Luca shook her head. She felt even dizzier now. She was not a light drinker, and she was given medicine when she was on the Island of Despair. Drinking should not be a problem for her.Even so, signs of getting drunk would still appear.She replied, “I’m fine. Mr. Doyle, are we going back to the office?”Jason took a few deep breaths. He could even smell the alcohol in the air when he was breathing. He answered, “I think we should just go back to the office. Boss is still waiting for me to report to him. I’ve called the designated driver. He’ll be here soon.” "Let's wait at the parking lot," said Luca. She noticed that Jason's condition was not any better than hers.Being the gentleman he was, he had even taken a few drinks on her behalf. He had probably reached his limit.“Alright.” Jason burped. After the both of them got into another elevator, he said slowly, “Dr. Craw, I’m sorry for what happened just now.”He noticed that some of them were harassing Luca. He had tried his
Tina looked at Luca’s face that had turned red because of the alcohol, but her skin seemed pallid at the same time. Tina asked in concern, “Dr. Craw, are you alright?”“I’m fine.” Luca’s stomach was full of alcohol now. Although she did not feel like drinking the glass of honey water, she knew it would be beneficial for her. She furrowed her brows as she finished the glass of honey water. Tina took the glass from Luca after seeing her finish the honey water. Tina said, “Go home and rest if you’re not feeling well. I can help you ask for leave.” "No thanks. I'll be fine after taking a rest." Luca knew she had to attend another business dinner tonight. It was because the matters that Luke and those Russians were about to discuss tonight would be the highlight. Tina looked at how determined she was. She nodded and excused herself so that she would not be disturbing Luca’s rest any longer.Luca lay back down on the couch after Tina left. She glanced at the surveillance camera a
The atmosphere was a little awkward in the car. Jason changed the subject when he realized that. “Oh, Dr. Craw, are your hangover pills effective?”“It can neutralize half of the alcohol in the body,” Luca said, but she did not have the exact numerical value.She made this for herself to make it convenient for her to attend certain occasions. She was able to stay sober after drinking.“That’s awesome! Dr. Craw, you can earn quite a huge amount in patent fees for providing the formula of the medicine you carry with you,” said Jason. He knew about a few of the miraculous medicines that Luca had made. The effects were better than the ones on the market.Luca shook her head. “That’s too troublesome.”"Why would it be troublesome? Aren't your medicines finished products? It's just that they're not FDA-approved to be sold on the market. You'd only have to go through the procedures to produce them," Jason said. He was excited about Luca's medicine. How lucky his boss was to have such t
Luke and Tia were walking in front of her. Luca and Jason were following behind them. Jason looked at Luke from behind and whispered to himself that he had no idea what his boss was doing.After all, he seemed to have no interest in this woman. He simply wanted to investigate her. He suspected she was from the Island of Despair, but now he was taking the initiative to invite her to accompany him to a business dinner?Could it be…It dawned on Jason when he shot a glance at Luca, who was beside him.Luke reminded Tia while walking, “They’re good drinkers. Don’t act tough if you can’t drink much.”“Relax, I can hold my liquor well. Thank you for bringing me to such an event. It’s my first time accompanying someone to a business dinner. Do remind me if I do anything wrong later.” Tia was trying to say that she seldom became someone’s female companion, and she hoped to leave a better impression of herself on Luke.Luke nodded to tell her that he would. The four Russians were alre
“No rooms left? Why are there so few rooms here?” Jason shook his head. He still felt light-headed.The alcohol that he drank at noon was still in his system. Then, he had to drink again at night. He felt as if the alcohol could flow out of his body from his ears once he shook his head. "Sir, we're a five-star hotel. Our rooms are usually fully booked in the afternoon. The three rooms that you booked at the front desk earlier were the last ones left." The waiter smiled apologetically. Sometimes, there would be such coincidences. The three rooms would have probably been taken if Jason had tried to book them half an hour later.Jason was in a dilemma. He looked at Luke and Luca who were lying on the table. There were three of them. How were they supposed to share two rooms? Unless he slept on the floor in Luke’s room. The waiter then reminded him, “Sir, one of the rooms that you booked is a deluxe suite. There are two bedrooms in it. Two of you can share that suite.” Jason re
Luca fell asleep in Luke’s arms.Luke opened his eyes when his breathing was stable. He could not see much in the dark, but he could feel the warmth of the woman in his arms.He was sleeping but woke up when Luca woke up too.He did not know why they were on the same bed. He had called out Bianca’s name on a whim, but he did expect Luca to reply to him instead of pushing him away.He heard her voice while he had his eyes closed. It was as if Bianca was whispering in his ears. Could it be that she was…With his eyes closed, Luke thought the person in front of him was Bianca. Apart from the smell of alcohol and something else on her, the way she talked was exactly like Bianca. Luke listened to her breathing and wondered if Luca could be Bianca… It was not possible. After all, the fake Bianca looked the same as the real Bianca after getting plastic surgery. Hence, how could the real Bianca have changed her face?Even so, their eyes looked similar. She did not push him away eit
Luca met Luke’s eyes. She caught a glimpse of mischief in his eyes. Her face reddened at once. He was not awake when she woke up. Could it be that he had woken up in the middle of the night or perhaps he was only pretending to be asleep the whole time? Did he know she slept with him on the same bed last night? Did he know she had just lied? When Luca wanted to know what that hint of mischief meant, Luke had already turned his face away. Tia listened to Luca’s explanation and forced a smile. She thought her status in Luke’s heart had changed when Luke invited her to join him for the business dinner. She forced herself to drink on behalf of him and was harassed the whole night. She had only thought of sharing his burden. She knew nothing about business, but she did everything she could for him.Yet, she woke up realizing that she was sleeping alone in the room. She was devastated when she saw Luca in Luke’s room.Tia shot a glance inside the suite. Indeed, there were two bedroo
Luca thought it was because Luke did not want her to be taken advantage of, so he sent Tia instead…She was surprised by her own thoughts. She remained silent. After Tia promised to help him, she was no longer interested in inviting Luke for breakfast. She was in a terrible state after drinking the whole night. She needed to go home and clean herself up.The three of them parted at the hotel’s entrance. Luca and Luke headed to the hotel's parking lot. Jason had already asked the designated driver to leave, and he was waiting for them in the driver's seat. “Good morning, Boss, Dr. Craw.” He smiled and greeted them both. The alcohol was already flushed out of his system after resting for a night. He did not feel sick anymore.“Good morning.” Luca got into the backseat. She wanted to ask Jason why he made her sleep with Luke in the same suite.However, she did not ask that question. Luca told herself to pretend that nothing had happened last night. Luke shot a glance at the
“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