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
Louis immediately grabbed Susan and walked off. "Okay, Mom, that’s enough. The villa is almost ready. You can move in with us when the time comes."When Susan heard that, she scolded, "Bastard! I told you that I won’t move out! You’re not allowed to move out as well. This is your home!"Louis was not bothered. He went upstairs with her.Luke stood downstairs, deep in thought. Allison and Susan were incompatible with each other so he had expected them to fight.He knew that he could not postpone his plans any longer."Young Master Luke, are you moving out for good with Young Master Tommy and the others?" the butler asked."Mm, I won't be moving back for the time being." Luke nodded. He did not want the kids to be affected by their infighting.Aside from that, he had not returned to Crawford Manor often because he was occupied with work. It was a better option for him and the kids to live in the villa and have them get closer to Luca so that she would open up to them about her tru
"I'm going to send you to South Korea to see a doctor. Plastic surgery there is advanced. The doctors here say that you can’t be cured but that’s not necessarily the case if you go abroad. However, if you don't want to go, you can stay here," Luke said. He originally planned to send her off after a few months but now that she was causing such a scene, he just wanted to get it done right away.Peaceful days were ahead of them as soon as Allison went abroad. When Allison heard that he was going to send her to Korea for plastic surgery, her anger disappeared immediately. However, she was worried that he was lying to her, so she said, "I want to go to the best hospital in South Korea. I won’t go if there isn’t a good doctor.""I'll make the necessary arrangements," Luke said."Okay, I’ll say yes for now. After I’ve received treatment, I'll come back to A City immediately," Allison said. She made it clear that she did not intend to stay abroad for too long. "Mm," Luke said.On the o
Luke stepped on the accelerator when he heard what she blurted out. "Are you taking pity on me?""No, your identity and status are envied by others. You don't need any pity." Luca turned her head to the side and was annoyed at herself for babbling."Those are just what others see on the surface. Luca, you see more of me than others do. Do you still envy the real me?" Luke asked."No," Luca answered without a second thought.Luke chuckled and said, "You can take pity on me. I do hope that you sympathize with me more and stay by my side."Luca's heart ached when she heard what he said.She wanted to stay by his side, but it was impossible. Abel would never allow it. She was living in agony but she could not tell him anything.The only thing that she could do was express her firm denial. "Mr. Crawford, nothing is ever going to happen between us.""Someone said this to me once and I made the impossible possible. Luca, how long do you think it’ll take me to get you to accept me?" Lu
After Luca bought the ingredients to make chicken soup and dinner, they walked to the snacks area. She watched Luke pick out several snacks and put them in the shopping cart.She secretly jotted down the snacks in her head.After that, the two of them went to the checkout counter. The cashier put all the items in the shopping bag. Before Luca could react, Luke paid for the bill using his phone.Luca had no choice but to follow behind him. She wanted to settle the bill by herself but did not expect that he would fight for the bill.Once they got home, the children surrounded them.Tommy blinked his big watery eyes and asked, "Daddy, did you buy any snacks?""Yes, they’re all in the bag," Luke said."That’s wonderful. Long live Ms. Luca!" Tommy clapped and hugged Luca's hand."Huh? Long live me?" Luca looked at the children in amazement. Luke was the one who got them the snacks, so she was not sure why they were cheering for her instead."If not for you, Ms. Luca, Daddy probably
“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