"Because Daddy said that the family is not peaceful now and it’ll affect our quality of life. That’s why we moved out. It’s not just us. Even Uncle and his family are moving out,” Rainie said.Queenie knew that this was because of Allison’s return. Kids would not tell lies, especially a little girl like Rainie.Queenie nodded, indicating that she understood. With a gentle smile, she said, “Alright, Rainie, you can go upstairs to play." "Alright, Grandma." Rainie got up and headed upstairs with little steps.Queenie’s heart faltered when she saw the child’s back. ‘If only Bianca was in the country. If she was around, the family would be a happy family.’ Luca stood in Jack's study and watched him search for his oil paintings in the collection rack. She did not say a word.Apart from loving to drink while socializing, his other hobby was collecting oil paintings. However, due to his status, he did not reveal this hobby of his."Oh, Luca. I should apologize for the things that
Queenie's face was red, and she started feeling embarrassed.Jack was usually a straightforward person and would seldom say such honeyed words. However, with Luca and the kids present today, he was acting rather unusual.Rainie said from the side, "Grandpa and Grandma do have a very close relationship."Luca smiled and softly squeezed the child’s little hand. After all, girls were different from boys. What they desired was different as well.Just then, the servant served sliced fruits and cake. Queenie said, "Come, have some cake and fruits."Kids loved sweet stuff, so they all took a slice of cake.Rainie was considerate and served her grandparents a slice of cake each. Then, she served another slice of cake to Luca. "Ms. Luca, have some cake."Luca shook her head and said, "No thanks. You go ahead and help yourself."Rainie nodded and sat down beside her. She started taking small mouthfuls of cake, enjoying herself very much. Luca continued looking at the photos. When she s
When Luke drove back home, he saw that the lights were still on.He knew there was someone waiting for him.This love that he had been waiting so long for made him feel a surge of warmth in his heart. There were so many others waiting for him to return, yet none of them could provide more warmth than Luca could.Luke entered the house.Luca had long heard the noises outside and was sitting on the sofa, waiting for him to enter. If it were in the past, she would definitely be scolded if he saw her sitting on the mat on the floor.It was as though she did it subconsciously.Seeing Luke made her feel chilly as though it was cold outside. She then got up and said, "Do you want a cup of warm water, Mr. Crawford?""Sure." Luke nodded. The weather was getting colder as the days went by, but with Luca around, he would always be instantly warmed up again.Fortunately, she still returned to his side even after going through so many incidents.Looking at Luca's back as she went into the
"If you're too busy, just give the butler of Crawford Manor a call. He’ll arrange for a nanny to come over to take care of the kids." Luke knew that Luca had a lot of things to do. After all, she took on many jobs in T Corporation. Later on, she would be much busier than she was now as she would be swamped with work and had to take care of the kids as well. He was worried she would be overwhelmed."Alright, I got it. Just rest assured." Luca nodded. Currently, all she could do was reassure him. He would no longer be as troubled once Allison was sent out of the country. Luke looked at Luca, who was far away from him. Even the tone she used to speak seemed to carry a great sense of distance between them. She was probably not as calm as she appeared. However, she was very good at putting on an act. Looking at her now, she seemed composed.She was obviously concerned about him, yet insisted on putting on an act as though she was merely an employee obeying her superior’s commands. T
"So, that's how it is." Luca nodded, indicating she understood.Upon arriving at the office, both of them stepped out of the elevator at the same time.Tina looked at the time and said, "I think Alya has already arrived at the office. Why don’t I bring you over so you two can introduce yourselves?” Luca knew that Alya was the translator who had just come back from her pregnancy leave. She nodded and said in agreement, "Alright."After all, they would be working together for the next half a month. It would be a wise move to introduce herself to her now. Tina entered the secretary’s office and indeed, Alya was already sitting inside. Tina greeted her with a smile. "Alya, long time no see. I've been waiting for you to return to work. How have you been? Is your baby obedient?"Alya looked at Tina and smiled. "Long time no see. The baby is obedient. If it isn’t because the company needed me to return, I really wouldn’t want my pregnancy leave to end. I want to accompany my baby long
Allison was a little surprised. Then, she burst into laughter. Her grin was too wide without her realizing it, which caused her skin to stretch and left her in pain. Fortunately, she was wearing a hat and a mask. Otherwise, everyone would have been able to see her contorted features. Luke took in a cold breath when he heard her laughing, and his face still remained composed.Allison calmed down when she was no longer in pain. Recently, she seldom took the medication prescribed by Luca. Hence, her skin had become much more sensitive. Sometimes, when she did large movements, her wrinkled skin would stretch and cause her to be in pain.She looked at Luke, and the latter did not show any expression of concern.Allison was used to it and did not need his concern either. All she cared about was the money she received."Did you think I wouldn’t know about what had happened during my time in prison? If you still love Bianca, then why were you two sleeping in separate rooms? At the end
After Enoch left, Queenie let out a breath of relief.She hoped this issue would end and no more trouble would crop up.…In the afternoon, Luca was still busy at work.That was because the department downstairs had sent a few documents that needed to be translated. Hence, Luca and Alya started dividing the workload.Alya took the initiative to take up a larger workload.Luca did not say a word. She was just meant to substitute the translator from the start, so now that Alya was back, it was only normal that she take up a larger workload. If it was not because she had to follow up with other tasks and was very busy at the moment, she would have directly gone back to the research laboratory downstairs. No one would have commented anything about it. Luca picked up the documents and walked back to her office.Alya saw her figure that was leaving and said with a sigh, "It's good to have your own office."Tina, who was sitting in front of her, heard it. She said with a smile, "A
If she were Bianca, she would have a lot of advice and words of yearning to tell him. She would ask him to focus on dealing with the matter at hand.However, she was Luca, not Bianca.Even though there were thousands of words in her heart, she could not say anything because she was in no position to.Luca thought about it and replied, "Okay."She then put down her phone and got down to work.Until she got off work, Luke did not text her.Luca guessed that he was busy.After all, they were not involved in any way or form. There was no need for him to update her on his schedule all the time.Seeing that it was time to get off work, Luca packed up some documents and prepared to leave the office.After Alya placed the translated documents in Jason's office, she was surprised to see Luca heading off. "Dr. Craw, are you done for the day?""Yes." Luca nodded. Alya had taken over most of the workload. Since she was done with her part and considering that Nina would be over for dinner
Luca walked over to another couch and sat down. “I think I’ll stay here. How about letting Luke come down so that we can all catch up? It’s been a while since we’ve seen each other.”Gordan’s face fell. “Ms. Craw, are you doing this on purpose?”Luca pretended not to know anything. “Doing what on purpose?”Gordan quickly shook his head. “Nothing. Just go upstairs already. Brother Luke’s been waiting for you.”Luca had intended to tease Gordan a little longer, but after not seeing Luke for the past few days, she found herself missing him deeply. Standing up with a smile, she said, “Alright, I won’t tease you anymore. Oh, by the way, Mr. Gale, could you help me pick up a few things? Someone over there asked me to get them, and I couldn’t refuse.”“Sure, no problem. What do you need?” Gale agreed immediately.After handing him the list, Luca turned and headed upstairs.Gale watched Luca leave from behind, nudging Gordan’s arm. “Let’s go. We should leave and give the boss and Ms. Cr
The security guard remained completely unfazed.This was because the village chief was his uncle, and in their tight-knit community, they always stuck together and never favored outsiders.With directions from the people inside the ancestral hall, Hera found the village chief.“You’re the village chief, right?” Hera looked at the man in his fifties in front of her and spoke with an arrogant tone, completely unbothered.“And you are?” The village chief, seeing her attitude, was puzzled. He had no idea whether she was an investor or someone looking to discuss a major partnership to bring development to their quiet village.“It doesn’t matter who I am. I see you have surveillance here, and I need to review your footage,” replied Hera.The village chief was even more confused. “Are you a police officer?”“No.” Hera frowned. She thought reviewing surveillance footage was no big deal. Why was this village chief being so difficult?The village chief gave her a look as if she were a fo
“Wait a little longer. By the way, what kind of ancestral hall is this?” asked Hera.“It's a local family's ancestral hall. I heard it's been designed by the owner of a large company, and now it's also one of the tourist attractions.” The taxi driver was not from around here, so he did not know all the details, but he knew it had become a popular spot. “Now, thanks to the reputation of that boss, many architects come here as one of their reference points.”Hera frowned deeper. What was Luca doing here?The driver suggested, “If you're interested in sightseeing, the attractions inside are pretty good. But for outsiders, they charge an entrance fee. Maintenance costs a lot of money, so they charge tourists from outside.”“I'm not here for sightseeing,” replied Hera, “Don't worry. I'll pay you for however long I stay here. You’ll get your money.”The driver heard that she was paying, and did not press her further and remained quiet.Hera stared at the entrance of the ancestral hall,
Hera let out a cold sneer, feeling that Gerald's apology was not sincere.Hera did not want to press the issue at the moment. She gave him a sharp look. “Come with me.”Gerald knew that Hera was up to something again. If it were a normal order, she would have just said it in the living room. Whenever she called him aside, it meant whatever she had to say could not be overheard by others.Reluctantly, Gerald followed her out.It was midday, and as soon as Hera stepped out of the living room, a wave of heat hit her face.The intense warmth made her feel uncomfortable.Hera got straight to the point, turning to Gerald. “What did Luca say to you just now?”“She just asked me to help keep an eye on the volunteer,” Gerald answered honestly. This was not something that needed to be kept secret.Hera frowned. “Is she going out”Gerald hesitated for a moment, unsure whether to say anything.“I’m talking to you, not the wall. Are you mute?” Hera threatened. “If you lie to me, I’ll te
Gordan was puzzled. At most, it was just brotherly camaraderie. After all, they had been through thick and thin together. Their bond might be stronger than usual, but falling in love? That was a bit of a stretch.Luke said, “The way you acted just now, doesn't really seem 'straight' to me. Also, if you're into women, maybe you should consider finding one. Otherwise, if you're always single, people might start misinterpreting your feelings for me.”“Luke, actually, you're not bad at all. In fact, you're probably better than a lot of women,” Gordan replied with a sly grin.As a man himself, he honestly thought Luke was a great guy. If he were a woman, he would be utterly captivated by him.“Shut up!” Luke knew he was joking, but he still felt a chill run down his spine. He seriously worried that Gordan might do something inappropriate when he turned his back on him.Shivering from the thought, Luke put down his glass and headed upstairs.Gordan let out a deep sigh.The night w
“Anyway, I'm saying it here—I'm not going to Russia because of that ugly woman, Vivian. If I go to Russia, it's for you. I've already divorced her. Besides, I’m already trying to avoid her, how could I possibly go to Russia for her?” Gordan took a sip of red wine, then continued his rant. “And, Ray is still in Russia. I really can't go. His men are all brutal, and I've had enough of being beaten all these years.”“Then why did you buy an apartment in Vivian's neighborhood?” Luke continued to tease him. His sharp eyes glinted with intelligence.Gordan denied it, but whether he believed it or not was his own business.“It was just a coincidence!” Gordan raised his voice, trying to convince Luke.Or maybe himself.“Coincidence?” Luke sipped his wine, every gesture as graceful as a nobleman.“Of course, it’s a coincidence, Brother Luke. You wouldn’t know, but that apartment is in a school district, surrounded by college towns. There are a ton of hotties there, I picked the place just
As Luca listened to his tone that was full of regret, she felt a slight pang in her heart. She recalled when she had a child and continued pursuing her education. If she had given up on herself back then, perhaps she and Luke would not find themselves here today.Luca felt she was much more fortunate than the volunteer. Even though she loved her father, she also understood the importance of education and did not let her father’s illness cause her to give up. She was also fortunate to have a father who supported her education.At the thought of this, Luca could not help but ask, “Do you regret it?”“No, I don’t regret it,” the volunteer smiled. “Actually, I always look at it in a positive light. Back then, several boys in my class liked her. If I hadn’t confessed, she might have become someone else’s girlfriend. If there’s anything I regret over the years, it’s that I was too selfish and it affected her studies.“I never thought that being in a relationship at a young age would
As Luca thought about it, she heard the volunteer exclaim, “With a wife like you, your husband must be so lucky and blessed.”Luca shook her head. To her, being cherished by Luke was a real blessing.“You’ve got it wrong. He’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”Luca had often wondered what her life would have been like without Luke.Perhaps she would have married Jean, only to watch his true nature slowly reveal itself. She would have struggled, eventually unable to endure it, and maybe even ended up divorced.It could be something worse. She might have been taken advantage of, lost all hope, and spiraled downward...Anything was possible.However, Luca knew that no matter what happened, life would not be as good as it was now without Luke.Though she remained under someone else’s control, and life on the Island of Despair was fraught with hardship, with Luke by her side, she felt an unshakable courage.A light laugh from the volunteer interrupted her thoughts.Luca
The volunteer did not mind. As long as it meant he could recover, he was willing to endure any pain. “It's okay. I can handle it.”Luca nodded.The door to the vehicle opened, and a man stepped inside. Due to the lack of sterilization, he did not dare approach the inner part of the vehicle. Instead, he placed several bottles of saline on the outside.“This is the saline that Mr. Shanks prepared. He asked you to inject it when you can,” the man relayed Shanks' message.“Got it.” Luca reached out to take the bottles. After thoroughly disinfecting them, she brought them inside.It was more complicated than being in a hospital.Since the volunteer's body was still weak. They had to maintain as sterile an environment as possible.However, it still fell short of the ICU's standard.Luca stayed with the volunteer until evening. Gerald stood outside the medical vehicle and called, “Ms. Craw, it's time for dinner.”Luca took off her protective gear and stepped outside.“Ms. Craw, di