Lanie and Rainie came to see what kind of person it was who could make Tommy talk about her cooking non-stop. They also wanted to see if the other party wanted to use Tommy to approach their father.After all, there had been quite a few women like that over the years.Luca's eyes were filled with tears when she heard the kids greeting her. She was moved when she saw how tall Lanie and Rainie had become. "Hello, come in."She reached her hand out to both of them.Rainie felt inexplicably affectionate toward Luca and held her hand. "Okay."Lanie felt the same way as her sister but chose to nod coolly. They then walked into the apartment together.Zander smiled and said, "Ms. Luca, thank you for the trouble."Luca was surprised. "Zander, won't you come in and have dinner with us?""I don't have time. I have to send documents to the boss," Zander shook his head and said.Luca was surprised. Luke must have agreed to him leaving the children here to send the documents to him.‘He a
Rainie noticed the change in Lanie's expression and asked in a confused tone, "Lanie, what's the matter with you?""Rainie, I think you’ll like it," Lanie said as he put another piece of fluffy cake in his mouth. Even though he was surprised, he still ate it like a gentleman.Rainie looked at the cake and was debating internally on whether she should try it or not.After she thought about it for a while, she picked up the fork, took a small piece, and put it in her mouth.Tommy blinked and asked with a smile, "Rainie, how is it? Isn't it delicious?"Rainie showed a shocked expression as she uttered, "This cake..."She did not continue talking. It may have been a long time but the taste was exactly the same as what she remembered. It was even more delicious than the ones the chef at home prepared.Tommy noted their expressions and proudly stood up, saying, "I knew that you’d like the cakes made by Ms. Luca!"Rainie had a complicated expression on her face as she looked at Blanch
Tommy's eyes sparkled when he saw the cupcakes. Luca noticed the change in Tommy's expression and shook her head. "Not now, Tommy. Eat them when you get home." "Can't I just eat one, Ms. Luca?" Tommy lifted one finger and looked at Luca eagerly. "I'm hungry." Luca's heart melted when she saw Tommy's puppy eyes, though she knew that he had eaten a lot earlier, and she did not think that his stomach could take it. She steeled herself and shook her head. "You've just eaten. How can you be hungry? Be a good boy and listen to me." Rainie also helped Luca convince her younger brother. "You'll get a tummy ache if you continue eating, Tommy. Ms. Luca said that we can bring the cupcakes home, so you can eat them when we get home." Tommy rubbed his round stomach. He was indeed full, but he wanted to eat some more. Even so, he listened to Luca and Rainie. He nodded his head and tried to control himself. Luca could not bear to see Tommy like that. She sat down next to him and picked tw
Luca's eyes opened wide. She did not expect Luke to sit down, much less eat a cupcake. Rainie picked up a cupcake and peeled the liner away. "Try one, Daddy." Luke took the cupcake. It looked petite and delicate in his hand. He was not very fond of cake, but he had to try the cupcake that Luca baked. The three children looked at him eagerly. In one bite, Luke ate half of the cupcake. Luke carefully tasted the sweetness of the cake that melted in his mouth, though he seemed to be pondering something. He finished the rest of the cupcake in another bite. Rainie smiled and asked him, "Daddy, isn't it very tasty?" "Not bad." When Luke said that, he turned around to glance at Luca. Luca was standing there ever since Luke came into the house, as though she were the guest. Rainie smiled at Luca. "Ms. Luca, Daddy likes your cupcakes!" Tommy also added, "Daddy doesn't only like Ms. Luca's cupcakes. He loves her cooking too!" Rainie nodded. It was not a surprise that their f
Luca was cleaning up the coffee table. She was quite surprised when she heard Luke's praise. He had always been a man of few words, especially when talking about other people. Luca did not expect that the plate of spaghetti would receive his approval. She took out a plastic bag from under the coffee table, and it was filled with Tommy's favorite snacks. She put the remaining fruit from the plate inside the bag too. If Tommy liked those snacks, Lanie and Rainie would like them too. That was why she bought triple the usual quantity of snacks from the supermarket. While Luca was done cleaning the coffee table, she heard Luke ask her, "Where is your younger brother?" When he noticed that they were walking out of the neighborhood together the last time, he could tell that they were living together. "He's away on a business trip," Luca answered calmly. Business trips were always the best excuse. Luke twirled another forkful of spaghetti, blew on it to cool it down a little, a
"I'd like to meet my mother." Bianca might be suffering from a high fever, but her mind was still lucid. She knew that her fever would eventually subside, and Luke would not stay by her side for long. She hoped that Queenie would see her in her current condition and get Luke to care for her more. Even though no one told her about it, Bianca knew that Queenie's condition was getting better by the day, and the situation of the Normans became better and better. That was beneficial for the Crawfords -- Luke might be standing at the pinnacle of the business world, but that did not mean that he was immune from danger. "But I don't know how to contact your mother," the nurse said helplessly, not suspecting anything. After all, it was normal for a very ill patient to miss their parents. "My phone…" Bianca shook her head. Her head was spinning under the effect of the pill, and as much as she wanted to sleep, she could not sleep just yet. "The phone's passcode is 0218. Help me give her a
Luke's expression remained the same when Queenie mentioned Luca. "We'll see after we get the test report." "But Bea isn't…" Queenie sighed. She knew that she would be bothering Luca by asking her about it, and Luca had made it known that she wanted to remain anonymous. "Let's listen to Luke on this," Jack said. "Bea might only be down with the common cold. It's probably nothing too serious." Queenie nodded slightly, though she seemed just as worried as earlier. After being ill for so long, words of comfort no longer held any meaning for her. Even though she was recovering day by day, her outlook remained pessimistic. An hour later, Dr. Blake and a nurse came into the room. They brought the apparatus for taking blood with them. "Mr. Crawford, We'll be taking a blood sample from Mrs. Crawford now," Dr. Blake said. Usually, he would not have to take a blood sample himself, but he did not want to offend the other party. "Mm." Luke nodded and stood by the bed. The nurse ster
Luke flipped to the front page of the report again. It was written there that the subject had B-type blood. He remembered very clearly that Bianca had O-type blood. Luke was about to head out of the room to find Dr. Blake, but the doctor hastily came into the room with some equipment. "Sorry, Mr. Crawford, the people in the lab might have made a mistake. I'll schedule another test right now," the doctor said while shooting the nurse behind him a glance. Johann had told him that the blood types did not match. Dr. Blake immediately checked Bianca's files and found out that she had O-type blood. He immediately gave a call to the laboratory, but the technicians insisted that they did not mix up the samples. After all, there was only one sample sent to the lab that night, and there was no chance that they had mixed it up with another sample. Dr. Blake had no other choice than to schedule another blood test. The nurse stepped forward and prepared to take Bianca's blood. Jack an
“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