Thomas' eyes widened in shock as Yvonne calmly sized him up.It had been several months since they'd last met, and Thomas was no longer the same as before. His hair was disheveled, and his beard was unshaven. His skin seemed a lot darker; it was hard to tell if it was because of dirt or sun-kissed. Rather than the ex-owner of Jones Jewels, he somehow looked more like a local resident living in the border area.Withdrawing her gaze, Yvonne faked a smile. "It's just been a few months. Can't you recognize me?" Thomas came to his senses and pulled a long face. "What are you doing here?""I'm the one who wanted to meet with you, so naturally, I'd be here." Yvonne leaned to the back and crossed her slender legs. "But I never expected you to be at the border. I thought you'd holed up somewhere."As soon as she finished speaking, the subordinates behind her burst into laughter. Thomas clenched his teeth fiercely. "Don't be too arrogant, Yvonne! You're the one asking for my help today

Upon hearing that, Thomas finally sat down and opened the file reluctantly. As soon as he saw the documents inside, his expression changed drastically. He took them out at once in a fit of panic, some of them falling from his hand. They were all return orders! The goods that they'd sent out not long ago had all been returned!"You ..." Enraged, Thomas slammed the table and shot up from his seat. "Yvonne, what the heck have you done?""Well, you should ask yourself that," Yvonne replied calmly, staring into his eyes. "The merchants here are all shrewd, yet you still had the guts to treat them differently. Not only that, but you also took them for a ride by giving them the inferior gems that you'd altered." She clicked her tongue. "You sure have a nerve of steel. Aren't you afraid that your mining site will be destroyed by others one day for doing this?""You ..." Burning with anger, Thomas was at a loss for wordsSince Thomas had taken charge of the mining site, he'd been ma

In the dead of the night, Yvonne woke up to thick smoke permeating the room.Struggling to open her eyes, she faintly caught sight of the flames in the midst of the smoke. Her heart skipped a beat, and she became clear-headed at once. For the sake of convenience, she'd decided to temporarily stay at the workers' dormitory at the mining site instead of checking into a hotel room. The shabby four-story building held nearly a hundred workers. Not only were the rooms cramped, but they were also cluttered with various items. If this place caught fire, it was going to be hard to put it out.Right then, she heard smashing outside the door. "Ms. Y! Ms. Y!" "I'm here—" As soon as she parted her lips, the smoke instantly rushed into her mouth, leaving her coughing violently. The person continued to shout, "Ms. Y, your room has been locked with a metal chain! We'll find tools to break it open now! Hang in there!" Listening to the receding footsteps, Yvonne felt her heart sink. A fierc

The fire raged until the crack of dawn, leaving the entire dormitory building reduced to a blackened frame. Yvonne was worn out. She sat on the ground, watching the ambulance take the last victim away.Stephen handed her a towel and a bottle of water before taking a seat beside her. At this point, they no longer cared about the difference in their statuses."You did a good job yesterday." Yvonne took a sip of water and gave him an appreciative look. All of a sudden, she caught sight of the bloody wound on his arm and subconsciously grabbed his wrist. "When did you get hurt?""It was probably when the door frame fell after I kicked open your room door." Stephen wanted to pull his hand back, but Yvonne tightened her grip on him. She glared at him. "Why didn't you say it earlier? You even helped carry so many victims out last night."Stephen had joined the rescue efforts yesterday too. He'd rushed into the fire several times to bring the trapped people out. At first, Yvonne wasn't

"Did I ask you to kill her? If something happens to Yvonne, I'm going to make you pay it back with your life!" Mark threw another punch in Thomas' face.Despite being stunned by the blow, Thomas still tried to defend himself. "Mark, I didn't do it on purpose. Yvonne's the one who went overboard. She threatened me, forcing me to—Ah!" Before he could finish speaking, his remaining words turned into cries of pain.Mark rained punches on him. It wasn't until his rosary was covered in fresh blood that he finally stopped his attacks.Meanwhile, Thomas was lying on the floor, on the verge of death. His subordinates were pale with shock as they watched the scene. They huddled in the corner, too afraid to even breathe properly. Mark was literally a devil from hell! "I heard that you broke Howard's arm," Mark said, stepping on Thomas' left arm. "You'll need to pay it back with yours to settle the score between you and Yvonne."Thomas had passed out, so he had no idea what Mark said. Ho

When Stephen came back after speaking on the phone, Yvonne had already asked the subordinates to deal with the severed arm. Curtis stared at him suspiciously. He had a hunch that the person who'd called Stephen earlier was a woman. Stephen ignored Curtis' eyes on him and walked up to Yvonne. "I'm going back today. When are you planning to leave?""I'll wait until Howard is discharged from the hospital." "Okay." Then, Stephen moved his eyes to Curtis and casually asked, "Are you going to wait for Yvonne to return together?"Curtis tapped his chest and replied, "Of course! Now that I'm here, I'll have to make sure that she gets back safely.""Okay."Even though Curtis looked like a simple-minded, burly man, Stephen didn't doubt his loyalty toward Yvonne. With Curtis staying back with Yvonne, he could return to the country with peace of mind too.Before leaving, Stephen gazed at Yvonne deeply, as if he were reluctant to part ways with her. However, Yvonne seemed to be bothere

Holding the wine glass in her hand, Yvonne was stunned for a moment before she let out a laugh. "Seriously?""Although the news was dealt with before it spread too much, I still kept a screenshot of it. Do you want to have a look?" When Yvonne heard that, she managed to grasp an important point—the rumored girlfriend was someone Stephen prioritized. Otherwise, he wouldn't have handled the news at lightning speed, given that he usually didn't care about such things.Hence, it was clear that he wanted to protect that woman. Yvonne couldn't help but think about the call Stephen had taken at the mines. Now she couldn't help but think that Curtis' intuition had been right. Stephen probably returned to the country in a hurry because of that woman. While she was connecting the dots, she heard a woman exclaim. "What are you doing?"Then, they heard a loud slap.Yvonne and the rest of them looked over and saw Benjamin grabbing a girl's hand.Conan frowned disdainfully. "Benjamin is

When Carmen saw Linda holding Yvonne's hand, she was surprised. "Linda, do you know her?""Yes, I had the honor to meet her once when I was abroad." Linda pulled Yvonne along with her to the table and sat beside her. "Just now, I bumped into a drunkard. Luckily Yvonne was around, or else I would have been in trouble.""What?" Carmen frowned. "There are ruffians in places like this?""That guy seemed quite rich." Linda felt a shiver down her spine as she thought about it. "Forget it; I don't want to ruin my appetite because of him."Ariel and Katie were sitting opposite them. For a moment, the atmosphere in the private room was pretty awkward. Only Linda was happily indulging in the food.Out of consideration for Carmen, Yvonne stayed in the private room and chatted with her for a bit about the operations of Tara Foundation. After a while, Yvonne found an excuse to take her leave. "Ms. Lynch, I have friends waiting for me outside, so I've got to go now.""When can I invite you o

As the sky darkened, Charles came to get Conan, leaving Yvonne and Caleb waiting for their designated driver outside the restaurant.Standing in the night breeze, Caleb casually asked, "How do you know the girl from earlier?""I saved her once when I was overseas years ago.""Oh?" Caleb raised his brows. "That's quite a coincidence.""Right?" Yvonne smiled. "I saw several familiar faces in the private room just now too. That girl seems quite close to Carmen."Caleb became interested at once. "It looks like that young lady has a powerful background."Yvonne nodded, but she found it strange. When she'd met Linda for the first time, the latter hadn't seemed like someone who had connections with the top echelons. In this society, it was impossible for lower-ranking people to get associated with those of the upper class solely by relying on hard work, let alone become familiar with them.Sensing her confusion, Caleb chuckled softly. "It's because of Stephen."Yvonne was stunned.

Linda showed up on time to meet Ariel. As soon as she opened the door and saw Ariel and Benjamin, who had an ingratiating smile on, her face fell at once. "Why is this hooligan here too?" she asked disdainfully. "I'm sorry for what happened last night. I'd had a bit too much to drink." Benjamin stood up with a glass of wine in his hand. "I'll drink this in one go to express my apology to you. Please forgive me." "You ..." Watching Benjamin down the alcohol, Linda just felt like something was seriously wrong with his brain. She turned to look at Ariel and asked, "Ms. Clarke, is this the reason you asked me out tonight?""Yes." Ariel gave her an apologetic smile. "Last night, Mr. Benjamin heard from the front desk that you were with us. He wanted to find a chance to apologize to you personally, so—""Yes!" Benjamin interrupted. "After sobering up, I really regretted what I'd done. If it hadn't been for Ariel, I really wouldn't have known where to look for you."Seeing how famili