The tearoom was in total silence, broken only by the sound of water boiling in the kettle.Leonard was alarmed. His guess had been right!Next to him, Claude had an ugly expression as well. Jane had truly caused them huge trouble!After a while, Leonard said tentatively, "Actually, this is just an accident. We never would have thought that things would happen this way.""I don't want to hear any nonsense." Mark looked at Leonard coldly. "Since you planned to frame me for this, you should pay the price. Treat the destroyed docks as a lesson from me. "You two better stay out of my affairs with Yvonne. Don't let me find out that you're playing dirty tricks again. If not …"Mark's gaze sharpened. "Don't think you'll be able to live out your golden years peacefully."Leonard and Claude were stunned.Claude was the first to react. He rebuked, "Mark, we're already humbly explaining it to you, yet you're still so unforgiving! You clearly don't respect us at all!""If you want to st
Jane smiled widely. "Where are you going? I can show you around!""No need," Stephen said flatly as he walked past Jane."Oh, come on. How boring it is to go alone!" Jane chased after Stephen and asked curiously, "Where's Yvonne? Why isn't she with you?"Stephen replied without even looking at Jane, "She's busy.""I see …" Jane was secretly delighted. "I'm not the same as her. She puts everything else before you. I won't. I'll cancel everything just for you. Just let me accompany you. Come on, don't say no to a lady."Despite Stephen's frostiness, Jane's enthusiasm didn't die down at all.When Stephen got in the car, she got in the backseat too. Afraid that he would get out of the car, she quickly said to the driver, "Go."As the car moved, Stephen's gaze darkened. "Ms. Ford, do you insist on coming along?""Yes. How could I let you go alone? You're my grandfather's guest. You're not familiar with the place. If anything happens to you, I won't be able to answer him."Jane
Howard was shocked to see Gwen. "Why are you here?""I should be the one asking you that."Gwen looked at the unconscious Jane behind Howard. "Let's find a place to talk, you and me.""But …" Howard hesitated for a while. "Alright, we'll talk."Then, Gwen led Howard to a quieter part on the corner of the street. They stopped there. Gwen asked directly, "Why are you kidnapping Claude's granddaughter?""I …" Howard furrowed his brow. "This is my personal matter. Don't ask. I don't want to get anyone involved.""Does Yvonne know about this?"Howard shook his head. "She doesn't know.""Do you think that she wouldn't get involved in this?" Gwen said unhappily, "Howard, you're one of Yvonne's men. If Claude wants to go after you, do you think he won't look for Yvonne? "I thought you would know how to differentiate right from wrong after having been at the border for such a long time. Who would have thought that you would still be so reckless?""I …" Howard lowered his head.
"What are you looking at?" Stephen asked.Yvonne retracted her gaze. "Nothing. I just found it odd. If Howard had done this, why did he throw Jane into the truck and go missing?"She continued, "I blame myself. I was too busy keeping an eye on Jane and accidentally took someone's coffee. While I was distracted trying to reason with them, Howard took Jane away."At that moment, Stephen noticed the coffee stain on her sleeves. He furrowed his brows.Yvonne casually patted her sleeves. "It's fine. It's just iced coffee.""Hmm." Stephen looked at Jane. "Should we wait for him or hide?""I'm guessing he left." Yvonne looked at the corner of the street once more. She didn't know why, but her gut told her that Howard had already seen her."Everything was going so smoothly …" Yvonne sighed. "Next time, Howard will be even more careful. I don't think we'll be able to lure him out anymore."She looked at Stephen and smiled. "Forget about it. You've sacrificed yourself once. That's more
Jane only remembered someone knocking her unconscious. She didn't know what happened after that.When she heard what Stephen said, she quickly looked around for her belongings. Sure enough, her jewelry and bag were missing.Jane was instantly furious. "Robbers are really getting more and more brazen these days!""It's fine as long as you're safe."Now that everything was explained, Claude felt a little embarrassed. "Mr. Anderson, I got a little emotional back there. I'm sorry. I …""It's fine. I understand." Stephen tidied his collar and looked at Jane. He kindly reminded her, "Ms. Ford, you should pay more attention to Mr. Ford's feelings. Don't do things that make him worry.""How would I—""Mr. Anderson is right," Claude answered before Jane could say anything. He glared at her warningly, too.Stephen has already made himself clear. If Jane were to still fawn after him, his suspicion toward Stephen a moment ago would be a complete joke.Stephen was already showing courtes
"Stephen!" Yvonne was flustered. She glared at him. "This is my room. Without my permission, you can't—"The next second, Stephen grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her into his arms.Yvonne tried to resist, but he was too strong. He hugged her tightly, not letting her go.He buried his head in Yvonne's neck. In a rather aggrieved and resentful tone, he said "All this while, you didn't even ask me what I was doing. "Yvonne, where is your heart? I've been helping you do so many things. Don't I deserve your concern?"Yvonne was stunned. "Y-You were waiting for me to contact you?""What else?" Stephen hugged her tighter, as if he were punishing her. "I left you a note. I thought you would soon send me a message. I never thought that I wouldn't hear a single word from you for such a long time. "Do you just not care about me? Or are you just unwilling to take the first step?"What he said easily stopped Yvonne from retorting in reflex. She pursed her lips and muttered, "I thoug
Sure enough, Yvonne quieted down.Stephen slowly said, "Didn't I promise you I would snatch those few pieces of land that Mark wanted? I was busy with this all this time. "I had only gotten two pieces of land when Mark noticed. He sent men to track me down. If I'm not wrong, he should already be in the city."Yvonne was a little surprised. "He's coming to look for you?""Yes." Stephen shut his eyes a little. "That is also part of my plan."Yvonne pondered for a while before frowning. "You're going to deliberately mislead him to think that you're also interested in the metal mines so that his focus will all be on you?""That's right."While Yvonne was thinking, Stephen hugged her tightly. "All you need to do is prepare for the bid. I'll handle the rest. Just wait to get the mine in your hands."Stephen smiled. "Treat it as compensation for my rough behavior last night."Instantly, the atmosphere turned flirtatious once more.Yvonne rolled her eyes. "Am I to thank you for bein
An hour later, the middle-aged man was sent back to his hotel.Seeing the car leave, the man calmed down. Gone was the panic on his face. He entered the hotel and quickly found Julian."Mr. Jacobs, I did everything according to Mr. Anderson's instructions. I've told them what he told me to say."Julian patted the man on the shoulder. "Thank you.""It's nothing much. I was only kicked once. They saw that I was rather honest, so they didn't cause me much trouble. It's just that …" The man hesitated before asking, "They are our competitors, but you told me to spill information, even going as far as letting them know our bidding price. Won't we lose out on the bid then?""Mr. Anderson has his reasons for doing so. Your task is complete. You don't have to ask any further questions." Julian handed the man a check. "This is your reward."When the man saw the check, he happily accepted it and thanked Julian. He no longer cared about Stephen's reasons.After the man left, Julian sent