Luke helped Luca to dress her wound without saying anything. Louis turned to Luca and asked for confirmation, "Dr. Craw, is it true?" "Yes." Luca looked down. Louis was Susan’s son. Luca showed him respect and chose not to report it to the police. Still, she felt that Louis deserved to know the truth."Louis," Luke called out to him."Brother, we have to call the police," said Louis. He could not be bothered that Susan was involved in this.Louis felt guilty about the incident earlier, and with the situation Luca was in now, there was no way he could ignore it. He felt that he had to give Luca an explanation."Not now," replied Luke. Considering the numerous guests who came, it would make Louis and the Crawford family look bad if the police came."I’ll feel bad if I don't hand this over to the police," said Louis, insisting on it.Susan and her friends actually embarrassed Luca on such an occasion. Luca was on Luke's side. There was no doubt that she was slapping Luke’s face.
"You’re the host," said Luke. When he was in the front yard, those people were only interested in striking up a conversation with Luke. Luke had no choice but to talk to them. It was for the sake of the Crawford family's reputation.However, Louis was the star today.Therefore, Luke seized the opportunity to bring Louis along with him to make them realize who the real star of the show was."Brother..." Louis knew that Luke was doing this for him.Even though his work was stable now, he needed to expand his connections to grow his business. Those people outside were the key to growing his network."Lead us out through the back door," said Luke."Alright." Louis did not say anything when he saw how determined Luke was. He led them to the back door and opened the door for them.“Brother, Dr. Craw, I’m sorry for the inconvenience caused today," Louis apologized again."Hurry back. The guests are still waiting for you in the front yard," replied Luke. He chose to leave through the b
"The project in Europe isn’t a small project. They were interested in working with T Corporation for the design, and they hope that Luke can be involved in this. But T Corporation has a busy schedule and they declined the offer. I promised the client that I could make T Corporation work together with me to get the design drawing. That’s why they gave the project to me,” explained Lonnie as he noticed Louis and Yuri walking out of the house."Come on. Let Louis make a referral." Lonnie urged his wife, who was so close with Susan that even Louis addressed her as Aunt Margaret.Hence, Louis could help to make a referral and arrange a meeting with Luke.With Louis’ help, Lonnie was confident that if he could talk with Luke, the project was bound to succeed. Even if T Corporation was swamped with projects, they could spare some time to help with the design drawing."Stop this nonsense!" Mrs. Jackman refused to do so. She shook his hand off."What’s with the attitude?!" Lonnie thought
“She said that Mother was looking for me.” Yuri did not try to hide it.Louis had a pensive look on his face but immediately went back to greeting guests with a smile when he noticed them walking toward him.Yuri was keeping an eye on Margaret while standing beside Louis.Margaret’s eyes were bloodshot as she stood in the corner without talking to anyone.After a while, Yuri noticed that her expression instantly changed when she glanced at her phone and left in a hurry.Yuri said to Louis, “Mrs. Jackman left.”Louis walked toward the door and saw Margaret leaving before whispering, “Did you tell her?”“What are you talking about? I’ve been with you the entire time, so how could I have talked to her?” Yuri denied.She just wanted to save Margaret some face and not let Luke cause trouble in her house.Besides, this was their new home, and they just moved in today. How could they let the police come over?Louis did not say a word.On the other hand…Luke brought Luca and the c
“Of course, you’re welcome. Have a seat. Do you want tea or juice?” Luca asked. She knew that Nina had trouble sleeping, so she forwent coffee as an option because it was already late in the afternoon.“I’ll have juice,” said Nina.“Alright, one moment. I’ll go to the kitchen to see if there are any snacks I can bring you.” Luca nodded and walked into the kitchen. She had the maid squeeze some juice, while she brought out some snacks to the living room and placed them in front of Nina.“The juice will be done in a bit. Why don’t you try the snacks first?” she said.“Sure, I haven’t had lunch yet, so I’m a bit hungry.” Nina picked up a piece and helped herself.“Why didn’t you have lunch?” Luca asked out of curiosity.Nina swallowed a mouthful of the snacks before taking her time to explain, “I planned to go to Mr. Louis’ house directly so that we could make it for the luncheon, but Percy had an emergency meeting, so we stopped by the Mallory family’s place. The meeting went on fo
She knew them too well.Anna knew how to manage her finances. She would make some investments and keep the money in the bank to earn some interest. That way, it would be enough to support Jean and Anna for the rest of their lives.However, if the money fell into Jean's hands, it would be easily squandered. Even though they had signed an agreement, Jean probably felt that he had the Mallory family backing him up after Nina and Percy announced their marriage to the public. Therefore, he had no idea how to manage his money wisely. Nina knew them too well."Anyway, you’re finally living a new life," exclaimed Luca. It had been so many years, and Nina had been through a lot. "By the way, how’s your wedding preparation?""I'm still going through the details with the wedding planner, but I also plan to take my wedding photos. Oh, and can I have Tommy be my ring bearer?" asked Nina. She had friends who had kids, and she planned to choose either Kari or Teri to be her flower girl. In th
Abel was determined to win this game.It was not just about achieving a crushing victory. He also wanted to win decisively and get everything he wanted. Luca understood that, but she could not help Percy this time. Luca knew that Abel had Pierre locked up in X City. She could easily find Abel's stronghold if she wanted to. However, she would only expose herself if she did that.Luca was relieved when she knew Abel was busy with other things at the moment. He did not have time to interfere with her affairs. She did not want to put herself in the forefront again just because of Pierre. After all, she had her motives. She wanted to spend as much time as possible with Luke and their children. Furthermore, Abel still needed Pierre to get money. He would not kill him.Also, Pierre needed to be taught a lesson. He had done so many evil things and evaded his responsibilities knowing that the Mallory family would back him up. It would be unfair if he was unpunished. Luca would ha
"They’re in A City, just like what Percy said. But with everything looking so good, I've been quite busy lately. There's a big project coming up at Brilliant, and I simply don't have the time to try on the wedding dresses. I can't even pick which dress to wear just by looking at the photos," Nina said in anguish. The wedding planning company had been urging her to come in and try on the dresses. The wedding dresses were expensive and not easy to move around. On top of that, the makeup was quite complicated, so she had to go to the wedding studio to try on the dresses.“Don’t you happen to have some free time today?" Luca smiled."Can you come with me?" Nina blinked her eyes. The dresses had arrived for quite some time, but she had yet to try them on. Aside from being busy, she could not find the time to go there with Percy. Nina did not want to try on the dresses alone, but she had no idea who she should look for to accompany her.Nina had the thought of having Luca accompany her
“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