Upon hearing that, Thomas finally sat down and opened the file reluctantly. As soon as he saw the documents inside, his expression changed drastically. He took them out at once in a fit of panic, some of them falling from his hand. They were all return orders! The goods that they'd sent out not long ago had all been returned!"You ..." Enraged, Thomas slammed the table and shot up from his seat. "Yvonne, what the heck have you done?""Well, you should ask yourself that," Yvonne replied calmly, staring into his eyes. "The merchants here are all shrewd, yet you still had the guts to treat them differently. Not only that, but you also took them for a ride by giving them the inferior gems that you'd altered." She clicked her tongue. "You sure have a nerve of steel. Aren't you afraid that your mining site will be destroyed by others one day for doing this?""You ..." Burning with anger, Thomas was at a loss for wordsSince Thomas had taken charge of the mining site, he'd been ma
In the dead of the night, Yvonne woke up to thick smoke permeating the room.Struggling to open her eyes, she faintly caught sight of the flames in the midst of the smoke. Her heart skipped a beat, and she became clear-headed at once. For the sake of convenience, she'd decided to temporarily stay at the workers' dormitory at the mining site instead of checking into a hotel room. The shabby four-story building held nearly a hundred workers. Not only were the rooms cramped, but they were also cluttered with various items. If this place caught fire, it was going to be hard to put it out.Right then, she heard smashing outside the door. "Ms. Y! Ms. Y!" "I'm here—" As soon as she parted her lips, the smoke instantly rushed into her mouth, leaving her coughing violently. The person continued to shout, "Ms. Y, your room has been locked with a metal chain! We'll find tools to break it open now! Hang in there!" Listening to the receding footsteps, Yvonne felt her heart sink. A fierc
The fire raged until the crack of dawn, leaving the entire dormitory building reduced to a blackened frame. Yvonne was worn out. She sat on the ground, watching the ambulance take the last victim away.Stephen handed her a towel and a bottle of water before taking a seat beside her. At this point, they no longer cared about the difference in their statuses."You did a good job yesterday." Yvonne took a sip of water and gave him an appreciative look. All of a sudden, she caught sight of the bloody wound on his arm and subconsciously grabbed his wrist. "When did you get hurt?""It was probably when the door frame fell after I kicked open your room door." Stephen wanted to pull his hand back, but Yvonne tightened her grip on him. She glared at him. "Why didn't you say it earlier? You even helped carry so many victims out last night."Stephen had joined the rescue efforts yesterday too. He'd rushed into the fire several times to bring the trapped people out. At first, Yvonne wasn't
"Did I ask you to kill her? If something happens to Yvonne, I'm going to make you pay it back with your life!" Mark threw another punch in Thomas' face.Despite being stunned by the blow, Thomas still tried to defend himself. "Mark, I didn't do it on purpose. Yvonne's the one who went overboard. She threatened me, forcing me to—Ah!" Before he could finish speaking, his remaining words turned into cries of pain.Mark rained punches on him. It wasn't until his rosary was covered in fresh blood that he finally stopped his attacks.Meanwhile, Thomas was lying on the floor, on the verge of death. His subordinates were pale with shock as they watched the scene. They huddled in the corner, too afraid to even breathe properly. Mark was literally a devil from hell! "I heard that you broke Howard's arm," Mark said, stepping on Thomas' left arm. "You'll need to pay it back with yours to settle the score between you and Yvonne."Thomas had passed out, so he had no idea what Mark said. Ho
When Stephen came back after speaking on the phone, Yvonne had already asked the subordinates to deal with the severed arm. Curtis stared at him suspiciously. He had a hunch that the person who'd called Stephen earlier was a woman. Stephen ignored Curtis' eyes on him and walked up to Yvonne. "I'm going back today. When are you planning to leave?""I'll wait until Howard is discharged from the hospital." "Okay." Then, Stephen moved his eyes to Curtis and casually asked, "Are you going to wait for Yvonne to return together?"Curtis tapped his chest and replied, "Of course! Now that I'm here, I'll have to make sure that she gets back safely.""Okay."Even though Curtis looked like a simple-minded, burly man, Stephen didn't doubt his loyalty toward Yvonne. With Curtis staying back with Yvonne, he could return to the country with peace of mind too.Before leaving, Stephen gazed at Yvonne deeply, as if he were reluctant to part ways with her. However, Yvonne seemed to be bothere
Holding the wine glass in her hand, Yvonne was stunned for a moment before she let out a laugh. "Seriously?""Although the news was dealt with before it spread too much, I still kept a screenshot of it. Do you want to have a look?" When Yvonne heard that, she managed to grasp an important point—the rumored girlfriend was someone Stephen prioritized. Otherwise, he wouldn't have handled the news at lightning speed, given that he usually didn't care about such things.Hence, it was clear that he wanted to protect that woman. Yvonne couldn't help but think about the call Stephen had taken at the mines. Now she couldn't help but think that Curtis' intuition had been right. Stephen probably returned to the country in a hurry because of that woman. While she was connecting the dots, she heard a woman exclaim. "What are you doing?"Then, they heard a loud slap.Yvonne and the rest of them looked over and saw Benjamin grabbing a girl's hand.Conan frowned disdainfully. "Benjamin is
When Carmen saw Linda holding Yvonne's hand, she was surprised. "Linda, do you know her?""Yes, I had the honor to meet her once when I was abroad." Linda pulled Yvonne along with her to the table and sat beside her. "Just now, I bumped into a drunkard. Luckily Yvonne was around, or else I would have been in trouble.""What?" Carmen frowned. "There are ruffians in places like this?""That guy seemed quite rich." Linda felt a shiver down her spine as she thought about it. "Forget it; I don't want to ruin my appetite because of him."Ariel and Katie were sitting opposite them. For a moment, the atmosphere in the private room was pretty awkward. Only Linda was happily indulging in the food.Out of consideration for Carmen, Yvonne stayed in the private room and chatted with her for a bit about the operations of Tara Foundation. After a while, Yvonne found an excuse to take her leave. "Ms. Lynch, I have friends waiting for me outside, so I've got to go now.""When can I invite you o
As the sky darkened, Charles came to get Conan, leaving Yvonne and Caleb waiting for their designated driver outside the restaurant.Standing in the night breeze, Caleb casually asked, "How do you know the girl from earlier?""I saved her once when I was overseas years ago.""Oh?" Caleb raised his brows. "That's quite a coincidence.""Right?" Yvonne smiled. "I saw several familiar faces in the private room just now too. That girl seems quite close to Carmen."Caleb became interested at once. "It looks like that young lady has a powerful background."Yvonne nodded, but she found it strange. When she'd met Linda for the first time, the latter hadn't seemed like someone who had connections with the top echelons. In this society, it was impossible for lower-ranking people to get associated with those of the upper class solely by relying on hard work, let alone become familiar with them.Sensing her confusion, Caleb chuckled softly. "It's because of Stephen."Yvonne was stunned.
A light breeze blew by in the courtyard. Agatha slowly recounted the past.Back then, Daniel and his wife, Katherine, had just had Mark. The entire Carrington family had been celebrating.They had doted on Mark and taken him wherever they went.That day, they had headed out. Before they'd known it, Mark had been taken away.Just when Daniel and Katherine had been on the brink of losing it, they had received a call from the kidnapper to bring the ransom to a specific spot.They had gotten the money and driven there without any hesitation. No one had thought that they would ever return after that. Even Mark had disappeared.When Agatha finished recounting this, her cup of tea had already cooled.She wiped her tears away. She said through a catch in her throat, "Katherine was hugging the bag of money tightly until the moment she passed away, as though she were hugging you."Mark furrowed his brows. Now that he'd heard the truth about Daniel and Katherine, he should have felt pain
As Yvonne left the room, she could tell that Stephen's mood was much better.She looked at him. "Are you thinking of something nice?""No." Stephen looked at Yvonne with a rare twinkle in his eyes."Let me take you to breakfast." Before Yvonne could respond, he took her hand and led her to the elevator.Thinking about how he'd stood outside her room the entire night, Yvonne decided to let him hold her hand.Then, her thoughts drifted to Otto. Somehow, she had a bad feeling.…At the same time, Mark was in the courtyard of Carrington Mansion. He sat next to Agatha and poured some tea for her.He handed her a cup of hot tea. "Great-Grandma, try this."When he noticed that Agatha had no reaction, he called out to her once more. "Great-Grandma?""Huh?" Agatha came to her senses. She looked at Mark in confusion. "What is it?""You've been distracted since yesterday. Are you thinking of something?" Mark asked.Agatha shook her head. "Nothing." Then, she picked up her teacup and
Yvonne stood by the door of the bedroom and looked at Otto, who was looking out of the window in a daze on the bed.The sun shone on his face. He looked quite hungover and had a sickly pale face.Yvonne hesitated for a while before saying gently, "Mrs. Jenner called me last night. She's worried about you."Otto didn't respond.Yvonne went in closer and added, "She said that you called her and asked about your father. She found it strange."Mr. Carrington, why did you suddenly think about your father? Did Mrs. Carrington Senior bring him up yesterday?"All Yvonne got was silence.Luckily, she was patient. She sat on the couch and followed Otto's line of sight. Tiny dust particles were floating among the sunbeams. Yvonne also fell into a daze as she watched them float about.Suddenly, Otto asked, "Have you ever felt like your world was falling apart?""Hmm?" Yvonne was confused. "For example?""I mean, like the person that you trust turns out to be different from what you'd t
The next morning, Yvonne opened her door to see Stephen standing outside. She was caught off guard."What is wrong with you this morning? Why didn't you knock…"While talking, Yvonne noticed that Stephen was still wearing the same clothes as the night before. She furrowed her brows and asked, "Don't tell me you didn't leave last night? Have you been standing outside this door all this while?""Hmm." Stephen looked at Yvonne intently. "I thought you would've figured it out quickly."Yvonne was speechless, but she thought to herself that she'd slept like a baby the night before.She smiled at him. "Figure what out?" She noticed Stephen frowning as though he were on the brink of losing his temper.She quickly added, "I-I mean, you have to give me a hint, right? I've thought about it the entire night, but I still don't understand. My brain isn't functioning well."Stephen asked suspiciously, "You've been thinking about it the entire night?""Yes, which is why I didn't look for yo
"If I hadn't come to find you tonight, you probably wouldn't tell me anything about what happened tonight, would you?" Stephen asked in retort.It wasn't a big deal, as long as they returned safely. Yvonne wondered why she needed to report this to him.But she still smiled. "It's late. How could I disrupt your rest? It would've been the same if I told you about it tomorrow morning, right?"Stephen sniggered. "Yvonne, you still don't know where you've gone wrong."He suddenly went in closer to her. Yvonne instinctively retreated until her back was up against the wall. She glared at him."What on earth is wrong with you? I've already said that I would've told you tomorrow morning—"A punch went past Yvonne and landed brutally on the wall.Yvonne was a little stunned. She looked into Stephen's eyes and furrowed her brows. "Stephen, I don't want to quarrel with you for no reason. "Mrs. Carrington Senior went to look for Otto today. Calbert couldn't reach him the entire day, so he
Jane returned to the private room, distracted.She sat down next to Cory. She looked at him as he reached his hand out to her in confusion.Cory furrowed his brows and asked unhappily, "Where's the wine?""Wine… Yes! Wine!" Jane came to her senses. She was just about to get up when Cory pulled her back.He grabbed her by her chin and forced her to look at him. "What happened when you went out?""N-Nothing."Cory tightened his grip. Jane furrowed her brows in pain. "I-I… I saw Yvonne. She told me that she and Stephen got remarried.""What?" Cory relaxed his grip a little. "They got remarried?""Hmm.""So, what?" He had no intention of letting her go, and he looked at her sharply. "Does it bother you so much that Stephen got remarried?"Jane looked at Cory frantically. "Cory, what do you mean by that?""What do I mean? You know what I mean."Cory went in closer. His tone turned icy. "You used to pursue Stephen. Now that you know he's gotten married, you're in this shitty mood
Yvonne turned around to see Jane smiling at her ambiguously. She furrowed her brows. How were they always bumping into each other?Jane crossed her hands in front of her chest and leaned against the wall. She swept her gaze at Calbert and Otto. "Two guys and one woman. You sure know how to have fun!"Calbert instantly snapped, "What the hell are you talking about?""Why are you being so fierce? Did I hit the nail on the head?" Jane snickered. "Two guys and a woman came out of a private room in the middle of the night. Anyone would come to the same conclusion. We're all adults. There's no need to pretend to be innocent.""You—" Calbert was about to go up to Jane, but Yvonne stopped him."Since Ms. Ford is here, I'm guessing so is Cory?" Yvonne smiled, yet her smile didn't reach her eyes. "If you cause a scene here and this bar gets raided, guess who'll be the ones walking out here alive?"Jane's expression turned ugly. "Are you threatening me?""It's just a kind reminder." Yvon
Calbert and Yvonne managed to track Otto's car to a bar, thanks to the information they'd gotten from his staff. Otto's car was right outside the bar.Calbert looked at the neon sign and furrowed his brows. "Why is Otto here? Did what Mrs. Carrington Senior said really hit him so badly that he has to drown himself in alcohol?"Yvonne said nothing and headed directly inside the bar."Wait up for me!" Calbert went after her. He subconsciously protected her from all the drunk patrons.The lighting in the bar was dim. Many of the patrons were drunk and having fun.Yvonne and Calbert walked around the booth area, but Otto was nowhere to be found. They pulled a server over to ask if there was a patron by the name of Otto Carrington who had reserved a private room.Coincidentally, the server had just taken two bottles of wine to Otto's room. So, he led them to the private room.Calbert tipped the server before opening the door and entering. The entire room reeked of alcohol.He looked
After Agatha left, Otto stood in the same spot without moving.A long time later, Zac entered the office. He looked at Otto's back and asked quietly, "Mr. Carrington, will you still see the client?""No." Otto sounded heartbroken.Zac didn't dare ask further questions. He gently closed the door and reminded the secretary that no one was to disturb Otto.In the office, Otto was alone. He slowly walked over to the couch and slumped into it. His mind was in a mess."Alexander was the one who planned the kidnapping back then."Agatha's words rang in his mind for a long time.Alexander's young face appeared in Otto's mind, smiling at him affectionately."Otto! Amazing! Yes! Just like that!""You're amazing at badminton! You're going to make the country proud! I'm going to be so proud of you!""Otto, my son!"Memories of his interactions with Alexander flashed across his mind at that moment.Otto couldn't imagine that such a loving father would do such an absurd thing. Alexander