The nurse deftly administered the shot and comforted Leia. "It'll hurt a little later on. You should close your eyes and rest for five minutes." Leia slowly closed her eyes. The nurse turned around and spoke to Jack, "Let me dress your wound, Mr. Norman." "Thank you," Jack said as he lifted his injured arm. Five minutes later, the tranquilizer took effect, and Leia fell silent. Queenie covered her with the blanket, went to Jack's side, and gently touched his hand. "Does it hurt?" "It's fine." Jack shook his head. After sterilizing the wound, the nurse carefully wrapped it with gauze. It did not hurt even if he pressed it. Queenie sighed. Her eyes were puffed up. "You've been a stern father since Leia was small, but you've never punished her. Leia respects you a lot, but now, she bit you…" "That's enough." Jack glanced at Leia. The tranquilizer had taken effect, and Leia was incapacitated for now. He told Queenie, "Take care of Leia. I'll go and look for Luke." "Alrigh
Tommy ran into the scene and wanted to snatch the phone away. He was standing on the sofa and crying his lungs out while staggering.The butler was afraid he might trip over and quickly carried him up, placing him on the floor. He had no choice but to hand him the phone.Tommy asked while sobbing, "Where are Mommy and Daddy? Tommy wants Mommy, I want Mommy!""Stop crying. I'll be on my way back now," said Luke with a deep voice. He had to take good care of the child as Bianca would surely be upset if she were to know that Tommy was crying so terribly.Tommy continued to cry hard. "Daddy, you must bring Mommy back.""I'll definitely bring your mommy back. Be a good kid and hand the phone over to the butler." Luke coaxed him.Tommy rubbed his eyes and handed the phone over to the butler. His big eyes were red after crying so hard, the sight of it making others pity him.The butler took the phone. "Young Master.""How did the kid know about it?" Luke's voice carried an angry tone.
Bianca widened her eyes. The Island of Despair! She had heard the name from Luke before and knew how terrifying it was. However, when Luke escaped from there, Percy and the Russian government had destroyed the place. How could someone survive? "Who is your godfather?" Bianca asked with all her might. "He's the same person as Luke's godfather. The difference is that Luke wants to kill him, and I want to avenge him." Abel chuckled coldly and left through the door. He said to the mercenaries standing guard outside. "Watch over her in shifts. Don't let her die." "Yes, Boss," the mercenaries replied. They thought for a while and added, "Boss, can we…" "No!" Abel's gaze turned cold. He warned them, "You cannot lay a finger on that woman. If I find out that you did anything to her, I'll chop your d*ck off." The mercenary shuddered. They were at sea, and they could not run away if Abel wanted to do anything to them. They kept those thoughts and said, "We'll look after her." "Go
"Daddy…" Rainie's eyes were bloodshot. "I trust you, Daddy." Lanie held his sister's hand. "We can take care of ourselves. You must bring Mommy back." Luke crouched down and stretched out the pinky finger of his right hand. That was what Bianca did when she made a promise to the children. "I promise." Rainie made a pinky promise with her father. "Mommy will come back," she mumbled. "Mommy will come back." Lanie also made a pinky promise with Luke. Luke patted their heads and said, "I'll be busy in the next few days. Let Mr. Griffin take care of you, and don't give him any trouble, alright?" "Alright, Daddy. I'll take care of Rainie and Tommy." Lanie took up the responsibility so that Luke would not have to worry about them. Luke saw the determination in his son's eyes. "Brush your teeth and go to bed." "Yes, Daddy." Rainie wiped her tears and went to the bathroom. Lanie also returned to his bedroom. Luke was at ease that his children were so mature. After Lanie and
Hera sat up and chuckled. "That defective baby in your stomach? Heheh, you should thank me instead. If you delivered that baby, I'm sure that the Hiltons will disown you, even if you're already married. Consider this as a blessing in disguise. It's better that you lose the baby before you're married instead of being driven out of the household." Leia clenched the hem of her gown tightly. Her stomach was aching, and she had to sit on the toilet. "You know that I only get to marry Brody because of the baby, Hera. I wouldn't have agreed to help you if I knew that I'd become like this." Listening to Leia's accusatory words, Hera could tell that she would not tell Luke. If Luke wanted to take revenge, Leia would be the first victim. After arriving at that conclusion, Hera said impatiently, "Understand this, Leia, you volunteered to do this. No one forced you." Leia gritted her teeth and clenched her fists. She felt as though she was adrift at sea. She had lost the support of the Hil
"You'd better leave, Wayne. The caretaker might wake up any time…" Leia begged. Her eyes were transfixed on the caretaker on the couch, wondering why she did not notice despite them talking at a normal volume. "I knocked her out." Wayne turned on the bedside light, which dazzled Leia's eyes. He sat down on the bed and looked at her pale face without any sign of care. Leia grabbed the bed sheets tightly. Wayne's gaze slowly shifted down from her face to her stomach. Leia noticed that. She wanted to cover her stomach with the blanket. Wayne's gaze turned vicious suddenly. "How dare you harm my child, Leia!" Leia shuddered when facing his gaze. "It was an accident, Wayne. It's all Bianca's fault. Bianca made me lose the child." Wayne reached out and touched her stomach. Through the hospital gown, Leia could feel the icy coldness of Wayne's touch. She shuddered again and explained, "It's really not my fault, Wayne. Bianca planned all this." Wayne gripped her lower ja
In the western Pacific Ocean, a ship bobbed up and down the waves as it sailed northward through a thunderstorm. Bianca laid on the bed. She had been force-fed multiple times. The area surrounding the bed was indescribably messy, and it was starting to stink. She did not know how many days it had been since she boarded the ship. There was only one door, and there were no windows. Her hands were tied, and her mouth was gagged, though her legs were free. However, she was limited to the cabin, so she did not know if it was day or night. Her stomach churned as the boat swayed. She had the urge to vomit, but the cloth in her mouth made her unable to do so. She turned her head away and took deep breaths to calm her stomach down. She had only met three other people aboard the ship -- Abel and the two mercenaries. They did not care that the conditions of the cabin were deteriorating. The bed was beginning to get moldy, but they had no intention of changing it. That was w
Seeing that he had not rested for days, Old Master Crawford was worried for his grandson. He put a sleeper sofa in Luke's bedroom. Luke turned on the light, sat up, kept the bed, and walked out of the study. He opened Tommy's bedroom door. There was a small orange night light next to the bed. Ever since Bianca was abducted, the usually cheerful and playful boy had fallen silent and easily cried. He used to love to watch cartoons and eat snacks, but those could no longer pique his interest. He would even wake up from his nightmares and look for Bianca. Johann suggested that he put a nightlight next to Tommy's bed to soothe his emotions. After doing so, Tommy rarely woke up in the middle of the night. Luke gently stepped inside and saw that Tommy had kicked the blanket onto the floor. He pressed his lips together and covered him again with the blanket. Bianca used to be the one to do that. Bianca would wake up once or twice in the middle of the night to check on their child
“You don’t need to remind me. I was going to check anyway.” Abel shot Luca a chilling look.She took a step back and stayed silent.Abel turned to the pale-faced Hera and said, “If you’ve got low blood sugar, get up and eat something.”“I’ll eat now,” Hera replied, sitting up.Luca handed her the takeout.Abel glanced at the food and then frowned at Luca. “Why didn’t you make breakfast this morning?”“I was busy,” Luca explained with a calm indifference, her expression unwavering. She showed no fear, even under Abel’s questioning.Hera suddenly found herself admiring Luca. Everyone feared this man, yet Luca remained composed even when facing potential punishment. Not just anyone could pull that off.At the thought of this, Hera opened the takeout and kept quiet.Abel narrowed his eyes, glancing between Hera and Luca. His gaze was not exactly gentle as he muttered, “Stop eating this junk. It’s bad for you.”“I know, babe. Just this once. After this, I’ll have what Luca cooks f
Hera panicked the moment she heard that. “I trust her!”Luca and Shanks were both watching her.Hera repeated herself, saying, “I trust her, okay? What kind of treatment does she need? I’ll cooperate with anything. But what about Abel…”“I’ll tell him it’s just to help improve your overall health,” replied Shanks. Then, he turned around, opened the medicine cabinet, and started preparing the prescription.Hera let out a sigh of relief. As long as Abel did not find out about her health condition, that was all that mattered.If he knew she was unwell, he would send her back to A City. Without free medical help and no way to make extra money, she would be in serious trouble.“Thank you,” said Hera.“Wait outside,” instructed Shanks.“Okay.” Hera carefully stepped out.Luca, however, remained where she was, waiting.While preparing the medicine, Shanks asked, “Do you know which acupoints to target for her?”“Yes,” Luca replied confidently. As long as she checked Hera’s pulse, sh
“There are a lot of issues.” Luca did not hide anything and handed Hera the phone.Hera looked at it and frowned.“I can't understand any of this.” Hera felt dizzy just looking at the text, let alone the long list of medical terms. It was giving her a headache.“Look at these summaries and indicators. Compare the values on top with the normal values at the bottom, and you'll see what I mean,” explained Luca.Hera did not trust her. Therefore, Luca decided to let her see for herself. Seeing it with her own eyes would prevent any doubts later.Luca pointed out how to read the test results, and after a moment, Hera managed to understand the report. Her face turned pale. “How can there be so many problems?”She looked at Luca and questioned, “Did you fake this?”“I don’t have the power to make the medical center fake anything. Besides, the report has the medical center’s official stamp. If you don’t believe me, you can go directly to the medical center and ask for the official cop
“I heard from the boss that he's coming because of Vivian.” Gale paused for a moment before adding, “But never mind, you don't seem interested in her affairs anyway. I'm just letting you know he's on his way.”Gordan frowned. Ray was coming for Vivian?What could that ugly woman possibly need?“What do you mean by that?” asked Gordan.Gale smirked. “If you and Ray meet, that’s bound to end in a fight. And since you can't win against him, you might want to mentally prepare yourself, or better yet, find somewhere else to stay. It’d be safer that way.”Gordan's expression darkened. “If you have nothing nice to say, just zip it.”Gale grinned, clearly pleased with himself like he had just hit a sore spot.Gordan exhaled sharply. “Of all times, why is he coming to A City now? He’s just making things worse.”“It can't be helped. Vivian's situation is urgent.” Gale covered his mouth mockingly after he said that. “Oh, right. I forgot you don’t like hearing about her.”Ray wanted to br
Luke sat in the villa, staring at Luca’s message.He was worried.For a moment, he considered calling her, but then he remembered that there were surveillance cameras everywhere on her side. He dismissed the idea immediately.Her safety came first.Luke reminded her: [Take care of yourself. Don’t worry, I’ll handle everything. Just focus on keeping yourself safe.] The worry in his heart refused to subside, but at this moment, there was no better solution.“Boss, you’re worried about your wife, huh? If you really can’t stand it, we can sneak you in again during the next shift change, just like last time,” said Gale.It had been his idea last time.Now, the real Lucius was still locked up in the basement of the villa.It had been nearly a month. Luke had forced him to take the antidote Luca had recreated. The man was still alive, proving the antidote worked perfectly.“That plan is too risky.” Luke put his phone away. His gaze was dark and thoughtful.“Risky, sure. But at lea
Luca had not expected Abel and Shanks’ relationship to be like this.It seemed Abel still did not trust Shanks.Shanks continued, “Abel isn’t someone who trusts people easily. He doesn’t trust anyone. You think he’s devoted to Kassy now, right? That’s just his obsession. He's allowing Kassy to receive my treatment, but if it were him… No matter if he were blind or crippled, his safety would always come first. If he were seriously injured, maybe he’d accept treatment, but he definitely wouldn’t do it right away.”Luca stayed silent. Shanks really understood Abel well.Abel did not trust anyone—not even Kassy.Calling him paranoid would not be an exaggeration.Luca felt like they were getting off-topic, but she had never seen this side of Shanks before.In her mind, he was always buried in his work at the lab, only leaving for meals and sleep. Other than that, he was practically never outside.The lab was like his home…“Are you troubled by Hera’s situation?” Luca asked directly
Hera was startled by Luca's words.The refusal that had been on the tip of her tongue suddenly got stuck in her throat.“I…” Hera hesitated, feeling conflicted. Leaving Abel might not be such a bad idea. At least she would not have to live in constant fear.She was finally realizing how unpredictable his moods were. At first, she thought it did not matter as she could still look at other men. She just had to ensure there was no physical contact. In reality, even if she so much as glanced at someone, Abel's expression would darken with anger.It was frustrating. Now, the only person she was allowed to look at was Gerald. Still, what was the point of just looking at Gerald?At that thought, she lifted her gaze to Luca.Luca added, “I’ll give you five minutes. If you refuse treatment after that, I’ll take the medicine back to Mr. Shanks and won’t try to convince you again.”Hera's heart tightened. She did not even need five minutes. She had made her decision within 30 seconds.“I’
“If Abel finds out that Hera's body isn't suitable for organ donation to Kassy, what do you think he'll do?” asked Shanks.He already knew the answer, but he still wanted to hear Luca’s thoughts.“He has invested a lot of time and money in Hera. If he gets nothing out of it, he won’t let her off easily,” Luca said bluntly.Luca and Shanks were on the same page.They did not have a good relationship with Hera, but they had no intention of ruining her either.Hera’s personality was unpleasant, but that was not enough for them to hate her so much that they wanted to see her suffer.“What methods do you think he’ll use?” Shanks asked again.Luca was silent for a long moment.Shanks already knew the answer, yet he still wanted her to say it out loud.After thinking it over, she finally said, “There are plenty of ways he could go about it, but no matter what he chooses, Hera’s fate is sealed. She’s as good as dead…”She lowered her gaze, her tone firm and certain.Shanks nodded.
Hera heard that Luca had returned and immediately went to find Shanks. She narrowed her eyes.That woman went to see Shanks. Could she be talking about her?The thought made Hera uneasy. She had a nagging feeling that something was wrong with her medical report.However, when they left the medical center earlier, Abel asked Luca when the report would be ready, and she said it would be available tomorrow.Hera turned to Gerald and said, “Take these back for me first.”“Alright.” Gerald carried the bags as he walked away. He could not help but wonder what exactly Hera bought. These bags were really heavy!Only after Gerald went upstairs did Hera slowly make her way up as well. Her room was on the third floor, but she stopped when she reached the second floor. She glanced around to make sure no one was watching before heading toward the laboratory.The door was closed.Instead of knocking, Hera pressed her ear against it, trying to eavesdrop.However, the laboratory was special