Irina stood up, looked him straight in the eye, and said, "Mr. Markus, you're actually quite rational, aren't you?"Markus scoffed, "Are you trying to talk your way out of this?""No, I honestly think you're rational," Irina insisted.Offering validation at the right moment could help ease one's agitation.Markus did not reply. He glared at her fiercely, as if he could see right through her.Despite his intimidating gaze, Irina merely returned a faint smile, utterly unperturbed.Getting up, Markus shot her a cold look and remarked, "You're quite the loyal lapdog, aren't you?"Irina seethed in silence. His words stung.Markus didn't say another word. He just turned and walked away.Watching him leave, Irina felt the urge to explode, but she bit her tongue. In any case, ensuring he left without further confrontation was the best course of action.Otherwise, given the way things had escalated with Tally earlier, who knew how long the argument would have dragged on?Tally was in
When Irina looked at Tally, she said seriously, "You really need to get Mr. Hunt Senior to dislike you even more." Tally caught on as she met Irina's determined gaze.Elijah was really fond of his son Markus, so much so that he was willing to compromise anything for him.Irina kept going, saying, "It'd be great if you could somehow get Mr. Hunt Senior to set up a marriage for Mr. Markus right away. That would really seal the deal and take all your worries off your plate.""Set up a marriage?""Yes," Irina confirmed with a nod.Tally fell silent. Irina noticed her puzzled look and explained further, "Lately, the Hunt family has been caught up in quite a few scandals. They've almost become the talk of the entire Harborlean."If the Hunt family were to announce Mr. Markus' engagement now, considering Mr. Hunt Senior's prideful nature, everything would go smoothly with the engagement."Tally fell silent, mulling over Irina's words."He's prideful?" Tally questioned herself.Tr
Irina nodded, saying, "Yes!""Could you look into which wealthy young ladies enjoy spending time in those places?""Are you suggesting we find him a rich one?" Irina asked. "At the very least, let's find him someone who's, you know, normal," Tally suggested.Even though there was a lot of bad blood between Tally and Markus, she wasn't the kind of person to do something morally wrong. So, in that situation, her main goal was to completely cut ties with Markus rather than risk her life by getting involved."If I really got Markus into bed with a bar girl, Mr. Hunt Senior would surely kill me."Then, it hit Irina. So, morality wasn't really the issue there. It was more about Tally's own survival. When Tally mentioned it was "unethical", she was just trying to be nice. Deep down, she was fully aware of what was really going on. Irina gave a nod. "Got it."Tally suggested, "You should go find out. It would be even better if they had a bit of a crush on Markus."Irina stayed s
At about 2:00 pm, Kathryn dropped by to see Tally. Even though they had discussed today's events over the phone, Kathryn still couldn't shake her worries.But Tally just smirked mischievously at her. "Relax, babe, nothing's gonna happen!"Clearly, Kathryn was worried that upsetting the Hunt family might lead to trouble for Tally. Tally, on the other hand, didn't seem bothered by it.Kathryn seemed doubtful. "Are you really sure? I mean, that's Mr. Hunt Senior we're talking about."Tally reassured her, saying, "I know. But isn't this whole thing about making that old man dislike me? Well, looks like I've nailed it!"Just like Victor and Irina had pointed out, if Elijah stopped supporting her relationship with Markus, half of her troubles would vanish.Kathryn, however, seemed a bit unclear. "Does it really matter if he likes you or not?""It does! They took my dad this time, and it's a direct threat to me," Tally shared."A threat?" Kathryn exclaimed in shock.Kathryn was surpr
Kathryn proposed, "Come on, you two, just get that marriage certificate and smack it right onto Markus' face!"Tally sat in stunned silence.Smack their marriage certificate onto Markus' face?Upon hearing Kathryn's words, Tally couldn't help but be shocked. She looked at Kathryn in disbelief.She couldn't believe Kathryn would suggest something so savage."Yeah, why didn't I realize that earlier? Just getting the marriage certificate with Victor would have done the trick, right?" Tally exclaimed. Tally wondered why she chose to make things so complicated for all this while. But considering Elijah's threat to her, it was still necessary to ensure he disliked her.Kathryn nodded. "Exactly. Once you two have that marriage certificate, it's basically the same as being fully married, right?"Theoretically speaking, Kathryn was right. If Tally and Markus had gone to register their marriage earlier, Elijah might have stuck his nose in. But now, this was indeed the perfect timing.
Kathryn was confused when Jessica suddenly shoved her into the car and promptly closed the door. With her hand still gripping the door handle, Kathryn looked up at Jessica and suggested, "Uh, how about dinner tonight?"Upon hearing Kathryn's dinner suggestion, Jessica paused before nodding and responding, "Let's talk about it later. I'll give you a call."Jessica seemed really busy, and Kathryn could tell from the way she talked that she was in a rush.Kathryn couldn't help but feel for Jessica as she watched her close the car door and hurried off toward the nearby office building, waving goodbye as she went.Kathryn found herself wondering who Jessica was in such a rush to meet.Kathryn couldn't resist stealing a glance back as the car pulled away. In that brief moment, Kathryn's heart skipped a beat as she saw Jessica walking alongside Lloyd. They were heading toward the glass doors of the building.Before Kathryn could double-check what she saw, the car had already turned.
Elijah said, "Very well, then."Thinking about his troublesome son, Elijah wondered how he hadn't noticed Markus' extremity in his romantic pursuits before.Elijah was so angry that he couldn't catch his breath.Giving Markus a fierce look, he tried to hold back. Despite that, he couldn't resist putting in one final word, "No matter how much you want to be with Tally, I won't allow it."This time, there was no room for negotiation.At Elijah's words, Markus' eyes turned cold. "I'm afraid you have no say in this.""You..." Elijah's breath hitched as he heard Markus' retort. In a fit of rage, he grabbed a teacup and hurled it toward him.At that moment, Elijah felt an overwhelming urge to lash out at Markus.Elijah insisted, "Regardless of your decision, you and Sarah are officially engaged starting today."His tone was unusually firm.At this point, Elijah wasn't asking for Markus' opinion. He was simply informing him.Regarding Tally becoming Elijah's daughter-in-law, Elijah
Looking at her identification papers, Tally let out a sigh of relief.Fortunately, Tally had some knowledge of her father's habits. Otherwise, guessing the password for the safe, which belonged to her comatose father, would have been a daunting task.When Irina called, Tally answered, "Hey, Irina.""Guess what? Markus is engaged!""What?" Tally was shocked.Irina shared her surprise."This time, it seems Mr. Hunt Senior might genuinely have it out for you. We haven't even made a move, and suddenly they're announcing Markus and Sarah's engagement.""Sarah?" Tally was even more surprised.It was only today that they found out who had been secretly admiring Markus. Before they could even step in, Elijah had taken the initiative.It seemed like all these years, Elijah appeared unconcerned, but he actually knew everything.But if he was dead set on hating her, then so be it. Tally couldn't care less.On the other hand, if Elijah truly desired for her and Markus to be together all