“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
“Okay.” Luke bent down and got into the car.Gale closed the car door, quickly returned to the driver’s seat, and closed the door. After he fastened the seat belt, he asked, “Boss, are we still going there?”“Yes.” Luke muted his phone. Judging from Allison’s personality, he would receive at least three to four calls from her while he was on his way to her villa.The more Allison behaved that way, the more suspicious she was. It would mean that she was up to something.“Wait for me outside the house later. If I give you a call, just come in. You must take me away no matter what happens,” said Luke. Gale was puzzled. Was he not going to Allison’s house?Why did he sound like he was going to some gangster’s hideaway?"Boss, what would happen to you? Isn't that your mother?" Gale asked in a careful tone.Gale knew Luke was not on good terms with Allison, but no parent was capable of hurting their children. It was unlikely that Allison would harm Luke, right?“So?” Luke’s voice w
“Ms. Allison, let me pour the wine for you,” said Sophian excitedly. The negative feelings from being ignored by Luke turned into excitement. She took the bottle of red wine from Allison and poured wine into the three wine glasses. Luke frowned when he saw the dark red color liquid flowing into the glass. Then, he turned to look at Allison.Allison had already picked up the glass and was ready to make a toast with him. “Son, cheers. It’s been a long time since I had dinner with you. Stop turning me down.”Luke had no choice but to pick up his wine glass and toast with her. Allison took a sip of the red wine and noticed that Luke had not drunk any of it. Then, she convinced him, “Luke, why aren’t you drinking it?”Luke had no choice but to take a sip of the wine.Allison smiled and said, “What’s wrong with you lately? You only took a small sip of the wine. I knew I did many things that made you hate me back then, but I truly want to patch things up with you now. It wasn’t ea
Allison pretended to be surprised and said, "Luke, what nonsense are you talking about? Nothing was added to the wine. It’s fine. I think you're just drunk. Sophian, help him to the bedroom. Let him spend the night here." Sophian nodded. However, Luke was looking daggers at her when she was about to step forward. Sophian was so frightened that she remained rooted to the spot. Allison was rendered speechless when she saw that, and she urged Sophian, “What are you doing there? Can’t you see that my son is feeling uncomfortable? Help him up and bring him to the room.”“Okay.” Sophian mustered her courage and came near Luke. She thought there was no need to be afraid of him after tonight.Luke took his phone out and stared at Sophian with his icy cold gaze while she came closer to him. Then, he said, “I’ll kill you if you come near me.”“Mr. Crawford…” Sophian was horrified.Although they were living under the rule of law, Luke’s gaze was terrifying. His gaze was like a knife. It
Gale clenched his teeth and said, “Boss, hang in there.”Then, he hit the accelerator and sped off. In the villa.Allison watched Gale drive off with Luke in the car through the security camera. She gritted her teeth in anger and stared angrily at Sophian.Sophian was frightened. Allison was looking as though she wanted to devour her. A chill went down her spine, and she could not help but shudder for a moment. Then, she said in a soft voice, "Ms. Allison—"“Shut up!” Allison interrupted her menacingly, “If it weren’t for you dawdling there, how could Gale have brought him away?” If Sophian had mustered her courage and brought Luke upstairs, Allison would have had a way to stop Gale.They would not have ended up with Luke being taken away by someone else when they were carrying out their plan.“Mr. Crawford was so frightening. I was scared…” Sophian quibbled for her cowardice with embarrassment. It was normal for her to feel frightened when Luke stared at her like he would
“As long as he stays out of your sight, I won’t make a move,” said Ray.If Gordan were not one of Luke’s pals, he would have been long gone.Anyone who dared to mess with someone Ray cherished would not be let off easily. The only reason Gordan was still breathing was thanks to Luke.“Alright, Ray. Just let it go. I’ve moved on and started a new life. Plus, I’m studying at Capital University. We have mutual friends, so running into him is inevitable. If that happens, we’ll just be strangers. There’s no need to step in for me or act impulsively.” Just as Vivian finished speaking, the doorbell rang.“Is it the clothes delivery?” asked Ray.“No, while you were talking with Mr. Crawford, I asked someone to buy some medicinal cream. The ones here work better than the ones in Russia. A little massage with it should help you heal faster,” Vivian said, grabbing a mask and hat before heading to the door.“Miss, is the boss alright?” asked one of Ray’s subordinates.“He’s fine. Did you ge
When Ray heard that there was a 90% chance of success, he could not help but ask, “Can you walk me through your plan?”“The prison where Kassy is being held actually has an underground passage. I’ve already spoken with the prison officials, and we can use that passage to transport her out. It connects to the sewage system, which leads directly to another detention facility. "The only catch is that this facility’s underground pipes don’t connect to the outside world, so the remaining 10% risk lies in moving Kassy onto the main road and securing her at the new location.“This whole operation can be done without anyone noticing, which is why I’m confident it’ll work.” As Luke explained, he pulled out a detailed map of the sewer system. “Here’s the layout I had someone retrieve. This is the starting point, and this is the destination. If we take this route, we can move Kassy without alerting Abel’s people.”Abel’s men were keeping a constant watch outside the prison now. That was prec
Luke had no idea what kind of mindset the person who poisoned Vivian had. However, he found Gordan’s current behavior quite intriguing.“Luke, what’s with that look?” Gordan felt uneasy under his gaze.“You seem pretty concerned about Vivian,” Luke leaned back on the couch and said thoughtfully.Gordan froze for a moment before laughing it off. “What? No way! Why would I care about her? Come on, Luke, don’t say stuff like that. If she hears it, she might start getting ideas.”Luke could not be bothered to expose his act and got straight to the point. “Why are you here?”“Speaking of that, I almost got sidetracked by that woman.” Gordan quickly pulled out his phone, grimacing. “Man, Ray really didn’t hold back. I need to get some treatment for these bruises later.”Luke took the phone and tried to unlock it. It needed a passcode. He handed it back. “Unlock it.”“All set, boss.” Gordan unlocked the phone and went back to pressing an ice pack against his face.Luke scanned the scr
It was the sound of a body slamming onto the ground.Gordan’s furious curses rang out. “Damn it! You're really going all out, huh? Do you think I'm scared of you?”Another loud thud followed.Vivian frowned. What the hell were they doing? Were they really going to fight until one of them won?Both of them were skilled fighters. If they kept this up, neither would walk away unscathed.“Enough!” shouted Vivian.The two men locked in the fight froze for a moment.“Vivian, stay out of this. I’m beating him to a pulp today,” growled Ray, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth. He was not in great shape, but neither was Gordan.“Ray, I don’t want to see him,” said Vivian. She did not want Ray fighting him. It was not to protect Gordan but because she did not want Ray getting hurt.Also, she definitely did not want Gordan to see her like this. She could already picture his smug face, his sarcastic remarks and his gloating.“Fine. If you don’t want to see him, I’ll just beat
After returning to the hotel from the hospital, Vivian felt much better.To her, the fact that Ray had taken her to the hospital meant there was hope for the future, which lifted her spirits. She picked up an apple from the fruit platter the hotel had provided and took a bite.“Ray, this apple is really good. Want to try one?” asked Vivian.Ray shook his head. “You go ahead. By the way, can I take a look at the luggage you brought from Russia?”Vivian nodded. “I only hung up my clothes. Everything else is still in the suitcase. You can just take the things out.”Ray walked into the bedroom, pulled out her suitcase, and opened it. Inside were just books and a few other small items, nothing unusual.“You didn't bring any food with you?” asked Ray.“I haven’t really been in the mood, but the food here is way better than Russian food, so I didn't feel the need to bring anything.” Vivian’s tone was lighthearted now that she was in a better mood.“That's true.” Ray agreed, then asked
Ray's tone turned serious. “Alright, I'll make the arrangements immediately. Dr. Craw, once the toxicology report is out, we’ll still need your help.”“For toxicology cases like this, I recommend combining both modern medicine and traditional herbal medicine. Don’t worry, if I can help, I definitely will,” Luca assured him.“Alright, thank you.” Ray expressed his gratitude and ended the call before updating Luke on the situation.Luke reassured him, saying, “If Vivian was really poisoned, don’t worry. Previously, Luca discovered that her biological mother had been poisoned with a slow-acting toxin. She prescribed herbal medicine and used purely traditional herbal medicine to detoxify her. It didn’t take long for all the toxins to be expelled, and her health fully recovered. So, rest assured. If it’s something she can fix, she’ll do everything she can.“Besides, once we identify the exact problem, the doctors will be able to step in and help, right?”“Yes. Thank you both in advance
Gerald walked over. “Ms. Sanchez, what's wrong?”He was eager to get back upstairs and stash his cigarettes before someone noticed and took them.Hera yanked open his bag, glanced at the cigarette brand, and scoffed. “I thought it was some expensive brand. But it's just this? And you’re acting all deferential to her over this?”Gerald was rendered speechless. “I knew Ms. Craw was going out, so I asked her to bring these back for me. This is the brand I’m used to. Maybe it’s not expensive to you, but for me, it’s what I can afford.”Realizing she had misspoken, Hera felt a bit awkward. She quickly changed the topic. “Still, is a pack of cigarettes really worth you being so grateful to Luca? How much could it have cost?”“It’s not about the money,” replied Gerald. “It's just a nice surprise. I never expected to get anything out of helping Ms. Craw, and this kind of unexpected gift has nothing to do with the price. Besides, I'm not being overly grateful. I'm just happy.”He was ba
Luca’s lips were already swollen and flushed from Luke's kisses.That deep shade of red, reflected in Luke’s eyes, was utterly captivating. It tugged at his nerves, stirring an uncontrollable desire within him.At that moment, he had only one thought, and it was to completely lose himself in her.…The two of them stepped out of the bedroom.Vivian quickly turned her back and greeted Luke when he saw him coming out, “Hello, Mr. Crawford.”“Vivian, don’t worry. Everything will get better,” replied Luke.Vivian simply hummed in response.Ray gave them a grateful nod as Luke took Luca’s hand and led her away.It was only after hearing the door close that Vivian finally turned back around.Ray glanced at her and said, “Vivian, they’re your friends. You don’t have to act this way around them. They won’t judge you.”“I know they won’t…” Vivian let out a soft sigh. “I just feel like I look terrifying right now. I didn’t want to scare them, so I avoided facing them directly. But it’
“I once treated someone who had been slowly poisoned over a long period of time. Their pulse was similar to Vivian’s. Given that your family has good genetics, yet Vivian is different from the rest of you, and her skin improved after leaving her original environment, all of this confirms my suspicion.“Could it be that someone in your family has been poisoning Vivian? That would explain why her skin ended up like this.”“If she really has been poisoned, then would staying away from that environment or identifying the person responsible help her get better?” asked Ray.Luca shook her head.“The poison I’ve encountered before was a slow-acting toxin that kept the victim’s skin dark. I don’t know exactly what it was, but long-term exposure to any poison has an effect on the body. It's just a suspicion now. I need to consult someone I know. And honestly, I can’t be sure what’s really causing Vivian’s condition.“Is her skin deteriorating so quickly because she was poisoned once more a