With an earnest gaze that indicated to Ivy his deep love and gentle desire to protect her, Leo continued to stare at her while waiting in trepidation.
Hearing his sudden confession, Ivy was stunned. Although she knew early on that he fancied her, she always feigned ignorance because she didn’t want to complicate things.
She was swayed by his sudden confession, but chose to immediately push him away in panic while biting her lip. “Leo, the man I like is Tony. Even though he doesn’t like me, I won’t give up before he gets married.” Her final sentence sounded rigid, either because she really refused to give up or she was trying to turn Leo down.
As soon as Leo heard that, his gaze dimmed. A frown appeared as quickly as it disappeared before he smiled at her. “I’m at my wits’ end if you’re not going to change your mind even after I did that.” With that, he switched to a more serious demeanor. “Ivy, even if you’re unwilling to give up on Director Hart, you shouldn’t lay a finger on Miss Stark, or else…” Or else, even I will not be able to save you.
After biting on her lip, Ivy replied, “I know that. I was only venting my frustrations just now.” She glanced at Leo, only to notice the deep gaze he held. Somehow, she panicked as her heart spasmed all of a sudden, which prompted her to walk toward the entrance. “But it doesn’t mean I’ll give up!” When she reached the entrance, she stopped in her tracks to deliver that sentence resolutely.
When Leo stared at the door that slammed shut abruptly, a bitter smile crept onto his face. So it didn’t work after all. She’s such a proud woman, so she wouldn’t notice just how long I’ve been waiting for her while staying by her side.
…
Back in the office, Myra looked at Tony, who was frowning. Sighing, she reached out to smooth out the crease between his brows. “Stop frowning. You look glum.”
When he turned to look at her, his features smoothed out as he reached out to hold her hand before putting it by his lips to give it a kiss. While staring at her, he asked, “Aren’t you jealous or angry at all?” He figured any woman would be angry after being harassed by Ivy.
Although Myra was indeed a little annoyed by Ivy’s shenanigans, she didn’t bear a grudge against Ivy. After some thought, she asked, “Are you transferring Miss Jameson to the branch company from headquarters?”
“Yeah.” Tony gave a curt and nonchalant reply.
Myra nodded. “I see… No wonder she was so hostile toward me.” Then, she glanced at the man before her. “Why did you transfer her when you approve of her abilities as the finance director? Isn’t it a waste of her talents to have her work in the branch company?” she questioned. No woman who has a shred of dignity would ever tolerate such treatment.
Speechless, he stared at the woman in front of him before pinching her on the waist abruptly. “Why do you think I did all that?”
Shocked by the sudden sting, she glared at him. “Perhaps she bad-mouthed me in front of you again?”
Tony furrowed his brows together once again, obviously recalling the harsh words that Ivy spouted in front of him.
But Myra merely shrugged indifferently. “You’ll never ditch me because of what she said, so she can run her mouth all she wants. She’s feeling vexed by her circumstances, so you just need to let her vent. Since she’s a smart woman, she’ll get around it soon enough.”
Unlike Kris, Gemma, or a lot of other women, Ivy was intelligent. Even though she would run her mouth, Myra believed that she wasn’t as vicious as she seemed. Sometimes, we women are prone to stubbornness and overthinking, just like when I was with Sean. Regardless of everything, she ended up falling out of love with Sean, and life went on. At times, she even thought her past self was pretty laughable. Once Ivy comes to that same realization, she’ll be able to start over with her life as well.
“You sure know her well.” Tony gave her a side glance, obviously unhappy that she wasn’t even jealous.
With a smile, she said, “I was just spouting nonsense. To be honest, I just don’t want you to feel like your investment in the person who you trained over the years to be your right-hand man was a waste.”
Startled, Tony let out a chuckle before pulling her into an embrace. “What should I say?” Then, he planted a kiss on the top of her head. “If she gives you any trouble—”
“She won’t.” She cut him off with certainty before he could finish his words.
“How can you be so confident?” While staring into her eyes, he arched his brow.
“I can sense that’s just how she is,” Myra said after some thought. “You’ve already made yourself clear, so someone as proud as her won’t come to me again. It would equate to admitting that she had failed in her endeavors.”
Tony rubbed her head lovingly. While he didn’t usually do that, he did it naturally this time.
Then, Myra tucked herself closer to him. “Don’t be angry. Go back to work. Old Master Sebastian just sent me a text, telling us to come home for dinner earlier.” After that, she glanced at the vase of flowers that she brought over not long ago. “This is the prettiest one.”
Tony couldn’t help but let out a chuckle before sending her off to get some rest.
…
There wasn’t a lot to do. When Tony was finally done, it was also almost time to clock off work. Just when they were about to leave, Leo came knocking on their door with a morose look on his face. “Mr. Hart, the front desk called to inform you that President Stark is here.”
When Myra heard him, she was startled for a moment before her face fell. On the contrary, Tony betrayed no emotion as he waved at Leo. “Tell him I’m not going to meet him.”
Are you sure you’re going to be that direct? Leo was surprised by Tony’s response. However, he quickly came to realize it was because both Tony and Myra were fed up with the falsehoods that they had to put up with Cameron. Therefore, Leo left the office. Soon, Tony’s phone rang, but he didn’t pick up the call. Nonetheless, the call kept on coming, as if the caller would keep on calling if Tony wasn’t going to pick up.
“Let me answer it.” Myra reached out to fish for his phone, only for Tony to grasp and answer it before she could. “What’s the matter?” He sounded nonchalant, his emotions unreadable.
…
Cameron was on the verge of a meltdown this entire day. Out of the blue, Green Palms Project suffered a financial deficit which kicked up some dust in Stark Group. Other than that, it also brought up the minor issues that the Starks used to be able to cover up. The other companies reached out to help only because they didn’t want to offend the Waltons, since the latter were also involved. However, it wasn’t enough to solve the problem.
Cameron already brazenly gave the Waltons a call, which got him mocked. Flushing due to anger, he mentally cursed Rachel and Kris again. For lack of a better option, he could only give Myra a call, but it was apparent that Myra had no intention to pick up his call.
After some thought, he called Tony, assuming that Tony wouldn’t be giving him a hard time since he was Myra’s father. As his mind raced, he heard Tony’s voice. Quickly suppressing his panic and sour mood, he begged humbly, “Tony, there’s something that I would like to speak with you about.”
“What’s the matter?” Tony glanced at Myra to calm her down as he continued to deal with Cameron over the phone casually.
“I believe I have spoken to you last time about Green Palms Project.” Cameron took a deep breath after that. After all, he still bore in mind the humiliation he suffered in front of them. Yet, he still had to defer to them during such a crucial moment. “Stark Group is in a complete mess now. If you won’t help us, the company that Myra’s mother built will be dealt a huge blow that it might never recover from.”
