When Luca turned away, her hair gently swayed in the direction of her movement. Luke caught a whiff of her shampoo. His heart skipped a beat as he took in the slight fragrance. As far as he remembered, Bianca did not use perfume, and the smell of her shampoo blended naturally with the fragrance of her body. Luca stepped out of the car and turned around to look at Luke, who was still sitting in the car. "Mr. Crawford?" She called out gently. Luke came to his senses and stepped out of the car. They went into Tommy's room one after another. Tommy had stopped crying when he knew that Luca was coming, but his eyes remained puffy and bloodshot. "Daddy, Ms. Luca…" His voice was soft and shrill, as though he had a lot of grievances. Luca could empathize with Tommy. A fever was an uncomfortable experience, and it was normal for Tommy to be unhappy about it. "Tommy, are you hungry?" Luca went to the bedside and asked. Old Master Crawford had already gone home, so she did not fe
From Luke's expression, Johann could tell what he was thinking. He rubbed his chin and tried to speak up for Dr. Blake. "Don't be like that. Any head physician in our hospital has to be a skilled doctor. You can't blame him for what happened to Sis; none of us knew what happened, including me. It's only thanks to Dr. Craw that her condition improved, so you shouldn't think that Dr. Blake is incapable. Also, your tantrum has scared all the people in the internal medicine department. It took me a lot of effort to convince Dr. Blake to stay on duty tonight." Head physicians need not take the night shift, but Johann could not trust the other doctors to take care of Tommy. That was why he went to convince Dr. Blake to stay back. Luke did not say anything. He did not want other doctors to take care of Tommy. Tommy was Bianca's favorite child. If the real Bianca eventually returned, she would be sad if she found out that Tommy was ill. Johann took Luke's silence as consent. He turne
Luca stopped moving when she sensed Tommy's reaction. She continued to pat Tommy's back. The caretaker yawned and went to take her position on the other bed. Luke turned off the lights. The only source of illumination in the room was a small table lamp next to the couch. Luca slowly dozed off as she listened to the child's even breathing. She let her guard down, even though Luke was still observing her. A while later, she sensed that the child's body temperature was beginning to rise. She placed Tommy on the bed and sat up straight. The table lamp near the couch cast a long shadow from behind her, and she could not see Tommy clearly, so she turned on the bedside lamp. Tommy's face was a much redder color. His fever had returned. Luke noticed her movements and asked her, "What's wrong?" "Tommy's fever is back." Luca rang the bell. Dr. Blake and the nurse quickly came into the room. "Is Tommy having a fever again?" Dr. Blake asked and inserted a thermometer in the child
After breakfast, the hospital corridors began to fill up with people. Luca guessed that the results of the bacteria culture test should be out by any time now. As expected, Johann came to the room half an hour later with the report in his hands. "I've read the report. Indeed, Tommy's fever is caused by a bacterial infection," he said. Luke frowned when he heard that. That must be Bianca's going. The child did not have any external injuries, and he only ate the food from Crawford Manor. There was no other way he could have gotten a bacterial infection. Thinking of what Bianca told him earlier, he realized that it was not a lie for him to free her. He had always believed what Bianca said. That was why he had asked Johann to treat Tommy's illness to be something more than a regular fever. There was no other reason why Bianca could so accurately predict Tommy's fever even though she was confined in the mansion… "I have to say that this is a rare bacteria in this region becaus
"How could she do that…" Amur said while clenching his fists. Even though he did not want Luca interacting with the children too often, he could not help but be angry at what Bianca had done to Tommy. That reminded him of what Abel did many years ago. To quickly expand his influence, Abel attacked several nearby villages and abducted their inhabitants. Anyone who was not fit enough to be a mercenary would become an experimental subject, and no one cared if they lived or died. Abel was physically weak, and he nearly became one of those experimental subjects. Fortunately, he was still very young, and the mercenaries in charge of training them thought he still had room to grow. That was why he was spared of that fate. After he met Luca, he trained hard so that he could become stronger. Luca was angrier than he was, but she managed to control her fury. She analyzed the situation for Amur, "I'm guessing that the impostor Bianca is now held captive in Luke's mansion, and Gale and
All the researchers were in their respective laboratories performing their research to secure the next stage of funding. That was why Rhett thought that Cole would be in his laboratory rather than in his office. Seeing that Luca was so insistent, he did not say anything. Luca walked in front of the manager's office and knocked on the door. "Come in." A voice was heard from within, which made Rhett surprised. Luca opened the door and went inside, and Rhett quickly followed behind. Cole was sitting on his chair, dressed in his white lab coat. He smiled and greeted the woman in front of him, pretending that he was oblivious to what happened in Luca's laboratory. "It's you, Dr. Craw. How can I help you? Are you taking the day off again?" Luca shook her head and told him about the situation in her laboratory. Cole acted as though he was shocked after hearing what Luca had to say. "How is that possible? I hope that you're not joking, Dr. Craw. Your research is far ahead compared to
Dr. Cole waved his hand and asked Talia to leave after he heard her repeated assurance.After Talia left his office, he picked up his phone and called Jason to report on the situation. He took the opportunity to wash the problem off his hands as well. Jason did not comment after he listened to what Dr. Cole had to say. All he did was acknowledge the situation.After Dr. Cole put down the call, he touched his chin and thought about it. He could not sense anything from Jason's tone and wondered whether Luke would take Luca’s side once again.He was not entirely confident.After Luca left Dr. Cole's office, she went straight to the laboratory. The staff had already cleaned up the mess, including the broken experiment instruments."Is everything sorted out?" she asked.One of the researchers handed her a few sheets of paper and said, "Dr. Craw, we just checked and these are the data that have been wiped clean. The computer archive has been completely deleted as well and we don’t k
"Are you sure that the computer's backup data can't be repaired?" Luke asked. His tone was still calm after such a serious incident.The research progress of the new drug was disrupted, and the expected profits would be affected as well. However, he seemed to be indifferent."I’m not certain. We have to wait until the relevant technicians check on it to know for sure," Luca said. She returned to her seat and quietly moved her chair farther away. She thought that it was best she kept a distance from Luke. The farther, the better."The company is going to go through a comprehensive upgrade of the system and the team will have their hands full with that. If you know some talents who are skilled with computers, feel free to make a recommendation." Luke flipped through the data, his expression still flat.Luca smiled upon hearing his words, and she replied, "Mr. Crawford, I don't know anyone like that. Maybe you can ask the other staff and Dr. Cole."Luke was turning the page and pause
“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