CHAPTER 50: CHAPTER 50: BANNING HER

"President Kane, I’ve never seen an employee as arrogant as Ivana Monroe in my life. It’s as if Kane Group was her own company."

Kritine Kendall was skilled at stirring trouble. She knew very well that any boss despises employees overstepping their boundaries, especially low-level ones like Ivana. Treating Kane Group as her own company, where does Leon Keane fit into this?

To Leon Keane, this was nothing short of a joke.

Kritine Kendall felt secretly pleased, thinking herself to be quite clever. How dare Ivana challenge her? It’s no wonder if she didn’t crush Ivana.

Was she talking about Ivana?

Leon Keane’s dark eyes flashed with surprise, his handsome face as cold as ice.

He suddenly turned around and walked away.

Kritine Kendall was taken aback, unable to fathom Leon Keane’s thoughts. After hesitating for a moment, she followed him and watched as he entered an office, trailing behind him.

It wasn’t until she entered that she realized it was a surveillance room.

Kritine suddenly had a bad feeling, her legs weak with anxiety.

"President Kane." The staff in the surveillance room stood up in shock upon seeing Leon Keane.

"Pull up all the surveillance from ten minutes ago in the elevator."

"Okay, I’ll get it right away."

With a direct order from the President, the surveillance room staff worked quickly. Within a minute, the footage of Ivana descending in the elevator was retrieved.

"Stop." Leon Keane’s dark eyes narrowed sharply, focusing on the screen showing Ivana in the elevator, head down, seemingly preoccupied.

"Start from here, no fast forward, normal playback."

"President Kane, just fire Ivana. No need to watch the footage. It’s not worth letting someone so uncultured ruin your mood."

Kritine was terrified that the footage of her colliding with Ivana would be seen by Leon Keane. She tried to maintain her composure, attempting to dissuade him.

The surveillance staff recognized Kritine immediately as the current model champion, yet their expressions revealed no surprise or admiration.

Having worked in this surveillance room for several years, he’d seen every kind of celebrity, and many beautiful models seeking out President Kane. The lovely, kind, and elegant faces seen on TV all changed in front of the surveillance cameras. Each one revealed a vain, ugly side, some even resorting to cursing and fighting in the lobby and at the front desk just to meet the President.

Seeing Kritine winking at him, attempting to signal him to pause the footage, he acted as though he hadn’t noticed, continuing to press play, and the images in the elevator came to life again.

Kritine was furious with the staff’s lack of tact.

The more Kritine feared something, the more it seemed to happen.

The surveillance soon played the scene where she rushed over and bumped into Ivana. Kritine’s complexion turned pale, feeling as if she’d been slapped in the face. She bit her red lip, unwilling and unable to continue watching the rest of the footage.

She wished she could shatter the screen, so Leon Keane wouldn’t see what followed.

"Can’t you watch where you’re going?"

On the surveillance, Kritine, the one who did the bumping, was the first to get angry.

Leon Keane frowned, seeing Ivana, who had been hit, with her delicate brow furrowed in apparent pain. Anger flashed in his dark eyes.

Kritine was feeling extremely guilty, and while Leon Keane was engrossed in the footage, she quietly slipped away.

She quickly ran to the elevator, pressing the down button.

The entire building of the Kanes was equipped with surveillance in the hallways and elevators. How could her every move escape the staff’s watchful eyes?

"President Kane, Kritine Kendall has fled."

The surveillance staff kept their eyes on Kritine, who, after entering the elevator, seemed to take a breath of relief, only to open her mouth and curse.

"What bad luck, first bumping into that bitch Ivana and then dealing with a brainless lackey in the surveillance room..."

Kritine abruptly covered her mouth, looking around frantically, and found the surveillance camera in the top right corner of the elevator. She felt like dying at that moment.

"It wasn’t me, I didn’t say anything," Kritine, shocked and pale, almost crying, gestured for mercy towards the camera.

The surveillance staff smirked slightly, having heard her derogatory remarks clearly. Rats like Kritine, who put on one face for President Kane and another behind his back, were unworthy of sympathy.

"Let her be." Leon Keane’s eyes never left Ivana.

A few minutes of footage soon ended, and Leon Keane pulled the phone from his trouser pocket, dialing a number.

"Howard Yeats, is Kritine Kendall one of your models?"

The person on the other end hesitated, pondering the name Leon mentioned. It seemed they had such a person under them.

"President Kane, have you taken a fancy to the little lady?" Howard teased on the phone.

"No, I need you to do something for me. Blacklist her."

"Blacklist?..."

Lying on a crystal-studded sofa, Howard Yeats bolted upright. Did he hear right? Leon Keane wanted to blacklist Kritine Kendall?

Howard couldn’t resist asking, "Leon, can you tell me why you want to blacklist her?"

Leon responded coldly, "She offended someone she shouldn’t have."

Howard rolled his eyes on the other end of the line. For Leon Keane to call personally to blacklist someone, it must be someone she shouldn’t have crossed.

What he wanted to know was who exactly Kritine offended.

"Get it done, and consider it a favor from me." Leon gave Howard no chance to inquire further, hanging up the call.

Leon didn’t want Ivana to be revealed to Howard Yeats just yet.

Howard was the most gossip-loving among his brothers. If he found out Leon blacklisted Kritine for Ivana, that gossipmonger would surely investigate Ivana.

Howard loved beautiful women, changing girlfriends as often as clothes. Leon was averse to the idea of Howard meeting Ivana.

Looking at his phone after the call was cut off, Howard chuckled, raising his long, narrow, fox-like eyes with a mischievous smile: "There’s a story here."

Ivana returned to the apartment, and an hour later, Stacy Floyd brought back Timmy Monroe from a sumptuous meal.

On Timmy’s back was a new backpack with a cartoon Minion design.

"Mommy, look, Auntie got Timmy a new backpack. Isn’t it nice?"

"It’s lovely."

Ivana looked tenderly at Timmy, and seeing the little boy’s vibrant smile, she felt uplifted, her fatigue swept away.

"Auntie also bought Timmy several sets of new clothes!"

The little boy’s words were as sweet as honey, and hearing that endearing "Auntie," Stacy’s heart soared with joy. She wished she could buy out the children’s store for her handsome little lad, Timmy.

"You made your aunt spend too much again," Ivana laughed, her heart a little pained, feeling how unqualified of a mommy she was.