“Good.” Pierre nodded his head with satisfaction while Jean got out of the car with a depressed expression on his face. Jean was beaten up so badly that his face was all swollen up like a pig.“Mr. Mallory, your subordinate went too far.” Jean covered half of his face with his hand and cried out, “Ouch!” Pierre looked at the state Jean was in now and nodded, feeling pleased. He said, “This is good. Show Nina your face and she won’t turn you away.”Jean understood why Pierre did that. He was furious at getting beaten up, but he dared not say anything else. He had no choice but to go along with the arrangements. “Mr. Mallory, I understand what you mean now. It’s indeed a good idea.”Pierre grinned while he looked at Jean’s swollen face. “You must be feeling wronged now. Give it to him.”The subordinate heard him and threw an envelope to Jean.Jean took it and glanced inside the envelope. Money!There was lots and lots of money. It was a fat stack of cash!“Mr. Mallory, thank y
“Okay, I’ll play along with you.” Anna bucked up and agreed without a second thought. The woman beside their ward bed shook her head helplessly when she saw this. She had been in the hospital all this while and knew what their situation was.She thought the daughter of the patient beside was unfilial. After all, her daughter seldom came to the hospital to visit her mother. She finally knew the reason now. Anyone would have done the same thing. They would not want anything to do with this kind of mother and brother.Jean knew he had successfully convinced his mother. A gleam flashed across his eyes. He picked up his phone and began to put on a show. After Nina returned to her office, her phone rang. She glanced at it and saw Jean calling her. She thought for a moment. Jean must be up to no good if he was calling her. Hence, she hung up the call without a second thought.After a while, Anna called. Nina was annoyed. After Jean, it was Anna now. They must be up to something,
Anna was worried that Nina would get killed if she refused to listen to Pierre. What would happen to them if she was gone? Anna only felt assured after Jean guaranteed that Pierre would not do anything to Nina. After Nina left the ward, she did not leave the hospital immediately. Instead, she sat in the hospital’s garden, looking depressed. When Johann passed by the garden after sending off a patient who just got discharged from the hospital, he happened to run into Nina who was sitting there. He walked toward her curiously and greeted her, “Ms. Nina, what a coincidence. What brings you here?”"Oh, Dr. Park. What a coincidence," Nina greeted him gloomily. Johann noticed that something was wrong and asked, “What’s wrong? Why do you look down?” “Nothing. Do I look down? It’s probably because I didn’t sleep well last night,” replied Nina as she touched her face. “It doesn’t look like you didn’t get enough rest. You seem preoccupied. Is it because of your mother’s illness…” J
The meeting ended two hours later.Every senior manager walked out of the meeting room with a depressed look. They were keenly aware of the problems in their department after the meeting.They almost got fired because of it…Luca looked at them, feeling indifferent. Luke was serious about his work and the project. Many people intended to harm him during all these years. However, he would always pull through, and it was probably because of his serious attitude at work. “Are you tired?” Luke suddenly asked her after everyone in the meeting room had left.Luca snapped back to her senses. She quickly tidied up the recording pen and meeting papers, saying, “No.”“You’ve been typing on the keyboard all this time. Aren’t your hands sore?” Luke asked.“No. I’m used to it.” Luca finished packing everything and stood up.“Let’s go eat.” Luke invited her.Luca was startled. Was he inviting her for lunch?Where? “Mr. Crawford, I’m sorry but I brought some light food with me today,”
Luca returned to the office and placed her laptop down. As she was afraid of making Luke wait any longer, she hurried over to the elevator. Luke was standing there. Luca walked over and said, “I’m done, Mr. Crawford.” “Alright,” Luke said as he nodded and pressed the elevator button. The elevator had already arrived at that floor beforehand, so the doors immediately opened when he pressed the button. Luke walked in first, and Luca went in after him with her head lowered. When she noticed that Luke had been pressing on the door open button, she felt her heart flutter once more at how considerate he was. He only let go after she walked in. The elevator doors closed slowly, and Luca watched Luke press on the button for the first floor. She asked, “Mr. Crawford, don’t we need to go to the parking lot first?” “We’ll be eating at a place nearby, so there’s no need to drive,” Luke explained. Eating at a place nearby… In that case, it meant that not did Tina know but the enti
Zoey had no idea what to say in response when she heard that. Sure enough, jealous women were the scariest. In a comforting tone, she said, “Alright, alright. You can’t just say things like that. If anyone hears you, you’ll be done for!” “Why should I be scared? Why would I be done for? Luca is a mistress but I can’t say that?! Disgusting!” Jenni was so overcome with jealousy. If it had not been for her job, she would have gone to Luca and mocked her a long time ago. Zoey had no idea what to say in response. If Luca was a mistress, did that not mean that Jenni was trying to be a mistress as well? There did not seem to be much of a difference between them. The elevator arrived at the floor where the laboratories were. Zoey hurriedly left the elevator, terrified that Jenni would continue pestering her and someone else would catch them. She said, “I’ll be returning to my work now, Ms. Lynn.” “Wait,” Jenni said as she pressed on the button to keep the doors open.Zoey smiled r
Pierre was sitting on the couch with two scantily-dressed bargirls next to him. When he saw Nina coming in, he did not act appropriately and ask the bargirls to leave. Instead, he beckoned them to feed him more beer. As the mug came to his lips, he took a sip and raised an eyebrow as he stared at Nina. That woman was usually so haughty. However, she was now standing in front of him obediently? She claimed to not care about her family, but in reality… How ridiculous… “You’re here?” Pierre said as he pushed aside the mug that kept coming near his lips again. He placed his arms over the two bargirls’ curvaceous bodies. Nina felt her stomach turning queasy as she watched him. She felt disgusted. Pierre had so many women at his disposal, but he seemed to love holding on to her without letting go. Nina’s hands curled themselves into fists as she gazed at the dazed, drunken look on Pierre’s face. She felt no emotion and showed no expression on her face as she asked, “What do you
Nina felt her consciousness fading when she heard that. To remain conscious, she clenched her hands into tight fists so her nails would dig into the flesh of her palms. “In your dreams! Pierre Mallory, why do you think I dared to appear here? It’s because it’s that time of the month for me. So you can continue dreaming about doing whatever your heart desires with me!” “What?” Pierre did not get the message and knotted his brows together as he asked. The bargirl sitting beside him got the memo and whispered to him, “Mr. Pierre, she means a woman’s time of the month.” Pierre immediately understood everything. His brows were furrowed together. He wanted Nina, but not under these circumstances. Nina glared at him. She seemed to want to say something else, but the drugs paralyzed her and rendered her unable to say even another word aloud. Finally, she lost consciousness and collapsed to the floor. Pierre ordered, “Put her on the couch.”When the two bargirls heard him, they stood
“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