Luke and Luca walked beside Queenie, and they walked into the house together.Luke glanced around and found that Jack was not there. "Mother-in-law, where’s Jack?""He’s still at the provincial office as he has a meeting today. He’ll come back a little later. Ten minutes ago, he said he was ready to leave and mentioned that he would get a bottle of wine. He wants to drink with you tonight. Don't just stand here. Come sit and drink some tea to warm your body." Queenie said with a smile as she got them to sit down."Father-in-law has been busy. How is his health?" Luke asked, concerned. He was sitting across from Queenie."He’s been busy. There seem to be a lot of meetings going on recently, and he often comes back late. It’s considered early for him to come back at this time today," Queenie said as she made them tea.Jack was occupied likely because there was a new project in the province, or he was attending to the inspection officers from the central government.There was no new
"Father-in-law." Luke nodded at him.Luca also greeted Jack, "Hello, Uncle Jack. Long time no see.""It's been a long time, Luca. If you're free, come visit me and your Aunt Queenie more often," Jack said. He knew there was a reason why Luca did not visit often.Luke had told him about what happened to her in Russia.As such, Jack knew that Luca was in danger all the time and could not acknowledge him and Queenie as her biological parents for some reason."Okay." Luca finished writing and handed the paper to the maid. "There you go.""What's that?" When he saw that, Jack put down his briefcase and sat down near Luca."It's a few recipes for your diet and a prescription for Aunt Queenie to condition her body," Luca replied."Condition her body? What's wrong?" Jack became nervous. He and Luke asked Luca to come over to check on Queenie's pulse as an excuse. He did not expect that something would be wrong with Queenie’s body."It's nothing. I’ve been having a lot of dreams when I
Queenie did not know what was going on. She just felt that Luca’s words brought her comfort and melted all her anxiety."Bea isn't by my side anymore. I just hope Leia can get better soon." She could not help but sigh. Queenie got a headache thinking that Leia might be hospitalized.What Leia hated most was the hospital. She would not stay even if she was in a luxurious single ward.There were a lot of people in the hospital, and Leia was a famous star. She was worried that if someone saw Leia in the hospital and told Luke...Luca listened to Queenie's sigh and felt even guiltier.‘I'm sorry, Mom…’All she could do was apologize to Queenie in her heart...Upstairs, in Jack's study.Luke followed him in and closed the door."The government does intend to develop the abandoned amusement park in the western suburbs, but there are no specifics for now," Jack said."After so many years of the rumor going around, the government is finally taking action." Luke could not help but sig
Queenie sat at the dinner table and looked at Jack suspiciously. "Why are you so happy? Did something good happen?""I’m just happy to see my son-in-law," Jack mentioned Luke deliberately.Queenie smiled helplessly as she shook her head."What? Aren't you happy?" Jack asked."I'm happy, but the kids aren’t here. I miss them," Queenie said. She had not mentioned the children, but she missed them a lot."Sorry, Mother-in-law." Luke apologized when he heard what she said. "I didn't bring the kids here because I needed to talk to Jack. I'll bring them over when they’re on holiday."Queenie nodded with a smile and replied, "Okay.""Where are the kids now?" Jack asked, concerned."They're at Crawford Manor," Luke replied. He saw the maid walk over with a bottle of wine, it was high in alcohol content."It's nice that Old Master Crawford is watching them," Jack nodded.Queenie sighed and said, "How is it nice? Old Master Crawford needs to rest, and the children would be making a lot
After the car was parked, Luke opened his eyes slightly and muttered, "Are we there yet?""We’re here, Mr. Crawford. Can you get out of the car by yourself?" Luca asked. He had been drinking, so she was not sure if he would be able to walk on his own."If I can't, will you let me sleep in the car for the night?" Luke sat there and did not move. He was half-squinting looking at Luca's side profile."No." Luca unbuckled his seat belt. "I'll help you get in.""No need." Luke sat up straight, unbuckled his seatbelt, opened the door, and got out of the car.Luca frowned slightly. She was worried that he would fall, so she followed closely behind him as he walked into the living room.Aunt Neile was off work, so the villa did not have a single light on.When Luke was about to walk forward, Luca stepped over the threshold and whispered, "Mr. Crawford, I'll turn on the lights first."Luke stopped and propped himself against the wall.Luca stood at the entrance and found the switch. Af
Luca secretly let out a sigh.Luke was obviously drunk. How could a tough person like him bring up his embarrassing past if he was not drunk? When she was still Bianca back then, she had never seen the other side of him when he showed his weaknesses. "I always wondered what kind of person I would be today if Louis were born earlier," Luke said in a low voice.Previously, Susan was unable to get pregnant, and that was when Allison brought Luke back from the orphanage. She brought him to meet Old Master Crawford to acknowledge him as his grandfather.Luke would never have returned to the Crawford family if Louis had already been born.Luke would have grown up in the orphanage without knowing who his parents were and why he was abandoned and left at the orphanage. Perhaps he would have been adopted by someone else and grown up in an unfamiliar family. He would not have known anything about his family. "You would’ve become a successful man even if you weren’t in the Crawford fa
Luca’s body was burning as though she was having a fever. However, she knew it was not a fever. The truth was, she was feeling shy…Although he was the man she used to see every day, and they were so close that nothing could get in between them, it had been three years since she was this close to him. Even though Luca missed him, she was having a hard time adapting to the intimacy between them now.What Luca was most worried about was if Luke found out her identity and her purpose, how would she face him? How was she going to explain it…Luca carefully lifted her head and looked at Luke.Luke was still asleep. It was probably because he was drunk last night. That was why he woke up later than usual today.Luca carefully moved his hand away from her waist. She let out a sigh of relief when she finally climbed out of the bed.Fortunately, Luke did not cling to her arm as tightly as last night. Otherwise, she would have woken the man up if he was clenching her arm tightly. Luc
Aunt Neile walked out of the kitchen and cleaned the dishes on the table. She noticed that Luca did not follow Luke to work, so she asked, “Mr. Craw, don’t you have to go to work today?”“Yes. I’m going later,” replied Luca as she gave Amur a call.The phone stated that the call was unreachable, and no one was answering the phone.No one had been answering the phone for the past two days, and the phone was turned off today. Luca reckoned that Amur had left his phone on standby, and that was why his phone ran out of battery. However, Amur would normally pick up her call instead of ignoring her calls. That was why Luca needed to head over to the apartment and check on him. Amur had promised Luca before that he would leave markings in the apartment if he was out on a mission and he did not have the chance to inform her about it or if he was not allowed to.There were different markings, and each marking represented how dangerous the mission was. Aunt Neile noticed the solemn e
“No.” Shanks’ tone was cold and firm with no trace of hesitation.Abel still looked doubtful.Shanks added, “Would you like to see her medical report?”Abel was startled for a moment. How did Shanks know he had been thinking about that report?Now that Shanks brought it up, the idea lost its appeal.Abel shook his head. “Even if you showed it to me, I wouldn’t understand it. Shanks, Kassy’s life is in your hands. If you can give her a second chance, I’ll provide as much research funding as you need."Shanks remained silent. He could save Kassy. In fact, his research had always been for Kassy.However, he did not expect Abel to be so ruthless as to insist on using a living person as a donor for Kassy. That was something he could not accept.Kassy’s condition could be treated with organs from a brain-dead patient. Why destroy a perfectly healthy life?Shanks was not acting out of mercy. He simply refused to go against his medical ethics.He was not someone who had to save lives
“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.