“Right now…” The corner of Belle’s lips was raised slightly. “Let’s not talk about that now. I heard that Mallory Corporation will hold a shareholder’s meeting in a few days, right?”“So?” Pierre raised his eyebrows. After the woman in front of him piqued his interest, he was no longer looking at Luca hatefully.Whether it be Luca or Luke, he would take his revenge on them for what they did to him, so there was no need to do anything right now.Luca was calm. She would not be intimidated by his gaze anyway.“I’ve also heard some rumors that this shareholder’s meeting is to recall your brother, Percy, from the position of CEO. Thus, you’ll be electing a new CEO for Mallory Corporation. If the rumors are true, then I guess that person will be you, right?” Belle asked him.The moment the news of the shareholder’s meeting was made public, rumors started spreading like wildfire.Percy’s dark past had also been exposed without regard to whether they were true or not.When Belle saw th
After Luca left the restaurant, she headed back to Watson Biopharmaceuticals.She came downstairs for lunch late, so lunchtime was almost over by the time she finished, which was why there were not many people around.The employees in nearby companies had already returned to work, so the streets were relatively empty. Other than the parked cars, not many people were walking around.Luca rushed back to Watson Biopharmaceuticals.She was too focused on Pierre’s conversation while eating, so she ate slowly. If she did not hurry back now, she would be late.When she got to the entrance, a ray of light flashed in the corner of her eyes.Luca stopped in her tracks and looked across the street.At the same time, a black car on the opposite side of the road caught her attention.When she looked up, the people in the car ducked down.They were fast to react, but Luca still caught sight of their shadows.Luca’s eyesight was sharp, so she saw them duck down. If they had not tried to hid
The researcher smiled awkwardly and explained, "Dr. Craw, I didn't look at your analysis on purpose. I was bringing it to your seat and I accidentally..."He paused for a second and assured her, "Don't worry, I won’t mention anything to anyone."After all, before the initiation of every research project, the company would have to review the study’s theoretical support. If he wanted to keep his job, he had to do what Luca said.He just thought that it was a little strange. The data he saw in her analysis did not seem like any ordinary virus.‘Luca's research is not on ordinary viruses?’The company may not approve the project if it were too niche. The profits may be high, but the investments would be excessive as there would not be much existing research and data on the topic.The researcher was worried that Luca's efforts would be in vain.The other researchers looked at each other and were not sure what to say. Luca sat there and was focused on her data set. After a while, Lu
Warren did not ask for more details. After he entered the address, he followed the navigation app and started driving.As soon as the car pulled out to the roadside, Luca noticed that a black Corolla was following them.She put on a faint smile and reminded Warren, "There's a black Corolla following us.""Yes." Warren glanced through the rear mirror and saw the black Corolla she was referring to."This car has been parked near the office," he said. Warren would wander around and inspect while he was waiting for Luca. He was Gale's subordinate and had undergone special training, so he was alert to his surrounding environment."Mm." Luca nodded. ‘It seems that Gale's subordinates are not bad.’"How did you know that they’re after you?" Warren asked."When I was eating lunch, they were taking photos and the flash went off," Luca explained. She was not a movie star who was used to the camera, so she was sensitive to flashes as such.She would not necessarily have noticed if the fla
"I'll head home to cook now." Luca made an excuse, hurriedly unlocked the door, and walked into the apartment.As she stared at the closed apartment door, Mrs. Selley shuddered and sighed as she said, "Youngsters today are so bold. They dare to live anywhere."Mrs. Selley thought of the gust of wind that blew when the door closed just now and shuddered again. "That house is spine-chilling."Luca walked into the apartment and found that the lights were on, indicating that Amur had returned."Amur?" she called out to him.The apartment was empty, and her voice was the only thing that proved that someone was there. Luca was puzzled, so she picked up the phone and called him.Amur answered as soon as the call was connected."Amur, why aren't you in the apartment?" Luca asked."I'm doing some shopping," Amur replied.Luca could hear that the background on his end was a bit noisy. He seemed to be on the street, so she said, "Okay, I'll start cooking now. Come after you’re done shopp
Luca nodded. Pierre could not bear the common risks that came with transactions as such. She did not expect him to go so far."The boss was so annoyed by him that he taught him a lesson in Russia, thinking he would learn his lesson. However, after Pierre left Russia, he’s been using his network to investigate Abel. He has the boss’ contact number, and Boss felt that things would go down if he let Pierre be. As such, he asked me to deal with the matter," Amur said.If Pierre had been obedient, this would not have happened."He asked for it..." Luca said softly."Yes, if he hadn’t continued to dig into Abel, the deal would have ended as such and the boss wouldn't have done anything," Amur said as he believed that the deal was fair as it was mutually consensual.All transactions involved risk.Abel took the risk, and so did Pierre.The money and the goods had changed hands but Pierre constantly bothered Abel to get a refund, screaming that the proposal was fake. The money was in
"Wait," Amur said. He walked to the living room, picked up two full bags, and handed them to her."What's this?" Luca glanced at the bags with a supermarket logo printed on them."Snacks for the kids..." Amur explained, "I just so happened to buy them when I was at the supermarket.""Thank you." Luca did not reject his kind offer. When he deliberately emphasized the phrase ‘just so happened to buy them', she thought that the awkward Amur was a little cute.As she looked back on the past three years, he had matured a lot and could take on responsibility.She knew that Amur rejected Luke because of her previous experience. Nevertheless, he knew that the three children were innocent."I'll be making a move, then." Luca picked up the two bags and left."I'll send you off." Amur walked quickly to the door and opened it.Luca shook her head and said, "You've been on the road for a few days. I'm sure you're tired. Rest early. The driver is downstairs. I won't be in any danger.""Okay
The grandma he referred to was Allison.The child's words reminded Luca of Allison. She had been to Korea for a while, and she was not sure how the operation went.She did not hear Luke mention it either.However, she caused such a scene when she went back to Crawford Manor for the New Year, so it was likely that no one cared about her surgery."Is Mr. Crawford back?" Luca asked the child."Daddy knows that you were going to have dinner with Uncle, so he came back early. He’s now working upstairs," Tommy said.Luca picked up the two bags of snacks, went into the pantry, and kept the treats out of the child's reach.Tommy loved to eat. She was worried that they would overeat, so she put them up a little higher. When they wanted to eat them, Aunt Neile could take the snacks for them and control the amount so that the children would not overeat."Are you done with your cartoons?" After she put away the snacks, she asked Tommy who was following behind."Yeah, the show’s over." Tom
Luca deliberately cracked her knuckles, making a loud 'pop' sound.Gerald immediately shrank back, pulling his neck in.“Ms. Craw, I’m sorry! I was being nosy. Please don’t be mad. I’ll just go take a nap,” he quickly apologized.“Hold on.” Luca stopped him.“What is it?” Gerald looked at her in confusion.“Do you know how to remove an IV yet?” asked Luca.“I’ve seen it done a lot, but I haven’t actually tried it myself.” A glint of eagerness flashed in Gerald’s eyes. “Ms. Craw, are you asking me to give it a shot?”“Do you want to try?” asked Luca.“Yes!” Gerald nodded enthusiastically. “I may not be a medical genius, but I can at least do something useful.”“Come with me. Let’s start with changing the IV bag,” instructed Luca.Gerald followed her, and under her guidance, he clumsily went through the steps but managed to replace the IV bag successfully.“This is so cool! I think I could totally be a nurse.” Gerald flashed a victory sign. “What do you think? Would I make a g
“Yeah, something came up with my family, so they got delayed. They just brought me my meal,” answered the volunteer.Luca glanced at his food, which consisted of meat and vegetables. It was clear that his family treated him very well.“That’s quite a feast,” remarked Luca.“Heh, they know I need the nutrition, so they always give me this much. Ms. Craw, have you eaten yet?” the volunteer asked cheerfully. Now that his health was improving, his appetite had returned, and his mood was much better too.“I have. You should eat more. I just came in to check how much IV fluid is left. There’s still quite a bit, so I think it won't be done before the guys are done eating," replied Luca.The volunteer chuckled. “They eat fast. You guys are amazing, taking such good care of me. I haven’t suffered at all since being here.”“Your recovery is our biggest wish,” replied Luca.“Mm, I’ll definitely cooperate with the treatment,” replied the volunteer.“Alright, I’ll get back to work. Enjoy yo
Abel's hand paused for a moment before he continued stroking her eyelids.“What’s wrong?” His voice was eerily low, carrying a chilling edge.Hera could not see his expression, but just the sound of his voice was enough to send shivers down her spine.“Thank you.” Hera forced herself to smile, summoning what little courage she had.“No need for thanks. Just be good from now on.” Abel’s fingers continued their slow, deliberate caress. It was like he was handling a priceless treasure.Hera remained still, letting him touch her without protest. More than anything, she did not dare to speak. She was terrified that if she broke the moment and interrupted whatever was going through his mind, he would be displeased.At that moment, Luca brought the food to the table and asked, “Mr. Abel, Ms. Sanchez, lunch is ready. Would you prefer to eat here or in your room?”“I’ll go with whatever my baby wants.” Hera smiled sweetly, masking her fear behind a bright smile. For some reason, she ha
“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