Luca watched the two of them play chess for a while. She glanced at the time, and when it was almost time to prepare lunch, she stood up and said, “Old Master Crawford, Mr. Crawford, please excuse me. I’m going to prepare lunch now.”“Do you need help?” Luke asked. Aunt Neile usually helped Luca out when she was busy preparing meals in the kitchen. Now, she had to prepare lunch for six of them. Luke was worried that she would not be able to handle it herself. Luca shook her head, pursed her lips, and said in a gentle voice, "It's okay. I can handle this. You can play chess with Old Master Crawford."After that, Luca walked to the kitchen.Before she walked into the kitchen, she heard Old Master Crawford making fun of Luke, “Hah, I didn’t know you’d step into the kitchen.”Luca smiled without turning around. She headed straight to the kitchen.Luke did not look like someone who would enter the kitchen, but there were times when he would help her in the kitchen. Her heart pounded
“I’ve already cleaned myself up. I’ll feel better after eating breakfast,” said Louis as he walked to the dining room.Susan shook her head helplessly. How could Louis slack off during the New Year? It seemed like she had to talk to Yuri about it and asked her to keep an eye on Louis.“This child…” She could not help but mutter.After a while, Susan noticed that Louis had not finished his breakfast yet. She walked into the dining room and saw him eating breakfast while looking at his phone at the same time.The burning rage in her exploded uncontrollably. She snatched Louis' phone and said, "Don't look at your phone when you're eating. Your grandpa will be mad at you if he sees you like this.""Mom, Grandpa's not here…" Louis felt helpless. Old Master Crawford did not allow them to look at their phones while having meals. However, Louis could not be bothered since Old Master Crawford was not around."Does that mean you can relax when he's not here? Your grandpa isn't back yet.
After a while, Mr. Griffin brought the brewed tea over and said, “Old Master Crawford, the tea is ready.”“Okay.” Old Master Crawford took a sip of the tea. He could not help but exclaim, “The tea smells good.”“I should’ve brought some tea leaves to Luke’s place.” Then, he took another sip of tea.“Grandpa, why are you craving for tea? Didn’t you have any tea yesterday?” Louis asked with curiosity and poured a cup for himself too.“Luke doesn’t like drinking tea. How could I expect him to have good tea leaves there?” said Old Master Crawford. After all, Luke did not entertain guests there, so he would not have prepared tea leaves. Some tea leaves were meant to be gifts for the guests. Old Master Crawford knew about that, so that was why he did not say that he wanted to have some tea.“You always drink a pot of tea in the morning. Won’t you get upset if there’s no tea?” Louis knew the old master’s habits well. Old Master Crawford loved drinking tea."It's still fine. The vegeta
Luca gently shook her head and said, “Mr. Crawford, it’s inappropriate for me to go along with you. They’re your wife’s family.”Luke stared at her with his deep eyes. Wife?Was she not his wife?She clearly wanted to see her family at this time, but she was unable to visit them due to her identity and the forces behind her…Luke did not expose her and said, “If you’d like to visit them but you’re worried that they’ll overthink, you can go after us. Lliam is on duty today.”Luca looked down and pondered for a moment. She still thought it was inappropriate to do so and said, “Mr. Crawford, I heard Nina say that locals here always visit the wife’s family on the second day of New Year. I shouldn’t do this.”She was actually the most suitable person to visit them, but she had no choice but to tell Luke that it was inappropriate for her to do so in a soft voice.Luke knew what she was thinking about. He did not force her. He carried the two bags and headed outside. Then, he asked,
“Thank you, Mom.” Luke did not reject her. This was the elderly’s blessing. He accepted the gifts on behalf of Bianca."Mom, there's a box of vitamins in the bag. It's for Old Master Norman. Please give it to him when you head there," said Luke. He did wish to visit Old Master Norman, but he had to prepare something for him. That was why he reminded Luca to get something for them.That way, Queenie could bring the gifts along with her when she visited him.Luke did not have to socialize that much either.Queenie nodded. She smiled and said, “Thank you for being thoughtful.”“It was Bianca who reminded me,” said Luke. Luca was reminded of her grandparents who were related to her. That was why she mentioned it to Luke.Luke was allowed to use being busy as an excuse to escape from socializing, but one had to prepare gifts and send regards to them.“Bianca reminded you?” Queenie was surprised. She said excitedly, “Is Bianca starting to remember things now?”Queenie had been textin
“No.” Luke promised he would take this project. He had to win the construction bid.T Corporation had worked on many projects before. They also had been working on a few projects that required a high greening rate. “How’s the project of T Corporation and M Group going?” Jack asked with concern."Everything's going smoothly," replied Luke. “Okay. That’s great. Other than the contents of the bidding document, they’ll be focusing on another requirement for the bid this time—the completion status and quality of the previous projects of the company. The cooperation between T Corporation and M Group has attracted a lot of attention now. You have to make sure everything's going well. No mistakes are allowed. Otherwise, your chance of winning the bid will be gone," Jack revealed the requirements of the bid and reminded Luke. After all, everything was going well for T Corporation now. It was lonely at the top. Luke had to be extra careful. If anything happened, he would lose to his
"I'm not available." Luke rejected her with a cold voice. Although she was his mother, Luke and she hated each other. Perhaps she had an ulterior motive seeing as how she insisted Luke go over for dinner. Allison was pissed when she heard Luke giving her such a cold response, so she threatened him, “Fine. You’re not coming, right? Then I’ll go back to Crawford Manor. If Old Master Crawford asks about it, I’ll tell him the truth.”Although Old Master Crawford was mad at her for fighting with Susan on New Year’s Eve, what he did not want to see the most was his children and grandchildren not respecting their elders.It was a sin to disrespect their elders. Luke was not afraid of Allison even if she used Old Master Crawford to threaten him.However, if Allison truly did this, the old master would have to endure the noise and trouble she caused. It was not easy for them to come up with an excuse to let her leave Crawford Manor. If she seized the chance to return so that she could
Luke no longer questioned her when she saw the meaningful smile on her face. “I’m going to take a shower now,” said Luke as he stood up.“Okay.” Luca nodded.Luca opened the gifts when Luke went to take a shower. There were stacks of cash inside.There was not much expression on Luca’s face.Luca took off her cardigan. She was wearing her pajamas inside. Luca put the gifts on the bedside table. Although it was a lot of money, it did no matter how much she had received. It was the thought that counted.She leaned against the headboard and picked up the data document beside her.It was the experiment data for the experiments she did today.Luca turned to the first page. She could not help but let out a sigh. The data she collected was too little.It was a pity that the laboratory she rented last time was no longer available. The owner of the laboratory told her that another company had rented the laboratory for the long term. She could not rent it anymore.Luca massaged her
If Shanks’ prescription could help Hera sleep earlier, that would not be a bad thing.“Then I need to be treat…” Hera paused for a moment, realizing she could not say the word treatment. That would imply she was sick, and she could not let people know that. Instead, she corrected herself and asked, “How long will I need to take this herbal medicine?”“You can stop when your test results are back to normal,” replied Luca as she picked up the medical waste and headed out of the room.Gerald followed closely behind and asked with curiosity, “Ms. Craw, how long is that?”“How long is a standard treatment cycle?” Luca asked in return.Gerald pondered for a moment. “Usually about a month?”“The average endocrine cycle for women is three months, so the minimum duration for proper regulation is three months,” explained Luca.Although Abel could take action at any time, there was no way Hera could endure three full months of treatment. However, until Abel made his move, she would have
Luca’s head was slightly tilted, her cheek burning with pain.Abel had not held back at all. The force of his slap was merciless. A numbness spread across her face at an alarming speed.From the next room, someone peeked out again and asked in a low voice, “You okay?”“I’m fine.” Luca’s expression remained calm. This kind of injury was nothing to her.Back on the Island of Despair, she had endured far worse during training. She survived, did she not?Without another word, Luca pushed open the lab door and stepped inside.The man watching shook his head. Her face was already that swollen, and she still said she was fine… What a tough woman. She took a slap that hard and brushed it off like it was nothing.Shanks lifted his head when he heard the door open. When he saw it was Luca and noticed how swollen the side of her face was, his brows furrowed.“Abel did this?”“Who else?” Luca let out a bitter laugh, only to wince as the movement tugged at the pain. She sucked in a sharp b
“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