"Bea is one of us. You'll have to bring her back no matter what," Old Master Crawford said as he looked at the children who were playing in the garden. They might seem happy, but the old man could tell that they were worried. The children were still young, and they needed a mother for their upbringing. Luke was not the kind of man who would marry another woman just for their children. He was not going to love another woman other than Bianca. Luke looked at the sun that was setting beyond the mountains. Summer was coming to an end. Bianca had said that summer was her favorite season. "I will bring her back," Luke said. He had said the same sentence to many people, and he had sounded confident every time he said that. He was not afraid of any danger. Bianca was everything to him. Old Master Crawford patted his shoulder and said, "I've heard that Old Master Rayne's health is declining. I know that you're busy searching for Bianca, but don't forget to show some concern to the o
"I'm worried that she'll tire out." Eler knew that Bianca's accuracy had improved. However, it was no use if Bianca's arms tired out before she could finish the task. "Believe in her," Amur said. The mercenary noticed the siblings whispering to each other and reprimanded them, "What are you doing? You don't get to eat if you don't finish the arrows." After Eler heard that, she picked up the bow and arrows and began to shoot. At first, Bianca found it relatively easy to hit the bullseye. As time passed, her arms began to feel weaker. When she stretched the bow, her arms were shaking. "Continue!" The mercenary yelled. He did not give her time to rest. Sweat poured down her forehead. Bianca pressed her lips together and fired another arrow, which hit the bullseye. Eler could not help but feel nervous for her. Abel came to the training grounds. When he saw that Bianca only had about twenty arrows left, he smiled and slapped her arm. "Not bad. You've hit quite a lot." Bian
Socialite B rubbed his chin. After his friend's reminder, he realized that the woman looked quite familiar. "That's true. Her side profile does indeed look like that woman. Which family is she from?" When he said that, Maxine happened to turn around and look at them. Socialite A shook his head. "I don't know, but the similarities end there. The front profile isn't that similar." "Yeah, that's right. Let's go in." Socialite B nodded, and the two men went inside. Each guest was assigned a seat, which was written on the invitation card. Maxine glanced at her table number on the invitation card and walked into the hall confidently. Tonight, she would successfully captivate Luke. The Douglases were not very influential in A City, but they were quite famous in the entire country, so her table was at the front. After Maxine sat down on her appointed seat, she glanced at the tag on the seat next to her. The seat belonged to the Crawford family. 'It's Luke!' Maxine could not h
Maxine did not want to humiliate herself, so she gave up on the idea of talking to Luke. If she said something and Luke ignored her, the two people sitting opposite her would naturally look down upon her. Maxine could only browse on her phone while drinking her wine. Occasionally, she would turn her head and look around. Meanwhile, Luke sat there with a cold expression. He was also alone, but he did not seem awkward. As Maxine continued to sit there, she felt as though the people around her were mocking her. Nina, sitting next to Percy, was quite reluctant to attend the banquet. She was discreetly observing Maxine. Eventually, she was sure that Maxine had performed cosmetic surgery on her face. The signs were not obvious, but she could tell that her pure looks were not natural. Remembering that Maxine had a crush on Luke, Nina's contempt toward Maxine grew. 'Does she think that she can win Luke's heart just by making herself look like Bianca? How stupid of her.' The mor
'She can't say she hates them?' Percy narrowed his gaze. When he saw the love in Nina's eyes when she talked to Rainie, he suddenly thought of an idea. He thought that he should let Nina bear a child for him. The two people in the car were silent again. Percy's words made Nina remember the child she once had. She had hoped to deliver the child safely, but Pierre had crushed her hope. Did she hate him for that? She did, but she could not do anything about it. She was no match for Pierre at all. She had lost to him, and her child was collateral damage. Nina could not forget the scene when blood spurted from her stomach. Over countless nights, she had dreamed of the child that was not fated to be hers. Every dream was torture. All that was because of Pierre, but Nina could not tell Percy that. Meanwhile, Maxine, who had barely spoken to Luke for the entire night, watched as Percy brought the drunken man away. She was furious, but she could not throw her tantrum in fron
The most amusing thing was that Brody was hugging another woman sleeping in bed when Wayne found him. Brody did not know what happened until the woman woke up and screamed until she lost her mind when she saw all the blood. It had already been eight hours, and the doctors could not do anything. News soon spread throughout A City, and Leia slowly lost interest in him after that. She did not mind marrying a eunuch, but she did not want to be marginalized in the Hilton household together with him. Brody's father had many illicit relationships with women, and it was not surprising if he had other sons elsewhere. If he decided to select another son to inherit the family business, the family would have no reason to object. When that happened, Brody would not have any standing in the family. Wayne did not leave behind any traces. The Hiltons did not know who did the job, and Tania was helpless about it. "Don't say that, Wayne." Leia clung to him and unleashed her charm on him. "Gran
Abel's mocking comment made Maxine blush. She was used to being pampered, and other than Luke, no other man had ever treated her like that before. That made her even angrier. "Looks like you've been seduced by Bianca too," Maxine said coldly. "Alright, that's enough. Aren't we on the same side? We shouldn't be quibbling." Hera stepped up to be the mediator when she saw that the atmosphere was becoming tense. It would be bad if Maxine made Abel angry before the deed was done. Maxine grunted coldly, sat on the couch, and turned her head away. Abel lit up a cigar and dragged from it. "You don't have to worry about Bianca. Now that she's with me, she'll be begging for me to kill her." "That better be the case." Maxine paused for a while and added, "Not only that, but I want her to give up entirely on Luke." "I think so too." Abel laughed brazenly as he leaned on the couch. The main objective of his visit was to ask Maxine for a favor. "Help me get some photos," he said. "
Looking at Hera's face, Abel smiled but did not say anything. The couple went into the suite. He would not refuse any woman who offered themselves to him. Moreover, Hera was quite bodacious. An hour later. Abel leaned on the headboard and smoked a cigar. Hera took his cigar, kissed his cheek intimately, and took a drag of the cigar. She instantly coughed out loud. "Ugh. Why is this cigar so spicy?" She frowned and handed the cigar back to him. Abel took the cigar, not feeling any pity for the woman. "It's spiked with something." His cigars were too strong for ordinary people. Only one woman in the world could accept the cigar, and that woman was Kassy. Indeed, no other woman compared to her. "It's spiked? What did you put inside it?" Hera was shocked. Abel smiled mockingly when he saw the change in her expression. "Don't worry, you'll be fine." Hera breathed a sigh of relief after hearing that. She leaned on his chest again and looked up at his sculpted chin. "Where
“As long as he stays out of your sight, I won’t make a move,” said Ray.If Gordan were not one of Luke’s pals, he would have been long gone.Anyone who dared to mess with someone Ray cherished would not be let off easily. The only reason Gordan was still breathing was thanks to Luke.“Alright, Ray. Just let it go. I’ve moved on and started a new life. Plus, I’m studying at Capital University. We have mutual friends, so running into him is inevitable. If that happens, we’ll just be strangers. There’s no need to step in for me or act impulsively.” Just as Vivian finished speaking, the doorbell rang.“Is it the clothes delivery?” asked Ray.“No, while you were talking with Mr. Crawford, I asked someone to buy some medicinal cream. The ones here work better than the ones in Russia. A little massage with it should help you heal faster,” Vivian said, grabbing a mask and hat before heading to the door.“Miss, is the boss alright?” asked one of Ray’s subordinates.“He’s fine. Did you ge
When Ray heard that there was a 90% chance of success, he could not help but ask, “Can you walk me through your plan?”“The prison where Kassy is being held actually has an underground passage. I’ve already spoken with the prison officials, and we can use that passage to transport her out. It connects to the sewage system, which leads directly to another detention facility. "The only catch is that this facility’s underground pipes don’t connect to the outside world, so the remaining 10% risk lies in moving Kassy onto the main road and securing her at the new location.“This whole operation can be done without anyone noticing, which is why I’m confident it’ll work.” As Luke explained, he pulled out a detailed map of the sewer system. “Here’s the layout I had someone retrieve. This is the starting point, and this is the destination. If we take this route, we can move Kassy without alerting Abel’s people.”Abel’s men were keeping a constant watch outside the prison now. That was prec
Luke had no idea what kind of mindset the person who poisoned Vivian had. However, he found Gordan’s current behavior quite intriguing.“Luke, what’s with that look?” Gordan felt uneasy under his gaze.“You seem pretty concerned about Vivian,” Luke leaned back on the couch and said thoughtfully.Gordan froze for a moment before laughing it off. “What? No way! Why would I care about her? Come on, Luke, don’t say stuff like that. If she hears it, she might start getting ideas.”Luke could not be bothered to expose his act and got straight to the point. “Why are you here?”“Speaking of that, I almost got sidetracked by that woman.” Gordan quickly pulled out his phone, grimacing. “Man, Ray really didn’t hold back. I need to get some treatment for these bruises later.”Luke took the phone and tried to unlock it. It needed a passcode. He handed it back. “Unlock it.”“All set, boss.” Gordan unlocked the phone and went back to pressing an ice pack against his face.Luke scanned the scr
It was the sound of a body slamming onto the ground.Gordan’s furious curses rang out. “Damn it! You're really going all out, huh? Do you think I'm scared of you?”Another loud thud followed.Vivian frowned. What the hell were they doing? Were they really going to fight until one of them won?Both of them were skilled fighters. If they kept this up, neither would walk away unscathed.“Enough!” shouted Vivian.The two men locked in the fight froze for a moment.“Vivian, stay out of this. I’m beating him to a pulp today,” growled Ray, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth. He was not in great shape, but neither was Gordan.“Ray, I don’t want to see him,” said Vivian. She did not want Ray fighting him. It was not to protect Gordan but because she did not want Ray getting hurt.Also, she definitely did not want Gordan to see her like this. She could already picture his smug face, his sarcastic remarks and his gloating.“Fine. If you don’t want to see him, I’ll just beat
After returning to the hotel from the hospital, Vivian felt much better.To her, the fact that Ray had taken her to the hospital meant there was hope for the future, which lifted her spirits. She picked up an apple from the fruit platter the hotel had provided and took a bite.“Ray, this apple is really good. Want to try one?” asked Vivian.Ray shook his head. “You go ahead. By the way, can I take a look at the luggage you brought from Russia?”Vivian nodded. “I only hung up my clothes. Everything else is still in the suitcase. You can just take the things out.”Ray walked into the bedroom, pulled out her suitcase, and opened it. Inside were just books and a few other small items, nothing unusual.“You didn't bring any food with you?” asked Ray.“I haven’t really been in the mood, but the food here is way better than Russian food, so I didn't feel the need to bring anything.” Vivian’s tone was lighthearted now that she was in a better mood.“That's true.” Ray agreed, then asked
Ray's tone turned serious. “Alright, I'll make the arrangements immediately. Dr. Craw, once the toxicology report is out, we’ll still need your help.”“For toxicology cases like this, I recommend combining both modern medicine and traditional herbal medicine. Don’t worry, if I can help, I definitely will,” Luca assured him.“Alright, thank you.” Ray expressed his gratitude and ended the call before updating Luke on the situation.Luke reassured him, saying, “If Vivian was really poisoned, don’t worry. Previously, Luca discovered that her biological mother had been poisoned with a slow-acting toxin. She prescribed herbal medicine and used purely traditional herbal medicine to detoxify her. It didn’t take long for all the toxins to be expelled, and her health fully recovered. So, rest assured. If it’s something she can fix, she’ll do everything she can.“Besides, once we identify the exact problem, the doctors will be able to step in and help, right?”“Yes. Thank you both in advance
Gerald walked over. “Ms. Sanchez, what's wrong?”He was eager to get back upstairs and stash his cigarettes before someone noticed and took them.Hera yanked open his bag, glanced at the cigarette brand, and scoffed. “I thought it was some expensive brand. But it's just this? And you’re acting all deferential to her over this?”Gerald was rendered speechless. “I knew Ms. Craw was going out, so I asked her to bring these back for me. This is the brand I’m used to. Maybe it’s not expensive to you, but for me, it’s what I can afford.”Realizing she had misspoken, Hera felt a bit awkward. She quickly changed the topic. “Still, is a pack of cigarettes really worth you being so grateful to Luca? How much could it have cost?”“It’s not about the money,” replied Gerald. “It's just a nice surprise. I never expected to get anything out of helping Ms. Craw, and this kind of unexpected gift has nothing to do with the price. Besides, I'm not being overly grateful. I'm just happy.”He was ba
Luca’s lips were already swollen and flushed from Luke's kisses.That deep shade of red, reflected in Luke’s eyes, was utterly captivating. It tugged at his nerves, stirring an uncontrollable desire within him.At that moment, he had only one thought, and it was to completely lose himself in her.…The two of them stepped out of the bedroom.Vivian quickly turned her back and greeted Luke when he saw him coming out, “Hello, Mr. Crawford.”“Vivian, don’t worry. Everything will get better,” replied Luke.Vivian simply hummed in response.Ray gave them a grateful nod as Luke took Luca’s hand and led her away.It was only after hearing the door close that Vivian finally turned back around.Ray glanced at her and said, “Vivian, they’re your friends. You don’t have to act this way around them. They won’t judge you.”“I know they won’t…” Vivian let out a soft sigh. “I just feel like I look terrifying right now. I didn’t want to scare them, so I avoided facing them directly. But it’
“I once treated someone who had been slowly poisoned over a long period of time. Their pulse was similar to Vivian’s. Given that your family has good genetics, yet Vivian is different from the rest of you, and her skin improved after leaving her original environment, all of this confirms my suspicion.“Could it be that someone in your family has been poisoning Vivian? That would explain why her skin ended up like this.”“If she really has been poisoned, then would staying away from that environment or identifying the person responsible help her get better?” asked Ray.Luca shook her head.“The poison I’ve encountered before was a slow-acting toxin that kept the victim’s skin dark. I don’t know exactly what it was, but long-term exposure to any poison has an effect on the body. It's just a suspicion now. I need to consult someone I know. And honestly, I can’t be sure what’s really causing Vivian’s condition.“Is her skin deteriorating so quickly because she was poisoned once more a