Chapter 616

Chapter 616

lan had figured out that simply trying to please a woman like Maja wouldn’t cut it. He needed to switch up his game.

He told her straight up, “No sex, just kisses”

He made a concession, and she agreed in a heartbeat.

She’d been married for three years, but she had no idea that sometimes, getting hot and heavy could be more

torturous than anything else.

As lan was leaving. Maja walked him to the door.

Just as he was about to enter the elevator, he glanced back at her.

“Report to my office this afternoon,” he instructed.

Maja nodded.

As the elevator doors closed, his lengthy hand reached out and stopped them, “Did you throw away your wedding

ring?” She once got mad at him over that ring. Now that she was divorced, she must have tossed it, right?

Maja had never had a wedding ring, so she nodded without hesitation, “I threw it away.”

A smile flickered in lan’s eyes. “See you this afternoon then.”

He pressed the elevator button.

Maja watched the elevator doors close before she headed back to her room.

lan immediately informed the Shepard family that he’d found a better business partner.

The Shepard family was thrown into chaos. Carlene even made several calls to him.

lan answered one of them. On the other end, he could hear her sobbing.

“lan, how could you do this? Do you know how important this investment is to the Shepard family? You’d never treat

me like this before…”

lan’s hand gripped the steering wheel, his eyes cold and indifferent.

“The moment you tried to deceive me using my brother, that was the end of us.”

Carlene shuddered, her face paling. He knew everything.

lan had figured it out the night his notebook was burned. He wouldn’t let anyone use Eric to deceive him for their

own gain.

Carlene continued to cry on the phone, eventually blaming Maja.

“You used to forgive me no matter what I did. If Eric were here, he wouldn’t let the Shepard family go bankrupt. You

stopped caring about me because you fell for Penny. Are you treating Eric right? He was very kind to me, and I was

his favourite…”

lan was annoyed. His voice was cold.

“Haven’t the Shepard family benefited enough over the years?”

Carlene was speechless. His words were colder.

“If you continue like this, the Shepard family will go bankrupt even faster.”

Carlene felt a gaping hole in her heart as if she could hear her blood draining out.

How could she forget? The Shepard family always said lan was cold–blooded.

She hung up the phone in tears, then sent Maja a string of angry messages.

Maja saw them and just laughed.

She replied with one text.

“So, in the end, you’re making a fool of yourself, Ms. Shepard.”

Carlene was so angry she almost fainted. But now the Shepard family needed investors, or they would be finished.

However, the news of lan refusing to invest in the Shepard family was well–known. If he didn’t want to, who would?

In this circle, people are likelier to kick you when you’re down than extend a helping hand.

As a result, the stock of the Shepard family continued to plummet, almost reaching the limit.

Carlene was extremely anxious, and the other members of the Shepard family began to blame and ridicule her.

She locked herself in her room, incessantly having people send messages to Maja from different numbers,

mentioning Laura repeatedly, trying to pressure Maja with Neil’s death.

But Maja simply put her phone on silent. She ignored it all. After all, Carlene was just struggling in desperation.

Seeing that this method was ineffective, Carlene could only vent her frustration at home.

But soon, she heard a commotion downstairs.

She rushed downstairs and saw Dalia slamming a document in Tess’s face.

Tess was the mistress, and it was common knowledge.

But over the years, Carlene had climbed up to lan, bringing many benefits to the Shepard family, so everyone

turned a blind eye.

But since Carlene let Dalia’s son take the blame, Dalia detested this woman. She secretly ordered a paternity test

for Carlene.

The result? Carlene wasn’t a Shepard at all!

Now, the results were right in front of everyone, even Tess, who had been living the good life, was scared enough to

kneel.

Carlene quickly went to her side, “Mom, what is this…”

Dalia couldn’t hold back any longer and slapped Carlene across the face.

“You’re not a Shepard. What right do you have to dictate the affairs of the Shepard family? You and your disgusting

mother need to leave the Shepard family now. Who knows where Tess picked you up from? Humm, a bastard!”

The last bit of colour drained from Carlene’s face. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

She had been planning to seek investments from others, but now she’s not a Shepard’s daughter.

She looked at her father. The man’s face was equally ugly. He had made Tess his wife because she had a child, but

he never imagined the child wasn’t his.

Dalia was overjoyed.

This was the seed of hatred Maja had spoken about.

At this crucial moment, the seed sprouted.

Dalia stepped forward, grabbed Tess by the hair, and slapped her hard twice.

And finally, at this point, Carlene’s phone buzzed with a call from Maja.

“Looks like some interesting stuff is gonna go down at the Shepard’s today. Wonder if Ms. Shepard can handle it.”

Reading this message, Carlene realized this was the “interesting stuff” Maja was talking about.