In the villa.Nina was groggy. A needle was inserted into the back of her hand. The nutrition solution was delivered into her body through her veins.She still refused to eat, so she got so weak that she was ill with a fever.After they administered the fever-reducing injection, the female doctor adjusted the speed of the nutrition infusion and looked at the male doctor. "Why don't we leave the needle in? If her fever doesn’t go away, she’ll have to go for an intravenous infusion at noon and another bag of nutrition solution later. I'm afraid the boss won't be happy if we keep stabbing her." The male doctor looked at Nina, then at the maid. He left the decision to her. “Do you think we should leave the needle in?”The maid replied in an indifferent tone, "Do you dare to do so? She’s not a mental patient yet has to be restricted by a straitjacket. After you’re done with the infusion, you have to loosen the straitjacket. Can you guarantee that she won’t hurt herself using the needl
Percy listened to her screams and hugged her silently. "Don't be scared. We're going to the hospital now. You'll feel more comfortable once we get there."Nina heard his reassuring words and subconsciously grabbed the corner of his clothes. She was scared that he would disappear as soon as she loosened her grip.‘It's not a dream, is it… Percy came to my rescue…’Nina said nothing. Percy hugged her tightly until she arrived at the hospital.Johann had arranged for someone to wait for Nina at the hospital’s entrance. Percy got out of the car and felt Nina grip him tighter when he wanted to place her on the stretcher."Nina, we’re at the hospital now. The doctor will take care of you." Percy noticed her unease and reassured her.Nina shook her head and said, "Don't leave me. I'm scared..."When he heard that, Percy felt as though his heart shattered."Okay, I won't let you go. I'll carry you in." Percy carried Nina in his arms and walked to the hospital.The doctor who was on st
The antipyretic fluid entered Nina's vein little by little.After Johann adjusted the speed of the drip, he looked at Percy and saw how in pain he looked. He joked, saying, "It's just an injection. Her fever is so high that she won’t feel any pain no matter how sensitive she is to it."Percy frowned even more when he heard that.Seeing that Percy was not in the mood to talk, Johann touched his nose and did not continue the conversation. He went through some of the things to be mindful of and left....Luca was in the villa worrying about Nina while taking care of the children.Her refusals about Luke moving in with the three kids had gone unheard.The truth was that she wanted more than anything to live with the children and Luke...The cleaning lady arrived to help take care of the children. As per Luke’s instructions, she bought a bunch of ingredients before she came to the villa.When Luca saw her, she took the initiative to put the groceries in the refrigerator.Lanie and
Tommy listened to the conversation between the adults and came to assist, saying, "Daddy, Ms. Luca, don't worry. I promise that I’ll be good and listen to the cleaning lady, Lanie, and Rainie. I’ll be waiting for you to come home!"Luca nodded and said, "Okay."Luke walked into the opposite room and said, "Give me five minutes. I have to change.""Mm." Luca nodded.Tommy took her hand and whispered, "Ms. Luca, you have to follow closely behind Daddy when you’re out.""Why?" Luca was intrigued. She crouched down and looked at the child."It's dangerous and there are many people out there! Only by following Daddy closely can he keep you safe!" Tommy touched the top of her head as she did to him previously. "Ms. Luca, you’re my favorite person. You have to keep yourself safe.”Luca was not sure how to feel. Tommy was so young but he already learned to say such things. She looked at the serious look in his eyes and nodded. "I will."Luke changed his clothes, opened the bedroom door
Percy looked at Nina, who lay peacefully on the hospital bed.She nodded and spoke in a low, gentle voice, "Go. We’re in the hospital. Nothing will happen to me."When he heard her, Percy stood up and walked out of the ward with Luke.Luca approached the hospital bed and looked at Nina's thin face. It was pale and ashen. "You've lost a lot of weight.""I couldn't eat when I was there, so naturally, I lost weight." Nina looked at the person in front of her. She could not stop crying when she thought of how Percy was right in front of her as soon as she woke up. When she saw Luca, she was completely relieved and knew that she was truly safe.Luca sat on the chair beside the bed and held Nina's frail hand. "After you’re discharged, you need to make up for the weight you’ve lost and eat more food so that you can get back to how you were before.""I’ll eat more if you’re the one cooking for me!" Nina was more relaxed when Luca was around. She did not want Luca to worry about her, so
Nina took the peeled grapes and said, "Some of your habits are very similar to mine.""Isn't that normal? After all, we’re good friends." Luca smiled. She then lowered her head and continued to peel the grapes for her.Outside the ward.Percy and Luke each had a cigarette in their hand."How's it going?" Luke asked. If Percy was willing to make a move on Pierre, he would be more than happy to help.Although Pierre had not made any big moves now, they all saw his ambition.Right now, he was only afraid of the two old masters from the Crawford and Mallory families. After a few years, no one would be able to control him when he grew stronger. As such, it was necessary to deal with a hazard like Pierre as soon as possible."Those involved have been taken to the police station. Pierre should know that I’ve rescued Nina by now." Percy took a deep breath and blew out some smoke circles.In front of Nina, all he could do was to take good care of her and show her his gentleness. In plac
Nina noticed the worry in his eyes and said softly, "Are you struggling with what to do with Pierre?"Percy looked at her. After she was rescued, she no longer resisted him. Her tenderness was hard-won as the price was for her to experience those terrible things.He would rather she did not experience them and for her to see his love for her bit by bit through his hard work so that it would hurt her a lot less."No, don't read into it." Percy put his hand on her forehead and removed it only when he felt that her temperature was normal."Don't lie to me. Pierre is your younger brother. If you go after him for my sake, you won't be able to explain it to your family. Since I've woken up, your phone has rung three times and you didn’t answer a single call. It’s someone from the Mallory family who’s calling you, no?" Nina hated Pierre, and she did not want to let the matter slide.However, she could not deal with this mad man alone. She could only do it with Percy’s help...If Percy s
At that moment, the two acted like shrews who were fighting in the market square.When Allison saw Luke, she knew that her support had arrived. Before Susan could say anything, she cried out, "Luke, I don’t feel welcomed in this house! I don’t want to live anymore!"Luca listened as Allison cried about her misery. It was made clear that she wanted Luke to step in.Nevertheless, Luke was the kind of person who sided with reason. He did not side her blindly. Instead, he asked, "What happened? Your quarrel is scaring Thea."Thea planted her bum on the floor all of a sudden. Thea covered her face and cried so hard as if she was going to be out of breath at any moment. Luca could not bear to leave her as such, so she walked over, took her hand, and comforted her softly. "It’s okay. Everything is okay. Don't cry."Thea continued crying although she was being comforted.Susan noticed it and pulled Thea to her side. She scolded Allison dismissively, "If you don't want to live, I'm all fo
“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