Yvonne arrived at Miller Jewels early the next day. The moment she got out of the elevator, her assistant approached her frantically. "Ms. Miller, Mr. York is waiting for you in your office."Yvonne furrowed her brows. "Why is he here?""He said he's here to sign the contract. I have no idea what happened." The assistant followed behind Yvonne and entered the office. Richard, who was sitting on the couch, immediately sprung up in fear. He did it too quickly, even pulling on his injury. He gasped in pain.Yvonne noticed the bruise on Richard's face. Perhaps he was embarrassed, so he covered it up with his hand.Yvonne guessed that someone must have taught him a lesson, but she couldn't be bothered to ask. She looked at him indifferently. "I thought you didn't want to work together. What are you doing here now?""No, no …" Richard frantically waved his hands. He bent up, picked up the contract on the desk, and passed it to Yvonne with both hands. "I truly want to work with you, Ms.

Rachel crossed her arms and asked, "Who are you looking for?""We're looking for Simone!" The women spoke in unison; only the woman in the middle stayed silent.Rachel looked at Simone knowingly and asked, "Simone, do you know anyone here?""Yes!" One of the women answered. She popped her head in and looked around. "Simone, we're Kelly's friends! Kelly brought us here to meet you!"Kelly looked a little awkward when she heard that and nudged the other woman. Rachel took one glance at Kelly. "Since you know her, come in and sit.""Oh yes!" The group of excited women swarmed in, immediately surrounding Simone, asking her questions, and talking up to her.Rachel didn't close the door. She merely stood by it and snickered at Kelly, thinking about what to do with this bitch when Yvonne returned.Simone had worked with Kelly on a series a long time ago. Although they had talked to each other before, she couldn't really remember who Kelly was. Yet seeing how Rachel had allowed them i

Kelly had assumed that with her ongoing rumors, Simone would treat her better because of Stephen. She'd even thought of using the opportunity to gain something from Simone.That's why she'd let her friends boast about her.Who would have thought that every single sentence would backfire?Since Simone had already spoken, Kelly was too embarrassed to continue staying there. She got up and headed to the door with her head hung low.Rachel took one step, blocking her path. "If I see you around Stephen one more time, I'll beat you senseless."A girl stood up for Kelly and said, "Who's Stephen to you? What right do you have—""Stephen is my man," Yvonne slowly said, looking at Kelly's face. "Last time, I kicked you out of the room. Next time, I'll kick you out of the city.""What does she mean?" The other girls looked at Kelly suspiciously. What did Yvonne mean by kicking her out of the room?Kelly blushed in humiliation. She shoved Rachel to the side and fled. Her friends immediatel

"If Stephen truly wants me to leave, I'll gladly do so without taking a single penny."Yvonne glanced at Ariel before turning back to look at Elizabeth. "I promised him that I wouldn't stop him if he intended to get together with Ms. Clarke again. I won't decide for him before that happens. As for where I'll be going after this, I'm sure you don't have the right to make any decisions for me either, Grandma.""You—" Elizabeth was overcome with rage. "You sure have a way with words, huh? How do you expect me to believe that a selfish woman like you would allow Stephen and Ariel to get together? Let me make it clear to you right now—your one-year contract is now void! I want you to get out of Oceania Villa by tonight!"Stephen strode through the door just as the old woman finished her sentence. His cold voice boomed loudly: "How dare you chase my wife out of my own home? Don't you think you're being too controlling, Grandma?"Everyone was shocked to hear Stephen's words.Yvonne had h

"It's an agreement that I'll get pregnant with your baby within a year or leave you."Yvonne stared into Stephen's eyes unblinkingly. "Had I not made this promise, Grandma would've kicked me out of the family a long time ago.""How could you make such a promise in the first place? You knew that you wouldn't be able to do it! I wouldn't have allowed you to fulfill the contract either!"Stephen tightened his grip around Yvonne's slender wrist, leaving stark white marks on her skin.However, the latter didn't look like she was in pain, seeing as her eyes were still gazing up at him calmly. "I know that."The sight of the serene expression on her face made Stephen realize that she'd intended to leave him from the start. The time she'd set aside for herself was one year."You want to leave me, huh?"Stephen narrowed his eyes, which were shining dangerously. "I'm going to make it clear to you right now; you can forget about leaving me. You wanted to marry me in the first place, so now

Why was Curtis there as well?Didn't he hate this mission? Why had he still chosen to approach Conan on his own?Confused by Curtis' appearance, Yvonne secretly followed him out of the school grounds.Curtis suddenly stopped in his tracks after walking a considerable distance. He turned around to look at Yvonne, a cigarette between his lips. "You need to work on your stalking."She flashed him a small smile in return. "Well, you have the chance to teach me now." Then she approached Curtis while sizing him up. "How's your injury?""I'm recovering pretty quickly thanks to your efforts." Curtis turned back to show Yvonne the gauze, which was still taped against the back of his head. "I just need to change the gauze a few more times.""Why did you come all the way here instead of recuperating in bed, then?" Yvonne finally dove into the main topic of the conversation. "Based on the way you made contact with Conan just now, I assume this isn't your first time talking to him, right?""

Yvonne received a phone call from Stanley just as she'd gotten into her car."Do you have time, Yvonne? Let's meet and talk."Stanley was undoubtedly approaching her because of Stephen. She didn't dwell on the intention behind the invitation. Instead, she asked Stanley for the address of their meeting place before driving there.Meanwhile, Stanley and James finished their cups of coffee at the coffee shop when Yvonne finally arrived.The latter sat down across from them. "What do you want to talk about?"Stanley ordered a cup of coffee for Yvonne, which was promptly served a few minutes later. Then he started speaking in a relaxed cadence. "Yvonne, you asked Rachel to probe me about Stephen, didn't you?""Yup," she admitted right away.Stanley gazed at Yvonne sincerely. "Can I assume that you care about him?"The latter went silent immediately. It was true that she couldn't refute his words.Having noticed Yvonne's lack of response, James decided to strike while the iron was h

Stephen's flight was set for that afternoon. By the time it touched down at the airport, it was already the next morning.It was then that Julian received the latest news from the host organization, prompting him to report the changes to Stephen right away. "A representative from the host organization just informed me that something urgent happened, so they had to delay the date and change the venue as well.""Did they tell you the reason?" Stephen asked."No." Julian shook his head in response. "They've arranged for us to stay at a hotel. A welcome banquet will be held at Professor McKinnon's manor three days later."Stephen left the airport and raised his head to look at the azure sky. Despite the bright sunlight, his eyes were still shrouded in darkness.He'd asked Julian to give the flight ticket to Stanley. He'd asked his friends to convey all the things he wanted to say to Yvonne. Yet she'd chosen not to come with him in the end.That woman was seriously testing his limits.

Stephen and Julian were set to stay in a fancy hotel as per the host organization's arrangements.As they were going through the check-in procedures at the front desk, a sickly, pale hand snaked past Stephen and landed lightly on the countertop, passing an ID to the desk agent.Stephen shot a glance to his side before knitting his brows together into a frown.Was that Caleb Turner?Why had the heir of Turner Tech, who'd disappeared for one full year, suddenly reappeared in the lobby of this particular hotel?Caleb's lips curled into a smirk upon sensing Stephen's gaze. He said seriously, "If you keep glancing at me like that, I might think that you've set your sights on me."Naturally, Stephen was left speechless. His eyes hardened immediately; Caleb was just as irritating as before.Caleb tilted his body heavily to one side before leaning against the front desk, a hint of a smile sparkling in his enchanting eyes. Surprisingly, those eyes were capable of seducing any poor soul w

Three days passed by in a flash.The welcome banquet was held at Professor McKinnon's manor. Many experts and specialists in the technological industry, as well as elite businessmen, flew from various countries scattered across the globe just to attend it.The McKinnons were already in their twilight years and preferred a quiet setting to a boisterous one, so the highlight of the banquet happened to be the grand assortment of pastries and wine. Violinists played soothing classical music in the background, relieving the guests' stress while they engaged in discussions and debates on various topics.The banquet had already started by the time Stephen and Julian arrived at the manor. Stephen didn't plan to stay for long, so he and Julian walked over to Professor McKinnon right away.Meanwhile, Noah was already with the professor. He got up to his feet and welcomed his cousin smilingly when he noticed Stephen entering the room. "Hey there, Stephen. Professor McKinnon and I were just ta