The maid widened her eyes and said, “Do you mean Dr. Craw? I only know that she’s a research professor in a pharmaceutical company. I’m not sure about anything else…”Leia pounded on the couch when she listened to the maid’s worthless words. “Useless piece of sh*t.”After Queenie sent Luca off, she paced back to the living room without saying anything. She then ordered the maid, “Go to my bedroom and bring my bag out. Oh yes, and Leia’s bag too.”“Mom, where are we going?” Leia saw her in a hurry and was confused. “To the hospital. I’m bringing you to the hospital for a check-up now,” Queenie said. Previously, Leia was pregnant with Brody’s child and her body was already in terrible condition then. When she was in New York, she got pregnant with her boyfriend’s child. However, they ended up aborting the child. Her body’s condition had deteriorated after undergoing an abortion twice. Queenie did not expect Leia to have liver and kidney problems other than gynecological issues.
Luke would never call if there was nothing. Queenie signaled Leia, who was sitting beside her, to be quiet. She told her not to speak. Then, she answered the call. “Luke, what’s the matter?”Leia, who was sitting beside her, was already feeling uneasy. She got even more restless when she heard Luke's name. Why was this man calling at this time?!Could it be that he had already found out she had sneaked back here… Leia was listening to the call while comforting herself at the same time. She had found an agency to help her. The agency’s people had been forging her traces to show that she was still in New York. Hence, Luke should not have noticed anything amiss. He was so busy. How could he keep an eye on her?While Leia was comforting herself, Qunnie was worried too.On the other end of the phone, Luke said, “Mother, Tommy told me he’s missing his grandmother. I’m planning to bring the kids over for dinner with you and Father. Is that alright?”Queenie glanced at Leia when she
Luca listened to the kids complaining about how Luke had forgotten his promise and brought her there instead. She was a little embarrassed. After all, it was not like she traveled with Luke to have fun with him.“You can still go there. Your whole family can go there during the holidays,” said Luca.Tommy asked, “Can you travel with us when the time comes, Ms. Luca?” Luca did not expect the child to take the initiative to invite her. She was startled for a moment. She glanced at the kids and said, “Let’s talk about this later.”“I want to go with Ms. Luca, and I want to go with Sis too. It’d be much more interesting compared to traveling with Daddy,” Tommy said while blinking his eyes.Luke was given the cold shoulder, but he did not say anything. He continued to drive as if the person his child was embarrassing was not him. Luca was speechless. She did not expect the kids to embarrass him in front of him.Rainie said, "Daddy is busy with work every day. He would even bring
Even though Leia had locked herself in her room, she might not be able to stay completely silent. Moreover, Tommy was a curious child. If he realized that something was amiss, he would tell Luke about it. When Queenie thought about that, she smiled gently to mask the unease in her heart. "The playroom was sterilized earlier this morning, and the smell of disinfectant is still quite strong. I don't think you should go in there. What do you want to play? I'll go and get it for you." Tommy shook his head when he heard that. "It's okay, Grandma. I'll watch cartoons instead." "Alright. I'll turn the TV on for you." Queenie breathed a sigh of relief. The child was well-behaved. Luke looked at her, then at the stairs. He guessed that Leia was hiding upstairs. Otherwise, Queenie would not stop Tommy from going up. Luca also knew what was going on, and she did not say anything, including the fact that she had been to the Norman household earlier in the day. Queenie turned on the
The sky was darkening. Luca looked at the time and saw that it was half-past six. She could smell the fragrance of the food wafting out of the kitchen. The maid was almost done cooking dinner. However, the sky… Tommy noticed that Luca was looking out of the window. He leaned over and asked curiously, "What are you looking at, Ms. Luca?" "It looks like it's going to rain." The sky was much darker than it should be at that hour. A storm should be coming. "Oh, it really does look like it's going to rain. I'll go and take the laundry in." Queenie glanced out of the window and immediately stood up. "Let me help you, Mrs. Norman." Luca also wanted to go upstairs. On the second floor, Luca glanced at the room to their left. That was Jack's study. The door was ajar. Luke and Jack were inside talking about something. Luca tried to tune in to the conversation. The two men were talking about antiques. After that, she went to the balcony to help Queenie take the laundry in. The
The maid would stay the night in the Norman residence when it was inconvenient to go home. Queenie looked at the rain outside the window and said, "It's not very convenient for you to go home. You should stay." "Yes. The weather service has also issued a yellow alert earlier," the maid said. "It's that serious?" Queenie did not expect that. She looked at Luke and said, "You shouldn't leave just yet, Luke. It's not safe to drive home when it's raining so heavily." "Alright," Luke said. He did not expect that Queenie would ask him to stay. The rain was not going to stop any time soon. How long would Leia be able to hide? He knew that she was not a patient person… After dessert, Luca sat on the couch and watched the news. The yellow alert had been escalated to an orange alert. She looked out of the window and saw that the rain did not lessen. The storm was much more severe than any summer storm. "It's orange now," Queenie said. She was also watching the news. Jack stood
At eleven o'clock, Luca sat on the sofa bed in the playroom. From the variety of toys found inside, Luca could tell that Jack and Queenie adored the children a lot. She considered herself lucky to have such gentle and caring parents who would share their love unconditionally with her children. Queenie knocked on the door. Luca lifted her head, stood up, and said, "Mrs. Norman." "May I come in?" Queenie asked while standing at the door. "Of course," Luca said. Queenie came into the room with a set of clothes in hand. She put it on the sofa bed and said, "I didn't find any new clothes in Bea's room, so I went through my clothes, and I found this silk gown that I had tailor-made when I was young. I haven't worn it before, so why don't you wear it to sleep tonight?" Not only was Luca a guest, but she had helped the Normans so many times. Queenie did not want to ask her to wear Bianca's old clothes, so she searched through her own wardrobe and found the silk gown that she had no
"She's not 'that woman,' she's Luca. If you're not comfortable calling her Luca, you can call her Dr. Craw," Queenie said, frowning because of Leia's lack of manners. Leia did not notice the change in Queenie's expression. She continued, "Didn't she come over during the day? Why is she here for dinner? Did she come over to steal the things from our house?" Queenie was becoming irritated by what Leia said. Steal their things? Luca was not like that. That was what she thought in her mind, but she did not say that. Seeing her mother not saying anything, Leia hugged Queenie's hand and said eagerly, "Don't blame me for being concerned, Mom. Sometimes, you have to assume the worst when dealing with outsiders like her. Dad's a very successful politician, and our home has many precious items. Also, you only have two daughters…" Queenie pulled her hand away and said, "Alright. The macaroni's almost done. Go and wash your hands. You should go to bed after you eat." Leia could tell
All three of them stepped out of the vehicle.Hera realized that the surgery might already be over and could not wait to hear the results.Abel, equally eager, immediately asked as soon as he saw them, “Is the surgery finished?”“Yes, the surgery was successful. The transplant was completed, and all the nerves we could connect have been repaired. Now, it’s up to the follow-up treatment,” answered Shanks.The doctor who had been kicked out earlier stared in disbelief.They actually succeeded in the transplant? How was that even possible?“Great, fantastic!” Abel let out a sigh of relief before bursting into laughter.What had seemed impossible in modern medicine had achieved a different outcome in Shanks’ hands.Unlike others who might celebrate the medical breakthrough, Abel’s joy came from a more personal place—Kassy would soon return to his side. His delight was unmistakable.“T-This can’t be!” muttered the dismissed doctor, who was still in shock. “A surgery this revoluti
After returning to her room, Luca told Luke about the surgery that day.She explained that she had not been able to participate in the operation and was uncertain if Abel would prevent her from being involved in the future. If she was not allowed to take part, she might lose her excuse to stay here. Also, she would not be able to help with what was to come.Luke replied to her message quickly, assuring her that everything was already planned out and she did not need to worry.Luca frowned slightly as she read his message. She wanted to ask about his plan but hesitated for a moment and decided against it. Knowing too much about Luke's men might backfire.Luca deleted their chat history but soon received another message from him.He told her that T Corporation had successfully won the bid and that he had already found someone to replace Lucius’ role.Luca let out a sigh of relief. Finding a replacement for Lucius meant that he was out of danger for now. The worry that had been we
However, Abel was not fooled by her words.He asked again, “Who are you looking for?”“Oh, I'm looking for Gerald. I've noticed that most people are here, but Gerald is missing, so I was just curious,” Hera replied honestly, knowing that Abel was naturally suspicious.“I’m starting to feel like you’ve become quite close with Gerald recently,” Abel asked suspiciously.Hera froze for a moment, then laughed and explained, “I often ask him to help with little things. He might not have many qualities, but he’s pretty diligent.”Abel did not respond right away, as though he was considering her words carefully.Hera lowered her voice and teased, “What's the matter? Are you jealous?”Before he could answer, she quickly added, “You’re so outstanding. How could I ever be interested in some ordinary man?”As soon as she said that, a flicker of unease crossed her mind.Abel was far superior to Lucius in looks and wealth. However, she seemed to be more drawn to Lucius.Despite her actions
For Shanks, no matter how skilled the two ophthalmologists were, they could not compare to Luca. The key was their smooth coordination. They were used to working together. If it were other doctors, they would probably start asking questions once they entered the operating room, making it impossible for Shanks to focus and perform the surgery calmly.Shanks believed this was a groundbreaking procedure, not just another teaching surgery for ophthalmologists.Abel understood Shanks’ concerns, but he still insisted, “They’re not just any doctors. They’ve signed agreements, and they won’t interrupt you with questions during the surgery. They’ll cooperate fully.”As Luca listened to Abel, she realized what he was really worried about. Besides the risk of the surgery failing, he was not confident in her.This surgery was important, and Abel was worried she might sabotage it in the operating room.Shanks furrowed his brows and looked at Luca.Luca gave him a faint smile. Whether or not
As Gerald shook his head furiously, it was not difficult for Luca to figure out what was going on.She glanced at Hera's irritation and figured it all stemmed from Luke being reassigned. Not being able to see him was clearly driving her to act like this.Luca secretly let out a sigh. They said women were the cause of trouble, but honestly, men could just be the same.Even with Luke disguised as an ordinary man, his cold and commanding air still captivated Hera.She glanced at the bowl nearby. The food Gerald brought Hera was barely touched.It seemed like she was so consumed with thoughts of Luke that she had lost her appetite...Luca’s expression remained unchanged. She was long accustomed to keeping her emotions in check around others.“Ms. Sanchez, you’ve misunderstood. I’m not close with Mr. Lucius, so I don’t have his contact information.” Luca kept her face impassive.“You’re lying!” Hera narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “You’re so close to him. How could you not have it?”
As soon as Luca returned to her bedroom after dinner, she received a video call request from the kids.It had been a long time since she last saw them. When she saw the call request, she locked the door, put on her headphones, and immediately answered.“Ms. Luca!” As soon as the call connected, the faces of all three kids appeared on the phone screen.“Sweethearts!” Luca blew them a kiss.“Ms. Luca, we miss you so much!” Tommy was the first to express how much they missed Luca.Luca's heart stirred with waves of longing when she heard them. She had been so busy recently, hoping to finish everything here quickly so that she and Luke could reunite with the kids. That was why she had not contacted them much.Plus, with Old Master Crawford taking care of them, she felt at ease.Now that Luca saw the faces of the three kids, her longing for them instantly surged and overwhelmed her.Her eyes reddened. “I miss you all so much too.”Rainie, always the thoughtful one, noticed her em
The men in the room were wincing in pain, but when they heard Gerald’s words, they were so furious they almost wanted to lash out at him. However, all their strength had been sapped by the excruciating pain, so they could only groan helplessly.As Shanks made his way upstairs, he paused halfway up the staircase and asked, “Is Luca cooking?”Gerald glanced at the kitchen and replied, “Yes, Mr. Shanks. It’s their fault. Ms. Craw was delayed in making dinner because of them.”Shanks' expression remained unchanged as he simply said, “Let me know when it's ready.”“Yes,” answered Gerald.After Shanks went upstairs, Gerald hesitated for a moment but decided to help the men to their feet, placing them one by one on the couch or chairs. As they slouched, groaning in pain, Gerald shook his head. “Do you guys now understand what happens when you mess with the wrong woman, especially Ms. Craw?”One of the men winced and asked, “Why did she have to be so brutal when throwing down?”“She
Lucius was different.He did not care about getting close to anyone, whether man or woman. Even when Hera’s attempts to seduce him were blatantly obvious, he still remained unmoved and even showed signs of rejection.Gerald could not help but marvel at Luca’s sharp observations and incisive remarks. He could not help but clap his hands lightly, genuinely impressed.“Lucius truly is exceptional,” said Gerald.Luca came downstairs.When she took the last step off the stairs, the men in the living room immediately fell silent.They held their breath as they watched the woman in front of them. Her hair was straight, not like their boss' companion.The men's gazes grew intense.Luca’s expression darkened.Gerald stood beside her and said, “See, I told you—you’re like a piece of meat dropped into a pack of wolves. Be careful.”One of the men heard Gerald and asked unhappily, “Hey, kid, what are you saying? What wolves? We’re gentlemen. We’d never dream of doing anything inappropr
When Gerald heard this, his face fell. “Huh? Ms. Craw, you're not cooking anymore?”Luca said nothing. Luke had already left with the others. She turned her gaze back before walking inside.Gerald realized that Luca had only been cooking breakfast because of Lucius. The thought puzzled him. Had they taken a liking to each other from the very start? That did not seem right.In this fast-paced modern world, even if they had, using something as old-fashioned as cooking to win someone over did not add up.Still, the timing was too coincidental to ignore. Luca started cooking for everyone when Lucius arrived, and she stopped as soon as he left. That realization gave Gerald an eerie feeling.Thinking they might have known each other back on the island, it all suddenly made sense. Of course! They must have met before. How else could this all line up so perfectly?With that thought, Gerald quickly caught up with Luca. “Ms. Craw, my cooking is terrible. Why don’t you keep doing it?”