Vanessa felt somewhat frustrated. She couldn’t understand why they were so determined not to meet her. Did they not want to get involved in these matters again?Vanessa speculated aimlessly in her mind.Regardless, one thing was certain: Beatriz had definitely u
“Vanessa, stop acting so smug in front of me. You won’t be able to take Luca away from me—just like you couldn’t five years ago, and just like you won’t now. From the beginning to the end, Luca belongs only to me.”Beatriz’s eyes blazed with anger as she stared at Vanessa, making no effort to conceal the hatred in her gaze.“Oh? Can’t take him away?” Vanessa sneered, deliberately fanning the flames. “Then what exactly are you doing now?”“You bitch.”Beatriz was truly enraged. She raised her hand high, ready to slap Vanessa, but before she could strike, Vanessa caught her wrist mid-air.There was no way she’d take that slap for nothing. Watching Beatriz fume in helpless anger, Vanessa felt a twisted sense of satisfaction rise in her chest.But this wasn’t nearly enough. Not even close. The suffering she had endured needed to be repaid—tenfol
However, while Vanessa had planted some spies in the Ness branch, the manpower was still insufficient. She feared being discovered by Beatriz’s people the moment she stepped outside.After much consideration, Vanessa had no choice but to employ a clever ruse, swapping clothes with one of her subordinates. She had her subordinate disguise themselves as her and rushed out in a hurry.Sure enough, Beatriz’s underlings were completely deceived by this trick, focusing intently on Vanessa's subordinate.Taking advantage of this distraction, Vanessa managed to escape with the help of her aide.Beatriz, still under Raymond's control, could only watch helplessly as the scene unfolded, unable to warn her subordinates. Watching them be fooled by Vanessa made her so furious that she nearly bit her teeth in frustration.‘These useless leeche
Five years ago, Beatriz bribed a doctor and provided Luca with a fake pregnancy test report. Meanwhile, she played the role of a confidante by Luca's side, offering him suggestions.At that time, Luca's feelings for Vanessa were still unclear, but he didn’t want any accidents to befall her, which ultimately led him to fall into Beatriz’s trap.Vanessa looked at the man in front of her, who kept apologizing, and it would be a lie to say she felt no sympathy.After all, he was the man she had admired for many years and had also hated for five.Yet, Vanessa felt deeply moved.Did he even realize that because of one of his actions back then, their child had nearly lost its innocent life?Vanessa couldn’t shake off the feeling that forgiving him too easily would be unfair, yet she also thought that ultimately, what had happened was not entirely his fault. It could only be said that Beatriz was an excellent actress with dee
A simple sentence stirred up a storm in Vanessa's heart, even making her question whether her decision to seek revenge against Luca was the right one.The handsome man before her, with his deep, affectionate gaze, gave Vanessa the illusion that they had been deeply in love for many years.As soon as this thought crossed her mind, Vanessa was startled and quickly extinguished it.After all, five years had passed since she last saw Luca. Even if she had been sincere toward him five years ago, had he ever truly liked her? Even without those misunderstandings, his consistently indifferent attitude over the years was all too real.Vanessa didn’t dare to ponder further or ask the man before her; she feared it might all just be her own delusion.Perhaps, rather than love, what Luca felt for her was more akin to guilt.Just then, Mariah's phone call interrupted her thoughts, causing Vanessa to pause before hastily answering.“Vane
Of course, Vanessa had another goal: to take this opportunity to clarify with Luca that they could never be together, so he could let go of his hopes.However, Luca was unaware of Vanessa's thoughts. As soon as he heard that she was willing to go out with him, his gloomy heart instantly brightened. He quickly replied, “Sure, let’s go to the zoo.”For some reason, Grandpa Kensington also found out about this plan.He glanced at Ezra, who was silently reading a book beside him, feeling somewhat uneasy.No matter how you looked at it, Ezra was Luca's biological child. It didn’t make sense for Luca to leave his son behind to go play with someone else’s daughter.Thus, Grandpa Kensington directly called Luca, insisting that he take Ezra along when they went out to play tomorrow.“Luca, it’s not that I’m criticizing you, but after all, Ezra is your child. You shouldn’t treat him so differently.
Just when Vanessa was struggling to find an opportunity, one unexpectedly came knocking at her door.That day, while Vanessa was working in her office, she heard a loud commotion outside and furrowed her brow, asking, “What’s going on?”She soon noticed Ora looking pale.At that moment, a staff member rushed in and said to Ora, “Assistant Ora, there are people downstairs looking for you.”The employee’s expression was a mix of curiosity and concern.Upon hearing this, Ora's face turned even paler as she hurried downstairs.Sure enough, it was them.With a frown, Ora approached the group and said, “This is my company. If you want to cause a scene, please go somewhere else.”The people facing her were fierce and intimidating, completely disregarding Ora's words. The leader sneered, “We would love to go elsewhere, but if we don’t come to your company, should we go to your
Seeing that he had failed to embarrass Cassandra, who instead mocked him, Luca rarely showed a hint of awkwardness on his face.At that moment, Cassandra pushed a man from behind her into view. The man was tall and handsome, with an exceptionally striking face.“Let me introduce everyone. This is Leonardo Blue,” Cassandra said slowly.Actually, there was no need for Cassandra to introduce him; everyone present immediately recognized Leonardo Blue.As a well-known actor, even those who hadn’t watched his dramas had surely heard his name in conversations.As for the reason? Aside from Leonardo Blue’s exceptional acting skills, it was also thanks to his good looks. With this handsome face, he attracted a massive number of female fans, becoming a dream for countless girls.With Leonardo Blue joining, no one present had any objections.Vanessa still expressed her initial thoughts and then looked at Willi
Meanwhile, Mariah, after enduring a brutal beating, was already on the brink of consciousness.After they had finished beating her, the assailants left the room, clearly intending to leave her gasping for breath and let her fend for herself.Mariah struggled to lift her arm, managing to sit up from the floor. Just that one movement almost drained her of all her strength.Leaning against the leg of the desk, she glanced at the bruises covering her body and felt a surge of hatred toward Beatriz.With her hands and feet still bound, Mariah was unable to move much and had no strength to escape.She sighed inwardly, hoping that Vanessa and the others would notice she was missing and come to rescue her soon; she really felt like she couldn’t hold on much longer.Lost in her thoughts, Mariah couldn’t help but drift off to sleep.When
Mariah had been missing for two days, and the atmosphere in the Vanessa household was noticeably tense.In the living room, besides Luca and Vanessa, there were also William and Cassandra, along with Leonardo, who had just rushed over.Leonardo had learned about Mariah’s disappearance from Cassandra earlier and had even gone to Cassandra’s home to search for her. When he found no leads, he decided to come to Vanessa for help.Feeling dejected, Leonardo couldn’t help but blame himself. If only he had returned sooner, maybe Mariah wouldn’t be in danger now.William had only heard about the situation a day after Mariah went missing. Due to protocol, a person had to be missing for at least 24 hours before a case could be filed. While Cassandra was working with the police to file the report, she had also informed William.Having a close friendship with Mariah,
“Ha, yes, it was me. What are you going to do about it?” Beatriz looked dismissively at Mariah and continued, “In any case, it won’t be long before you can’t speak at all.”Mariah understood from Beatriz’s words that she intended to finish her off, and she quickly began to think of a way to escape this predicament.“Do you have the recorder now?” Mariah suddenly remembered and asked anxiously.At her words, Beatriz pulled the recorder out of her bag. “This one?” She casually placed it on the desk.Since Mariah was still tied up and unable to move, Beatriz had no fear that she could take the recorder.Mariah glanced at the recorder and had a sudden idea. She smiled and said, “Do you really think having the recorder means you’re in the clear? To be honest, while that person was playing the recording for m
Mariah successfully arranged a meeting with the person trying to sell the recorder at a high price, thanks to a private investigator.“You must be Miss Mariah,” the man said, grinning as he waved the recorder in his hand. “I’m a straightforward person—just give me five million, and this recorder will be yours.”“I want to listen to the contents first. How do I know you’re not trying to scam me?” Mariah replied without hesitation; she had no intention of being cheated out of her money.The man chuckled knowingly and turned on the recorder. A voice slowly emerged.“Help me kill someone; it’s best if it looks like a suicide.”“Kill someone for five million. After the job is done, I’ll send you abroad. How does that sound?”“Exactly. As long as yo
“Like what?” Craig suddenly became interested, curious to see what tricks this woman was playing.“Um…” Vanessa assessed the clothing of the young men across from her. “I have several projects I’m working on, and if you’re interested, I can promise to give you the opportunity to collaborate.”Craig’s mind began to waver. For people like them, the last thing they wanted was the monotonous nine-to-five job, which was why they had chosen to take risks and make quick money.Vanessa’s proposal was just what they wanted—not only could they earn money, but they could also invest it and grow their capital.Thinking this over, Craig nodded and said, “Alright, you can offer us the corresponding money and resources in exchange, and we can promise not to harm you.”“Not just that. I also want you to te
“Hello, may I ask if you are...”Beatriz’s words were abruptly cut off by the other party’s impatience. “Who are you?”Taking a deep breath to suppress her anger, Beatriz replied, “You know Alden Vaughn, right?”“Alden? Isn’t he already… So who are you?” The other person seemed surprised.Beatriz didn’t want to waste time on idle chatter and coldly said, “That’s not your concern. I have a job for you.”“What is it?”“I need you to teach someone a lesson—specifically, Vanessa Saxon, the president of Cortex. Make her suffer as much as possible, using whatever means you see fit. The more she hurts, the more you’ll be rewarded. After it’s done, you won’t miss out on your benefits.”Upon hearing this,
Mariah was sitting in Isla's hospital room when she suddenly received a phone call.Looking at the caller ID, she recognized it was the private investigator that Cassandra had hired for her.Cassandra had been asking the investigator to look into Beatriz's affairs, so this call likely meant there was new progress on the case.With that thought in mind, Mariah stepped outside while answering the phone.“Miss Hutchson, I have an important lead,” the investigator said as soon as she picked up.“What lead?” Mariah's interest piqued immediately.“Someone on an internal website is offering a recording device for a high price. They claim it contains evidence of Beatriz killing President Pako.”“What?!” Beatriz was stunned to hear this. She had always known that Beatriz was not simple, but she never
Beatriz rushed over, shouting, “Ezra, where’s the doctor?!”Before long, a doctor from the director's office heard the commotion and hurried out to check.Seeing it was a child, the doctor approached and carefully examined Ezra's physical condition. “It looks like he fainted from being overly emotional; there’s nothing physically wrong. There’s no need to worry; just keep an eye on him for a bit.”The doctor then turned to Beatriz. “If you’re really concerned, you can go ahead and complete the hospitalization procedures, and he can stay here for observation.”Beatriz nodded. “Could you arrange Ezra’s room to be close to Isla Saxon’s?”Those around them didn’t think much of it, assuming the two little ones were just friends who could keep each other company and wouldn’t feel too lonely.
“Are you okay, kid?”Mariah hadn’t expected to stumble upon such a scene, but thankfully, she had arrived just in time. Otherwise, the child might have been in serious trouble.Ezra finally came to his senses and looked up to see a beautiful stranger. He muttered a polite ‘thank you’ but then lowered his head, trying to walk past her.Hospitals tend to be crowded, and seeing such a small child wandering alone without an adult was concerning. Mariah couldn’t help but ask, “Where are your parents? Aren’t they with you?”Ezra simply shook his head, his tear-filled eyes tugging at Mariah’s heart.The poor child must have had a fight with his parents. However, ignoring him wasn’t the solution.Having come to the hospital to check on Isla, Mariah wasn’t in a hurry and thought it best to help. &