CEO Ex-Husband, Don't Bother Me

Chapter 186 - 154: True Love Conquers All (Part 2)

The next day, when Julian Donovan returned from his morning run, Naomi Shaw had already prepared breakfast for four. After showering, he changed his clothes and sat down at the dining table, feeling refreshed. Just as he was about to eat, Dylan Donovan, who was sitting across from him, glanced at him and calmly said, "Whose idea was the concert thing? So tacky!"

’It really was tacky,’ Dylan thought. ’Not a shred of creativity. I was watching TV with Grandma at her house, and even she was moved to tears, but I just thought it was childish and tasteless. The most frustrating part is that Mom actually forgave him just like that.’

Naomi Shaw couldn’t help but let out a snort of laughter. She then watched Julian Donovan shoot Dylan a harsh glare and snort coldly. "Dylan Donovan, you mind your own business. I haven’t even settled the score with you for the trouble you caused!"

’They say a daughter is a father’s lover from a past life,’ Julian mused. ’I guess that makes a son his father’s rival from a past life, destined to oppose me like this in this one.’

At his father’s words, Dylan stuck out his tongue and quickly focused on his breakfast. Julian was referring to the situation with Cheryl Nash.

After learning from Dylan Donovan that her father’s name was Ronan Joyce, Cheryl Nash had been acting up nonstop. When Lara Nash refused to cancel her wedding, Cheryl threatened to run away from home. On top of that, she was dead set on coming to Syan to find Naomi. Lara had no choice but to call Julian Donovan and ask him to make the arrangements. In Lara’s view, getting Cheryl out of Thailos quickly was for the best, as it would stop her from raising hell every single day.

To Julian Donovan, however, this was incredibly frustrating. He already had precious little alone time with Naomi Shaw because of their two children. ’And now another wild girl is showing up? I’m going to lose my mind.’ But it was a mess his son had made, and he couldn’t very well refuse to clean it up. He reluctantly made arrangements, planning to bring Cheryl Nash over when the time was right.

Naomi Shaw knew what Julian was referring to. He had given her the gist of it last night before they went to sleep. Naturally, she didn’t object. She doted on Lara’s daughter as if she were her own, and she thought it might be good for Cheryl to get away from all of Lara’s wedding preparations for a while.

She glanced from Dylan, who was eating with his head down, to Julian Donovan, whose expression was still sour. She gave a resigned sigh and issued a decree, "Alright, hurry up and eat. From now on, no more talk about this nonsense at the table. We eat, we don’t talk. Got it?"

After they finished breakfast and dropped the two kids off at school, the couple went their separate ways to work. Julian drove her to the entrance of Donovan Hospital but kept her in the car, refusing to let her out until she gave him a goodbye kiss. Resigned, Naomi unbuckled her seatbelt and leaned over to kiss his cheek, but he grabbed the back of her head and pulled her into a passionate kiss that went on and on. He didn’t let her go until her lips were tingling and sore from his fervor, only then releasing her, satisfied.

The moment she was out of the car, the warmth in Julian Donovan’s eyes turned to ice. Through the tinted window, his gaze fixed on Sean Donovan, who stood not far away. ’Sean Donovan lost her because he schemed too much,’ he thought. ’In love, being overly cautious and strategic only makes you lose. It’s better to just love honestly and openly.’

She stood there, a blissful, sweet smile on her face as she watched his car drive away. She didn’t turn to walk into the hospital until it had completely vanished from sight. But when she did, she saw Sean Donovan standing a short distance behind her, watching her with a cold expression. She gave him a slightly awkward smile. "President Donovan, good morning!"

’I always thought Sean Donovan and I could be friends. But as I’ve come to see things more clearly, he’s become a stranger—not at all the gentle man I thought I knew. His heart isn’t as simple or warm as his appearance suggests. He hides far too many schemes, and their weight is starting to frighten me.’

Sean Donovan merely stared at her, his expression grim, and said nothing. His gaze then shifted, lingering for a moment in the direction Julian Donovan’s car had disappeared. Then he turned coldly and walked toward the hospital, his tall driver by his side. Naomi Shaw stood frozen in place, watching his bleak figure grow smaller in the distance, an indescribable unease settling in her heart.

She had no idea that her lips, still swollen and tender from Julian’s affections, the sheer bliss dancing in her eyes, and the soft, feminine allure radiating from her—the kind only a woman immersed in love could possess—were all like daggers to Sean Donovan’s eyes.

Of course, he hadn’t missed what Julian Donovan had done at the concert. He never expected their feelings for each other to reignite so quickly, especially not after all the misunderstandings and pain they had endured.

He didn’t understand that true love conquers all. He didn’t realize that not everything, least of all love, is obtained through meticulous planning. In matters of the heart, the more you hesitate and overthink, the more opportunities you’re bound to miss.

When Naomi Shaw got to her department, she first answered all her colleagues’ concerned questions about Joy’s recovery. Then, she dove headfirst into her work. She’d been out for a week, and her colleagues had covered for her, so she felt indebted and tried to take on as much as she could to make up for it.

Meanwhile, the takeover battle between Mercy and the Donovan Group had officially begun. Just as the Donovan Group was deploying its own assets to fend off Mercy’s hostile bid, an even more powerful company named SEVEN suddenly entered the fray. They announced their own offer to acquire the Donovan Group at a much higher price. SEVEN moved with incredible speed. Within a few hours of the announcement, they had already snapped up all the shares held by the Donovan Group’s other stockholders, executing the move cleanly and decisively.

The minority shareholders of the Donovan Group collectively held fifty percent of the company’s stock. Of the other fifty percent, Charles Donovan held ten percent and Sean Donovan held twenty. The remaining twenty percent was supposed to belong to Julian Donovan, but after he signed away his inheritance, it all went to Charles Donovan. This meant that SEVEN, by acquiring that initial fifty percent stake, was now in a power stalemate against the combined shares of Charles and Sean Donovan.

However, the public didn’t know that Julian had been forced to give up that twenty percent stake years ago. Charles Donovan had never announced it, largely because the methods he had used to obtain it were not exactly honorable. So, everyone assumed Julian controlled a seventy-percent stake in the Donovan Group and that his victory was assured. But that afternoon, to everyone’s shock, Charles Donovan’s camp smugly announced that Julian had relinquished his inheritance rights long ago. Therefore, SEVEN was now in a stalemate with the Donovan family’s faction, and Julian still did not have complete control of the Donovan Group.