As for Luca, her beauty was the most striking among all the women on the Island of Despair. If it were not for Abel's order forbidding anyone from touching her, Luca might have become everyone's plaything by now.Amur heard the man being all creepy, having some dirty thoughts about Luca. He tightened his clenched fists even more. He charged forward and delivered a fierce punch to the man's abdomen.The smile on the man's face had not disappeared yet when the dull pain struck him. He staggered back, grimacing in pain.Amur did not hold back with that punch. He put his full force into it. "You're asking for trouble!" The man barely managed to stand straight and angrily yelled at Amur."Nobody's allowed to have any ideas about her," warned Amur."Ha, as soon as she returns to the Island of Despair, besides the boss, who can really keep her safe? Boss said he'd give her to you, but he didn't say we couldn't have a piece of her. When she returns to the Island of Despair, I'll be th
It was because of Abel's intervention that their fight came to an abrupt halt.Amur's gaze went past Abel. He fixed a deathly stare on the man whose face he had battered and bruised.Abel first glanced at the man then looked at Amur. "I don't care about your personal grudges. If you cause any trouble here that results in loss of life, I won't let you off easy!"He did not like having dim-witted subordinates. Those who fumbled and caused him trouble had already been eliminated. The remaining ones were those who could bring him profits. However, if they disobeyed his orders or caused him losses, he would not hesitate to get rid of them.The two men continued to lock eyes.The man who received the worst beating gave in first, clutching his face and crouching in pain.If Abel had not shown up, he believed he might have been killed by Amur. The ferocity of the attack could have been fatal."Why haven't any of you brought him upstairs for some medical treatment yet?" Abel scowled at
Abel had more missions for her…Luca’s heart sank as she had a bad feeling about this.She knew that T Corporation had been busy preparing their suburban development project bidding, and this project was crucial to T Corporation.If they succeeded in winning the project, T Corporation would get to work closely with the government, and their sales would sky-rocket.Luca felt apprehensive about this. Could it be that Abel had the same idea?Last time, she deceived Luke and stole his bidding document, but it did not cost him much damage. This time, however, she was much more reluctant to do it.At that time, Luke prepared an extra copy because he knew that Pierre had other motives, but what about this time? Was he aware that the Island of Despair was waiting for the opportunity to pounce on him?“Amur…” Luca felt how dry her throat was.Amur silently waited for her to continue.“Do you know his plan?” Luca asked, eager to find out what Abel was up to as she theorized his ultimate
Seeing how Lanie interrupted her, Luca reckoned that Luke had told the kids something.Was he trying to hide the fact that he was going to the hospital?Before Luca could voice her doubts, Aunt Neile seemed to have just remembered something. She nodded and quickly said, “Yes, Mr. Crawford is at the company. He’ll be working until late at night today, so he won’t be back for dinner. Ms. Craw, why don’t you have dinner first?”“Okay.” She nodded without questioning further.Even if the children were deliberately hiding it from her, there was nothing she could do. Besides, she would feel bad exposing the children’s lies.“Let’s eat, then. Young Master Blanche, Young Master Tommy, and Ms. Rainie, go wash your hands.” After saying that, Aunt Neile turned to walk into the kitchen to prepare the food.Luca followed Aunt Neile into the kitchen to help.“Aunt Neile, are you hiding something?” Luca asked.Aunt Neile was startled. Then, she smiled and shook her head. “Ms. Craw, I’m not hi
"I didn't know about such a rule. I’m sorry. I didn't inform Mrs. Norman in advance either. Maybe we should forget about it. It’d be better not to disturb her." Luca shook her head.The nurse looked puzzled. "Most patients are still wide awake at this hour.""I just wanted to ask about Mrs. Norman's recent health condition." Luca wanted to get some information about Queenie's health from the nurse. Even though Wanda was also at the hospital, cardiovascular diseases were known for their sudden and rapid lethality. If Queenie's condition could not be stabilized, it would be the most critical situation.The nurse looked at her with a confused look on her face. She shook her head after a few seconds of silence."This is…" Luca did not understand what this meant. She was eager to know what had happened to Queenie."I don't know. Due to Mrs. Norman’s special status, the hospital is worried that we might leak information to the press, so at Mr. Norman's request, none of us nurses know
After Luca took the elevator down to the first floor, her mind went blank as she walked back to her car. When she tried to start the car engine, she realized that her strength had been completely drained. She leaned against the driver's seat for a while. The dull pain in her heart still would not go away.She knew that she could not drive in this condition. Luca pursed her pale lips and picked up her phone to request a designated driver through an app. Ten minutes later, the designated driver arrived at the hospital parking lot driving an electric scooter. After finding Luca based on her car's license plate, he lightly tapped the driver's side door. He asked, "Miss, did you request a designated driver?""Yes," answered Luca. She still could not recover her strength, and the waves of pain continued to plague her. Even though she tried to calm herself down, that unsettling feeling persisted.Luca took a deep breath and mustered all her strength to push open the car door. She l
"Don't worry about me. I'm familiar with this place. Rest well." Nina tucked her in and placed her phone on the bedside. "If you need anything, give me a call. I'll be outside. I’m leaving the phone right beside the bed, so you can reach it easily.""Thank you." Luca closed her eyes. Her hands under the blanket remained clenched.Nina shook her head in helplessness when she saw how weak Luca was, wondering what had happened to make her like this. If Luca had not assured her that she was physically fine, Nina would have probably called an ambulance for her by now.Nina noticed that Luca had closed her eyes, so she turned and walked out of the bedroom. She closed the door behind her. She went to the guest room, glanced at the missing toiletries, then headed downstairs to the storage room to find some new ones.Before she could enter the storage room, she heard footsteps behind her. Nina turned around and saw that Luke was back. She furrowed her brows, feeling a bit annoyed.Sh
After being embraced by Luke, a rush of warmth gradually spread from behind and enveloped her whole body. As Luca's heart found solace, her cold hands and feet grew considerably warmer. She could not tell if it was the presence of Luke behind her that made her feel at ease, or if it was the effect of melatonin. In his embrace, she slowly drifted into a dream.As he listened to Luca's steady breathing, Luke was unusually sleepless. He was still thinking about what he had done last night, wondering if he had done something wrong to make Luca so upset. He truly wished to keep her carefree, happy, and content.Luke snuggled closer to Luca, who seemed to possess a magical effect. Just being near her allowed him to find peace and sleep soundly. However, given the current situation, tonight was sure to be a sleepless night……The following day, Luca woke up and blinked her eyes. It was only then that she realized she had fallen asleep last night. She thought she would have a s
“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