Ch. 1841..1850

Chapter 1841

Lil Michael looked at Nicole with a smile. “Pretty Lady, I heard that you gave birth to a baby girl! Can I play with her?”

Nicole raised her eyebrows. “Of course! You’re her elder brother. But she can’t walk yet, so she can only play with you when she’s a little older.”

Lil Michael rubbed his hands together as if he was looking forward to it.

He has a sister now.

This surprise kept him happy for several days. He wanted to come out to see his sister long ago.

Unfortunately, his dad watched him too closely and had people following him everywhere, so he could not sneak out.

Michael only found out about this little surprise from the bodyguard and nanny’s conversation.

Stanton Mansion.

Lil Michael ran in happily.

Floyd was waiting for him at the door.

Lil Michael was even more affectionate with Floyd than he was with his own father. The boy went up to Floyd and hugged and kissed him endlessly.

Floyd was so happy that he could not stop smiling. “ Aww... My precious child! You must be tired, right?”

Lil Michael wrapped his arms around Floyd. “Uncle Floyd, I missed you to death!”

Floyd laughed loudly.

This scene was seen by the man in the living room. He looked away speechlessly and finally coughed heavily.

Only then did Lil Michael notice that Clayton was over there.

Clayton was carrying a fair and tender little baby in his arms.

Michael blinked and jumped down from Floyd’s embrace.

Just as Clayton was about to hand over Chatty to the person next to him because he intended to give his eldest son a big bear hug as compensation, Michael rushed over to him and was not as enthusiastic as he imagined.

Michael looked at the baby in Clayton’s arms excitedly and asked, “Baby sister?”

Clayton retracted his hand and hummed. “Get to know each other!”

Clayton took Chatty’s hand and greeted Michael. “This is your brother, Michael. Michael, this is your sister, Chatty.”

When Clayton looked down at his daughter, his eyes were overflowing with tenderness. He really wanted to give her all the tenderness in the world.

Michael cupped her small hand and kissed it.

“She’s so tiny...”

The corner of Clayton’s mouth twitched. He looked at his son with a little disdain and said, “You just came back and haven’t even washed your hands yet:"

Floyd saw the situation and quickly went over to stop Clayton from continuing.

“Michael, Tigger missed you so much. I locked him up in the study because he always likes to lie on your sister’s face. Why don’t you bring Tigger down to play with it?”

Lil Michael nodded excitedly and ran upstairs. Clayton held the rest of his words back.

Nicole walked over and smiled. “The room’s ready, just in time for Michael to have some fun here this holiday.”

“Have fun?”

Clayton laughed lightly. “He still has a lot of homework to do. I’m afraid he won’t be able to play for a few days.”

Floyd coughed. “Uh... Clayton, have you thought of Chatty’s name?”

Floyd hurriedly changed the subject. Clayton froze and nodded his head.

“Dad, I just added a syllable to the name you came up with. What do you think of Liliana?”

He took out the piece of paper and showed it to Floyd.

Floyd looked at it for a while before he nodded. “Great.”

Although it felt a little odd, Floyd thought that he would get used to it eventually.

Nicole went over and looked at it. “Liliana? How about just Lily?”

Clayton and Floyd said in unison, “No.”

The two men were decisive on Chatty’s name. Nicole paused. “Fine, whatever.”

It had only been one day, but Nicole could already tell that Lil Michael and Clayton did not get along well. Lil Michael would only act cute and pampered when he wanted to ask Clayton for something. Other than that, Michael was basically glued to Chatty.

Chapter 1842

Nicole's body gradually recovered. She went to the hospital several times for a checkup, but the doctors were really at their wits’ end with her memory loss.

Her health indicators were already back to normal, but she just could not recover her memory.

However, Nicole did not care or worry about it since it did not affect her daily life.

After a few days, Nicole and Kai attended a business party together.

Nicole rarely appeared in public, so everyone was surprised.

There were many rumors saying that Nicole was sick and could not leave the house, but her beautiful and healthy appearance showed that she did not seem to be sick.

Nicole even looked more radiant than before.

Everyone suppressed their inner thoughts and went forward to exchange pleasantries one after another.

“Ms. Stanton, I haven’t seen you in a long time. How have you been?”

“Ms. Stanton, I heard that you gave birth to a daughter? Is it true? When will you be hosting a party for your child?”

“When are you coming back to the office, Ms. Stanton?”

Nicole smiled and was used to dealing with such scenes.

“In a few days, I’m hosting a 100-day banquet for my daughter. You’re all invited.”

“There are still some arrangements to be made at the office, so I’m not sure when I’ll be going back yet...”

Kai became much more composed on the sidelines as he exchanged pleasantries with other peers.

He asked Nicole to rest at the lounge while he had a couple of drinks with the others to talk about business.

Nicole gladly agreed.

She took a look around. Yvette and Julie did not come.

Nicole was a bit listless and chatted with the people next to her.

Not long after, there were suddenly two more people in front of her, a man and a woman.

“Nicole, what a coincidence to see you here!”

The man was quite tall, average-looking, and somewhat familiar. He looked like a typical parvenu.

He casually embraced a pitiful-looking and delicate girl beside him. That girl was nestled in his arms and averted her gaze when she saw Nicole.

Nicole wrinkled her brows. She could not remember who these people were.

However, she was certain she forgot these people. Otherwise, why would she have the feeling that she had seen them before?

Nicole paused. She just smiled without saying a word so that they would not find anything odd about her.

Anyway, she had a bad gut feeling about these people and found them quite annoying.

However, the man was very insensitive. He had to stand in front of Nicole to pester her.

“I heard that you almost died during childbirth some time ago? Is it true? People in the circle are speculating that you’re dying. That’s why you handed everything to Kai. How did you suddenly recover?”

Nicole’s smile faded, and she sneered.

“You‘re quite disappointed that I didn’t die, huh?”

The man froze and hastily changed his words. “I wouldn’t think that! How long have we known each other? You and my cousin grew up together, and you helped out the Carter family when they were in trouble!”

As soon as Nicole turned the corner, she figured out this man’s relationship with her.

Nicole and Ian grew up together. This man in front of her called Ian his cousin.

It turned out that this man was Riley, Ian‘s Aunt Claire’s son.

Riley was an uneducated, opportunistic punk.

He was annoying since childhood, and he was still the same as an adult.

Nicole lifted her eyes. The corner of her mouth twitched.

“Your cousin didn’t come?”

When Riley saw that Nicole took the initiative to speak to him, he did not let go of this opportunity.

“My aunt has been forcing him to go on blind dates recently...”

Nicole raised her eyebrows. No wonder Ian did not show up much at the recent gatherings. He must have been busy with his blind dates.

Chapter 1843

Riley thought that the mood was right, so he went up to Nicole and spoke.

“Nicole, I’ve seen a few projects that can make a lot of money. Do you want a part in it?”

Nicole had only been talking to him for a while, and she could already figure out his purpose.

Riley could not hide his true intentions.

“Not interested. If you want to talk business, you can go to my third brother.”

“How can Kai be interested in my kind of small project?”

Riley was very excited. “It can really make a profit. Trust me!”

Nicole held back her temper since she did not want to lash out here. However, she also lost interest in this conversation.

“Can’t you get this bit of money from your family? If your family doesn’t have so much, get it from your aunt. Didn’t she always love you? How could you be short of money?”

A trace of gloominess, envy, and hatred crossed Riley’s face. “It’s all because of Ian! He kept saying that something was wrong with my accounts and kicked me out of the company. He wouldn’t let my aunt give me money either. Otherwise, why would I be in such a situation?”

Nicole raised her eyebrows. This was unexpected.

Ian’s mother had always loved Riley and treated him just as well as she treated her own son.

Nicole did not expect that Ian’s mother would support Ian.

Riley smiled and stepped forward. “Nicole, you should cooperate with me. I have the project and you have the capital. We’ll definitely make a huge profit!”

Nicole was very calm as she smiled and refused him.

“I’m quite rich, so I don’t want to be involved in other projects. You can find someone else to work with.”

Riley’s face stiffened, and he refused to give up. “Why don‘t you reconsider?”

Nicole shook her head and looked away. At that moment, she put down the things in her hand and stood up, intending to go somewhere else.

As a result, the girl next to Riley that had been standing in front of her had no intention of giving way. The red wine she was holding suddenly spilled onto Nicole’s dress.

Nicole’s face turned cold, and she frowned. She shot an impatient glance at the girl.

That delicate girl was so frightened that her face turned pale. She took a step back and bowed to apologize.

“I’m sorry, Ms. Stanton. I didn’t mean to. I really didn‘t mean to. I wasn’t paying attention and accidentally spilled my drink. I’m so sorry...”

Perhaps Nicole was giving off a very powerful vibe. The delicate girl in front of her looked so weak, fragile, and aggrieved like she was being bullied.

Many guests around turned to look at them and whispered, not knowing what to say about this situation.

Nicole felt that she was very unlucky today to meet these two people.

Originally, the situation was not so bad. However, after that girl apologized, Nicole suddenly became the bully, as if she would be wrong for not forgiving that girl.

Before Nicole could say anything, Riley stood up, pushed that girl aside, and fiercely reprimanded her.

“Are you blind? Don’t you know what kind of an occasion this is? You were so enthusiastic when you begged me to bring you here, but you caused me trouble as soon as you came in?!”

Tears started to stream down that delicate girl’s face.

She gave Riley an aggrieved look, and she was wallowing in sorrow. “I’m sorry, I really didn’t mean to...”

Riley glared at her viciously, then looked at Nicole. “ Nicole, do you want to change your clothes?”

The corner of Nicole’s mouth twitched. “Sure.” She did not say another word and walked away. Nicole was truly disgusted by these two people.

Originally, Nicole did not want to make a fuss over this. That girl was the one who dramatized this a little too much and made the situation worse.

Riley was quite reluctant to let Nicole go, but he had no other choice.

Chapter 1844

Riley looked at the girl next to him with frustration and pushed her forward.

“What are you waiting for? Go and help Ms. Stanton! If you dare to neglect her and ruin my business, I’ll settle the score with you!”

The delicate girl looked at Riley aggrievedly and silently went in the direction that Nicole left.

In the bathroom.

Nicole was wearing a white dress, so the red wine stain was particularly obvious.

It was not something that could be washed away with water.

Nicole had already sent a text message to the driver outside to bring in her spare clothes while she waited in the bathroom.

ln less than a minute, someone that Nicole did not want to see appeared at the door.

“Ms. Stanton...”

It was that little delicate girl.

She would not leave Nicole alone.

Nicole looked away. “Did Riley ask you to come? Tell him to give up. I won’t invest in him.”

If Nicole spent her money on something that could see, at least she would feel happy.

Investing in Riley would be the same as having her money go into a bottomless pit.

The delicate girl looked at Nicole and bit her lower lip. “I’m not here because of him.”

Nicole raised her eyebrows. “Then...”

The girl took a deep breath. “Ms. Stanton, I’m here to ask you not to tell Riley that you know me. Please, I beg you.”

Nicole tilted her head and looked at her without any expression, but her heart was pounding.

When did Nicole know this girl?

The girl looked at Nicole’s indifferent face and became a little emotional.

“I was lied to when I was with Ian previously. He didn’t like me at all. No matter how hard I tried, he didn’t want to look at me or think of me. But Riley’s different. Riley is willing to coax me, take care of me, buy me things, and spend money on me. We’re really happy together. But... Riley doesn’t know that I used to date Ian. If he knew, he probably wouldn‘t let me off the hook. So, can you please keep this a secret?”

The girl raised her eyes and looked at Nicole with a pleading face.

Nicole gritted her teeth and simply could not stay calm as she thought, ‘What did I just hear? This girl dated Ian, and now, she’s hooking up with Riley. More importantly, Riley’s clueless about it? I didn’t even know about their relationship until now.’

The delicate girl was about to cry. “Ms. Stanton, I admit that I shouldn’t have hit on Mr. Sloan. I didn’t know that he was your man! Otherwise, I wouldn’t have done it even if I had the guts. Please keep this a secret for me, okay?”

This sentence was like a strike of lightning. Hit on Clayton?

WOW!

It seemed like that did not work. Otherwise, that girl would not have clung to Riley.

Her taste certainly got worse.

Nicole laughed lightly and was not as enthusiastic as before.

“I’m not that idle. You don’t need to beg me because I’m not the only one who knows about this, right? Let’s just pretend that we don’t know each other.”

This way Nicole would not get annoyed.

The delicate girl still wanted to chase Nicole and get her word.

However, Nicole’s driver already rushed over with a bag. “Miss...”

Nicole nodded and gave the driver a look. The driver then separated Nicole and the delicate girl and looked at the girl warily.

The girl could not get close to Nicole, so she stood there reluctantly by herself.

After Nicole changed her dress and came out again, she sighed in relief because Riley and the delicate girl were no longer around.

Kai came over to Nicole soon after he was done talking business.

Nicole followed Kai to the car and left.

Chapter 1845

Two days later, Nicole received a call from Julie. Ian did not plan to have a big birthday party and decided to just have a simple gathering near Julie’s set.

Yvette also went.

Nicole told Clayton about it and went with the driver.

It was only after Nicole arrived that she found out that Ian had invested in the film that Julie was involved in, so he was there to visit the set.

Ian sized Nicole up and went over to hug her.

“My precious darling! I’m so glad that you’re okay!”

Nicole clicked her tongue and pushed him away. “Go away. Of course, I’m fine.”

Ian’s smile deepened.

“I heard that you forgot all about Clayton but still remember me. I’m so touched...”

“You don’t need to be touched. I even remember the death of my family’s Tibetan mastiff when I was ten years old, so of course, I can remember you.”

Ian rolled his eyes in frustration. “Ugh, you’re no fun.”

Julie came out to bring Nicole inside. “It just so happened that today is the film’s closing celebration, which collided with Carter’s birthday, so we just decided to celebrate together.”

Nicole was shocked. “Ian actually agreed to this?”

Ian chuckled and said, “I can’t help it. But I’m quite satisfied with this drama, so I don’t mind.”

The filming crew and cast had already arrived.

Nicole and Julie went inside arm in arm. Ian followed behind them with his hands in his pockets.

It was very bright inside as the lights swayed. The atmosphere was very lively.

Julie leaned into Nicole. “There are a lot of people here. I guess they all heard that Ian’s here today and came over to wish him. They’re all in the entertainment industry, so you can deal with them if you want to. If you don’t, we can leave in advance and change the venue.”

Nicole raised her eyebrows. “Well, let’s just follow Carter’s mood. After all, it’s his birthday.”

Even if Nicole did not want to deal with these people, she could not just leave like that.

Julie nodded. She was considered part of the entertainment industry. Thus, she was naturally familiar with the people present and their relationships with each other.

Ian was wearing black pants and a black shirt with his sleeves rolled up. He looked like a typical trust fund kid as he swept a glance around.

If he was not Ian Carter, he could have been an award- winning actor with his looks.

Nicole and Julie admired the handsome men and women around them for a while. They then saw a

beautiful woman in a long red dress at the other side of the room sashaying over.

The two ladies laughed. It was Yvette.

“Ms. Quimbey, you’re so gorgeous today that I thought

I saw the wrong person!” Nicole joked.

Yvette raised her chin arrogantly. “My husband said that I’m gorgeous every day!”

Julie said, “Doesn’t he feel guilty for saying that?”

Nicole held back a laugh. “I think it’s a pity that Mr. Sheldon isn’t here. He didn’t get to see Ms. Quimbey all dressed up!”

Yvette pouted. “Don’t make fun of me! I’ve been working overtime for the past few days, and I have a headache from exhaustion.”

“Is everyone at your company that busy?”

“Not everyone. I’m the only one that’s busy. Ugh, I’m a vice president at Lance’s stupid company, but I gotta do an assistant’s work. I don’t even have free time every day, and I fall asleep as soon as I see the bed!”

Nicole and Julie opened their mouths wide in shock.

No wonder Yvette did not take the initiative to ask them out for dinner these days. It was probably due to this.

“Why didn’t you ask someone else to do it?” Nicole asked.

“Lance said that it’s confidential, so only I can do it!”

Yvette speechlessly rolled her eyes. She was exasperated and extremely aggrieved.

Nicole felt a little strange. “How can an assistant’s work be confidential?”

Julie was also very doubtful. “Right...”

Yvette’s expression changed. She also felt that something was off.

Chapter 1846

Yvette was just about to think of something when a few directors saw the three ladies standing together. They went over with a glass of wine after toasting Ian.

“Ms. Stanton, Ms. Quimbey, Ms. Nixon, you three are really good friends. Thank you for supporting our film!”

Nicole smiled and raised her glass.

The three ladies took a shallow sip of wine. “You’re welcome.”

After everyone finished exchanging pleasantries, Yvette swept a glance around and asked, “Where’s Ian?”

A director who just saw Ian pondered for a moment. “He seemed to have been called away by his girlfriend The three ladies were wide-eyed. “He has a girlfriend?!”

The director smiled in embarrassment, knowing that he had misspoken. “A female friend. Sorry, it was a slip of the tongue.”

Julie frowned slightly. “Why haven’t I heard anything about it?”

Nicole went close to Julie’s ear and whispered. “I heard that he has been going on blind dates recently, so she may be his blind date.”

The other two people suddenly realized something. No wonder.

After all, Ian would never take the initiative to speak of this sort of thing.

The ladies walked around. At this time, some celebrities who used to be very popular modestly carried their wine glasses over and toasted them one by one. The directors and investors also did not let go of Nicole and the ladies.

A pleasant-looking woman came out from the crowd of directors, then joked with the other investors. She looked very glamorous and at ease like she was in her element.

Nicole saw the woman and could not remember her name.

“Is she the female lead?”

That woman had such a strong presence and control of the room, so it did not make sense if she was not the female lead.

Julie took a glance. “Nope, the female lead isn’t here yet.”

Yvette said, ‘the female lead still hasn’t arrived at such an occasion? The others are probably fighting for attention now, right?”

Julie laughed. “You don’t say. This female lead has a big temper, and she’s straightforward. The crew and cast don’t like to talk to her.”

“Who is it?”

“Kirsi Makinen. She offended a lot of people because of her temper, so even if she has good acting skills, she never won any awards. She only managed to be the female lead in this film because of her acting skills.”

As they spoke, the door was suddenly pushed open from the outside.

A woman wearing a long black dress and exuding cold vibes came in. Her expression made her seem unapproachable.

She was pretty, but her cold aura made it impossible for people to get close.

For a while, the other female celebrities in the hall fell silent. They subconsciously were scared of Kirsi‘s appearance.

How interesting.

Kirsi swept a glance around. She seemed to have noticed Julie and was just about to lift her dress to walk over when there was suddenly an ear-piercing voice that joked, “The female lead is finally here! We‘ve all been waiting for you for a long time. Mr. Carter is so nice to invite us to his birthday banquet, and this is also our film’s closing ceremony. But look at you, putting on airs and letting everyone wait for you.”

Yvette excitedly grabbed Nicole’s hand.

“Are they gonna fight? This is a catfight between actresses!”

Nicole froze for a moment. She really wanted to pretend not to know Yvette when she saw her good-for-nothing face.

The person who spoke was the woman who had been going around the venue acting like she was the female lead, Lorelai.

Earlier, Lorelai was in the limelight since her character and her silver tongue won over almost everyone present.

It was truly admirable.

Julie approached them from the side and spoke.

“These two actresses don’t like each other. Even the director didn’t dare to put them together in the same scene. Kirsi was supposed to be the female lead for this film, but the film’s bigwig investor made the director change the female lead to Lorelai. Later, Kirsi’s fans made a huge scene. Moreover, Lorelai looks more like a servant girl and isn’t popular with the masses, so it’s very risky for her to play the female lead. Finally, they settled on Kirsi. That’s why these two actresses don’t get along since the beginning.”

Chapter 1847

Nicole nodded. “No wonder!”

Such a confrontation in public did not seem very nice, but the two actresses obviously did not care. Anyway, they just wanted the other party to look bad.

Kirsi swept a glance around and turned to Lorelai. “ Dumbass,does it have anything todo  with you?”

The venue fell silent with that remark.

Afterward, someone could not help but laugh softly. Kirsi’s retort was loud and clear.

Lorelai’s face turned pale as she felt embarrassed from being called a dumb*ss.

*YOU..."

Of course, Lorelai wanted to diss Kirsi too. However, if she did, she would not be able to maintain her cute persona. Lorelai was afraid that someone would film it and circulate it online.

Moreover, Lorelai would not allow herself to fall from grace in front of so many bigwigs.

She gritted her teeth and wanted to tear Kirsi apart.

Fortunately, the director stood out in time to ease the situation. He ignored how Kirsi had insulted Lorelai.

“All that matters is attendance. Kirsi told me that she caught a cold since she filmed an underwater scene until late last night. I told her to rest well before coming over. Kirsi, come over and have a drink with all your colleagues...”

Although everyone still wanted to watch the fun, they knew that now was not the time to fan the flames.

Everyone quickly went back to their own thing as if nothing happened.

Kirsi listened to the director. Even if she caught a cold, she still took a glass of wine and followed him.

They went to each group of people for a toast and finally went over to Nicole‘s group.

The ladies saw what happened just now. Julie smiled and said, “Kirsi, sit down and rest for a while.”

It looked like Julie took care of Kirsi quite well.

Kirsi did not stand on ceremony. She sat on the opposite side and leaned back lazily.

She was truly worthy of being a female lead. If Kirsi did not have that face and acting skills, there was no way that she would become an A-lister with her temper.

More importantly, Kirsi had a very recognizable, unique, and beautiful face.

Out of the three ladies, Julie was the most familiar with Kirsi.

Julie smiled and looked at Nicole and Yvette. “You guys don’t know who Kirsi is yet, do you?” Nicole and Yvette looked at Julie curiously.

Julie looked at Kirsi and raised her eyebrows. Kirsi smiled and replied.

“Lumi is my sister. I’m from the Makinen family.” Nicole and Yvette were both quite shocked.

Oh my god!

It turned out that Kirsi was part of the Makinen family, who had inextricable ties to the Lindstrom family and several major families in Baltic City.

However, how could such a high-society lady land up in the entertainment industry?

It was no wonder that people were surprised. Kirsi looked at Nicole and smiled with her eyes.

“I’m a big fan of Kai, so I followed his footsteps to get to where I am today!”

Julie laughed, looking like she had known about this for a long time.

Nicole was speechless.

Kai’s influence was so great?

If Kai knew about it, he would have been so smug. “If Kai finds out, he’ll be happy for you.”

Nicole spoke with a smile.

Kirsi raised her eyebrows like she had expected this.

It was really unexpected that Lumi, who had been failing in whatever she invested, had a sister in the entertainment industry.

The key thing was that no one knew about this. No one tried to find out about Kirsi’s background either.

Otherwise, Lorelai would not have treated Kirsi with that attitude.

Originally, this kind of social occasion was to build relationships in order to land the next resource.

However, with the Makinen family’s power, it would be easy for Kirsi to get some resources.

This was why Nicole admired Kirsi a little. Yvette asked at the side. ‘Your family agreed?”

Kirsi shrugged her shoulders. “What can they do if they disagree? Will they ask me to inherit the family business? There’s no way they’ll give me the company.”

Of course, Kirsi was not interested either.

Chapter 1848

Yvette frowned. She was puzzled. “Why not?”

Even if Kirsi was Lumi’s sister, it should not affect Kirsi’s right to join her family’s business.

Kirsi’s face darkened slightly, and her smile was not as bright as before.

Julie nudged Yvette’s arm and frowned slightly. Yvette still did not understand.

Kirsi smiled. “It’s okay. People only ask because they don’t know. It’s not a secret anyway.”

Julie felt a little heartbroken. Kirsi’s tone was calm.

“My mother now isn’t my biological mother. She’s Lumi’s biological mother. I’m an illegitimate child and only joined the Makinen family later in life.”

The noise in the hall also seemed to quiet down for a moment.

Kirsi so calmly spoke about her personal life as if she did not care at all.

But if she really did not care, how could no one have known about it?

Nicole and Yvette looked at each other. Yvette somewhat regretted blurting out the question.

“I’m sorry, Kirsi. I really didn’t know about this and didn’t mean to hurt you.”

Kirsi smiled and looked at Yvette. “I know.”

Julie coughed.

“Well, it doesn’t matter. Everyone has their own path and their own strengths. Let the past be in the past.”

Nicole nodded. ‘Yeah. I see that Lumi isn’t so keen on the company either. It’s a good thing that you don’t need to bear this kind of pressure.”

It would be torture to watch one’s family business go bankrupt in their own hands.

Kirsi’s path was much simpler and brighter than Lumi’s. Yvette thought about it.

“Do you get along with Lumi? We didn’t get to go to her wedding before, but she still asked us to pay up anyway.”

Kirsi laughed. “I have a good relationship with my sister. She’s an innocent girl. If not for her, I wouldn’t have had it easy with the Makinen family. She just wanted the money for her startup. She lost too much money before she got married, so the family limited her spending.”

It was quite rare for half-sisters to get along peacefully in a family like this.

Yvette laughed. “She failed in everything she did. We’d have to avoid her in future investments.”

“The good thing is that Samuel Lindstrom is looking after her now, so she dialed it back a little.” Kirsi could not help but laugh.

Nicole also smiled. The atmosphere was just right. When Nicole looked up, she saw a woman pulling Ian to pester him.

She froze slightly.

“That woman looks so familiar!”

Nicole was referring to the woman next to Ian.

Yvette took a look and laughed. “Isn’t she Ian’s friend? I heard that it didn’t work before anything even happened. This woman is simply a drama queen.”

Julie narrowed her eyes. “I think I’ve seen her on the set.”

Kirsi nodded. “Yeah, she’s playing a servant girl with only two lines. I don’t know who shoved her in this film.”

Yvette and Nicole glanced at each other.

Ian was very annoyed as he loosened his collar and walked over with a glum face, looking very upset.

The people passing by also watched from afar and did not dare to intervene.

The delicate girl followed Ian as she stared at his back fondly. Those who did not know what happened would think that she was deeply in love with Ian.

Ian took a glance and walked toward Nicole and the ladies.

Nicole suddenly looked at the delicate girl and recalled who she was.

She thought, ‘Isn’t she Riley’s girlfriend? The woman who came over earlier to warn her not to tell anyone about their relationship... Tsk tsk...’

“Carter, pretty girls follow you everywhere you go, but I remember that she’s not your previous girlfriend...”

Yvette was deliberately teasing Ian from the side.

Chapter 1849

Ian expressionlessly sat down, picked up a glass of wine, and took a large sip, completely ignoring Yvette’s words.

The delicate girl who arrived after Ian froze when she heard those words. She looked dejected.

“You have other girlfriends? Didn’t you say that you’d only be devoted to one person?”

Yvette and Nicole were slightly dumbfounded and could not help but look at Ian.

Ian looked listless and speechless.

The delicate girl was just about to open her mouth to question Ian again when she suddenly saw Nicole’s playful gaze staring at her.

The girl turned slightly pale, and her body swayed. She inexplicably felt a little guilty as she averted her gaze.

At that moment, the girl did not know what to say.

Ian sat there and felt a little annoyed. He turned his head slightly to the side and said in an aggressive tone, “Can you stop pestering me? Haven’t I made it clear enough? I don’t like you at all, and I didn’t do anything to you, so stop hanging around in front of me!”

The delicate girl regained some sense and looked at Ian aggrievedly.

“But you didn’t say that in the beginning. You said that I was different from other girls!”

Ian laughed. “You are different. Other girls aren’t as thick-skinned as you! You’re like a piece of gum stuck to my shoe that I can’t even shake off!”

The girl seemed offended. For a moment, her face turned hideously pale.

However, she still did not leave.

At that moment, Nicole admired that girl’s determination.

If it were someone else, they would have left before they got slapped, but this girl was still standing firmly here.

A lot of people around them started to look over. Nicole finally understood this girl’s purpose.

This girl was not even a D-lister, so the best way for her to become famous was to hitch a ride on a famous person. Her motive would have been achieved if she rode on their wave.

Julie coughed.

“Carter, why don’t you step out to take care of your private affairs? There are so many people watching, so they‘ll definitely start to gossip!”

Ian looked away in frustration. “I don’t want to be alone with her!”

Lest he gets accused of something that he did not do. Ian had never met such a difficult woman.

He really regretted having met her in the first place.

The delicate girl stood there stubbornly. “I’m not leaving. I want an explanation! How can you say that about me? I thought that you were different from the others, but you’re so disrespectful to women!”

Ian helplessly scratched his hair.

His mood was completely ruined at his own birthday party.

Yvette, who was on the side, could not help but snort lightly.

“Don’t even. He just doesn’t like you, so don’t rope in other women. You don’t represent the majority of women, so don’t even try to talk about women’s rights!”

The girl did not have that attitude toward others.

“What’s it got to do with you? This is between me and Ian!”

The corner of Yvette’s mouth twitched as she rolled her eyes.

“Who cares to listen to your crap?”

Ian could not stand it any longer. “Shut up! Who are you to yell at my friend?”

The delicate girl looked at Ian aggrievedly. “I can’t even say anything now?”

Nicole was watching the show unfold on the side, but she later felt bored.

This girl was obviously clingy. If she did not get what she wanted, she would not let go.

Nicole thought about it. After all, she was friends with Ian for so many years, so she could not just stand by and watch, especially since it was Ian’s birthday.

After a pause, Nicole took out her phone and sent out a text message.

No one noticed Nicole.

Kirsi could not stand watching this and felt annoyed.

“You guys can talk. My friends are here, so I’ll go and say hello.”

After that, she stood up and left.

Julie looked at Nicole and Yvette, and the three of them got up and left as well.

Ian looked like he wanted to stop them, but he could not say anything. He was quite pitiful.

Chapter 1850

Yvette laughed lightly and took a sip of fruit wine.

“Carter is really unlucky. He can’t even get rid of a woman?”

“This woman seems easy to deal with, but she’s actually very clingy. She’s so shameless that she can do anything!”

Julie spoke.

Nicole paused. Her phone vibrated a little as someone replied to her message.

She hooked the corners of her lips and calmly withdrew her gaze.

About twenty minutes passed.

No one noticed that another person came into the banquet hall. No one made a point to ask about a well- dressed gentry that did not stand out.

In less than two minutes, there was a sudden commotion in the banquet hall.

It seemed like someone smashed something.

Yvette also heard it. She immediately put down the glass she was holding and pulled Nicole’s arm.

“Let’s go and watch the show!”

Nicole was dragged forward. She could already guess what happened.

Many people gathered around to watch. This time, they were all watching openly.

Ian stood there like it had nothing to do with him. He looked at the man and woman in the center with cold eyes. Although Ian’s shirt was a bit messy, it did not affect his elegant and noble look.

Over on the sofa, a man with red eyes fiercely slapped a woman.

The woman wailed and shouted for help at first. She then looked at the crowd from time to time.

However, Ian, who could help her the most, did not even want to look at her. Even if he did, it was just to see her make a fool of herself.

Riley, who hit her, slapped her a little harder and angrily questioned her.

“Tell me! Didn’t you say that you’re having dinner with your girlfriends tonight? Did you come here to fish for a sugar daddy?!”

“Damn it! When I wanted to dump you, you cried so reluctantly. Turns out, you just treat me as a backup?!”

“B*tch! Ian is my cousin! Do you take us as fools? Do you really think that you’re a princess? I’ve never met someone so unethical until you showed up!”

The people around originally pitied that girl, but after hearing him say so, everyone lost that bit of sympathy for her.

The people who took out their phones to take pictures did not dare to expose this matter after they heard Ian’s name. Thus, they put away their phones.

It turned out that this woman was caught two-timing these cousins.

After a while, the director came over and nudged Ian. He spoke in a low voice.

“Mr. Carter, I think it’s about time that you speak up to resolve this situation. After all, there are so many people here, and they’re all in the entertainment industry, so it won’t be good if this spreads.”

Ian did not touch that girl, but when he saw Riley hitting her, he did not stop him.

For the first time, Ian felt that Riley had done something good.

Ian snorted lightly, put down his glass, and walked over. ‘that’s enough.”

Riley paused. His eyes were red with anger.

“Ian, we’ve been fooled by her! Are you willing to just let this slide?”

He had plenty of ways to deal with this kind of woman.

Ian gave him a look. “I wasn’t fooled. She kept pestering me, but I didn’t fall for it. Take your woman away and deal with her yourself. Don’t embarrass me here.”

Riley paused and felt even angrier.

It would be fine if Ian was also fooled, but if Riley was the only one who was fooled, he would have been the only disgrace.

Riley glared at the delicate girl fiercely and kicked her leg.

“Get up!”

The girl whimpered and cried as she covered her head.

“I really didn’t two-time you! I just came over to attend the banquet. I’m not familiar with Mr. Carter!”

The girl weakly explained with a pale face. Otherwise, it would be even worse later.

She knew Riley. He did not have Ian’s poise.