"He told me that I should cherish you. He even said that he wouldn't hesitate to teach me a lesson if I were to harm a hair on your head. How did you and Caleb get to know each other, hmm? He sounded like he was very close to you."Stephen softened his tone on purpose when he reached the final sentence. The danger in his tone was evident.Yvonne felt chills run up her spine. She swallowed nervously before squeezing out a smile at Stephen. "Maybe you don't know this, but Caleb is Rachel's older brother."Stephen looked slightly surprised. Indeed, he hadn't known about that.Caleb had founded Turner Tech by making it through difficulties with pure passion and perseverance as soon as he'd graduated from his university. After that, he'd made a name for the company in Northerna City thanks to his outstanding capabilities.Some time after that, Anderson Group had issued its tender document for a business contract as they wanted to start expanding in the technological field. Caleb had wo
According to Stephen's schedule, he was to fly back to his home on the same day once the convention was over.However, Yvonne was still concerned about Mrs. McKinnon's health, so Stephen decided to extend his stay by another week.Once Mrs. McKinnon was discharged from the ICU, Yvonne finally flew back to Northerna City with Stephen.Before she left, she received her cut of the mission's reward from Gwen. It was a total of 15 million dollars.The pay used to be split in a ratio of seven to three between Yvonne and Emerald Group. Now, it was a ratio of five to five. She could only chuckle darkly in response. Not only did the organization force her to take on a mission, but it also deducted her cut of the payment.Had the Group never considered the fact that Yvonne might quit if it continued exploiting her? Did the higher-ups seriously think of her as a pushover?The journey home was arduously long. Luckily, Stephen had arranged for them to fly back home on his private plane.Than
Once Monica left the study, she quickly called Katie. Then she started cursing Yvonne out.It took a long time before Katie managed to convince her mother to end the call. By the time she put down the phone, her brows were already knitted into a deep frown.When Ariel returned, she noticed the frustrated look on Katie's face. "What's wrong?""It's nothing. Something happened at home." Katie let out a sigh. "My mom is super proud, so she can't stand it when her friends start talking about Yvo—"She quickly stopped talking.Ariel just smiled at her friend. "It's fine. I don't mind hearing Yvonne's name. What's wrong? Is she involved in the news again?""Well—"Even if Katie didn't tell Ariel anything, the latter would still find out about the news sooner or later. She hesitated for a moment before telling her friend all about the trending topic that had gone viral online.Ariel listened to Katie's explanation silently. She was still lost in thought long after Katie had finished t
In the end, Yvonne still managed to complete the third treatment without any problems. She spent half an hour longer than she expected.Instead of leaving right away, Yvonne invited Curtis to a nearby café for a cup of coffee.By the time Curtis arrived, Yvonne was already slumping over the table so she could rest.He treaded carefully toward her subconsciously, not wanting to make too much noise. Then he took a seat at the table.Noticing how soundly she was sleeping, Curtis took off his jacket and draped it over her. His actions were so gentle that not even an ant would be startled by them.Just like that, a burly guy stayed by Yvonne's side as she slept.Yvonne finally woke up and rubbed her eyes blearily when someone turned on the lights in the café. She looked up to find Curtis glaring threateningly at the employee.The poor employee looked very helpless. He needed to keep the café running, after all. The sky had already darkened at this point; how could the café attract mo
Stephen was the one driving the Maybach. An idea popped into his head as he drove past a flower shop, and he parked the car at the side of the road right away.Yvonne watched him get out of the car. Minutes later, he returned with a bouquet of champagne-yellow roses. He walked over to Yvonne's side of the car and passed the bouquet to her through the window "Think of this as my way of apologizing to you. I'd been too busy, and I couldn't spend much time with you."Yvonne accepted the bouquet graciously and hugged it to her chest. She decided to tease him on purpose. "Do you even know the name of these flowers? How could you buy me random flowers without knowing anything?""It means 'I love you, my precious lover,'" Stephen replied straight away.Yvonne was rendered speechless. She was stunned for a moment before finally finding her voice. "Did you pick them out on purpose?""Yup. I even asked the florist."After getting into the car, Stephen noticed the tinge of red coloring Yv
Meanwhile, Michael Grant was still waiting for Simone's return in the private room. The producer, who sat next to him, clinked glasses with him with a smile on his face."Simone's quite beautiful. It's just that she's a haughty woman, so you'll have to put her in her place, Mr. Grant.""It's normal for beautiful women to be temperamental, after all."Having downed a shot of vodka earlier, Michael narrowed his eyes slightly as lust started taking over his mind. "She'll settle down once I'm done with her in bed."The moment his words fell, the private room's door was kicked open. Yvonne took the lead as she walked into the room. Simone followed behind her meekly, whereas the men that Michael had dispatched earlier trailed behind the two.As for Stephen, he just stood at the doorway, leaning against the frame and gazing at the people inside the private room nonchalantly.He'd spent a chunk of his life strategizing and running a huge company. As a result, Stephen was, at his core, a
"Yvonne did a great job at hospitalizing Mr. Grant! Do you have any idea who Mr. Grant is? He's a famous director who's known for creating popular dramas! My company spent so much time and effort just to get in touch with him, only for our potential business deal to be ruined thanks to Yvonne!"Hazel continued ranting, "Mother, you have to judge this situation fairly! Was I ever mean to her? Why did she do this to me?"Hazel had already launched into a tirade at this point. Spittle started flying everywhere, with flecks almost landing on Elizabeth's face. "You need to help me out! At the very least, I want Yvonne to apologize to me!"Elizabeth quietly listened to Hazel complain, a frown forming on her wrinkled face. "I can't do anything about this."Hazel looked shocked. "What do you mean by that?""I visited Yvonne some time ago. Now that Stephen has her back, even I can't do anything to her." Elizabeth was still angry at Yvonne whenever she remembered how she had torn up the che
"Ms. Clarke, are you here to make fun of me or pretend to pity me because of my situation?" Simone inquired with a slight smile on her face.Ariel paused in her tracks. "Neither. Some of the gigs that I received were yours to begin with, so I'd like to return them to you.""There's no need for that." Simone leaned against the couch lazily. "I did all I could just to reach the height I'm at right now. There's no need for me to snatch your resources. Then again, is it possible that …"She raised her head to look at Ariel. "Are you just doing this so I'd feel grateful to you and that I'd owe you a favor from now on?""That's not what I meant." Ariel frowned slightly as she explained, "All I want is to compete with you fair and square instead of relying on the company's underhanded methods.""Since when was this a fair competition?" Simon questioned coldly, her expression suddenly darkening.Ariel's arrival was akin to someone opening Pandora's box. All the past memories came floodin