"A secluded little town… A single man and a single woman… burning with passion and desire…" Each phrase that Yvonne mentioned led Allison toward far-fetched thoughts! When Allison thought of that, she realized that she had to stop something from happening! It was a well-known fact that even the greatest hero would eventually stumble when faced with the allure of a beautiful woman. History had proven that fact time and time again. It did not matter whether Bianca was objectively beautiful. She was a beautiful woman in the eyes of her son Luke, and that had clouded his judgment! Allison was once young. She knew that the passion between a man and a woman could flare with a single stray thought. The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. She lifted her fist and continued to pound on the door. The sounds of the knocking reflected the increasing anger in Allison's heart, from "knock knock knock" to "bang bang bang"… "Bianca, if you're at home, stop hiding from m
Outside the door, Allison's gaze moved from the phone screen back to the door. Her feminine instincts told her that something was not quite right since the morning. 'Bianca called me but did not say a word… 'What is she trying to do? 'Also, I thought I heard… soft moans? 'Were they from Bianca?' A chill went down Allison's spine when she thought of that! "Open the door now, Bianca! Open the door!" Allison could not wait to see who the other adulterer was. Before she got there, she had given a call to her brother to confirm that Xavier, their son, was still sleeping upstairs. Allison also knew that it was impossible for her son to be in the house. Jason had said that his boss had worked overtime for the past two days. After work, he would sleep in the office. According to Jason, Luke worked overtime so that he did not have to bring any work to the small town and could give all his attention to Bianca. Allison was resentful. Since when had she, Lanie, or Rainie, e
Luke was caught by surprise. Any lucid person capable of reason could understand what was going on from the conversation. "Don't think that I don't know what you're doing inside, Bianca! Let me tell you, I'll be waiting for you in front of the door today! I won't leave unless you open the door! If you want to sneak away, you'd better grow a pair of wings and fly out of the window!" His mother yelled those words while he was making out with Bianca. At that volume, it was impossible for him to ignore it. He did not stop his actions because he thought his mother wanted to stop her son from making out with his cousin's wife. After all, that was against all social norms. However, after his mother stepped into the house, she had said, "Not bad. Did you manage to lure in a bigshot?" Luke knew that something was amiss from those words. He could not exactly tell what was wrong, but he knew that his mother came to Bianca's house for a totally different reason than what he expecte
Allison did not like Bianca. She hated her ever since she knew that Bianca was a Rayne and was Kevin Rayne's daughter. Any other woman could marry Luke and be her daughter-in-law, but absolutely not Bianca! She had concealed her true sentiments about Bianca out of consideration of her son's feelings and the family's harmony. Instead, she plotted covertly to keep her away. She felt a little guilty looking at how angry her son had become, but at the same time felt that she did not need to keep up with the act. She would openly and brazenly keep that woman away from him! Even if she would burn bridges with Luke, they were nevertheless mother and son. That was a relationship that no one could write off for the rest of their lives. "You want an explanation? About what? About how I've gone with that scumbag Kevin Rayne after I was dumped by your father?" Allison confessed, considering her son's intelligent and relentless temperament. As expected, Luke looked extremely shocked.
The caretaker immediately did what she was told. Her fingers were trembling as she dialed Luke's number. No one picked up the first call, and the second call was also unanswered! However, the call went through every time. After countless calls, the call was eventually picked up. "Sir, Old Master Crawford had a heart attack and is not in the hospital. Please go and visit him!" The caretaker said hoarsely. … A City Hospital. Old Master Crawford lay on a bed. The doctors managed to resuscitate him, and his vitals were returning to normal. Allison was sitting on a chair next to bed, guiltily wiping away her tears. Susan and Louis were informed about the news and got to the hospital as quickly as they could. As Zachary's second son, Louis had a deep affection for his grandfather. After all, he had spent most of his time as a child with Old Master Crawford. Old Master Crawford might be strict, but he was a responsible grandparent. In fact, he was closer to his grandfa
Old Master Crawford lay on the bed with his eyes closed, listening to the conversation between his daughter-in-law and his grandson. In that half a minute, Allison had found an excuse to shift the blame to Susan. "I've never known that you've suspected me so much… I would tell you if you asked, but you've never asked!" Allison revealed a pained look, as though she struggled to recall her insufferable past. She started sobbing again, soaking the napkin with her tears. "I was forced out of A City when I had to leave your birth father. What else could I do when you were so young? I could only hide in the remotest towns. Susan Armstrong was relentless. She and her minions could find me no matter where I went! "Back then, Susan was childless. You should know how much importance a woman married into a wealthy family places on providing an heir, and you too, Old Master Crawford! And I had to give birth to a boy! "I don't know if Susan knew that I had given birth to a boy, so I had t
After the explanation, the colleague went downstairs. On the second floor, Bianca opened the door with the key. It was a room of about three hundred square feet. The floor was covered in light-colored wooden tiles. In the apartment were a single bed and a simple closet. Before she managed to unpack her luggage, another colleague from another department appeared at the door. It was a young male colleague in his late twenties. He stood outside of the apartment without going in. "You're Bianca Rayne from the design department, right? Nice to meet you. I'm Joe Carlson." "Nice to meet you. I'm Bianca Rayne." She greeted the colleague. Joe pointed downstairs and said courteously, "Everyone hasn't had lunch yet. We went to the restaurants in town, and the conditions were… less than ideal. Some of the girls who are used to living in the big city could not accept it. I heard from my department lead that you grew up here, so I thought I'd ask if you could bring everyone around to fam
After successfully raising a ruckus in the Tanner family, Allison went home. Back at the hospital, Allison did not see Susan and Louis. Old Master Crawford was lying on the bed while Luke was sitting next to him. She could see that her son was very concerned about his grandfather's condition. Looking at the scene, she mouthed a silent prayer that Old Master Crawford would recover slower. If his condition worsened, her son would have to stay by his side! That way, the eldest grandson of the Old Master would not be able to leave for the small town! Otherwise, constrictive social norms would label him as an unfilial grandson! Allison felt as though she was losing her humanity in her attempts to separate Bianca from her son. She had no other choice. If Luke married Bianca, her life would turn into a living hell. Bianca seemed like her nemesis! The caretaker in charge of Old Master Crawford's diet arrived to deliver lunch. Allison took out the lunch boxes from the bag. "Fa
Sophian stood before her. Her face was a picture of hesitation and discomfort. “Madam Allison, how about you order using your phone?”“What? You can’t even handle this small task?” At this point, Allison had completely shifted her view of Sophian, now seeing her as just another maid. Her previous tone vanished, replaced by a much more domineering attitude.Sophian felt helpless and quickly explained, “It’s just that the food from this place is just too expensive. I don’t have that kind of money.”Once she finished speaking, a flush of embarrassment crossed her face.Sophian had come back with Allison to work off the debt she owed from her cosmetic surgery. Therefore, she had no money to spare.Allison paused for a moment, a thought crossing her mind. After a brief moment, she picked up her phone and said, “It's not like I'm having you pay for it. You can't even temporarily cover it?”Sophian smiled awkwardly. “I just transferred money to the hospital.”Allison let out a faint hu
“You don’t like eating outside food, do you?” Luca thought that preparing breakfast and dinner for him was not a big deal.Besides, the main point was that Luke did not like eating out. He always felt the taste was off and lacked nutrition.“Actually, it’s not that I don’t like eating out. It's just that all the food outside tastes the same to me.” Luke gently squeezed her hand.“Hey, focus on driving.” Luca chuckled.Luke withdrew his hand and returned it to the steering wheel. “With that woman around, it wouldn’t be convenient for you to cook. Are you really going to make breakfast for them too?”If that happened, it would defeat the purpose of his plan.Luca thought for a moment. She did not mind ignoring Sophian, but if she cooked for Luke and not for Allison, that might not sit well with her. Allison could easily make a fuss over even the smallest details. “So, should we just eat out for breakfast and dinner from now on?”“Yes.” Luke did not mind.It did not matter where t
“Something I like?” Luca laughed. “What could that be?”“You’ll find out when we get there.” Luke kept it mysterious.“Alright then, I’ll wait for your surprise, Mr. Crawford.” Luca was in good spirits without letting family issues dampen her mood. Therefore, she video-called the kids.Luca dialed Mr. Griffin’s number.After Mr. Griffin answered the call, he handed the phone to Lanie. “Young Master Lanie, Ms. Craw wants to talk to you.”“Thank you, Mr. Griffin.” Lanie took the phone and pressed ‘accept’.Luca positioned the camera to include both her and Luke. She waved at the screen. “Lanie, Rainie, Tommy, what are you all doing?”“Lanie! Lanie, I want to talk to Ms. Luca!” Tommy waved excitedly at the camera, eager to take the phone.Lanie handed it to him. “Go on, tell Daddy and Ms. Luca about your good news.”Luca smiled and asked with curiosity. “Good news?”“Daddy, Ms. Luca, I made it to the next level in the math competition! The finals are this Saturday!” Tommy said e
“Why are you being so slow?” Allison was irritated. She shoved the products into Sophian’s hands.“I told you to use them, so just use them.” Allison ran out of patience. After urging Sophian, she lay back down.Sophian had no choice but to follow her instructions and poured out some product. The texture of the product in her palm made her pause for a moment. It was incredibly moisturizing!She gently patted it onto Allison's face and noticed the area she touched felt just as smooth.Allison let out a content sigh. “This essence is really soothing.”Even though Sophian was still worried about potential side effects, she could not help but admire the instant hydrating effect. She asked in a low voice, “Madam Allison, is this really developed by that woman?”She could not believe that Luca had such skills and wondered if the essence had just been repackaged into another bottle and sold as her own creation.“That's what she says,” replied Allison. “But she's into pharmaceuticals, s
After agreeing to become the maid, Sophian’s excitement gradually turned into anxiety.The villa was so large. Could she really handle all the tasks a maid was supposed to do?As she thought about it, she accidentally left the bread in the toaster for too long. After serving it to Allison, she was scolded.“What’s this? It’s just a slice of toast. How could you burn it like this? How am I supposed to eat it?” Allison was clearly displeased.Sophian awkwardly explained, “Madam Allison, this is my first time using this toaster. I didn’t quite get the temperature right...”Allison was about to keep complaining but paused for a moment, remembering that Sophian was the one she had brought in to be the maid. Now, she was the only one who could make breakfast for her. She disdainfully tore off the burnt part and took a bite. “Where’s the soy milk?”“It’ll bring it out,” replied Sophian, heading back to the kitchen. She brought out two glasses of soy milk and another slice of toast tha
“Are you planning to tell me that Madam Allison brought someone back?” Luca had a feeling she knew what was going on. Luca had been wondering why Allison had taken such a big risk by going out during the day, but it all made sense now.“Yes, she brought someone back and said she'll be taking over my job,” Aunt Neile replied helplessly. She was worried she had lost her competitive edge, which made her feel anxious.“I got it, Aunt Neile.” As soon as Luca spoke, there was a cheer from inside the lab. She glanced back and saw that there seemed to be progress in the research. Rhett gave her a thumbs-up to signal success.She slightly smiled and nodded before hearing Aunt Neile's voice again on the phone. “Ms. Craw, there’s something I’d like to say, though I’m not sure if I should. I’ve thought about it, and I feel like I should. Even though Mr. Crawford isn’t the type to fool around, you have to be careful. He has no interest in that woman, but she’s clearly interested in him. You sh
Allison watched the two of them go upstairs, and instantly, her temper flared.Not allowed, huh?Allison refused to believe it. She would find a way to turn things around and reclaim her position in this family!…The next morning, as Luke and Luca came downstairs, they noticed Aunt Neile looking at them with red, puffy eyes.“Aunt Neile, what happened?” Luca was puzzled. What happened?“Mr. Crawford, Ms. Craw, Madam Allison just told me that I’m fired.” Aunt Neile looked distraught. She thought Allison’s words yesterday were just a joke, but first thing in the morning, she was told to settle her wages and leave. She was completely stunned.“Mr. Crawford, did I do something wrong?”Luke’s brows furrowed. Allison’s behavior was truly astonishing.“You’re not fired,” replied Luke. “Is breakfast ready?”Relieved to hear she still had her job, Aunt Neile quickly wiped away her tears and let out a sigh of relief. “Yes. Mr. Crawford, Ms. Craw, please have a seat. I’ll bring it out.
Luke was driving back home with Luca. It was already 9:00 pm when they arrived at the villa.Just as they reached the foyer and had not taken more than a few steps, Allison's voice rang out.“Oh, so you're finally willing to come back from Crawford Manor?” Her voice was dripping with sarcasm.Luca did not know how to respond to Allison and looked over at Luke.Luke let go of Luca's waist and whispered, “Go upstairs first.”“Okay.” Luca nodded, changed her shoes, and was about to head upstairs when Allison said again, “Stop. Who told you to go upstairs?”“Madam Allison, is there something you need?” Luca's tone was cold, carefully masking the helplessness inside her.Since she learned that Allison would be returning to the country and moving here, Luca had mentally prepared herself to be put in a difficult position. She loved Luke, so she was willing to tolerate whatever troubles came with it.Luca believed that as long as she and Luke faced things together, there was nothing th
After finishing work, Luca headed straight to Crawford Manor.When she arrived and greeted Old Master Crawford, the three kids came running down the stairs and surrounded her. They each took turns expressing how much they missed her and Luke.Luca missed them too, so after exchanging a few words with Old Master Crawford, she went upstairs with the kids to help them with their homework.It did not take long before Luke arrived.Not seeing Luca in the living room, he asked Old Master Crawford, “Grandpa, has Luca arrived?”Old Master Crawford was in a good mood. He nodded and replied, “She's upstairs, helping the kids with their homework.”Luke sat on the couch and watched the evening news with Old Master Crawford.“Has your mother caused any trouble lately?” asked Old Master Crawford.“Not really,” answered Luke. He could still manage Allison.“That doesn’t sound like her,” added Old Master Crawford, assuming Allison would always be causing trouble.“Her condition is bad right