Luca put the trekking poles away. She saw that Luke's hair was dripping with water. She thought of taking the paper towels from her backpack to dry his hair, but her backpack was not waterproof, and the paper towels had already turned into a pile of mush. There was nothing she could do about that, and she closed her backpack. Luke had always kept an impeccable appearance, so Luca was quite surprised to see that unkempt side of his. In any case, her appearance was in the same sorry state. "What do we do now, Mr. Crawford?" Luca asked for his opinion. Luke took out his phone. His clothes were soaked, and his phone could not be turned on. "Can you use your phone?" Luca took out her phone from her backpack. Her phone had been enhanced by the people on the Island of Despair, so it was waterproof. Even so, it had already turned itself off. She looked at Luke and said, "I can only turn it on after it's dry." Without a usable phone, they could not call Jason or inform the villa s
It was the first time that Luca had to lie outdoors with no regard to her image. She wondered if she would have to spend the night with Luke here. If the rain continued, it would not be very convenient for Jason and the others to find them… After lying for some time, Luca thought that the hard stone surface was quite uncomfortable. She slowly flipped to the other side and happened to meet Luke's gaze. She was surprised. When did he start looking at her? "Are you uncomfortable?" Luke noticed that she was not lying still. Perhaps it was caused by the injury on her waist. "No, it's just that the surface is quite tiring to lie on. I just wanted to change sides," Luca half-closed her eyes to avert his gaze. Lying on the other side was a little easier on her back, but her clothes were wet, so it was not very comfortable. She did not mind the wet clothes too much, but she knew that Luke was a clean freak.Even though Luke was sitting there calmly, Luca could guess that he was s
Luca had drunk from the bottle earlier… Luca saw that Luke had gulped down more than half of the water in his bottle. She could tell that he was thirsty and tired. She thought for a while and said, "Mr. Crawford, I mixed some glucose in my bottle. Do you want to drink from this?" Luke looked at her and said nothing. "But I already drank from it. It's okay if you mind it…" Luca thought he did not want to drink from the same bottle as her. When she was about to keep it in her backpack, Luke opened his mouth. "You should save it for yourself," he said. He thought that Luca needed more nourishment than him because she was hurt. They only had two bottles of drinkable water between them, and looking at the heavy rain outside, they might have to spend the night there. That was why Luke did not want to take the bottle from her. "Alright then…" Luca thought that he was disgusted by the offer. She did not say anything and put the bottle back into her backpack. The strong wind con
Luke listened to her earnest explanation. It was as if she was trying to cover up something. However, he was not able to verify what she said, so he did not say anything.It was getting darker. Luke glanced at the time on his watch and found that it was already 11 o'clock.Luca’s stomach started to gurgle. He immediately looked at her when he heard the sound.Luca touched her stomach, embarrassed. The sound came from her stomach. She never thought that after a few months of living a comfortable life, her stomach would become so sensitive."You’re hungry?" Luke stood up, wanting to see if he could find anything to eat nearby.There was a lot to eat in the mountains. Before it rained, he did not expect to be trapped here for so long."No, Mr. Crawford. Where are you going?" Luca saw him walk to the pavilion and stood up as well."I’ll head out to have a look. When we walked past the area today, I seemed to see a fruit forest," Luke said.Luca also remembered that there was a frui
Luca leaned against Luke and silently endured the pain she felt in her heart.The scene was what she had dreamed and hoped for countless nights. Now that she was able to curl up beside him, those dreams had come true.However, she was still unhappy.What Luca wanted was not his indifferent attitude. Even though the temperature of his body could warm her body, she was not close to getting the warmth and love from his heart.She initially thought that Luke's concern toward her was real.However, it seemed that it was all fake. His attitude was cold, and she knew she had no grounds to ask him to treat her warmly."Get some sleep. It's going to be dawn soon," Luke said with his eyes closed.Luca did not know how he knew she was not asleep. She leaned against him and closed her eyes.At dawn, the rain stopped.When the rain stopped, the birds in the forest flew out. Luca opened her eyes. When she heard the birds chirping, she knew that the weather was clear.Luca raised her gaze.
This incident was the staff member’s fault, and the manager knew that they were in the wrong. He said with a smile, "Villa Almira takes protective measures as such seriously. These stones are an accident. Don't worry, I’ve already got someone to go down with food and water. They’ll look for Mr. Crawford and the others starting from the fork in the road."Jason showed no reaction toward the arrangement, and the manager was stumped.The manager could only urge the porters to move faster when he saw Jason’s temperamental reaction.An hour later, the stones on the mountain road were cleared. Jason looked at the figures in the distance and hurriedly ran down. "Boss."When he got closer, he realized that Luke was carrying Luca."Dr. Craw, are you alright?" Jason asked with concern. He knew that the situation was bad and Tina was in big trouble."I'm fine," Luca said. She would not have to be carried by Luke if he had not realized that her waist was still hurting.Jason did not know wh
Luke knew that Jason was gone but he maintained the same position. He sat there and stared at the laptop screen.His mind was full of memories from last night and what had happened in the past. They were different things but the memories were overlapping with each other. It was messy.Everyone sang with different vocalization patterns. Different languages would lead to different vocalizations as well.He thought of the tone of the song Luca sang last night. The more he thought about it, the more the tone sounded like Bianca’s vocals.Luke raised his hand to cover his forehead. He was overthinking, and his thoughts were everywhere...If a person deliberately tried to imitate another person, they would try to sound similar to their target. He was confused because with Luca, there were some differences in the similarities."Luca, who the hell are you..." Luke muttered to himself.On the other hand.Luca took a taxi back to the hotel. Tina was still being cautious around her. She w
Hearing that, Luca immediately said, "Don't worry about it. I'll head down for dinner tonight."Tina nodded and repeated the doctor's words. "Alright then, Dr. Craw. Don't do strenuous exercise and rest more so that you don't burden the muscles in your waist.""Mm, got it." Luca nodded.After Tina left, she lay on the bed, put the laptop aside, and watched the tracking program run. She noticed that Amur was headed toward the border.The mission that Abel gave him was probably related to the border trade.Luca thought of the drugs that Abel had instructed Amur to snatch on the black market in New York and how Amur was currently heading toward the border. She knew that there was something illegal going on...She clenched her fists at the thought of Abel putting Amur in danger...If Amur's plan failed, he would be one of the world's most wanted criminals.Luca yawned as she looked at the moving red dots. Amur would not arrive at his destination so quickly, so she could still get s
“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