lan was incredibly gentle. Evelyn looked up at her father, tugging at his lapel as she asked in a loud, clear voice, "Daddy, do you love Mommy?"

Vanessa had just claimed that her daddy didn't love her mommy, so she felt compelled to ask him herself.

lan paused for a moment. Then, he looked earnestly into his daughter's eyes, stroked her hair, and answered in a low voice, "I do. I love her."

"Have you ever liked anyone else besides Mommy?" Evelyn asked, her voice still loud.

lan kissed her forehead and replied just as seriously, "No."

A flash of pain crossed Vanessa's face. Was she really being forced to stand here and listen to lan's confession of love for Eleanor Sutton?

Evelyn's big eyes sparkled when she heard her father's answer. She wrapped her arms around his neck and said, "Okay, I get it now!"

lan pressed his daughter's little head against his chest. When he looked up again, the chill in his eyes could have frozen the air. "Vanessa, I'm giving you three days. Within three days, you will handle all your affairs here. After that, I want to see your flight confirmation. You will leave the country and not set foot back here for five years."

Vanessa trembled, her eyes wide with disbelief. "You-you're kicking me out of the country? lan, you don't have the right—"

"I don't have the right?" lan scoffed. "You're welcome to see if I do or not."

Just then, Serena Goodwin walked over to him and said to her niece, "Evelyn, let's go play on the lawn."

Evelyn peeked out from her father's arms and then leaped into Serena's.

Serena carried Evelyn away, not wanting her to witness her older brother's stern warning to Vanessa. Personally, she hoped her brother would make Vanessa disappear from the Goodwins' lives for good.

"Ian, on what grounds—" Tears welled up in Vanessa's eyes, a mixture of humiliation, shame, and even resentment.

The man she had loved with all her might for ten years was now casting her out?

"You can choose not to listen, but I guarantee that every day you remain in this country will be a hundred timës morë painful than this, an's voice was frigid, laced with an

undeniable power. S

He would absolutely make good on his word.

Vanessa knew it, too. With lan's power and influence, making her disappear would be child's play.

"You-you can't do this to me," Vanessa's voice was laced with tears and despair.

"You brought this all on yourself." lan gave her one last cold glance before turning and walking toward his daughter.

Vanessa sank into a chair as if her knees had finally given out. She reached for a glass of water, only to find her hand shaking uncontrollably.

Just then, she saw Gael Brown a few steps away. He was watching her with a scrutinizing gaze before his eyes flickered toward lan Hë seemed to understand that Vanessa was now a hot potato.

"Mr. Brown!" Vanessa cried out, as if grabbing onto a final lifeline.

Gael scratched his head. "Ms. Shannon, it seems you and Mr. Goodwin have quite the history!"

"Mr. Brown, it's not like that, I—"

"He's already kicking you out of the country. I don't think this is going to work out between us. Excuse me." With that, Gael turned and walked away quickly.

As the current chairman of The Guild of Commerce, Jan was a powerful man and Gael's family still relied on his connections. It would be foolish to offend lan over a woman.