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
For Shanks, no matter how skilled the two ophthalmologists were, they could not compare to Luca. The key was their smooth coordination. They were used to working together. If it were other doctors, they would probably start asking questions once they entered the operating room, making it impossible for Shanks to focus and perform the surgery calmly.Shanks believed this was a groundbreaking procedure, not just another teaching surgery for ophthalmologists.Abel understood Shanks’ concerns, but he still insisted, “They’re not just any doctors. They’ve signed agreements, and they won’t interrupt you with questions during the surgery. They’ll cooperate fully.”As Luca listened to Abel, she realized what he was really worried about. Besides the risk of the surgery failing, he was not confident in her.This surgery was important, and Abel was worried she might sabotage it in the operating room.Shanks furrowed his brows and looked at Luca.Luca gave him a faint smile. Whether or not
As Gerald shook his head furiously, it was not difficult for Luca to figure out what was going on.She glanced at Hera's irritation and figured it all stemmed from Luke being reassigned. Not being able to see him was clearly driving her to act like this.Luca secretly let out a sigh. They said women were the cause of trouble, but honestly, men could just be the same.Even with Luke disguised as an ordinary man, his cold and commanding air still captivated Hera.She glanced at the bowl nearby. The food Gerald brought Hera was barely touched.It seemed like she was so consumed with thoughts of Luke that she had lost her appetite...Luca’s expression remained unchanged. She was long accustomed to keeping her emotions in check around others.“Ms. Sanchez, you’ve misunderstood. I’m not close with Mr. Lucius, so I don’t have his contact information.” Luca kept her face impassive.“You’re lying!” Hera narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “You’re so close to him. How could you not have it?”
As soon as Luca returned to her bedroom after dinner, she received a video call request from the kids.It had been a long time since she last saw them. When she saw the call request, she locked the door, put on her headphones, and immediately answered.“Ms. Luca!” As soon as the call connected, the faces of all three kids appeared on the phone screen.“Sweethearts!” Luca blew them a kiss.“Ms. Luca, we miss you so much!” Tommy was the first to express how much they missed Luca.Luca's heart stirred with waves of longing when she heard them. She had been so busy recently, hoping to finish everything here quickly so that she and Luke could reunite with the kids. That was why she had not contacted them much.Plus, with Old Master Crawford taking care of them, she felt at ease.Now that Luca saw the faces of the three kids, her longing for them instantly surged and overwhelmed her.Her eyes reddened. “I miss you all so much too.”Rainie, always the thoughtful one, noticed her em
The men in the room were wincing in pain, but when they heard Gerald’s words, they were so furious they almost wanted to lash out at him. However, all their strength had been sapped by the excruciating pain, so they could only groan helplessly.As Shanks made his way upstairs, he paused halfway up the staircase and asked, “Is Luca cooking?”Gerald glanced at the kitchen and replied, “Yes, Mr. Shanks. It’s their fault. Ms. Craw was delayed in making dinner because of them.”Shanks' expression remained unchanged as he simply said, “Let me know when it's ready.”“Yes,” answered Gerald.After Shanks went upstairs, Gerald hesitated for a moment but decided to help the men to their feet, placing them one by one on the couch or chairs. As they slouched, groaning in pain, Gerald shook his head. “Do you guys now understand what happens when you mess with the wrong woman, especially Ms. Craw?”One of the men winced and asked, “Why did she have to be so brutal when throwing down?”“She
Lucius was different.He did not care about getting close to anyone, whether man or woman. Even when Hera’s attempts to seduce him were blatantly obvious, he still remained unmoved and even showed signs of rejection.Gerald could not help but marvel at Luca’s sharp observations and incisive remarks. He could not help but clap his hands lightly, genuinely impressed.“Lucius truly is exceptional,” said Gerald.Luca came downstairs.When she took the last step off the stairs, the men in the living room immediately fell silent.They held their breath as they watched the woman in front of them. Her hair was straight, not like their boss' companion.The men's gazes grew intense.Luca’s expression darkened.Gerald stood beside her and said, “See, I told you—you’re like a piece of meat dropped into a pack of wolves. Be careful.”One of the men heard Gerald and asked unhappily, “Hey, kid, what are you saying? What wolves? We’re gentlemen. We’d never dream of doing anything inappropr
When Gerald heard this, his face fell. “Huh? Ms. Craw, you're not cooking anymore?”Luca said nothing. Luke had already left with the others. She turned her gaze back before walking inside.Gerald realized that Luca had only been cooking breakfast because of Lucius. The thought puzzled him. Had they taken a liking to each other from the very start? That did not seem right.In this fast-paced modern world, even if they had, using something as old-fashioned as cooking to win someone over did not add up.Still, the timing was too coincidental to ignore. Luca started cooking for everyone when Lucius arrived, and she stopped as soon as he left. That realization gave Gerald an eerie feeling.Thinking they might have known each other back on the island, it all suddenly made sense. Of course! They must have met before. How else could this all line up so perfectly?With that thought, Gerald quickly caught up with Luca. “Ms. Craw, my cooking is terrible. Why don’t you keep doing it?”
Kassy’s eye donor was Hera, the one Abel had brought over.Even though Hera’s eyes resembled Kassy’s, they did not meet the criteria for a transplant. However, Hera’s blood type matched Kassy’s exactly.Hence, Abel decided to use Hera’s eyes. His belief was that her eyes were specifically meant for Kassy.Shanks knew he would not be able to change Abel’s mind, so he did not try. Abel’s stubbornness was something even Kassy herself could not sway.Luca remained silent for a while, not saying anything further. She understood that using a cadaver was the best option as it would not harm anyone.However, the eyes Abel wanted for Kassy were not from a cadaver. He intended to take them from Hera.Luca certainly would not participate in such a surgery. It was too cruel.“What are you thinking?” Shanks suddenly asked.Luca shook her head. “I’m just thinking about the volunteer’s situation.”“You’re wondering if this solution will be marketed, aren’t you?” Shanks suddenly asked.L
“I’m still a bit worried. Let me take a look in your room and change the dressing while I’m at it.” Luca knew Luke would not want her to worry. Therefore, she needed to see for herself that everything was fine before she could feel at ease.“Alright.” Luke knew she was worried about him, so the two of them headed into the room.He took off his shirt, revealing the bandage wrapped around his torso.Luca could not help but chuckle at the sight. The wrapping was done by Gerald, and it was hilariously sloppy. It was haphazardly bound—overly tight in some places and entirely uneven. It looked like it was just meant to cover the wounds, with no thought for neatness.“Stop laughing.” Luke was clearly rendered speechless by Gerald’s lackluster bandaging skills as well.If it were not for the fact that it was difficult to bandage himself, he would never have let Gerald do it.“With it wrapped like this, how are you supposed to sleep at night?” Luca asked as she began unwrapping the ba
Abel chuckled. His voice was low and gravelly.“Hera, let’s agree on something. Don’t use threats of leaving to manipulate me anymore, or I won’t be happy,” said Abel in a low voice.What might have sounded like a plea or a compromise came across to Hera as a veiled threat.The cool sensation of his fingers brushed against her eyelids, and she could not help but shiver. His touch felt as cold as death itself. She could not feel a trace of warmth.Her hands clenched tightly together. The tension in her grip was the only thing keeping her from trembling further.“Alright,” Hera murmured obediently.Abel withdrew his hand. Hera opened her eyes. A strange unease stirred within her. For reasons she could not quite explain, Abel’s behavior filled her with an unsettling dread…“Will you stay at the hospital with me tonight?” Hera could not help but crave some semblance of comfort.Abel frowned slightly. “Stay here with you? And what about Luca?”“You could just send her home. I onl