In the VIP hospital ward. A tall and well-built figure walked out, and an elderly male voice roared in anger! "Luke, you ingrate!" Old Master Crawford shouted and slammed the table. Luke heard how angry his grandfather was, but that did not stop him from steadily walking away. The marriage between Xavier Tanner and Bianca Rayne was nothing remarkable, though thanks to Leia Norman, the popular celebrity, it was brought into public view. When the newspapers reported Xavier and Bianca's marriage certificate, Luke, as the man who had slept next to Bianca, was livid! Withered leaves scattered on the sidewalk outside the hospital, which added to the melancholy of the city in the fall. A black Bentley was parked on the side of the road. When Jason saw his boss, he got out of the car and opened the passenger door. After that, Jason got back into the car and started driving. After leaving the hospital gate, he reported to his boss, who was frowning while browsing his phone, "I've
'What's going on? 'Why would searching for 'Bianca Rayne' be a violation of the law?' While Bianca pondered over the question, her colleagues noticed a black Bentley driving into the courtyard with two equally extravagant cars following behind. The cars raised a cloud of dust; they were on sandy, unpaved ground after all. However, the people could not ignore the fact that the cars had consecutive plate numbers. The workers of T Corporation stood up in unison and discreetly put away their phones. They regarded the people who had gotten out of the cars with the utmost seriousness. Jason stepped out of the first car. He walked directly toward Bianca. Bianca stood up. She was still thinking about the comments on the Internet when she heard Jason tell her, "Boss wants you to go over, Ms. Rayne." "…" Bianca did not move. 'If Luke is in the car, why isn't he getting out?' "Don't worry. It's official business," Jason explained. He seemed to understand Bianca's reservations.
Luke's body emitted a frosty aura, which warned people to stay away as far as possible. Bianca pulled her jacket together and turned her head weakly to look outside the window. She did not say a word. After Jason helped Bianca sit in the car and closed the door, he went to get the two children who were doing their homework out of the room and into the car. The back seat of the Bentley was spacious. The children were carried into the car one after the other, but the father did not reach out to catch them. In fact, when he glanced at the children, it was full of disgust and annoyance. The two children were used to that and did not feel particularly sad. Rainie shifted closer to Bianca and asked her, "Can I sit together with you, Miss Bea?" "Of course. You can come closer…" Bianca said gently. She took Rainie's hand and brought the little girl into her arms. The scene looked like a family of four on their weekend family trip, but the father was too aloof and distracted…
"I wanna sleep, Daddy…" Rainie slumped lazily over Luke's shoulder and pouted. Bianca got out of the car. She lifted her head and looked at Luke's profound eyes. The part of her chest that Luke had touched felt swollen and painful. It was more sensitive than the day before. She wondered if it was almost the time of the month, and a brief calculation revealed that it was the case. Luke carried his daughter and looked at his son, who did not seem to be of much use, then looked at Bianca. "Stay here and accompany the children." At the same time, he placed the little girl in the car. Jason had work to do. After all, a boss's assistant had to take care of his boss in addition to his own work and was usually busier than the boss himself. The car was parked in the outskirts of the town, and a five-year-old girl was sleeping inside. No parent would be at ease. Bianca was more than willing to stay back and take care of her daughter, but she glanced at her colleagues who had gather
The employees of T Corporation fixed their gazes on the crowd, perhaps because their boss had appeared in front of them. Leia was worried that she might be recognized if she stood there for too long, so she turned around and left. When she returned to Xavier's Porsche Cayenne, she lightly furrowed her brows. Marie was not familiar with Leia yet, and she regarded Leia as a celebrity way beyond her league and herself as a lowly commoner. For a moment, she did not know how to speak to Leia. Leia was not bothered with Marie's presence. Instead, she kept thinking about the scene earlier. Leia already knew who Luke was. As one of the darlings of A City, and now that she had become one of the most famous celebrities, she held two extremely enviable identities. One of Leia's friends once asked her what kind of man she would want to marry in the future. She had admitted that she had her eyes on someone, but she was not sure whether fate would lead her to him. However, with the t
"It's not that…" Bianca's denial was weak. "I know that even if someone catches us in the act, you have the clout to suppress the news. I'm just a little tired after a full day of work, and I just want to go back to my room and rest." Luke's gaze on her was profound. He leaned close to her, deliberately lowered his voice, and spoke each syllable clearly. "I'm not going to suppress the news if the scandal breaks out. When I saw the news this morning that you are his legally wedded wife, I was so jealous that I was losing my mind. Now that you've appeared on the news with him, do you still mind that you'll have a scandal with me?" Bianca was worried that the children might hear. She might be surprised, but she kept her voice low, "That was just an accident. There's nothing to be jealous of. Don't be childish." She knew that Xavier bore no love for him, and he only forced her into a marriage out of malice. Even if he had a shred of affection for him, there was nothing to be proud of
Jason was suddenly silent. While Bianca took out the plates and cutlery from the cupboard, she asked, "Is everything OK, Mr. Doyle? Can you hear me?" One minute passed, then two minutes… Jason did not make a sound… The other colleagues had all woken up. Several people were doing chores in the courtyard. Joe was watering the plants and was rambling on, "I saw from the weather report that it'll be turning cold from Wednesday on. These pots need to be brought indoors. Is anyone willing to take two? Otherwise, I'll be bringing them all into my room." It was noisy outside. Bianca could not hear any sound from the other end of the phone. On the third minute, Bianca decided that she would end the call. Perhaps the reception was bad, or perhaps Jason was busy with work. Suddenly, Jason spoke. He sounded especially clear. "I'm sorry, Ms. Rayne. The reception was bad earlier," Jason explained. "It's fine. I thought that was the case. I was about to hang up." Bianca handed the p
Bianca put the keys away, changed into slippers, tiptoed into the bedroom, and found two blankets. She draped one over Lanie's body and the other over Rainie, who was sleeping soundly on Daddy's tummy… Bianca was about to walk away when the man on the couch suddenly opened his bloodshot eyes. His eyes looked tired under the angular brow ridge. Blood vessels could be seen at the corners of his eyes. On other days, she would tell her not to work so hard and rest more, out of concern as his employee or as the father of her children. However, Bianca was speechless. Every word that Jason said over the phone lingered in Bianca's mind. "Boss received a dinner invitation after he got back yesterday. He left the two children in the apartment, and no one was around to take care of them… "Boss drank a little too much last night, and we haven't managed to contact him at the hotel…" Luke was wholly unqualified as a single parent. After Luke woke up, Rainie also woke up. After Ra
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