Luca pointed at her face helplessly to show him that it was inconvenient for her to drink it like this.The man realized it and asked in a low voice, “Do you have a straw? Where is it?”Luca pointed to the bedside cabinet. The man opened the drawer and took a straw out. Then, he placed it in the vial, brought it to her mouth, and muttered in a low voice, “How troublesome.”Luca ignored the man who scorned her and slowly took the antidote using the straw.Previously, she would always finish the antidote in one gulp. No matter how bad it tasted, she was always able to finish it in one gulp. However, she could only suck it with a straw now. The bitterness of the antidote quickly spread out in her mouth.The man shook the vial to check if it was emptied. After that, he kept the vial away.“Boss asked me to pass you a message,” the man said.Luca met his eyes in the dark. She remained silent and waited for him to continue his words. “Your progress is too slow. He’s very unhappy a
Old Master Crawford glared at her while listening to her complaints. He was not in the mood to argue with her. He gave his orders to the butler, “Drive Thea to her competition venue and don’t delay her.”“Yes, Old Master Crawford.” Mr. Griffin nodded and gave him his promise.Susan stopped complaining when she heard that.On the other hand.Luke hurried to the hospital. Johann had received the footage that night through his connections. He pressed on the play button when he saw Luke come in.Luke’s face turned gloomy when he watched the video of the incident from the beginning till the end. “Was he caught?”"No. He's good. The security guards upstairs informed the guards downstairs to catch him if they saw him. Still, they didn't manage to grab him and he escaped. This man was wearing a mask and a cap. We can’t get a good look at him," said Johann as he shook his head. “He’s not one of Percy’s men.” Luke looked at how nimble the man was in the video. He avoided the guards’ purs
Johann looked at Luca, who was lying on the bed. Indeed, she could not do it herself. However, the medicine placed here was not for the patient to dress her wound herself. It was for the nurse to dress her wound when she came in for a ward round later.To avoid Luke from carelessly dressing Luca's wound and leaving a scar on her, Johann cleared his throat and reminded the man who loved his wife excessively. "The medicine is placed here so that the professional nurses who come in later can dress her wound for her.”Luke stopped opening the medicine bottle at once. He stared at Johann with a trace of blame. “You should’ve told me earlier.”"Did I really need to say it aloud? The nurse didn't ask you to dress her wound for her when she placed the medicine here yesterday." Johann gave him an innocent look.Although Luke wanted to help Luca, he was not a professional. It would be bad if he hurt Luca and left a scar on her.Hence, Luke could not be bothered about his image and chose t
Luca listened to the nurse’s warning. Abel was taking a lot of effort to give her reminders.He even arranged a nurse.After all, there was no way the nurses responsible for the VIP wards could work here if they did not at least have a few years of working experience. Luca’s heart could not help but tremble at the thought of Abel arranging a nurse here.His plot was as big as a mesh net, densely wrapping her in it.He was plotting something so big just to take revenge on Luke Crawford. This man was insane. The nurse finished telling her what she needed to. She packed her things and left. Luca looked at her from behind. The helpless feeling in her heart was getting stronger and stronger. What should she do to make sure that she would not hurt Luke? At the same time, she needed to save her daughter out from that place. On the other hand.After Luke left the ward, he met the police officers who came to handle the case. The police officers were still watching the surveilla
[Don’t blame yourself. I’m responsible for this too. I was too impulsive back then.] Luca recalled how she had defended Nina in front of Pierre and argued with him. Otherwise, Pierre would not have targeted her.Luke felt even more uncomfortable when Luca did not blame him. Previously, she would think about him if anything happened to her, but now, it seemed like she was enduring everything quietly. He did not even know why she was willing to be manipulated by others.Did they have something on Luca? Otherwise, how could she be willing to do so?Luke stared at her deeply. Luca felt uneasy being stared at by him like this.What was he thinking?Her eyes met his deep eyes. There was no schemes nor coldness in that pair of eyes. It seemed like there was only guilt and sorrow in them.Luca thought she had seen it wrongly. She blinked her eyes. When she wanted to take another good look, Luke had already turned around.His phone rang.Luca watched him as he answered the call. He
As Luca watched May tidy up the ward, she slowly closed her eyes. After May cleaned up the bowls, she saw that Luca had fallen asleep. She picked up her phone and sent a message to Luke: [Boss, Ms. Craw is asleep.]Luke was quick to reply to her message: [Okay. Take good care of her.] May kept her phone and looked at Luca. Her face was swollen now, so she could not see her beauty. She shook her head and continued to tidy the ward. On the other hand.The police had been waiting outside the Mallory family’s house so that they could catch Pierre in time. The moment Pierre got out of the car, the police officers came forward. A police officer spoke politely, considering Pierre's special status, "Hello, Mr. Mallory. We need your cooperation in our investigation regarding a kidnapping case. Please follow us to the police station."Pierre raised his eyebrows and said carefreely, "I'm a law-abiding citizen who's willing to cooperate with the police officers. Mind if I get changed
Mrs. Nancy looked at Luke’s reply and muttered to herself, “Tomato soup? Mrs. Crawford used to love tomato soup.” She put her phone down and began to prepare.Mr. Griffin came in and heard Mrs. Nancy muttered to herself by accident. He warned her in a low voice, saying, “You can’t say anything like that here.” Mrs. Nancy was startled. She thought of the reason why she was not allowed to do so. However, she was just a staff, after all. If her superior told her not to do something, she had no right to ask why either. She nodded hurriedly. “Okay. I understand, Mr. Griffin.”Pierre headed to the hospital after he left the police station.He bought a fruit basket and was downstairs at the hospital. He asked where Luca’s ward was. Then, he pushed the door open and walked in.May stood up and looked at the man who was dressed like a thug. Even so, she was holding a fruit basket. She was on alert and asked, "Who are you?""I came to visit Luca." Pierre did not give a damn about May. H
"Do you know me?" Pierre asked.Jean buttered up to him. "I know who you are. Who wouldn’t? You’re Young Master Pierre of the Mallory family. How could I not know you?"Pierre snorted and reacted coldly to his flattery. "I don't know you at all."Jean was a little confused by what he said. ‘He doesn't know me? Why did he come to visit, then?’Pierre continued talking, "If it isn’t for Nina, I wouldn't have come to see you.""Yes, yes." Jean continued to butter up to him.Pierre said, "I'm interested in your sister. I heard that you were hospitalized, so I came here to visit you. Are you feeling better?"Jean muttered in his heart as he thought about how Pierre acted.‘He didn't even bother to bring anything. How is he a member of the rich and powerful Mallory family?’However, since the other party had revealed his identity, Jean did not think too much of it. He said, "I’m doing much better now. Mr. Mallory, you mentioned that you’re interested in my sister?”"Yeah, any conce
“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