“Maybe they think you’re beautiful, so they want to keep looking at you,” Luca comforted her with a joke. “Don’t joke around. I know they’re staring because of that news headline.” Nina was well aware that even if the news was kept under wraps, everyone else still knew of her dark past. Not to mention that she was still together with Percy. This banquet was the perfect time for everyone to gossip about her.“That didn’t affect your relationship with Mr. Mallory, so why does it matter what other people think?” Luca consoled. “Thank you.” Nina smiled at Luca gratefully. It was thanks to Luca’s comforting words that she managed to recover from that incident so quickly. She wanted to live for her own sake and not care about what other people thought. Luca looked around. More people have arrived since she sat down, and most of the seats in the banquet hall were filled. It should be another half an hour before the banquet began. “What a splendid banquet,” Nina exclaimed beside
From afar, Madam Mallory was infuriated by the sight she saw. She gripped the silk table cloth as she tried to suppress her emotions. She thought that Percy was lying. She was so sure that Nina’s attendance today was Percy’s doing. Yet Old Master Crawford’s behavior made it clear that she had assumed wrongly. Today was an important event, and countless people were trying to find a chance to talk to Old Master Crawford. Still, the old man did not even smile at most of them. Instead, he opted to respond superficially and leave Luke to entertain them. Even so, he was smiling at Nina now. Percy naturally deduced what his mother was feeling and said calmly, “So, now do you believe that I say is the truth?” “Even if Old Master Crawford admits her as his god-granddaughter, your grandfather still won’t ever allow your relationship.” Madam Mallory wore a slightly wretched expression on her face. Percy replied calmly, “I don’t need anyone’s allowance. This is my marriage. I’ll ch
Luca could not help but chuckle at the thought. Luke was very busy, so she waited patiently for all the guests to leave. Once he was done, Luke walked over to her. Beside him, Susan was sporting a huge frown on her face. Her expression was filled with distaste when she watched Luke’s retreating figure. “Mother, I’ll go and pay the hotel the rest of the fees.” Louis watched the guests leave and decided to pay the outstanding figure. “All you have in mind is matters like this. You’re really going to infuriate me to death one day.” Susan looked at him with disappointment. Louis had also stood at the door to wave the guests off, but there were considerably fewer people who wanted to talk to Louis than those who wanted to talk to Luke. In fact, Louis’ presence at the door did not seem to make any difference at all, since everyone only wanted to talk to Luke. Her birthday celebration had easily become Luke’s banquet. Louis saw how Old Master Crawford was still within earshot
Luke’s gaze darkened when he heard Susan’s ambiguous tone. Susan felt the strong and angry aura from Luke and took an instinctive small step backward. Only then did she realize that she was afraid of Luke. Luke quirked his lips. From Susan’s ambiguous tone and harsh appearance, Luke knew that Louis must have gotten an earful moments ago. “We’ll be going back first.” “Drive safe, Brother,” Yuri quickly said. After Luke and Luca left with their children, Susan turned to glare at Yuri with displeasure. “Even you’re so ready to chummy up to him, huh?” “Mother, I’m not…” Yuri defended. She did not understand how her act of common courtesy had become chumming up to Luke in her mother’s eyes. After all, an act was only believable when one kept it up. “Cut the attitude in front of children, lest they take after your bad example.” Susan harrumphed. She did not like it when people tried to get in Luke’s good graces. Yuri listened exasperatedly to Susan, unable to defend herself.
Luca’s heart skipped a beat at the sound. If not for the ambiguous and warm atmosphere of the living room, she might have thought that Luke realized something and wanted to question her under the excuse of drinking. The gentle sound of the piano drifted from the speakers, and Luca felt herself relaxing. She did not ask Luke what he wanted to talk about and opted to listen to the music instead. With her emotions calmed, she started drinking more wine without realizing it. The red wine was tasty and quickly made her lightheaded. Luke stared at Luca’s flushed cheeks and decided that she looked much more enchanting like this than she did with the makeup blush. He wanted nothing more than to engrave this enchanting look in his mind forever. Luke’s gaze darkened. His desire for Luca was growing, but he forced himself to rein it in.He did not want this woman to feel afraid of him. Up until this moment, Luke had yet to find out why Luca was so willing to stay under the control
Half an hour later, Susan had already made her selections for which photos she wanted to refine. Excluding the family photo, every other photo was of herself. The photographer could not help but complain internally. He had taken photos of so many guests and business big shots, yet Susan only chose the photos she was in. After her selection, the photographer kept his computer and stood up. “Madam Crawford, now that the photos have already been selected, I should be able to finish editing and refining them within a week. We can decide on a date then for you to come and take a look at the photos. I’ll further refine them if need be.” “Alright. There’s no rush. Just make sure that the photos look great in the end,” Susan replied. “Of course. I’ll make sure to further heighten your looks.” The photographer knew what Susan wanted to hear, so he promised her as he walked down the stairs. “That will be best.” Susan was very pleased with his business attitude and stood to walk him d
Shanks did not say anything more.After all, he would fulfill whatever he had promised Abel. Shanks looked at the microscope on the table that was not far away from him after Abel left. That was the microscope Luca used to do her research. Ever since she left the Island of Despair, the microscope had never been used again. The dust had begun to settle on it. His words just now made it seem like it was only for the sake of his experiment, but he was also giving Luca a chance.Shanks had been to A City before. The people there took New Year’s seriously. They thought it was an important day to reunite with their family members. All the students who went to study abroad and those who were working elsewhere would return to their hometowns and celebrate New Year’s with their families.It was probably Luca’s last chance to celebrate New Year’s with that man.In that photo just now, Luca looked so happy when she was looking at Luke. Shanks looked at the microscope. He could still r
Luke saved the photos and said in a calm voice, “You talked too much today.” “When do I not?” Louis said, “I’ve always been chattering away while following behind you since I was young. You should’ve gotten used to it, right?” Luke was already Louis’ brother when he was born. Although Susan had always told Louis that Luke was his enemy, it did not affect his admiration for Luke. Louis loved following behind Luke since he was young. He was naughty and playful too. Thus, he did not learn much from Luke and his strengths. “That’s true. You’re as talkative as an old woman. Oh, give me the photographer’s contact details. I’d like to print some photos too,” answered Luke. “Nonsense. Don’t you ruin my tall and masculine image,” Louis laughed jokingly. Then, he gave the photographer’s contact number to Luke. Louis glanced at the time, then he rose to his feet and said, “Brother, I’ve sent you his contact number. I shouldn’t be bothering you anymore. I’m leaving now.”“Stay for a w
“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