Ivy always felt like these past few days, there were insinuations in the air. But these are other people's affairs, unrelated to her. Moreover, soon enough, Ivy's attention was once again diverted by the clinic's matters. One afternoon, Jenny angrily burst into the room. "Dr. Jones, what do you mean?!" She threw a thick file in front of Ivy and continued, "Did you secretly manipulate something? As soon as Mr. Cato Alter's subordinates see Dr. Ticko, they humiliate him in every possible way and insist on you being the project leader?" Ivy was in the middle of a follow-up consultation with a patient when she was suddenly interrupted by Jenny. She frowned in displeasure, saying, "Dr. Jenny, didn't your mentor teach you that you should knock on someone's office door before entering?" She was usually quite cool and composed, but her sudden stern expression even drew the attention of the patients in the room, not to mention Jenny, who knew her well. Jenny fell silent for a moment and stubbornly responded, "You acted unethically first. If you have the ability, explain why both the Alter Group and DT Investments insisted on having you as the project leader?!" Ivy replied, "Until you learn some manners, I won't answer any of your questions." After saying this, she smiled and turned to the patient, gently advising, "Your bones have healed very well. Follow the post-surgery care instructions I just provided, and come back for a follow-up in two weeks. If there's any sign of infection at the wound site in the meantime, you can call my office anytime." "Ivy Rosalia Jones!" Ignored by Ivy again, Jenny stomped her foot in frustration." Frustrated, she clenched her fists and awkwardly turned to leave the office. Knock! Knock! Knock! Jenny knocked forcefully on the door, the sound echoing through the room. Ivy didn't hold back either and, with a gentle expression, said, "Please, come in." "Dr. Jones, we'll be going now," the patient quickly left, and Jenny walked in. Jenny crossed her arms and had an expression that said, "You'd better explain this." "I don't know Mr. Alter and DT Investment Group, and I had no knowledge of their decision.""But your husband works for him," Jenny taunted her, "There must be something you and your husband did behind the scenes to make him decide this!" Ivy coldly chuckled, "Do you think my husband is on the same level as the medical deity Cato Alter?" "But, but..." Jenny wanted to defend Dr. Ticko, but she suddenly realized she didn't even have a flimsy reason. As she stood there with a flushed face, ready to insult Ivy, Director Malcom entered. "What's all the commotion about?" Director Malcom looked at Jenny coldly, "Dr. Jenny, you've been following Dr. Ticko for so many years, but you haven't picked up on his stability." Seeing that it was Director Malcom, Jenny immediately pouted and looked aggrieved, "Director Malcom, I was just..." "Enough already," Director Malcom waved her off and didn't want to hear her excuses. He turned to Ivy and said, "Dr. Jones, I think you'll have to handle this cooperation." "But, Director Malcom..." "Don't waste words, just you." Director Malcom interrupted her, and when he saw Ivy hesitating, he resorted to an "enticement" approach, speaking directly, "You want to treat your husband's leg, don't you? You should know that with our clinic's current equipment, it's impossible to perform this surgery. If you can secure a collaboration with DT Investments, using their funds to improve the clinic's infrastructure and doctor training, I assure you, you can use the clinic's equipment for your husband's surgery free of charge." One couldn't deny that Director Malcom, who had hired her against popular opinion, truly understood her. This reason left Ivy without any counterarguments, so she could only nod and agree, "Alright, I will do my best to facilitate the collaboration with DT Investments." Ever since Shawn's diagnosis report came out, Ivy had carefully calculated that to perform the surgery on him with the clinic's existing equipment would be impossible. If DT Investments were to get involved, just procuring the necessary medical equipment would require an investment of ten million. Ten million. Their clinic's annual income couldn't cover that, and Shawn wasn't a pushover; he definitely wouldn't agree to it. She needed to prepare a perfect cooperation plan for DT Investments. Ivy was a science major with a one-track mind, and she had no experience in writing a cooperation plan. So, that evening, during dinner with the family of three, she absentmindedly played with her food while her mind raced on how to come up with an enticing proposal. Shawn noticed that she had finished her meal without touching the food and proactively placed a big bone in her plate. "What patient is troubling you so much?" Ivy shook her head. "If it were a patient, it would be fine, but this time, it's something unrelated to my profession that's bothering me." She explained the situation where DT Investments had designated her to lead two collaboration projects. After hearing it, Shawn fell silent for a moment and then said, "If you were an investor, what would you most want to hear from the object of your investment?" Without hesitation, Ivy replied, "Of course, I'd want to know how much money I can make in the future." Shawn's lips curved slightly. "Don't you know that?" "But the potential returns our clinic can generate for DT Investments would probably be just a drop in the bucket for them." "Even a drop in the bucket is meat," Shawn casually remarked, tapping her head. "If you don't paint a rosy picture for them, how can you coax money out of them?" Ivy's lips twitched. "Are you openly teaching me how to swindle your boss's money?" Shawn replied, "His money is easy to swindle." "All right! Stop talking about this!" Emma timely interrupted their conversation. "Have you been busy lately?" Emma had been spending more time at home recently and had finally realized that her daughter and son-in-law had been sleeping in separate rooms for a long time. Seeing both of them shake their heads, Emma asked again, "Then when can you two sleep in the same room?" Whether Ivy slept in the living room today or Shawn slept in the living room tomorrow, this arrangement wouldn't help them conceive a child. Ivy was taken aback. "Mom, didn't we agree to consider having a child after Shawn's leg has healed?" "I promised that, but it doesn't prevent you from sharing a room," Emma said impatiently. "Now there are many contraceptive methods, and you don't necessarily have to sleep in separate rooms. Ivy, Shawn, you didn't have an arranged marriage, did you?" Emma suspiciously sized up the two of them. "In novels, the male and female leads pretend to be a couple to appease their parents and grab a random man from the street." Ivy, upon hearing Emma's words, instantly sprayed the soup she had just sipped all over the place. "Mom!" She wiped her mouth in embarrassment and glanced at Shawn beside her. "How could you say that Shawn is just a random guy!" Huh? Shawn raised his head with a deadpan expression. "Mom, Ivy and I will share a room tonight," he calmly continued, taking over the conversation. He didn't know if he was getting back at her for that comment, but he reached out and pulled Ivy into his arms. "It's my fault; if I didn't like to toss and turn at night, Ivy wouldn't have slept in a separate room because she was worried about accidentally hurting me." "In that case, let's get a bigger bed," Emma, satisfied with the response she wanted, began to take action with enthusiasm. Late in the evening, Ivy emerged from the bathroom, and Shawn was leisurely undressing. He moved slowly, with great tension, and his well-defined muscles, always ready, flickered in the dim light. In Ivy's mind, the image of a sculpture flashed. Venus. There was a pathological undercurrent of extreme sexual tension and allure in the air. He was seducing herself! "Have you seen enough?" His husky voice brought her back to her senses. She froze and immediately felt her throat tighten. So she turned around, covering her eyes, and said, "Hurry up and put your clothes on." Shawn chuckled softly, "You've turned around, why are you still covering your eyes?" He moved to the edge of the bed and put on a robe. Ivy let out a sigh of relief and turned back to see that Shawn was already dressed, so she climbed into bed with a sense of security. Wait! No, something wasn't right.As she slipped under the covers, Ivy instantly regretted it. How did they transition to sharing a bed so naturally? Ivy cursed herself silently but, seeing that the man was already lying down, she found it difficult to back out and ended up lying at the edge of the bed, not daring to get too close. Shawn's body heat was burning her, and she was losing her sanity. She could only keep pushing herself away to preserve what little rationality she had left. "If you go any further, you'll fall off." A seductive and hoarse voice sounded, and the next moment, her waist was seized by a burning hand, and with a slight lift, Ivy was pulled into his arms. "Sh—Sh—Shawn...." "Call me ‘Babe.'" Shawn's voice, just like his eyes, seemed to have a deadly charm, and every word had the power to enchant her. "Ba—Babe?" She stuttered, using both her small hands to prop herself up in front of him, but she was trembling uncontrollably. Her face was so red it seemed like it might bleed, and she desperately kept her head down to avoid the man's gaze. After what seemed like an eternity, a soft chuckle came from above her head. "Don't worry, I won't force you to do anything you don't like until you agree." Shawn said as he ruffled Ivy's hair, "It's very late; go to sleep." Ivy nodded and snuggled up to Shawn, feeling his warm breath, and soon fell into a deep slumber. ***