Bailey did not care if her actions scared the children at the scene. After all, those children were not hers. She looked around and did not see Sue, so she asked, "Where's Sue?" The caretaker knew who Bailey was. Bailey would come to Jason's mansion and cause a ruckus once in a while. She did not check the security camera before answering the door because she thought another guest had arrived. She only realized that it was Bailey after she opened the door, but it was too late to close it. Bailey was stronger than the caretaker, and the caretaker could not close the door. After Bailey pushed the door open, she barged into the house. The caretaker followed behind her in case she did something rash. Luca frowned when she saw Bailey's brazen expression. She could tell that Bailey deliberately came to cause trouble during the girls' birthday party. Bailey also spotted Luca in the living room. From what the hooligans she hired told her, she knew Luca was a good fighter. Bailey
When Sue heard Bailey's derogatory language, she wanted to rush up to her, but Jason grabbed her wrist. She glared at the man angrily, but her gaze was also full of grievances. Jason realized that his tolerance toward Bailey had caused Sue and the two girls much suffering. He said, "Let me handle this." Sue looked at him and nodded. She would not be so bothered by Bailey's antics if it were any other day, but it was Kari and Teri's birthday party, and Bailey had said such filth in front of the other children. Jason took her hand, and they walked down the last step of the flight of stairs. Bailey was livid when she saw that. "I see that you have the guts to come downstairs, Sue Carter!" Bailey wanted to pry their hands apart. Sue was angry when she heard those words. The house was hers, and she could go wherever she wanted. It did not belong to that woman! She wanted to step forward, but Jason tried to comfort her. "Sue, you should bring the children upstairs." "No," S
Now that the drama was over, Luca breathed a sigh of relief. She was about to sit on the couch when she noticed Luke and Tommy standing in the side garden. She was shocked. Why were they standing there? As they looked at each other, Luke took Tommy's hand and said, "Let's go inside." Luca watched the father and son walk away, then appear at the front door. She wondered if they were standing in the garden to watch the drama. She did not know when they had appeared there, or how much they had heard. After they came into the living room, Tommy pulled away from Luke's hand and ran toward Luca. "I miss you so much, Ms. Luca. Why are you here too?" "I was invited," Luca smiled and took Tommy's hand. She lifted her head and glanced at Luke, then turned her head away. Because of her, Tommy had been close to Kari and Teri since they were babies. It was normal for Sue to invite Tommy to the girls' birthday party, but Luca did not expect Luke to be the one sending him over. 'Shoul
Luke's eyelids drooped when he heard that. Luca looked at the eagerness on the child's face. The impostor Bianca was already dead, and Luke would probably never find the real Bianca… On Tommy's next birthday, the woman who would blow out Tommy's candles with Tommy would be Tia… Luca felt uneasy as she held the child's hand in her hand. The more she thought about Tia, the more awkward she felt standing next to Tommy and Luke. She could understand why Luke would be deceived by the impostor Bianca. After all, he did not know that Bianca was an impostor. Now that the impostor Bianca was out of the picture, he was involved in a scandal with Tia. She thought that the man she loved had changed… However, the change was not entirely unexpected. The real Bianca had been missing for three years, so what right did she have to demand Luke to be loyal to her? Luca saw that Sue was cutting the cake. She let go of Tommy's hand and said, "I'll go and help her." Tommy nodded. Luca went
Sue shook her head and said, "Which of their plans would involve a psychologist?" Nina shook her head to show that she did not know. Percy was on an overseas business trip, and she did not know what was going on. Sue looked at Luca, who had been keeping silent. "Luca, aren't you working at the T Corporation building? Have you heard any stories?" "If Mr. Crawford and Mr. Doyle were really planning something, they would have done so in secret. I'm only a researcher, so what could I possibly know? I hear many other employees gossiping about the news, and that's about it," Luca said with a smile. She ate the last bite of the cake and felt full. She did not want to hear her friends talk about the issue. The taste of the cake seemed to have changed, and the cream clung to her throat and made it hard to breathe. Luca was uneasy for the rest of the party. Until the party ended, Luke and Jason remained upstairs discussing something. The other parents came and brought their childre
Luca looked at the LCD screen. Indeed, Anna's name was on the screen, and she was undergoing an examination. Jean stashed a stack of bills in Nina's hand and said, "Don't just stand there. Go pay up. I managed to convince the doctor to conduct the examination first." "Haven't you paid?" Nina's hand trembled in anger as she looked at bills in her hand. "I told you that I don't have money! That's enough talk. Go and pay up. Other than the charges for the examination, there's also the resuscitation fee," Jean said heartlessly. "I just gave Mom this month's living expenses. How can you not have money?" Nina was about to pass out from anger. It was her responsibility to take care of her parents, but she was not responsible for Jean. She had only given the month's living expenses to her mother when she visited her earlier. It was impossible that they did not have money! "Why are you asking so many questions? I said that we don't have money. You can't wait for Mom to die, right?"
Nina knew that she had no other choice. Jean would not give her their mother's handbag, and the nurse would not run the tests if she had to go home to bring the debit card. She could not tell if Anna's condition was critical, and she could not afford to take the risk. She nodded and said, "Alright, I'll borrow some money from you. When I get home later, I'll transfer the money to your bank account." "Give me the bills. I'll go and pay," Luca said. Nina handed the bills to Luca, and Luca went to the payment counter. Nina turned to speak to the nurse, "My friend is paying the bills now, Miss. Can you schedule the tests for my mother?" The nurse thought that Nina seemed trustworthy. She nodded and said, "Alright. I'll bring your mother to the next test then." Jean watched Luca as she walked away. Instead of worrying about his mother, he smiled perversely and asked Nina, "Hey, Nina, is that chick your friend?" "I don't care if you want to flirt with other girls, Jean, but y
"We're here," Nina said hurriedly. The nurse came over while wheeling Anna's gurney. "We've completed all the tests on the patients, and we'll move her back to the emergency ward for now. The results will be ready in half an hour, and the doctor will discuss the treatment plan with you after that." "Alright." Nina walked over to the gurney and helped the nurse wheel Anna into the emergency ward. Luca walked next to Nina and held her handbag. Jean, on the other hand, followed behind them. His gaze turned perverse and sinister as he ogled Luca's body. He could tell that Luca was in a different league than Nina. Nina relied on Percy for money. Luca seemed independent. Otherwise, she would not have dressed so modestly. If he could get her to become his girlfriend, he would not have to worry about money for the rest of his life. Luca's fists slowly clenched up as she sensed the gaze behind her. However, she had to remain composed when she was with Nina. She was not the meek
“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