Meanwhile, Andy covered Ariel's mouth hastily. "I told you, Vonnie's not home! Why are you still yelling?"The latter hated being touched by male strangers the most, so she forcefully removed Andy's hand from her mouth before backing away from him in alarm."What is it?" Yvonne stood at the top of the stairs while gazing down at Ariel with a cold and disinterested look."You really are living with another man!" Ariel shot Andy a look before frowning at Yvonne. "Do you really not care about Stephen at all?""You're the second person to ask me that." The latter shrugged nonchalantly. "You people are really weird, aren't you? I'm the victim here, yet all of you insist on coming here and asking me why I don't give a fuck about the culprit. Do you seriously think that I have Stockholm syndrome? The one who's really sick in the head is Stephen, alright?"Yvonne's mocking tone made Ariel feel uneasy. All she could do was frown deeply. Now that she'd seen the other woman's true colors wit

Naturally, Yvonne didn't know that someone had set their sights on Old Jim the moment he'd gotten off the airplane. Right now, she was completely elated to reunite with her beloved mentor.She took Old Jim to the fanciest restaurant in Northena City to give him a proper welcome. The server brought the duo a bottle of wine and two glasses before the food was ready. Old Jim inhaled the fragrance coming from his glass, his eyes already closed in satisfaction. "This vintage wine hails from 50 years ago! You sure are generous, young lady!""It's your favorite, after all. How could I ever forget that?" Yvonne poured a glass of wine before passing it to her mentor. "Besides, I'm asking you for a favor. You'd chastise me for not being courteous if I'd stopped you from savoring your favorite wine."Old Jim shot her a look while grinning from ear to ear. "You make it sound like I'd rather drink than chat with you." He picked up the glass of wine and downed it in one go as he spoke. Almost imm

Back in Oceania Villa, Ariel entered Stephen's room with a bowl of chicken noodle soup in her hands. An ominous feeling surged in her heart when she noticed Julian standing up hastily. When he walked past her, he greeted her by nodding in her direction.After listening to Julian's footsteps fade away into the distance, Ariel finally regained her senses and walked toward Stephen. She passed the bowl to him, only to watch him push it away mercilessly. The hot soup ended up scalding her hands, causing her to shriek in pain."Who gave you the right to seek Yvonne out?" Stephen asked her coldly.Ariel could feel her nose burning. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she gazed pitifully at the man she loved. "I only wanted to confirm if she still loved you or not. Stephen, there's no need for you to continue waiting for the woman who doesn't love you—""That's enough." Stephen's bloodshot eyes darkened immediately, making him look bloodthirsty. "My relationship with Yvonne has nothing to do

It was already too late by the time Elizabeth found out about Ariel's decision to get her tubes tied. When she saw Ariel, the latter was lying on the hospital bed, looking extremely pale.Elizabeth felt distressed as she gazed at the young woman sadly. "Oh, Ariel! You're such a fool! How am I supposed to tell your parents about what you've done?" To think that a beautiful young woman like Ariel had resorted to doing such a foolish thing! She could never get married in the future. How could Stephen make it up to her?"Stephen is a foolish bastard! How could you go through with this idiotic plan, Ariel? Even if you lost your first baby, you can still—""Grandma, I made this decision on my own. Please don't blame Stephen." Ariel knew that there would be no turning back when she'd decided to get the surgery done. However, she didn't regret her decision at all. She wanted to prove that she loved Stephen more than she loved herself. "I'll make sure to explain everything properly to my p

Stephen drove away from the hospital and kept speeding all the way, resulting in the night breeze gushing into the car through the open window.He continued staring ahead of him, his eyes as cold and empty as a bottomless pit.The Maybach cruised across the city without a fixed destination in mind. Stephen ended up driving past countless vibrant and lively spots that were bustling with activity, oblivious to all of it.By the time he finally snapped out of his trance, his car was already parked in a secluded spot. He raised his head to look at the horizon and saw Miller Villa up ahead, illuminated by the lights amidst the darkness.Stephen killed the engine, resting his elbow on the door and supporting his temple. A wave of irony washed over him at that moment.The night was silent and peaceful. Only the sounds of the leaves rustling could be heard, thanks to the wind. He gazed at the lights in the distance, feeling his heart start to calm down as time passed.When Stephen closed

Old Jim turned around with a frown on his face. "Who on earth is that young man?" he wondered.Meanwhile, Camille's expression changed drastically. "M—Mr. Robinson, why are you here?"Xavier had a faint smile on his lips. "Let me guess who the patient in the operating room is. Is it Conan, by any chance?"A shocked expression took over the older woman's face, but she immediately denied it. "N—no! My relative's the one undergoing the surgery! She's a—""I'm standing right here, and yet you still feel the need to lie in my face, Mrs. Anderson. You're no fun to talk to." Even though a hint of a smile was present in Xavier's alluring eyes, anyone who looked deep into them would definitely feel chills go up their spines."Old Jim is one of the leading experts in the field of neurology, after all. Over many years, countless people have failed to track him down. It seems that only the Andersons could get through to him and ask him for a favor." Xavier narrowed his eyes slightly. "Who els

It took Yvonne a few seconds to react to Old Jim's question. He must have checked her vitals when she'd been unconscious. Knowing that she could no longer keep it a secret from him, Yvonne decided to confess, albeit meekly. "Yes, I do.""Then why did you choose to perform a surgery when you knew it would take hours and stand the entire time? Don't you know that pregnant women must prioritize their own health?" Old Jim's heart ached for his foolish granddaughter. At the same time, he was mad at her for not telling him that she was pregnant.Yvonne pursed her lips in response. "This is my mission, after all. I can't just—""Then why didn't you tell me earlier? At least I could have looked after you and helped out, even just a little! The fact that you concealed your pregnancy from me means that you consider me nothing but an outsider to you!" The elderly man was so furious that he fixed a stern glare on Yvonne. "It seems that you refer to me as your grandfather just for fun. You never

"I've invested more than half of my overall income that I earned over the years into a medical institution that's based in a foreign country. I plan to make you the director there. In the future, the institution will accept requests from Emerald Group while remaining an individual organization. We'll be the ones deciding how to divide the profits."Old Jim thought that Yvonne was just being idealistic at this point. Not only did she plan to leave Emerald Group, but she also wanted to earn profits by working with the organization.As a large-scale organization that valued capitalism more than anything else, there was no way Emerald Group would agree to Yvonne's demands.The elderly man shook his head immediately. "You're too naive, Yvonne. You're being way too optimistic when it comes to these problems—"Yvonne just flashed him a confident smile. "Grandpa, all you need to do is run the medical institution for me. I'll deal with Emerald Group myself. Naturally, I have my own plans."

Ever since Yvonne had collapsed due to exhaustion from conducting the surgery, she'd spent her days resting in bed at home. In the meantime, she made sure to host online meetings from time to time in order to keep an eye on the competition team's progress.The brief meeting with Kayla seemed to have sparked something within Nicole, motivating her to work harder than before.Yvonne could see resolve burning in the eyes of the other young members on her laptop screen. They looked like they wouldn't stop working until they'd finally won the grand prize. Nonetheless, she was very delighted by their dedication, so she dismissed the online meeting after giving them a few words of encouragement.She finally noticed the barrage of notifications on her phone just then. All of them were messages from Rachel.The first text read, "Vonnie, Stanley actually confessed to me! But the thing is, I only see him as a friend! What should I do?"The text below it stated, "If I were to turn him down, t

Yvonne helped Old Jim into Galactica, the fancy restaurant where they were meeting Xavier. A server led them all the way to Xavier's private room, where he was already waiting.Xavier noticed Yvonne's dissatisfied expression and smiled. "I only invited you out to a meal. Why are you looking at me like that?""Just a meal, you say? You could be up to something for all we know, Mr. Robinson." Yvonne took a seat across from Xavier. They were seated at a big round table, which placed a lot of distance between the young adults. "You just want to know about my relationship with Old Jim, right?"Even though Yvonne sounded impassive, she looked icy and intimidating at that moment. "He saved my life. After that, he took me in as his granddaughter and loves me as his own.""I see. No wonder you could convince him to help the Andersons out." Xavier poured his guests two glasses of wine before sliding them across the table to the other two people. A smile remained perched on his lips. "Does St