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
Carnival Day was an event at Tommy's kindergarten that encouraged the students' parents to join in. However, Bianca was horribly ill, and Luke did not look like he was free either. "I'll go," Luke said. He had promised Tommy that he would be joining him during Carnival Day. "Dad, Mom, the caretaker can take care of Bianca. I'll send the two of you home." Thinking that his in-laws did not sleep, he was not going to let them drive home themselves. "I should stay in the hospital to take care of Bea." Queenie shook her head, not relieved that Bianca's condition had not gotten better yet. Jack also said, "Right. We should stay here. You should go to Tommy's school, Luke." Luke did not insist on sending them home. When the morning shift caretaker came into the room, Luke gave her some orders before he left the hospital. The driver must have sent Tommy to his kindergarten, so he drove there directly. The event was about to begin when Luke arrived. The teachers waiting at the f
Tommy looked at the pile of coins in his money box. The money was to be donated to a rural school, but he was not happy because there were no snacks left. He glanced at the other stalls. None of the other stalls were as popular as his. Tommy pulled Luke's pants and pointed at the stall next to his. "I want some cupcakes from that stall, Daddy." That reminded Luke of Luca's cupcakes. They were indeed very delicious. "Alright." Luke packed up the money box, then led Tommy to the cupcake stall. The stall was manned by a little girl and her mother. When the young mother saw Luke walking toward her, her heart began to beat faster. She had noticed him earlier, but she managed to resist the urge to chat up with him. She did not expect that he would bring his son over to his stall. "What would you like, little buddy?" The woman asked Tommy, though her gaze was transfixed on Luke. "Two cupcakes please, Ma'am," Tommy said while gulping as he gawked at the golden cupcakes. "Co
Luca was in the middle of performing an experiment when her phone began to ring. She was surprised when she saw the familiar string of numbers on her screen, but she did not immediately answer it. She did not save Luke's number on her phone, but she had memorized those numbers well. Luca had placed her phone between her and Rhett earlier. Rhett glanced at the vibrating phone and asked, "Dr. Craw, aren't you answering the call?" Luca came to her senses. She took the phone and told him, "I'll go and answer the call. Please help me record the data." "Yes." Rhett nodded. Luca left the room and answered the call. "Mr. Crawford." "Are you at the company now, Dr. Craw?" Luke hated to admit that Luca's gentle, wispy, and slightly raspy voice was very alluring. "Yes," Luca told him candidly. "Sean is going over to pick you up. He'll be there in fifteen minutes. I'd hate to bother you, but I need you at the hospital," Luke said. Luca frowned slightly when she heard that. He h
Luca did not explain herself. Instead, she said, "I don't have my acupuncture needles with me. Can you find me a set?" The nurse looked at the patient's family. None of them had any objections, as though they trusted that woman completely. On the other hand, they seemed to have ignored her question. "Are you sure that you want to perform acupuncture on the patient?" The nurse asked again. "Yes." Luca nodded and pulled her hand away. Seeing that no one raised any objections, the nurse left the room. Tommy walked up to Luca and asked her softly, "Ms. Luca, can you make Mommy well again?" Luca patted the boy's head but said nothing. If her guess was correct, no one could make Bianca well again. Bianca should have taken a drug that had no antidote. Shanks had discovered the properties of the drug when he was teaching medicine to Luca. He did not find an antidote for it because it was not lethal. Luca knew that Bianca's condition would continue to deteriorate, but she woul
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
“This cup of coffee is from that gentleman for this lady.” The waiter smiled as he explained, placing the cup in front of Luca.Hera followed the waiter’s gaze and immediately recognized the man Luca had been looking at earlier.Her eyes darkened. She had noticed the man glancing in their direction. However, she had assumed he was looking at her.After all, she was dressed seductively, had put on makeup, and was undeniably beautiful. Any man who saw her would be attracted. If a man’s eyes lingered on her, it was not surprising at all.Realizing that the man had been watching Luca the whole time instead of her, Hera suddenly felt annoyed.Luca noticed her displeasure, glanced at Gordan, then smiled and said to the waiter, “Please thank the gentleman for me.”“Of course, miss. Enjoy your coffee.” The waiter, sensing the tension between the two women, quickly grabbed his tray and left before Hera’s sour mood could affect him too.“Hmph, feeling proud of yourself?” asked Hera.Luca