At that moment, Nicole felt that when Ian was serious, he could hook her heart and soul, and she was lost in thought for a while.‘He’s not the same frivolous Young Master as he was three years ago…’Nicole panicked and quickly gathered her composure. She did not want him to notice her abnormality. No matter who it was, Nicole did not want to get caught up in a whirlpool of love again.“Carter, you’re getting better at coaxing women now, huh?”Ian was slightly stunned. He laughed and took a step back. “No one else is qualified enough for me to coax.”“Right… If your girlfriends lined up, they could probably circle the globe, so they’re the ones coaxing you...” Nicole raised her eyebrows and looked at him teasingly. Everyone knew about Ian Carter’s messy love life.Ian grinned. “That’s all in the past. You know that those are fake. I’m innocent…”“Alright. Thank you for comforting me, but I’m really tired…”Nicole did not want to fall into another man’s tenderness. Not to mentio

To the butler, Young Lady Stanton should not drive herself. She should be chauffeured around wherever she went. Otherwise, it was considered his dereliction of duty.Nicole laughed and said, “Mr. Anderson, there’s no need for that. I can drive myself to work. Don’t worry.”She did not say much and hung up the phone. She drove the car out of the garage and went to the office.There was no traffic, so she had a smooth journey. However, Nicole was a little perplexed why other cars on the road were actively avoiding her. Even when she was waiting at a red light, the cars in front and behind her were several meters away.‘Is it because I’m a female driver?’ Nicole thought.When Nicole got to the office, she gave her keys to the parking valet and went into the lobby. From the corner of her eye, Nicole noticed that Samantha Lindt was glaring at her indignantly with an undisguised resentment.Nicole was baffled. ‘Did she find out that I’d given Grant the recording? She shouldn’t know so

The meeting room was dead silent for a full minute.Micah Zielinski’s face was red and did not expect that Nicole would turn the gun on them. He said, “It’s not…”Nicole interrupted him without a care. “I believe that you’ve all received notice this morning that I’m managing everything in the company in Mr. Stanton’s absence. I’m in charge of this project, so from now on, if you don’t want to be a part of it, hand me your letter of resignation immediately. Your positions will be replaced by your deputies. I will explain everything to Mr. Stanton.”The people in the room were shocked and silenced. They had all stepped over each other to climb to their department head positions and their deputies were eyeing their spots. It was a sought-after position, so no one dared to act rashly at this moment.Although they could not stand the fact that Nicole had parachuted into her Vice President position, they could all tell how much Grant Stanton supported her since the first day she arrived.

Nicole said while she walked to the chair behind her desk and sat down. She threw the documents on the desk and turned on the computer.Old Master Ferguson, who was ignored, became even more infuriated and coldly snorted.“Nicole, I’ve underestimated you all this while. It looks like you’re quite capable. No wonder you took the initiative to get a divorce. Turns out you’ve already found your next target. As soon as you divorced Eric, you became the Vice President of Stanton Corporation. It looks like Grant really values you…”Nicole laughed and looked at the Fergusons. Ingrid was obviously frightened and did not dare to speak, but the old man came prepared.“Didn’t your family force me to get a divorce? Chairman Ferguson, you call me back to the Ferguson Villa every week just to lecture me about how lowly and unworthy I am of your high and mighty Ferguson family. Now that we’re divorced, you should be happy about it. Why did you still take the initiative to come to me?”Nicole did

Nicole frankly admitted to it. She would never hold on to someone else’s beloved item for no reason if it were anyone else.However, Nicole absolutely hated the Fergusons and did not want them to live comfortably. Thus, she deliberately bought the emerald pipe to mess with them.She admitted to all of it since she was not bothered to put up a friendly act in front of the Fergusons.“Ms. Ferguson, I’m not a kind and weak person. I treat others how they treat me. Do you recall how your family treated me back then? I can’t pretend to have lost my memory, can I?” ‘Do I look like such a generous and forgiving person?’ Nicole thought.Ingrid was shaking with anger. The words she wanted to say were instantly stuck in her throat. Nicole’s frank admission was even more infuriating than a denial.Old Master Ferguson glared at Ingrid, so Ingrid held back from cursing at Nicole. She took a deep breath, softened her voice, and sobbed as she looked at Nicole with big innocent eyes.“Nicole,

Old Master Ferguson said, “Grant is very capable and has taken after you. Won’t it ruin everything if he’s tricked by such a woman?”“It’s just a woman, what can she ruin?” Floyd Stanton sneered.Old Master Ferguson glanced at Nicole and spoke meaningfully.“This woman is not simple. After she just got a divorce, Grant promoted her as Vice President of your Stanton Corporation and is the second-in-command. She’ll soon start to call the shots in your company, so shouldn’t you step in to control the situation as the Chairman?”If it were anyone else, they would certainly become furious and anxious after hearing these words from Old Master Ferguson.Unfortunately, Floyd Stanton was no ordinary person.Floyd let out a lazy laugh and responded insouciantly.“Chairman Ferguson, mind your own business. I believe in my son. Oh look, a fish just got hooked! Goodbye.”The call was disconnected and Old Master Ferguson’s expression was quite amusing. He cursed and glared fiercely at Nicole

Eric thought, ‘I don’t think I’ve ever received Nicole’s calls…’Mitchell hesitantly spoke, “I’ve mentioned it to you once before, but at that time, you said not to report such trivial matters to you. You also said in front of both me and Ms. Nicole that aside from things related to Ms. Quade, you don’t want to be contacted about unimportant matters from Imperial Gardens, so… I guess that’s why Ms. Nicole stopped calling you…”His volume gradually decreased as he seemed to notice the air around Eric getting colder.Eric rubbed his brow and seemed to remember this scene. Back then, they were at their villa in Imperial Gardens, but Eric was only thinking of Wendy Quade’s excessive blood loss and seemed to ignore another pair of expectant eyes that slowly became desolate.He had only given Nicole the nominal marriage that she wanted, yet he chipped away at her heart and drew her blood.His heart suddenly felt so painful that it was hard to breathe.It seemed like he was beginning to

Nicole glanced at Logan, who also looked surprised, which meant that he was also unaware of Eric Ferguson’s attendance.The two of them looked at each other. Nicole then walked in with a smile as she looked at Gerard Lichman. She spoke casually. “Is this a set-up?”Gerard shrugged his shoulders. He looked at Eric, then at Nicole.“Vice President Nicole, I had no choice. Please forgive me for being presumptuous. Let me just clarify that I will remain neutral and will never interfere in the matters between you both. To express my sincere apology, when you’re done talking, I’ll bring you to visit our newly established research lab. I’m sure you’ll be very interested in it.”‘Interested? Indeed.’ Nicole thought.However, she still felt annoyed that she had been deceived.Nicole expressionlessly retracted her gaze and looked at Eric with a slight frown. “Mr. Ferguson, if this is because of that pipe, there’s no need to waste your breath.”‘Will they ever stop pestering me? My time is

Eric Ferguson felt his heart clenched and his eyes darkened. He did not know anything about Nicole. He was unaware that she could play the violin so well, nor did he know that she smoked.“I never smoked in front of you because I was afraid you wouldn’t like it before, so of course, you never had the chance to see it.”Every time Nicole donated blood, she would feel very weak. Eric accompanied Wendy Quade, and Nicole’s only company was cigarettes. Nicole was particularly addicted to smoking during those tough days.The corners of Nicole’s lips hooked up, but her eyes were slightly despondent. A moment later, she returned to her usual self.She glanced at Eric’s drooping eyes and smiled playfully.“Want to hear my conditions?”Without waiting for his reply, Nicole went straight to the point.“Get Wendy Quade to give me however much blood I’ve donated to her. It doesn’t have to be in one go. Anyway, she can finish repaying me within a year.”Eric’s head jolted up. “What?”Nicole

Gerard Lichman raised his eyebrows. “In any case, I was the one who overstepped in the first place. Ms. Nicole, if you’d like, you can come with me to meet our core research team. Not everyone will have the opportunity to see it.”Nicole agreed without a second thought. After all, if she knew about the latest research technology of J&L Corporation, she could grasp the market first and would get a better grasp on the development of artificial intelligence in the future.Once the three of them walked out, Gerard turned to Logan and said, “Mr. Logan, I’m afraid you don’t have access to the lab because it has our company’s secrets. Don’t worry, I will ensure that Ms. Nicole gets back safely.”Logan looked at Nicole hesitantly. Nicole understood Gerard’s concern, so she nodded at Logan and said, “You can go back first. I’ll be fine.”“Yes, ma’am.”Nicole and Gerard got into Gerard’s car. They sat in the back with the curtains closed, so they could not see what was going on outside. Nic