After Divorce

Chapter 10 A gift for returning

Seeing Juliet’s delight, Sylvia stayed silent, driving while Juliet busied herself on her phone.

Juliet had long wanted to punish these people over the years, especially Caroline. If not for Sylvia, she would never have let Caroline retain her top status

Plus, they had gathered ample incriminating evidence about her while trying to discourage Sylvia. Authentic proof that would easily ruin Caroline.

Exposing everything at once would immediately crush Caroline. But Juliet preferred a gradual approach, intending to show Caroline the illusion of hope before utterly devastating

her.

Sylvia made no attempts to stop Juliet’s scheming, curious what they had uncovered.

After a while on her phone, Juliet finally grinned in satisfaction. “Done! I’ve prepared some interesting things for her. She’ll be so thankful after reading them.”

Hearing that, Sylvia figured Juliet must have dropped another bombshell. Caroline would likely be weeping in her hospital room after getting terrified by whatever Juliet unleashed.

Just as Sylvia expected, Cyril had barely smoothed things over when several more scandalous news bits about Caroline surfaced, portraying her mistreating assistants, leading one into a depressive state that resulted in a car accident. Yet Caroline did nothing to help as the assistant lay dying.

The public had never been too fond of Caroline, doubtful of her worthiness for the accolades she kept amassing. Many suspected she was propped up. The scandal had been hushed but this new callous behavior further angered netizens.

If she was truly innocent, why the urgent cover–up? Voices that had just quieted down started boiling over, the intensity multiplying rapidly. Caroline’s studio was soon besieged by the incensed crowd, some even showing up in person to confront her.

Oblivious to all this, Caroline had her phone confiscated by Cyril who was trying to shield her from emotional hurt. But seeing the unfolding chaos online left Cyril utterly dismayed. He had barely contained the last issue before this new storm. What else had Caroline been up to abroad to cause such turbulence?

Annoyed but left with no choice, Cyril busied himself trying to handle the spiraling situation. If left unchecked, things would only escalate rapidly.

While Cyril ran around dousing fires, Sylvia’s family was celebrating her return joyously, planning a grand homecoming banquet to welcome her back and show she was the family’s

Chapter 10 A gift for returning

precious daughter. An enormous homecoming gift package was also prepared for her.

But since her true identity couldn’t be exposed yet for business reasons, the banquet was turned into a masquerade ball instead, allowing Sylvia to mingle anonymously until she stabilized her footing at the company. Only then would her identity be revealed.

Juliet’s suggestion was met with unanimous approval. Sylvia didn’t mind either way but complied happily with her family’s wishes.

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When the day arrived, many elites showed up, eager to see who the Ivanov heiress was. But the masquerade theme made it impossible to discern and they realized the Ivanovs wanted their heiress to retain anonymity for now.

Among the attendees was Cyril, mingling aimlessly to relieve his immense stress recently. As conversations flowed around him, Cyril gradually eased into the mood, curious about the Ivanov heiress‘ identity.

He had heard long ago that the Ivanov heir was the family’s daughter which had caused quite a shock initially since everyone expected their vast empire to be handed to a son. But the unanimous family support was clear despite their unorthodox decision.

Yet over the years, their daughter remained absent from the public eye with the family. business handled by her elder brother, Bruce.

“There she is!” someone suddenly exclaimed, “That must be the daughter who just returned! Quite the mystery what she’s been up to all these years to warrant hiding her face now. What’s the purpose of this homecoming banquet then?”

“You’re clueless,” another commented, “I heard she’ll be starting from a basic position in he company instead of taking over directly. Hiding her identity prevents undermining her efforts to rise from the bottom. No one would take her seriously if they knew the truth.”

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Murmurs of agreement followed as anticipation mounted in the hall.

From the top of the stairs, Sylvia immediately spotted Cyril among the crowd. Something about seeing him made her want to smile in amusement. Despite their estrangement, she could still pick him out instantly. Clearly letting go completely would take more time.

Beside her, Bruce offered his arm which Sylvia gently clasped as they descended together. Noticing Cyril as well, Bruce couldn’t help a slight smile beneath his mask.