After Luke promised them what he would do, the twins exchanged relieved glances. Luke had always carried through his promises. Lanie and Rainie knew that Luke had always loved the real Bianca. The impostor Bianca, who had lived in their house for three years, had never received his love. Rainie yawned and rubbed her eyes. Luke stroked her hair and said gently. "You should go to bed if you're tired." "Alright. Good night, Daddy." Rainie nodded and walked toward the door. Before she left the room, she turned around and said, "Good night, Lanie." "Good night." Luke looked at the two children. It must have been hard for them to keep their discovery a secret. However, he could not expose the impostor's lies before the real Bianca was found, and he was worried that the children might not be able to keep the secret anymore. "I'll handle this. You have to pretend that you don't know anything." Lanie and Rainie understood what he meant, so they nodded. After Rainie left, Luke stoo
Sue and Jason wanted to invite Luca for dinner to thank her. They did not want to make it too restrictive, which was why they had planned for a home-cooked dinner. Now that Luca had come to their house bearing gifts, it felt too formal. It would be rude for Sue not to accept the gifts, so she took the bulging shopping bag from Luca's hands. "Thanks, but you shouldn't have. We should be the ones to thank you." "You're welcome," Luca smiled and said. She saw Jason come out of the kitchen wearing an apron. She smiled and said, "So this is how you look when you're out of a suit, Mr. Doyle." Jason smiled. "Don't tease me, Dr. Craw. Sue, what do you plan to do with the fish?" "How about roasting it with herb stuffing?" Sue said, then turned to ask Luca, "Dr. Craw, do you like roast fish? Let me know if you'd rather eat something else. We've prepared a lot of ingredients today." "I'm not picky. I'd be glad to eat whatever you serve," Luca said. "If that's the case, I'll make you
Sue took the tray and started stuffing the fish with herbs and vegetables. She remembered Luke's character and asked Jason, "Mr. Crawford is a picky eater. Is he going to comment on my cooking?" "I don't think so," Jason said after giving the question some thought. He added, "He probably won't touch it." "That'll be so awkward. I don't even know why he wants to come," Sue mumbled. Jason shook his head and continued to help Sue in the kitchen. In the living room, Kari and Teri were holding their dolls in their hands while Luca helped them dress up the dolls and braid their hair. She found the tasks easy because she had played with dolls with Rainie before. Kari smiled sweetly when Luca was done with her doll. "You made the doll look pretty, Ms. Luca," she said. "Yes! That's better than what Mommy can do," Teri said. Luca smiled sheepishly. Sue would not be happy if she heard her daughters say that. Suddenly, the doorbell rang. The caretaker, who had been sitting in the
Luca lifted her head, and the two pairs of eyes met, which caused her to shudder involuntarily. Sue took out a bottle of red wine from the cabinet. She smiled and said, "I'm in the mood today. Shall we all have a drink? I know it's weird to pair red wine with fish, but we're all friends here, and we don't really mind that, do we?" Luca's alcohol capacity was quite high now, and she did not have to drive herself home later, so she had no problems with drinking during dinner. She nodded and said, "Alright." Luke did not voice his opinion. Jason said, "Let's not, Sue. Ms. Crawford drove here. If he drank wine, how is he going to drive home later?" "If he can't drive home, he can spend the night here," Sue said matter-of-factly. "Mr. Crawford, if you don't want to spend the night here, I'll get some freshly-squeezed orange juice for you. That's what the children are drinking too." Luke glanced at the bottle of red wine in her hands. He knew that Jason had bought some bottles wh
Jason saw them off at the front gate. They were about a hundred meters away from where Luke's car was parked. While they were walking toward Luke's car, Luca took the opportunity to say, "It's fine, Mr. Crawford, I can go back on my own." "Are you afraid of me?" Luke suddenly stopped walking, turned around, and looked into her eyes. Luca was taken aback by the question. Was she afraid of him? She could not say so, but she hoped that she could avoid any interactions with him. If she eventually failed to escape from Abel's clutches, or if she was too late and he had already found someone else, she would not have to be so sad. By reducing her interactions with him, she hoped that she would be able to accept the eventuality that she might not meet him again. "I'm not afraid of you. It's just that it's already so late, and our houses are in separate directions. If you send me home, it'll be very late by the time you get back to your house. Mrs. Crawford should be waiting for you a
After Luca left, Sean returned to the driver's seat and asked Luke, "Shall we go back to Crawford Manor now, Sir?" "Let's go." After watching Luca's figure disappear into the night, he turned his head away and said. After Sean heard that, he started the car. Luke continued, "Don't tell anyone about what happened earlier." "I saw nothing, Sir," Sean replied. He understood what Luke meant. Luke said nothing. He leaned back on his seat and closed his eyes. The odd sense of familiarity became more intense when he went closer to her earlier. When she said the words "Mrs. Crawford," that had made him inexplicably angry. It was as though those words should not have been spoken by her mouth. He could not describe the feeling he had earlier. He knew that he had never lost control like that for a long time. When he was at the closest point, his full attention was focused on her lips. If she did not stop her, would he have kissed her? Luke was suddenly reminded of the impostor
Luca's hatred toward Abel grew as she listened to the busy tone on the phone. She had tried to stay away from Luke and carry out Abel's orders, yet Abel was toying with her feelings. Tears of agony flowed down Luca's cheeks. What could she do to free herself from this mess? She knew Luke too well. Luke was not one who would want to seek a relationship with other people. Even though she had been constantly lying to him, he kept on trying to approach her. It only meant that she was somehow special to him… Luca threw the phone on the bed and covered her face. She could not stop her tears from falling. Amur stood outside her room and listened to the sounds from inside. Luca had lost control of her emotions and had spoken a little too loudly, and he had overheard her conversation… 'Abel…' Amur clenched his fists hatefully. He wished that he could claim that man's life. … Meanwhile, after Luke returned to Crawford Manor, he was surprised to see that Bianca was still awake
Bianca pretended to look awkward. "But Grandpa, it's been a long time since I went out with Luke alone…" Old Master Crawford glanced at her. Before he could say anything, Lanie, who had been quiet all this while, said, "Tommy, let's not disturb Daddy and Mommy's date. Let's go and play some video games, alright?" Lanie knew that Luke must have something important to do, and that was why he wanted to bring Bianca and no one else. The reason most likely had to do with the fact that the woman was an impostor. Tommy turned to look at Lanie, then at Bianca. Bianca took the chance to say, "That's right, Tommy. Lanie has a big collection of video games. Don't you want to play with him?" Tommy hesitated. Rainie chimed in too. "Tommy, how about we go to Ms. Luca's house after playing video games?" She suggested that because she knew that Tommy adored Luca. As expected, Tommy chose Luca over Bianca. He nodded and said, "Really? Can we really go to Ms. Luca's house?" "Of cours
“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