Percy stood there, looking disheveled. "Send me back. It'll be inconvenient to drive mine." Nina thought for a moment. Indeed, she had to use her car tomorrow. She would have to hail a ride and drive her car back if she drove Percy home with his car.Although she was disgusted by the strong alcohol smell on him, she wanted to rest early today. Hence, she pulled out her keys and pressed the button.The car that was parked on the roadside beeped at once.Nina said, “Come on, get him into the car.”The waiter chose not to say anything and helped him get into Nina’s car since Percy was one of the bar’s VIPs.She took a deep breath and looked at the man in the passenger seat. Then, she got into the car.She forgot to remind the waiter, who immediately placed Percy in the front passenger seat. She had no choice but to give up on the idea. She would save herself the trouble of moving him to the backseat. The air in the car was filled with a strong alcohol smell when she closed the d
The maid hurriedly came to open the door after a while.Percy held his phone and tried to ask the maid not to open the door. The door was still opened in the end. He sat in the car and put his phone back into his pocket.Maybe he should have told her that he was still staying in the villa they used to stay in.He dismissed the servants at the villa after she insisted on leaving. There was only one maid left there who was responsible for occasionally cleaning the house.Percy sat in the car and listened to the conversation between Nina and his maid. “Hello, your young master is in the car. He’s drunk, and his legs are not working now. Please come over and help him into the house.” Nina did not forget to taunt him when she was talking to the maid.Percy wanted to show her that he could walk, but she had a soft rather than hard temperament. It was better for him to pretend to be weak now.The maid shot a glance at the person in the car. It was indeed her young master. She walked o
"This is what I need." Luca was calm. She knew that pissing off the kidnappers would not do her any good. Nonetheless, she wanted to fight for more opportunities to see if she could find out more information from them.The man rolled his eyes and mocked her. "You’re being kidnapped, you’re not on vacation.""I know. You can let me die of thirst and tell your boss that I died because I was too weak to withstand your beatings." Luca looked at the hideous mask on his face without any fear."Will you die if you drink two fewer glasses of water? Do you think I'm a three-year-old child?" The man pinched her chin. If he was not afraid of hurting her again, he would have already taken action."I was beaten until my forehead bled yesterday and I'm very weak now. You can refuse to meet my demands. However, when the person behind you asks you for a handover, you need to figure out how you’re going to explain it to him." Luca still appeared tough even though her chin was being gripped by the k
Luca was certain after she saw him evade her question.It was Pierre!"Didn't you find out more before you kidnapped me? I was rumored to be romantically involved with Luke Crawford. Also, I work in T Corporation. If I don’t show up to work, they’ll know that I'm missing and call the police." Luca reminded him in a casual tone.The man knew that Luca's kidnapping had been announced on the news.The kidnappers thought that even if a passerby who was around when they kidnapped her called the police to report it, it would take a long time for the mindless police officers to find out Luca's identity.They never expected that on the second day of the kidnapping, the police already knew who Luca was and issued a notice.‘Could it be… that what she said is true?’They had been involved in multiple kidnappings of prominent figures but they had never dared to provoke the Crawford and Mallory families.Everyone in their line of work knew that the businesses those two families were involv
"Of course, your wedding gift will be different from other people's. Let's put it this way. You can have whichever of Mallory Corporation’s subsidiaries you fancy. We’ll go through the transfer procedures. You can build your career and won't have to work for me anymore," Percy said."Subsidiary? I don't want any of them, Brother. I'm happy with how things are now. I get to take the company's dividends and occasionally do what you tell me to do. My life is leisurely." Pierre turned Percy down when he heard that he wanted to give him a subsidiary company.Even though Percy was his brother, he would never hand over Mallory Corporation to him.What he wanted most was Mallory Corporation, not any of its subsidiaries. Nevertheless, he was not stupid. He knew that if he said something, he would be turned down. Maybe he would even reveal something, so he chose to keep it to himself.Percy listened to Pierre, who positioned himself as a hands-off shopkeeper. If he had not investigated him a
"No, we didn't say anything. She was the one who asked us if someone from the Mallory family was involved." Eric did not dare to mention that she guessed it because of what he said for fear of being scolded.Pierre did not expect Luca to be so smart. He yelled into the phone, "Good-for-nothings! How did she act after she asked that?""Nothing. She's very calm," Eric replied as he made a helpless look at his companion."Stay away from her. I'm going to find a way to divert her suspicions," Pierre said. He then hung up the phone and drove to the villa.Percy's men followed behind him, but Pierre did not notice because they were skilled.When Pierre was halfway there, Luke's men met up with Percy's. They talked and changed positions so Pierre would not notice that something was wrong.He drove to the villa. Luke's men arrived and knew that this was not Pierre's usual address, so they sent the location to Luke.At the same time, Percy was also updated on their location.He sent Luk
Pierre clenched his fists when he heard her mock him. ‘Is she really not afraid or is she putting on an act? She’s still making fun of me in the situation she’s in now?’Pierre felt that he had to teach her a lesson so that she would not think she was on vacation.When he thought of that, he raised his hand and slapped Luca in the face.Luca knew that he was going to slap her so she prepared herself. She could not let herself bang her head on the bed like the night before. Even though she was mentally prepared, Pierre did not hold back and gave her a tight slap across the face.Her neck was twisted to the side. She was in pain.‘Does Pierre want to kill me?’Blood spilled from the corners of Luca's mouth. She turned her head and stared at Pierre. "What do you want from me?"Pierre noticed the wound on her forehead and asked Eric, "You did this?""It was an accident. We didn't mean to do it," Eric explained.Pierre did not condemn them. He looked at the blood spilling from
As soon as Eric heard that, he immediately praised Pierre, "That’s smart! When will this matter end?"Based on the industry standards, they had to complete everything before they could receive any money.Pierre glared at him. "If Luke cares about this woman, he’ll act soon. Why are you in such a hurry?"Eric was speechless when he heard that Luke Crawford was involved.He was not afraid because Luke was involved. There were not many people who could get Luke’s attention. If he compromised because of a threat, he would have to compromise a lot.What worried him was if Luke treasured the woman in the room.The two seemed to be romantically linked… If he and Derek were not able to escape in time, both of them would be sent to jail!"What? Are you feeling dissatisfied? Do you think I’m not paying you enough?" Pierre asked when he saw Eric keeping quiet.Eric wailed in his heart. If he had known that this woman was involved with Luke, he would never have kidnapped her no matter ho
“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