Shane looked at Marcus and said, "Marcus, your words no longer have any credibility with me."Based on what I know about you, you usually don't actively try to socialize or form connections. So, why did you go with the others to see Mr. Sutton, and why were you standing so close to Sage?"Faced with Shane's question, Marcus picked up the teacup and took a small sip."Shane, you're giving me too much credit. I'm just a business person, barely managing to establish myself in Haldon City."Everyone wants to get to know someone like Mr. Sutton, who has such a strong background, and I'm no exception. And I didn't notice at all how close I was standing to Ms. Joyner."Marcus still maintained his calm demeanor and said, "When I realized someone was trying to harm Ms. Joyner, I didn't think much about it and just instinctively stepped in to help her.""When did you become so nice?" Shane said sarcastically. "I remember once when a woman fainted in front of you, and you didn't even lift a

Naturally, Tiana understood Calvin's intention when he spoke up on Ian's behalf, explaining the relationship between him and Ivy."Is Ian's support for Ivy really purely out of gratitude?" Tiana refused to accept Calvin's explanation.She continued, "His actions of appointing Ivy as the director at Bolton Investment and assisting the Shekdotter family's business can be considered as repayment."However, whenever Ian encounters issues related to Ivy, he gets incredibly anxious."When Ivy was injured, he took her to the hospital, and he often suspected Sage because of her. This goes far beyond simple gratitude, don't you think?"Calvin started to feel uneasy. His original intention was to put in a good word for Ian in front of Sage, but it seemed like he had messed up.What Tiana mentioned was likely something that had been on Sage's mind as well. The main issue was that Ian was indeed in the wrong regarding those incidents!Since they were talking about this, he needed to clarify

Ian looked at Sage as he hid the disappointment in his eyes. He said calmly, "Sage, doing things for you is never a waste of time."Sage suddenly felt a bit annoyed. "Ian, there's really no need for this. I stopped having feelings for you a long time ago."Ian said, "I understand. I promised you that I would respect you and not interfere with your choices. But it's my right to pursue you, and you can't stop me from doing that."Sage felt like she had been talking to a brick wall.The restaurant Ian ordered food from was a famous one just next door. The employees were thrilled and kept praising Sage for being so generous and supportive.Everyone gathered around the large office table to have dinner together, and Ian joined them quite naturally.The people present knew Ian and were somewhat aware of his past relationship with Sage. So, everyone tacitly invited Ian to take a seat and offered him the spot next to Sage.Ian grabbed the utensils and served Sage her favorite food, sayi