Fortunately, there was a person like him in Nina’s life to soothe her pain and drive away the shadows in her life. Living a life like this was not that bad.Nina was an easily satisfied person. It was enough for her as long as she could spend the rest of her life with Percy and live in peace.Luca looked at the blissful smile on Nina’s face, and she could not help but smile too.She hoped Nina could live happily forever.Luca had this feeling that even though Nina was already married to Percy, their together would not be an easy road. Nina must continue to live happily.The two of them talked about other stuff and chatted with each other for a while.Two hours later, Tommy ran downstairs looking for them. He grabbed Luca's hand with one of his hands while he took Nina's hand with another hand. He said helplessly, "Ms. Luca, Ms. Nina, hurry up upstairs. Daddy and Mr. Percy are about to fight."Luca raised her brows. Were Luke and Percy fighting with each other? She refused to
Nina smacked her tongue. She could not help but mumble, “The two of them are truly prodigal.”"Wine is meant to be drunk. Of course, it’s perfect to enjoy a glass of good wine during happy times. Besides, Mr. Crawford and Mr. Mallory are people who can afford the wine," said Luca with a smile. She shot a glance at Otto and nodded at him.Otto nodded and left.Nina could not help but exclaim, “That makes sense.” "Are you worried that there’ll be a dent in Mr. Mallory’s wallet?” Luca could not help but tease her. She picked up the cattail leaf fan and fanned the grill so that the charcoal could burn evenly.Luca turned on the ventilating fan in the gazebo too. It was to prevent the concentration of carbon monoxide from getting too high.Luca would not have chosen a charcoal grill if it were not for the kids who wanted to try the traditional way of barbecuing.Nina blushed. She immediately shook her head and said, “No. Stop talking nonsense.”"You're blushing. Even so, you're Mrs
Luca heard what Luke said and turned to look at him. Her heart skipped a beat as she asked, “Mr. Crawford, are you going to scope out the location tomorrow?”"Yes. I'll try my best to come up with a design," said Luke as he spread a layer of BBQ sauce on the grilled meat."Do you mind taking me along with you when you're going there? I'm interested in such things," said Luca. Although she had learned many things over the past few years, it seemed like architectural design was still her favorite. She would like to participate in the process of designing the ancestral hall.Even though she could not show that she knew architectural design in front of Luke, at least she could show that she was interested in it.“Sure.” Luke agreed to it. Then, he turned around to look at Percy and Nina, “Mrs. Mallory, do you have any plans tomorrow?”Luke addressing Nina as ‘Mrs. Mallory’ made Nina’s face turn red again. It took a while for the redness on her cheek to go away.Although she had alr
“I’m giving you the chance to learn how to take care of the kids,” explained Luke.Percy and Nina were married. The two of them would have a baby soon.It finally dawned on Percy. He nodded and looked at Nina while pretending to put on a stern expression. He said, "Looks like we've got a lot to learn.""We haven't even held a wedding ceremony. Don't even think of it," Nina smiled and pretended to reject him.It did not matter to her whether Percy held a wedding ceremony for her or not. She once imagined herself putting on a wedding dress to marry the man she loved when she was in high school back then.However, she realized that it was difficult for them to hold a wedding ceremony. That was why she would not expect too much as long as she could stand beside him legitimately. She was already satisfied with that. “We’ll hold a wedding ceremony after the New Year,” Percy promised her. Although the Mallory family did not allow them to be together, Percy could still hold a wedding ce
Luke walked out of the bathroom to see Luca hiding under the blanket like an ostrich. He could not even see her head.Luke chuckled and asked, “Isn’t it hard to breathe under the blanket?”It was suffocating…Luca could hear her heart pounding fast under the blanket. She was nervous, like a child who was about to do something bad. She could not get used to it.Luke noticed that she was pretending to sleep, so he said, “Don’t worry, I won’t do anything to you tonight.”They had work to do tomorrow, and Luca had to help him. If he indulged himself tonight, she would be tired tomorrow. Luke could not bear to see her tired.Luca slowly stuck out her head and looked at him, “Is that true?”“I’ve never lied to you,” said Luke. He picked up the hair dryer and dried his hair.Luca listened to the whirring sound of the hairdryer. It reminded her of the past. Luke would not let her go that easily. However, it seemed like Luke would still succeed in conquering her heart when she t
“Mr. Doyle didn’t do anything wrong.” Luca knew Luke was joking. Her lips curled up into a smile.She liked relaxed and happy conversations like this.“I don’t need anyone as long as you’re here,” said Luke. Luca was more important than anyone else.Luca's face reddened. She could sense the hidden meaning in Luke's words. Then, she touched her face. She could feel her face burning. She turned to look at the streets, and only then did she realize they had passed by an ancestral hall.“Mr. Crawford, isn’t that the ancestral hall?” Luca asked. She glanced at the navigation to make sure that the ancestral hall she saw was their destination.“Yes. I’m looking for the parking lot,” replied Luke. The main road outside the ancestral hall was a two-way street. They could not park their car here, and there were no parking lots in the ancestral hall either.There happened to be a parking lot a couple of hundred feet away. Luke parked the car there. After he got out of the car, he opened h
“Put it on. Be careful.” Luke handed Luca a new safety helmet.Luca put on the helmet after she thanked Luke.She could not help but let out a sigh. It had been a long time since Luke did foundation work. However, he was still as attentive as he was before when he got the job.It was dangerous to walk in the old ancestral hall. There never had been any injuries or accidents caused by the building collapsing, but the place was in ruins. It could collapse anytime.Luca put on the safety helmet while Brian walked toward them and said respectfully, "Mr. Crawford, is there anything I can help with?""What year are you in?" Luke asked. It would be fine if they could help him to carry the tools. If they could not, Luke would rather ask them to leave than stay here and cause trouble for him."I'm in my second year. I've learned the basics of how to measure the area. Austin is in his first year," answered Brian. The surname for most of the villagers was Crawford, followed by the surname H
“I remember that the National University is one of the top five universities in architectural design,” Luca recalled. Then, the expression on her face changed. Only after she finished saying that did she realize what she had said. Luca turned to look at Luke. He was calm, and he was not as surprised as she thought.Normally, a ‘foreigner’ like her should not know so much about the local universities. She thought it was unbelievable when there was no surprised expression on Luke’s face.Brian's face reddened as he was embarrassed to hear Luca complimenting his university. He shook his head and replied, "Even though it's in the top five, the faculty of architecture in our college is incomparable to Mr. Crawford's college. I'm planning to sit for the entrance exam for that college and see if I can take my master's there in my fourth year." Luca withdrew her gaze. She smiled and replied, “Good luck to you.”Brian nodded. Then, he changed the subject of the conversation, "Ms. Cra
“I’m just making plans with a friend. No need to go into all that, right?” As Luca said, she lifted her gaze to meet Shanks.His eyes were as deep as the ocean, and in that split second of eye contact, she felt like she was being pulled in. She suddenly felt like she had just exposed herself.Awkwardly, she cleared her throat and said, “Mr. Shanks, I’ll head downstairs to make lunch.”Shanks did not call her out on it, nor did he press further. He simply returned to his experiment.Downstairs, Luca saw Abel sitting on the living room couch. Ignoring him was not an option.Luca greeted him politely, “Mr. Abel.”Abel took a slow drag from his cigar, his blue eyes scanning her from head to toe. He was deep in thought.He remained silent, seemingly deep in thought. His dark and brooding expression sent a chill down Luca’s spine. Without saying a word, she turned around and walked straight into the kitchen.Gerald was already inside.When he saw her, he mouthed, “You’re here?”Luc
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