Chapter 1018

For ten years, she had constantly strived to prove she was no worse than Eleanor, to prove that lan’s choice had been a mistake.

And now, she had succeeded. She had successfully made Eleanor and lan divorce, and turned lan into the person Eleanor hated most. Even though she herself hadn’t secured the position of Mrs. Goodwin, seeing Eleanor in pain and lan’s family fall apart filled her with a sense of grim satisfaction.

She had used everything she could to make lan personally destroy Eleanor’s trust and love for him.

“Eleanor, have you tasted pain?” Vanessa murmured with a cold smile. “The day you stole him from me, I swore I would make you two see this day p>

Of course, she hadn’t truly won yet. Eleanor still had her daughter and her career. But at least lan had lost Eleanor for good. They would never love each other again, never be a family. In a way, wasn’t that a victory?

Now, Eleanor was shining in her field, soaring to new heights. Her future choices would no longer include lan. Perhaps she would choose that military officer, leave Ashford City, and spend her golden years doing research at his base.

Now, she actually hoped that lan loved Eleanor, loved her madly.

Only then could he be punished by loving someone he could never have, living the rest of his life in regret.

As for her, she now had fame, status, and family background. Unattached, her choices now included all the wealthy men in the world.

So what if lan and Henry had given up on her? At this point, they were merely stepping stones in her successful life.

Suddenly, Vanessa felt dizzy and swayed. The intense emotions left her feeling lightheaded. This dizziness had been happening since she started the blood donations, but it had become more frequent recently.

She had to get her health back. She was only twenty-eight, still young, with her whole life ahead of her.

Vanessa bit her lip, a hateful glint in her eyes. If she had one regret in life, it was that she had never truly had lan.

Not the title of Mrs. Goodwin, not a hollow, transactional relationship, but to secretly have that aloof, ascetic man lose his composure for her, to submit to her charms.

Vanessa turned to the full-length

mirror in her walk-in closet, studying

her reflection. An exquisite figure, captivating aura, and a face of. sophisticated beauty she believed that, given the chance, no man could truly resist her charms.

But lan was the exception.

For ten years she had used every excuse to get close to him, creating

an ambiguous atmosphere, even throwing herself at him on various occasions. But all she ever got¶n return was his cold rejection and warnings.

Only in her dreams could she touch him, fantasize about him satisfying her twisted desires. Once, she had thought of letting Henry be his substitute, but he was not him.

Over the years, to ensure her willing cooperation as a donor, lan had not treated her poorly. He would show her consideration on specific

occasions. When shed

birthday gifts, he would grantthem. When she was weak after a

donation, he would personally care for her. And whenever she fainted, he would carry her himself.

It wasn’t that he didn’t trust others to carry her; it was because Vanessa had insisted it must be him, or she would refuse to cooperate. To save his mother, lan had to compromise time and again.

Those moments in his arms, pressed against his firm chest, breathing in his fresh, pleasant scent, had once deluded her into thinking lan wasn’t entirely heartless.

She had deceived herself and everyone else, playing the part of his girlfriend in a self-directed drama. She had relished it, but all that warmth was ultimately fake.

She knew that the day lan no longer needed her blood, he would ruthlessly take it all away.