She cried in Luke's arms for a long, long time until the surrounding crickets quieted down. Bianca had tired herself from crying and felt a faint soreness in her lower abdomen and lower back.It was a feeling that she had for years which she experienced once every month.Only this time, it seemed to have come many days in advance.When a woman’s body did not get enough rest, the body would react abnormally, and that included having irregular periods.Bianca withdrew from his arms. She was anxious and embarrassed. She squeezed out the warm tears from her eyes.When Luke’s chest suddenly felt empty, he looked sadly at her and asked, “Should we head back to A City or continue looking around the town? Does Grandpa have any relatives in town?”He would respect any decision she made."Grandpa doesn’t have any relatives in town..."Bianca suddenly thought that if Grandpa really ran away from home, he would never return to town.When she thought about it, she started worrying about Gr
Bianca slept until seven o'clock in the morning.Mornings in the small town were no better than mornings in A City. Since the main street was only a few meters away from the guest house, it was very noisy.The sound of people selling things early in the street naturally floated toward Bianca's ears.After she slowly woke up, Bianca saw that she was in the guest house’s tiny room. It was mostly empty except for the narrow bed she lay on. The windows were open and the air conditioner was turned off.Although her body was uncomfortable due to her period, she was able to get one of the most peaceful nights of sleep last night in recent days.Bianca got up, took the phone next to the pillow, and looked at the time. It was already past seven o'clock.Where did Luke go?When she left the room to change her pads, the lady owner passed by her and said to Bianca, "You’re up early. Your husband is outside having a smoke.”Bianca nodded blankly.The husband she mentioned was obviously ref
"Two? That's fast! You guys have already given birth twice…" The child's mother looked at Bianca with shock. "You don't look like you've been pregnant before! I would've never guessed it! A mother of two!" Bianca smiled awkwardly. After chatting for a while and before leaving the town, Luke called his ex-classmate to talk between the two of them. Luke looked very serious as he said something to his ex-classmate. The ex-classmate who was carrying the child listened seriously, then nodded his head before nodding again. On their way back to A City, Bianca did not ask him about anything. In a daze, she slept in the car again. When they were back in the city center, the road was stable again. Luke also drove slower because he was afraid that she would wake up. In the end, she slept all the way until they reached the apartment. She was slowly woken up by her period cramps. When Bianca opened her eyes, she forcefully took a few breaths. She pressed her lower abdomen with both
Bianca entered the subway.On the way from Luke's apartment to the subway station, she did not look back, but she knew that Luke was following her the entire way quietly. He was still worried about her.The train moved, and after many stops, it finally arrived at her destination.Bianca went down and walked toward the exit.…Her neighborhood.Bianca saw the police and Jason.She walked toward Jason. After Jason saw her, he stopped smoking and turned around to look at her. Initially, he thought that she was with Mr. Crawford."Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Doyle. Go back and rest," Bianca said gratefully and sincerely.Jason knew that his job was to do things for other people. However, it was the first time someone had verbally thanked him, so he could not help but be a little embarrassed. "It's fine. If you want to thank someone, thank Mr. Crawford."He would never forget to give credit to his boss."Bea!" Sue got out of the car with a laptop in her hands.Bianca raise
There were faint red marks on Bianca's face which were particularly eye-catching.Sue sat in front and was nearer to the boss. She held a signing pen and did not dare to look her boss in the eye, even more so than usual.The air-conditioning in the conference room was on full blast, but when their boss’ face darkened, the room felt colder. It was as if the air had condensed into an invisible layer of ice, freezing everyone's expressions."What's happened to your face?"In the silent atmosphere, the boss suddenly asked calmly.No one dared to answer.Since the head of their department had not arrived yet, as the team leader, Sue had to put on a bold face and tell her boss in detail, “A male colleague suddenly went crazy and grabbed a bunch of folders to hit Bianca in the face."It was a serious meeting and not a private one. Bianca looked up and said, "It's nothing. Thank you for your concern, Mr. Crawford."When Sue heard that, her heart cracked!Bianca was acting too distant.
From the sound of Xavier's tone, he did not seem like he was joking at all.It was precisely because of how serious he looked that Bianca could feel cold sweat all over her body when she looked at him."You’re the one who took away my grandpa?” Bianca asked.Xavier looked at her eyes that were full of panic and hatred. He answered her seriously, "Duh. Who else would take away your grandfather secretly?”Both of them looked into each other’s eyes.With tears in her eyes, Bianca hit him like a madwoman as she tried to get away from him. "You despicable and shameless man! You’ve committed a crime! You’ve kidnapped a person!”Xavier grabbed her fragile body with his big hands. He no longer allowed her to punch and kick him as she pleased. "What do you know about crimes, little girl? You’re just a little girl who’s still wet in your ears!”When she could not kick or move anymore, Xavier pointed the screen of his phone to her.She watched.A video played on Xavier's cell phone. She
"Aunt Bea..."Bianca heard a voice and looked up.It was Lanie.The Tanner family even invited the Crawford family…The interior design of the private hall was luxurious. The round table was seated fully around. She knew some of them while the others were strangers. The table was also full of expensive dishes and famous wines.Rainie's little pink chubby face emerged from the desserts.Her eyes inevitably swept over to the man’s suddenly darkened face. Bianca immediately felt as if dark clouds were pressing down on her. She lowered her head and tried to pull her hand out of Xavier's big hand.Not only did Xavier not let go of her, but he also pulled a chair out while still having his arms around her. He said, "Sit next to my mom."The colors of the two marriage certificates were dazzling. They were as red as two big pools of mosquito blood."From now on, we’re a family, Bea. Don't be scared. No matter what, I’ll always be there as your mother.”Grandaunt said those words spec
When Luke's eyes fell on her, there were no obvious reactions.Just when she was at a loss and did not know whether to exit or stay, he frowned and put out the cigarette butt in the ashtray. He took his phone, got up, and left the huge conference room.The meeting room had two doors.He walked through the other door.Bianca stood there for a long, long time before she remembered what she was there for.She turned on the machine and turned down the volume. After putting on the headset, she then looked at the meeting content displayed on the projection screen. She jotted down the key points while she watched the recording, her fingers typing away on her laptop’s keyboard in front of her.After recording down the content of the previous meeting, it was already past three in the afternoon when Bianca went back down.Sue had been waiting for her for a long time.When she saw Bianca, Sue thoughtfully placed a cup of coffee on her table. "I heard from Jason that you’ve found your gran
Sophian stood before her. Her face was a picture of hesitation and discomfort. “Madam Allison, how about you order using your phone?”“What? You can’t even handle this small task?” At this point, Allison had completely shifted her view of Sophian, now seeing her as just another maid. Her previous tone vanished, replaced by a much more domineering attitude.Sophian felt helpless and quickly explained, “It’s just that the food from this place is just too expensive. I don’t have that kind of money.”Once she finished speaking, a flush of embarrassment crossed her face.Sophian had come back with Allison to work off the debt she owed from her cosmetic surgery. Therefore, she had no money to spare.Allison paused for a moment, a thought crossing her mind. After a brief moment, she picked up her phone and said, “It's not like I'm having you pay for it. You can't even temporarily cover it?”Sophian smiled awkwardly. “I just transferred money to the hospital.”Allison let out a faint hu
“You don’t like eating outside food, do you?” Luca thought that preparing breakfast and dinner for him was not a big deal.Besides, the main point was that Luke did not like eating out. He always felt the taste was off and lacked nutrition.“Actually, it’s not that I don’t like eating out. It's just that all the food outside tastes the same to me.” Luke gently squeezed her hand.“Hey, focus on driving.” Luca chuckled.Luke withdrew his hand and returned it to the steering wheel. “With that woman around, it wouldn’t be convenient for you to cook. Are you really going to make breakfast for them too?”If that happened, it would defeat the purpose of his plan.Luca thought for a moment. She did not mind ignoring Sophian, but if she cooked for Luke and not for Allison, that might not sit well with her. Allison could easily make a fuss over even the smallest details. “So, should we just eat out for breakfast and dinner from now on?”“Yes.” Luke did not mind.It did not matter where t
“Something I like?” Luca laughed. “What could that be?”“You’ll find out when we get there.” Luke kept it mysterious.“Alright then, I’ll wait for your surprise, Mr. Crawford.” Luca was in good spirits without letting family issues dampen her mood. Therefore, she video-called the kids.Luca dialed Mr. Griffin’s number.After Mr. Griffin answered the call, he handed the phone to Lanie. “Young Master Lanie, Ms. Craw wants to talk to you.”“Thank you, Mr. Griffin.” Lanie took the phone and pressed ‘accept’.Luca positioned the camera to include both her and Luke. She waved at the screen. “Lanie, Rainie, Tommy, what are you all doing?”“Lanie! Lanie, I want to talk to Ms. Luca!” Tommy waved excitedly at the camera, eager to take the phone.Lanie handed it to him. “Go on, tell Daddy and Ms. Luca about your good news.”Luca smiled and asked with curiosity. “Good news?”“Daddy, Ms. Luca, I made it to the next level in the math competition! The finals are this Saturday!” Tommy said e
“Why are you being so slow?” Allison was irritated. She shoved the products into Sophian’s hands.“I told you to use them, so just use them.” Allison ran out of patience. After urging Sophian, she lay back down.Sophian had no choice but to follow her instructions and poured out some product. The texture of the product in her palm made her pause for a moment. It was incredibly moisturizing!She gently patted it onto Allison's face and noticed the area she touched felt just as smooth.Allison let out a content sigh. “This essence is really soothing.”Even though Sophian was still worried about potential side effects, she could not help but admire the instant hydrating effect. She asked in a low voice, “Madam Allison, is this really developed by that woman?”She could not believe that Luca had such skills and wondered if the essence had just been repackaged into another bottle and sold as her own creation.“That's what she says,” replied Allison. “But she's into pharmaceuticals, s
After agreeing to become the maid, Sophian’s excitement gradually turned into anxiety.The villa was so large. Could she really handle all the tasks a maid was supposed to do?As she thought about it, she accidentally left the bread in the toaster for too long. After serving it to Allison, she was scolded.“What’s this? It’s just a slice of toast. How could you burn it like this? How am I supposed to eat it?” Allison was clearly displeased.Sophian awkwardly explained, “Madam Allison, this is my first time using this toaster. I didn’t quite get the temperature right...”Allison was about to keep complaining but paused for a moment, remembering that Sophian was the one she had brought in to be the maid. Now, she was the only one who could make breakfast for her. She disdainfully tore off the burnt part and took a bite. “Where’s the soy milk?”“It’ll bring it out,” replied Sophian, heading back to the kitchen. She brought out two glasses of soy milk and another slice of toast tha
“Are you planning to tell me that Madam Allison brought someone back?” Luca had a feeling she knew what was going on. Luca had been wondering why Allison had taken such a big risk by going out during the day, but it all made sense now.“Yes, she brought someone back and said she'll be taking over my job,” Aunt Neile replied helplessly. She was worried she had lost her competitive edge, which made her feel anxious.“I got it, Aunt Neile.” As soon as Luca spoke, there was a cheer from inside the lab. She glanced back and saw that there seemed to be progress in the research. Rhett gave her a thumbs-up to signal success.She slightly smiled and nodded before hearing Aunt Neile's voice again on the phone. “Ms. Craw, there’s something I’d like to say, though I’m not sure if I should. I’ve thought about it, and I feel like I should. Even though Mr. Crawford isn’t the type to fool around, you have to be careful. He has no interest in that woman, but she’s clearly interested in him. You sh
Allison watched the two of them go upstairs, and instantly, her temper flared.Not allowed, huh?Allison refused to believe it. She would find a way to turn things around and reclaim her position in this family!…The next morning, as Luke and Luca came downstairs, they noticed Aunt Neile looking at them with red, puffy eyes.“Aunt Neile, what happened?” Luca was puzzled. What happened?“Mr. Crawford, Ms. Craw, Madam Allison just told me that I’m fired.” Aunt Neile looked distraught. She thought Allison’s words yesterday were just a joke, but first thing in the morning, she was told to settle her wages and leave. She was completely stunned.“Mr. Crawford, did I do something wrong?”Luke’s brows furrowed. Allison’s behavior was truly astonishing.“You’re not fired,” replied Luke. “Is breakfast ready?”Relieved to hear she still had her job, Aunt Neile quickly wiped away her tears and let out a sigh of relief. “Yes. Mr. Crawford, Ms. Craw, please have a seat. I’ll bring it out.
Luke was driving back home with Luca. It was already 9:00 pm when they arrived at the villa.Just as they reached the foyer and had not taken more than a few steps, Allison's voice rang out.“Oh, so you're finally willing to come back from Crawford Manor?” Her voice was dripping with sarcasm.Luca did not know how to respond to Allison and looked over at Luke.Luke let go of Luca's waist and whispered, “Go upstairs first.”“Okay.” Luca nodded, changed her shoes, and was about to head upstairs when Allison said again, “Stop. Who told you to go upstairs?”“Madam Allison, is there something you need?” Luca's tone was cold, carefully masking the helplessness inside her.Since she learned that Allison would be returning to the country and moving here, Luca had mentally prepared herself to be put in a difficult position. She loved Luke, so she was willing to tolerate whatever troubles came with it.Luca believed that as long as she and Luke faced things together, there was nothing th
After finishing work, Luca headed straight to Crawford Manor.When she arrived and greeted Old Master Crawford, the three kids came running down the stairs and surrounded her. They each took turns expressing how much they missed her and Luke.Luca missed them too, so after exchanging a few words with Old Master Crawford, she went upstairs with the kids to help them with their homework.It did not take long before Luke arrived.Not seeing Luca in the living room, he asked Old Master Crawford, “Grandpa, has Luca arrived?”Old Master Crawford was in a good mood. He nodded and replied, “She's upstairs, helping the kids with their homework.”Luke sat on the couch and watched the evening news with Old Master Crawford.“Has your mother caused any trouble lately?” asked Old Master Crawford.“Not really,” answered Luke. He could still manage Allison.“That doesn’t sound like her,” added Old Master Crawford, assuming Allison would always be causing trouble.“Her condition is bad right