“Welcome, Ms. Craw.” A few of them surrounded Luca and greeted her passionately. Luca got even more confused, and she quickly told them why she was here. “Hello, Mr. Crawford sent me here. Did he buy something here?” After the manager knew that Luca was here, she quickly came forward. “Hello, Ms. Craw. Mr. Crawford didn’t buy anything here, but he has given us his orders. Please come with me.” Luca looked at Nina. What was Luke up to?Nina held her hand and followed behind the shop manager. She said in a low voice, “Based on the situation now, they’re planning to ask you to buy something.” “Ah, there’s nothing I’d like to buy,” Luca replied in a soft voice. Why did Luke ask her to come here, then?The manager walked in front of them and listened to their conversation. She turned sideways and explained, "Ms. Craw, Mr. Crawford told us that you'll be attending a party the day after tomorrow. Hence, we'll be creating a perfect look for you to attend the party." “Party?” Luca f
Nina held her arms and shook her head. The TV in the VIP room was turned on. The TV was broadcasting the news that the Johnston family had made bad investments and lost a lot of money.Whenever they mentioned the Johnston family, they would definitely mention the Mallory family too. Nina’s expression changed when she was watching the news about the union between the Johnston family and the Mallory family through marriage. She changed the TV channel without listening to what the news was broadcasting.Luca watched everything she did. She picked up the business magazine in front of her. It was today’s issue, and it reported about the Johnston family’s matter. It even analyzed the current situation of the Mallory family. She handed the magazine to Nina.Nina took it from her. She closed the magazine when she saw the words ‘Mallory family.’ "What's so great about it?"Luca looked at Nina, who ignored every piece of news that was related to Percy. She asked curiously, “Nina, you came
She was not one of the socialites of A City, but she could afford to buy items from such an expensive brand. It was either she was a vain white-collar employee, or she had a sugar daddy. She looked at Luca’s exquisite face. This woman was hanging out with Nina. Madam Mallory simply categorized Luca as someone in the latter category. “Ms. Nina, I didn’t expect to see you here.” Madam Mallory pulled her gaze away and it fell on Nina. She curled the corners of her mouth. It looked like she was smiling, but her smile was insincere. “Such a coincidence, Madam Mallory.” Nina forced herself to cover up the nervousness and helplessness in her. She pretended to face her calmly. “How have you been lately?” Madam Mallory continued to ask. She must be living a tough life without her son providing for her. Nevertheless, she still wanted to strike a nerve in her.This had nothing to do with her generosity. Sometimes, these women only dreamed of marrying a rich man so they could live their l
Madam Mallory set aside the matter, claiming that she would leave the decision to the men in the family. However, she knew the Mallory family had made their decision even if they had not announced it to the public. She had no idea what Percy had on his mind at that time, but it was a marriage of convenience. Now that the Johnston family was in trouble, Madison would be abandoned. The Mallory family was heartless, indeed. Although Nina was not born in a wealthy family, she knew pretty well how heartless these wealthy families were.If there was no Johnston family, would Percy have abandoned her so heartlessly when he became tired of her? Nina’s heart was in dismal at the thought of it. She did not know what happened to her. After all, she was not Madison. She had never gone through these. However, the sorrow in her heart was getting bigger endlessly. “You seem to take it lightly. If the daughter of the Johnston family has feelings for Percy, are you still going to separate th
Percy breathed out a swirl of cigarette smoke and looked at the pitiful Madison. He did not feel any pity for her, though.The woman who could make his heart race and break his heart was not the woman in front of him.Madison listened to his heartless words and said broken-heartedly, “I know you don’t like me. You’ve always been in love with Ms. Nina, right?” Percy did not answer her. Madison then said, “If you really want her so badly, why did you agree to our marriage back then? You gave me hope and now you’re taking it away. Percy, do you think it’s right of you to do that?” "There's no such thing as to whether it’s right of me or not. It was someone else in the Mallory family who agreed to this marriage. It wasn't me." Percy passed the buck and got away squeaky clean."So it has always been someone else who made the decisions for you. You’ve been reluctant the entire time, right?" Madison was in despair. She could barely see hope when she listened to such irresponsible wo
It looked like Madam Mallory's plan to break them up had failed…Nina felt a dull pain in her heart at the thought of this. She lay down on her bed and pondered why she felt this. Had she not stopped being in love with Percy?Why did she feel heartbroken when she saw him kissing another woman?Nina touched her chest, and tears ran down her face. Her heart ached so painfully that she could barely take it. Perhaps it was the after-effects of taking too much medicine, or maybe she was sick. The doorbell rang. Nina wiped her tears and sat up on the bed. It was still early. Who was it who came?She walked to the living room and looked through the peephole. No one was outside the door. It seemed like the person knew she would check the situation outside through the peephole, and that was why they hid on purpose.Usually, it would be someone unwelcomed by her.“Who is it?” Nina asked.There was no sound from outside the door.“I know you’re out there. I’m going to call the police if
“I’d like to talk about us,” said Percy."Us? Aren't we just strangers? Percy, can you please get out of my life? If you love her, you should just stay together with her. But you're back to messing with me now. What are you up to?" “Her?” Percy frowned. He was eager to know what was on her mind.Nina sneered and said, “The daughter of the Johnston family, Madison. Didn’t you kiss her on the street last night?” “Who told you that?” When Percy heard her mentioning Madison, he could not stop himself from getting angry. People who knew him would know that his relationship with Madison was something that was done against his will. Now that the Johnston family was in trouble, it was easy to know that he was going to break up with Madison sooner or later.Hence, was it true that Nina had never cared about him? Was she simply not using her brain?“The photo of you and Madison kissing on the street is all over the news now. Percy, I beg you. I’ve been your secret lover for years, and I
[You’re not feeling well? What’s wrong?] Sue asked caringly. [It’s nothing. I just want to take a rest for a day or two. You don’t have to worry about it. If there’s any important work that needs my attention, I’ll head to the office to handle it.] Nina replied. She had always asked for leave too when she was together with Percy.However, she had never delayed her work at the company because of her absence. Sue replied: [Alright. Take good care of yourself. You can come over to my place if you’re struggling with anything. I can take care of you.][Don’t worry. I’ve asked Luca to come here to keep me company.] Nina replied. She had always been sick and weak in Sue’s impression. Still, she used to be healthy and was nothing like this now. Now, she had to take pills to make her sleep. She would often catch a cold if she was unlucky.The reason why she ended up like this today was that she met the two brothers of the Mallory family. Nina pondered and picked up the concealer to t
“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