In the end, they still hadn't finalized the deal.When the Long brothers left resentfully, Yvonne said to Annie, "In the future, you'll have to deal with your brothers like you did today. If anything has to do with Excel Pharma, you should be the boss. You can't let them control you."Yvonne furrowed her brows. "They know that you care about them because they are family, which is why they keep making things difficult for you."Annie slowly came to her senses. "Ms. Miller, were you only pretending to say all those things just now? You're not really going to give up on collaboration?""I'm not foolish. I won't give up on such a good project because of those two." Yvonne smiled. "I just can't stand them making things difficult for you."Annie was grateful. She had never thought that an outsider would help her. She smiled. "Ms. Miller, don't worry. I will remember everything you told me tonight. Thank you."Yvonne smiled and replied, "Good. I'll send the proposal to you soon. Let m
"Mark has arranged for me to help Mr. Jensen out for the time being," Gwen explained.Yvonne sneered. "Mark again. He didn't cause me any trouble on the cruise. It turns out he had something else planned.""Ms. Miller, don't be mistaken. I was the one who asked Mark to arrange it for me," Chuck said. "I really want both of our companies to work together. I got him to get me someone who is familiar with you, so I could get closer to you."Yvonne looked at Chuck. "Mr. Jensen, I had already told you clearly. The things that you want involve too many aspects. I have to have a meeting internally to decide."She narrowed her eyes. "Why are you in such a rush?"Chuck could see that Gwen's appearance had irritated Yvonne. But now he also knew how much Gwen meant to her. That was a good thing."I'm not here today because I want to force you to make a decision. I had just arrived in Northerna City, and I'm not familiar with the place. The only friend I could think of was you, Ms. Miller.
"No," Yvonne answered before Gwen could respond. "I'm just a little tired today. I don't have the energy to host Gwen, so I just let her be."Her tone was filled with resentment.Curtis wanted to ask more questions, but Yvonne headed upstairs without looking back. Helpless, he looked at Gwen. "Gwen, don't think of Yvonne as a Principal. Sometimes, she's just like a young woman. She's not that old after all. If she's done anything wrong, don't take it to heart."Gwen looked upstairs dejectedly. She murmured, "I was the one who disappointed her this time."Curtis didn't hear her clearly. "What did you say?"Gwen shook her head. "Nothing." She looked at Curtis and smiled. "Yvonne is lucky to have you by her side, caring for her.""I'm just a disabled person. How can I care for her? She's the one looking out for me. A few days ago, she even fell asleep on the couch with a book in her hand. The book was on treating my legs."Curtis smiled. "I'm one who's lucky to have her."Se
Yvonne's head hurt thinking about it. "I don't know either."She rubbed her temples. "Chuck Jensen is so eager to work with Hope. I think he has other intentions."Yvonne completely disliked Chuck for what he did."But Gwen is with Chuck. If this collaboration doesn't work, Mark might punish Gwen."Yvonne was torn. She looked at Stephen dejectedly. "What should I do?""Will you listen to me?" Stephen asked in retort.Yvonne immediately thought of what he was going to say. She rolled her eyes. "You heartless capitalist."Stephen chuckled in amusement. "You have your answer, right? Why do you insist on making me the bad person?"Yvonne would never be able to leave Gwen alone. That meant that regardless of Chuck's intentions, she would still try to make things work. She would have to be careful not to let Hope suffer any losses in the collaboration. She would rather put all the risk on herself than let Gwen be in danger.Stephen had already known Yvonne would choose this. He ha
Yvonne's guard immediately went up. "Grandpa, I was just trying to ask your opinion. After all, Well Spring is such a huge business. It's a rare opportunity for Hope.""I don't agree with it." Jim refused firmly. "Hope is going to expand its drug manufacturing, and you want to work with Well Spring too? You're putting too much work on me in such a short time! If you want me to work to my death, just tell me!"Yvonne immediately said, "Of course not. How would I dare to tire you out?""Exactly! Let me tell you, I'm old, and I won't work for long. If you really want to work with Well Springs, wait until I'm dead!" Jim hung up.Yvonne was in a daze. She didn't know why she had been reprimanded. Why was Jim so angry?…After that call, Jim seemed to have forgotten about the entire thing. Every time he contacted her, it was about the collaboration with Excel PharmaYvonne had tried to bring it up a few times, but she swallowed her words back down every time. She planned to unders
Outside the kindergarten gates, Stephen watched Elvin and Britney enter the building before he took his phone out and sent a message to Yvonne. "They have reached safely."It was a simple sentence without anything else.When Yvonne received the message, she replied, "Okay." The two said nothing else. However, Yvonne continued to clutch her phone in her hand in a daze. Her current situation did indeed feel like a normal life.All these years, she had been busy with her career. She rarely had time to think about her life. At that moment, when she thought back about it, every facet of her life had something to do with Stephen.She smiled helplessly, just thinking about it. When had Stephen silently invaded every corner of her life?Yvonne stopped herself from dreaming. She sent a message to Annie, asking her to meet at Galarinx Restaurant that night.…That night, Annie arrived at Galarinx Restaurant on time. She kept looking back from time to time to see if anyone was following
"The first day you asked to meet me, people from the Anderson Group came to talk to me about an investment. They said that they liked Excel Pharma's solid foundation and how we have the potential to develop further. They intend to invest money to help us expand."Annie looked at Yvonne. She found it strange. "I thought that you had privately discussed it with Mr. Anderson …"Judging by Yvonne's reaction, Stephen must have gone behind her back."Ms. Miller, I know I shouldn't ask about your private life, but …" Annie asked tentatively, "Now that you two are my collaborators, should I know what …"Sort of relationship they were in.Annie didn't finish her sentence. She carefully observed Yvonne's expression."It's fine. It's good that Anderson Group is investing in Excel Pharma. You don't have to worry about my relationship with Stephen."Although Yvonne sounded calm, she was a little pissed. How dare Stephen steal business intel from her?As soon as he had found out that she w
Late that night, Katie gently entered the mansion. She had just placed her high heels down when the lights in the living room switched on. Startled, she jumped."It's late. Where were you?" Noah questioned coldly.Katie secretly gulped. She pretended to be calm and replied, "I went to see a few clients today. We talked so much that I forgot about the time.""But I heard that you guys ended around 9:30 pm." Noah sounded even colder, as if he were on the cusp of exploding.Katie furrowed her brows. Which bastard had reported her to him?"Yes, we ended around that time, but my assistant had been drinking on my behalf the entire night. I couldn't just leave him alone, right?" Katie changed her shoes and walked over to Noah. She gave him just the right amount of a smile."I was the only sober one there, so I sent him home. He lives quite far away, which is why I'm only back now."Noah pulled Katie into his arms. He clutched her chin tightly. "Since when did you care so much about y
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