Luca ate alone and would not use so many dishes. Amur counted the plates and knew what had happened.He walked out with his tray and asked, "We had some visitors?"Luca paused what she was doing and did not intend to hide anything from him. "Mm, yes.""Is it Luke and the kids?" Amur continued to ask.Luca nodded. After wiping the table, she folded the rag and explained, "No one was free to take care of the kids so they came over, and then two hours later, he came too."Amur put the tray on the table, pulled out a chair, and sat down. "Crawford Manor is so big. How could it be that the kids were left unattended?"Luca knew that the kids wanted to be closer to her but she could not turn them down."Amur, they’re my children. I can’t say no to them. Everything I do now is for Nyla. I do all this without complaint because she’s my little daughter, but at the same time, I can’t only love my little daughter," she said.Amur finished the oats and looked at her, saying, "I know, but I
After Bianca turned her face sideways, Rain did not bother trying to interrogate her any further as she knew that Bianca would not talk. She left with Gale.Gale reported the incident to Luke and notified the others to get them the necessary materials.When Luke saw Gale's text, his expression turned gloomy. ‘The Island of Despair again…’When Bianca was kidnapped, he had thought that things may not be as simple as they seemed. The island was in ruins and had nothing on it. Even though he had doubts, he could not prove anything no matter how many methods he tried.Tommy was fishing with a small fishing rod that was specially prepared for him by Luke.He yawned, looked at him with his chin on his hands, and asked, "Daddy, why did your mood change all of a sudden?”"Nothing to worry about," Luke replied Gale, then put the phone back in his pocket. His fishing rod moved a bit and he slowly raised it.Tommy saw him catch a big grass carp and said enviously, "Daddy, you’re so amazing
After he entered the basement that was not well ventilated, a strong smell of blood overwhelmed his nose. Luke frowned and walked in.He was obsessed with cleanliness. He was not a fan of situations as such in the past, but now, he could not wait to confirm his suspicions.The closer Luke got to Bianca, the heavier the bloody smell was. It was clear that Gale had not held back. The sound of his footsteps alarmed the woman tied to the chair.The fake Bianca immediately raised her head, thinking it was Gale who was back to torture her again. When she saw Luke, she saw some hope. "Luke, you believe me, right? I don't know anything."Luke looked at her face, which was exactly the same as the love of his life. It was dirty. His gaze became darker."Where’s the tattoo?" His tone was cold with no trace of sympathy.When she heard that, Bianca closed her eyes to hide her despair.Rain walked behind her and pointed to the spot. "Here."Luke walked behind her and felt no pity when he s
Rain swiftly helped Bianca change.Gale had hit her hard. Bianca could not even struggle and could only lie on the bed feebly.After Rain helped her change her clothes, she thought about it and stuffed another pill into her mouth.Bianca grabbed the bed plank with her hand and stared at her. "What did you feed me?""It's just a pill that makes you weak. It's okay, you won't die." Rain patted her face and stood up. She decided to be more cautious after she thought it through.Making sure that Bianca had no strength to do other things could ensure that she would stay in the room obediently.When Bianca heard what she said, her gaze turned fierce and her strength was gradually drained. She could only watch Rain close the door and leave. The last sound she could hear was the sound of the door locking.They were giving her time to rest, but it was to torment her more later on.Bianca was lying on the bed and thought that her bones were aching from the wooden planks. Her hands hung b
Luke had a gut feeling that the incidents in A City and New York were not as simple as they seemed.When they were in the New York branch, the employees there were not able to do much other than upgrade and repair the company's system because they had no way to track the other party's IP address.This time, he assumed that they could not track the hacker as well. Luke picked up his phone and called Percy Mallory.After the phone rang five times, he heard Percy's lazy voice. It was obvious that he was still half-asleep. "Why are you calling so late?"Luke did not feel sorry for waking him up and asked, "Did you recently get to know someone well-versed with computers?"Percy held his forehead and glanced at the woman resting on his right. She had taken some sleeping pills, so the vibrations from his phone earlier did not seem to have disturbed her.He carefully pulled out his hand, got up, and walked to the balcony. "He works in our company now. What's the matter?""My company's
There was no reason other than making sure that Nina ate her meals. He had noticed that she would barely eat her breakfast after he left the house. The maid breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Nina continue eating. "Miss, Sir really cares for you. He saw that you're losing weight, and he asked your mother for the recipes of your favorite dishes. Please eat more. You need to put on some weight." Nina chuckled dryly when she heard that. If Percy truly loved her, why would he want to control every aspect of her life? Percy could not give her what she wanted. She could not feel Percy's love when that was the life he gave her. After Nina ate the two sandwiches, she stood up and said, "I'm done." The maid nodded and said, "Will you be coming home for dinner tonight, Miss? Sir asked me to make pork chops for you tonight. He said that it's your favorite." Nina paused. 'Pork chops…' Indeed, her favorite dish used to be the pork chops that her mother made for her. Come to thin
Jean remained seated there with his legs crossed. He had no intention of standing up. He raised his eyebrows in the face of Nina's fury. "What's the matter with you? I'm only telling you the hard facts. The salary you get from that company is less than what you get from Mr. Mallory in one night. You've been doing this for three years. Why are you still acting like you're offended?" Nina was trembling with rage. If she had a knife in her hands now, she would not hesitate to plunge it into his heart. There was no familial love to speak of. If she had not realized that by now, she would have lived her life in vain. Jean remained nonchalant even though Nina was furious. "Don't be angry. Everyone in A City now knows that you're Percy's mistress. It might not be a glamorous thing, but no one can deny your ability to stay by his side for so long. Listen to my advice and quit that stupid company. The company belongs to that b*tch Bianca, right? Have you forgotten what she did to me? It's
"Where are you now?" The tone on the other end of the call was not friendly. Nina was nervous when she heard that. The other person was Percy's mother and the matriarch of the Mallory family. It was not the first time that she had called Nina on the phone, but there must be a reason why she was calling Nina today. "I'm on my way to work, Mrs. Mallory. Is there anything?" Nina answered as she opened the car door. "That's 'Madam' for you, Nina. I want to talk to you about something. When are you free?" Nina smirked self-deprecatingly. Should she feel honored that Mrs. Mallory wanted to meet her at her convenience? That was such a respectful gesture! Nina knew very well why Mrs. Mallory wanted to meet her. "How about noon today? I have some free time during lunch. Mrs. Mallory replied, "Alright, noon it is. We'll meet at the restaurant under your office." "Yes, Madam." After Nina gave her reply, the other party ended the call. She chuckled dryly as she listened to the busy
“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