In the beginning, Shanks agreed to help and even took practical actions. Therefore, the island still needed Shanks' assistance."Ivana, tell me, why didn't you report to my people when you came to X City for this networking event?" Abel had no choice but to follow Shanks’ intention. He questioned Luca.Luca replied, "The people from the Island of Despair are watching me. Isn't it all the same whether I report to you or not?"Abel's gaze deepened. He lifted his head and grasped Luca's chin, forcing her to meet his eyes. "Is that your reason for not reporting? Have you forgotten whose side you're on?" Abel sneered. "Do you think you're still Luke’s woman after returning to his side? Once I tell him everything you've done, do you think he'll still keep you by his side?"In Abel's perception, Luke was different from other men. He valued emotions more than others. Even though others thought he had abandoned his mistreated wife for a younger, prettier woman, they did not know it
In Shanks' words, the only person on the entire Island of Despair with this talent was Luca. Luca was the most helpful to Shanks.However, she had more important things to attend to, so she could not stay by Shanks' side to help. Luca had already recovered and was standing upright. Abel reminded her, "You, stop playing tricks behind my back. This time, you'll help Mr. Shanks find the herbs he needs. "Also, don't you like being with Luke? I'll make it happen for you. Don't say I'm not doing right by you." A hint of malice tugged at the corner of his mouth.He always had a feeling that Luca was slipping out of his control. If this continued, he would not be able to keep her in his control.He had to do something. Luca had a bad feeling, but she did not have the courage to ask him what he wanted to do at the moment. If Abel could not resist throwing another punch at her, she would be the one to suffer. Luke would be distressed if he knew about it.Now, they both needed to
However, no one had the courage to compete with Luke for talent, so he was only thinking about it. After all, the name Luke represented capital in any industry... Luca would not be so foolish as to not choose Luke and go for another company instead.After all, as long as Luke agreed, the other party would be able to obtain more research funds. Therefore, the man dared not to have the intention of poaching Luke’s talent.After a while, the host stepped onto the stage, picked up the microphone, and said to the audience below, "Ladies and gentlemen, esteemed guests, the seminar will begin soon."Please take a moment to locate your respective company's seating arrangements and settle in. Your cooperation is greatly appreciated." As soon as the host finished speaking, the people gathered around Luke still showed no sign of leaving.Warren stood up and said to the others, "Everyone, the seminar is about to begin. Please return to your seats. Mr. Crawford needs a break." No one
After Shanks’ reminder, Abel pondered for a moment and decided not to continue talking about Luca.Luca was now standing beside Luke, attracting as much attention as Luke did. If he continued discussing, those who were curious might overhear and use translation software to translate their conversation.The industry networking event was not a large-scale event to begin with. The venue’s space was limited, so the seating arrangements were dense. The seats around them were already filled with people now.Abel looked disdainfully at the people around him and complained to Shanks, "If it weren't for your need for medicinal herbs, I wouldn't have come."Shanks shot him a cold glance and reminded him, "Who do I need those herbs for?"Abel fell silent.Shanks needed those herbs for Kassy.Even though Kassy was currently imprisoned and suffering greatly because of Luke, Abel had never given up on the idea of saving her.However, Abel knew that saving Kassy would not be easy. When Kassy
"What are you staring at?" After Abel hung up the phone, he looked at the translator whose face was pale white. He then realized that she could understand what he was saying.He figured this woman must have been scared by what he had just said.However, Abel did not intend to explain anything to her. He hired her to be his translator, and he was the boss. Did it matter if she heard the threats? She did not have any evidence to prove anything about him."I’m sorry, Mr. Abel." The translator came back to her senses after thinking about how frightening he was. She apologized to Abel with a lowered head. Then, she asked, "Would you like to look around now?"Abel looked disdainfully at the bustling venue. Initially, there were not many people who came to the networking event. Now, it was crowded all because of Luke.Moreover, the venue was mostly open-air. Even though there were large fans blowing air around, as the afternoon approached, the weather became increasingly hot and humi
"You know as well that this herb is quite rare. It's possible that there's no other booth in the entire venue offering this herb. That’s why it's relatively expensive. How about this? I'll give it to you for 5,000 dollars per pound..." The herbalist did not actually understand the value of this herb because the herb truly had no discernible value in the market.He started with 5,000 dollars, purely intending to negotiate the price with the other party.Luca furrowed her brows.Even though she did not know the value of the herb, 5,000 dollars per pound was already comparable to some ginseng varieties.The herbalist saw Luca’s expression and prepared himself for the possibility of her disagreeing to purchase the herbs. He thought to himself that this was not a high-cost investment, maybe even zero-cost. There was still room for negotiation.What was important was that he could make money…"Miss, this herb of mine..."Before the herbalist could finish his sentence, Luca received
Luca was surprised. Did he find more medicinal herbs?That was quick.Even though this industry networking event was not huge, the venue was sizable with so many pharmaceutical merchants and herbalists around. Luca wondered how many people Luke had dispatched to find these medicinal herbs one after another so quickly…"Found more?" Luca did not realize her voice was trembling as she spoke.Warren nodded and replied, "Yes, Mr. Turner found another batch, but Mr. Crawford wanted me to ask if you still want to purchase all of them this time?"Warren spoke in a low voice. After Luca pondered for a few seconds, she replied, "Not for now. Just let me know the booth number. Oh, and ask Mr. Turner to purchase a few medicinal herbs and keep them aside.""Alright." Warren knew what she meant. She wanted Evan to make a small purchase and then inform her of the booth number.Luca had no intention of making a large purchase. Warren left again after receiving her instructions.Luca stood
The cigar he carefully prepared was wasted by Abel like this. Shanks reminded him in a displeased tone, "You're wasting your time on this unrealistic stuff. Just smoke a few more cigars. "The cigars I make for you cost a pretty penny, and they're a pain to make."When Abel heard this, he quickly took two more puffs. Although Shanks was complaining, he would not refuse to make more cigars. Yet, Abel still unconsciously played along when he heard Shanks' wistful tone."Tsk, every time I mention this, you switch topics. You're just fronting. It's pretty boring."Shanks opened the car door and got in.Abel threw the cigar on the ground and stepped on it to put it out. Then, he got into the car from the other side.He said to the driver who had been waiting for them, "Take us to the restaurant.""Yes, Mr. Abel," replied the driver as he drove away.…On the other hand, Warren was driving, and the other three in the car kept quiet.Even though they all had experience dealing with
“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
Luca had not expected Abel and Shanks’ relationship to be like this.It seemed Abel still did not trust Shanks.Shanks continued, “Abel isn’t someone who trusts people easily. He doesn’t trust anyone. You think he’s devoted to Kassy now, right? That’s just his obsession. He's allowing Kassy to receive my treatment, but if it were him… No matter if he were blind or crippled, his safety would always come first. If he were seriously injured, maybe he’d accept treatment, but he definitely wouldn’t do it right away.”Luca stayed silent. Shanks really understood Abel well.Abel did not trust anyone—not even Kassy.Calling him paranoid would not be an exaggeration.Luca felt like they were getting off-topic, but she had never seen this side of Shanks before.In her mind, he was always buried in his work at the lab, only leaving for meals and sleep. Other than that, he was practically never outside.The lab was like his home…“Are you troubled by Hera’s situation?” Luca asked directly
Hera was startled by Luca's words.The refusal that had been on the tip of her tongue suddenly got stuck in her throat.“I…” Hera hesitated, feeling conflicted. Leaving Abel might not be such a bad idea. At least she would not have to live in constant fear.She was finally realizing how unpredictable his moods were. At first, she thought it did not matter as she could still look at other men. She just had to ensure there was no physical contact. In reality, even if she so much as glanced at someone, Abel's expression would darken with anger.It was frustrating. Now, the only person she was allowed to look at was Gerald. Still, what was the point of just looking at Gerald?At that thought, she lifted her gaze to Luca.Luca added, “I’ll give you five minutes. If you refuse treatment after that, I’ll take the medicine back to Mr. Shanks and won’t try to convince you again.”Hera's heart tightened. She did not even need five minutes. She had made her decision within 30 seconds.“I’
“If Abel finds out that Hera's body isn't suitable for organ donation to Kassy, what do you think he'll do?” asked Shanks.He already knew the answer, but he still wanted to hear Luca’s thoughts.“He has invested a lot of time and money in Hera. If he gets nothing out of it, he won’t let her off easily,” Luca said bluntly.Luca and Shanks were on the same page.They did not have a good relationship with Hera, but they had no intention of ruining her either.Hera’s personality was unpleasant, but that was not enough for them to hate her so much that they wanted to see her suffer.“What methods do you think he’ll use?” Shanks asked again.Luca was silent for a long moment.Shanks already knew the answer, yet he still wanted her to say it out loud.After thinking it over, she finally said, “There are plenty of ways he could go about it, but no matter what he chooses, Hera’s fate is sealed. She’s as good as dead…”She lowered her gaze, her tone firm and certain.Shanks nodded.
Hera heard that Luca had returned and immediately went to find Shanks. She narrowed her eyes.That woman went to see Shanks. Could she be talking about her?The thought made Hera uneasy. She had a nagging feeling that something was wrong with her medical report.However, when they left the medical center earlier, Abel asked Luca when the report would be ready, and she said it would be available tomorrow.Hera turned to Gerald and said, “Take these back for me first.”“Alright.” Gerald carried the bags as he walked away. He could not help but wonder what exactly Hera bought. These bags were really heavy!Only after Gerald went upstairs did Hera slowly make her way up as well. Her room was on the third floor, but she stopped when she reached the second floor. She glanced around to make sure no one was watching before heading toward the laboratory.The door was closed.Instead of knocking, Hera pressed her ear against it, trying to eavesdrop.However, the laboratory was special