Nevertheless, Pierre clearly realized that there was no way he could compete with Abel.At least not now. He could not even stand up.If he really got into a fight, he would be the one at a disadvantage, and his leg might end up even worse."Listen to me. As long as you're willing to provide me with this money, I'll fulfill one of your wishes," added Abel. He tasked Hera with investigating some things about Pierre today and unexpectedly found some information. These things were his capital for negotiating cooperation with Pierre."Any wish?" asked Pierre."Not exactly. It depends on what you want to do.” Abel was not so naive as to promise any wish. Even though he could back out of the agreement, he had already tricked Pierre once. Seeing Pierre as a cripple made him suddenly feel reluctant to trick him again.However, it was not out of pity for Pierre. Abel just felt that this person, though foolishly rich, would not fall for more tricks again."That won't do," replied Pierre
Abel had his own way of enchanting people's hearts. Now, Pierre was already considering what he said. Indeed, as long as Karen was fine, he could still contend with Percy when his leg was healed.The Mallory family could not entirely fall into the hands of Percy."Alright, I agree. As long as you arrange for someone to deal with my mother's affairs, I'll give you two million dollars," Pierre agreed. He felt that such a deal was fair."Good, it's a deal." Abel let out a light chuckle. He took out his phone and said, "But this matter requires a deposit. You only have to give me one million dollars, and I can arrange it for you tonight.""You want a million dollars without doing anything?" Pierre frowned."I'm a businessman. When you said I ripped you off before, it wasn't really me ripping you off. It was Luke scheming against you. I was just as deceived as you were, so why did you suddenly make me out to be the scammer? "I pride myself on being a person of integrity. You have t
The man on the other end of the line sensed the hesitation in her tone. He then spoke in his normal voice, no longer sounding like Silas. "I've successfully mimicked Silas' voice and tone from the previous interview videos. Now, the only thing left is the appearance. "To solve this problem, we need to introduce a fake Silas to clarify things for you. What I'm doing now is imitating Silas's appearance.""Imitate?" Karen was shocked! She knew some people could imitate voices very well. They could even sing like famous singers. However, she had not heard of anyone being able to mimic appearances... Even with makeup skills, how close could others get before they discovered something was off? Those reporters were not stupid. How could they fall for it?"I can only help you to settle it today. If you don't trust me, then there's nothing I can do. Find someone else." The person on the phone sounded impatient."Wait!" Karen realized that he was a capable person, unlike no one else s
The man remained silent, yet Silas felt an unprecedented sense of despair. It had to be the case. With someone ready to replace him at any moment, he was done for. Karen did not leave him any choice...The man pushed open the door. Jeff and Windsor, who were guarding outside, saw another Silas standing there and walking out. They could not help but widen their eyes in astonishment. "Wasn't he half-dead just now? How can he suddenly walk?"They did not consider other possibilities. They thought Silas had recovered. The doctor they summoned had also said that Silas' injuries were severe. He needed at least two months of rest. It had not been that long. How could the man who just went in make Silas, who was barely alive, stand up?"No, it's not the same person! Look, their clothes are different!" Windsor noticed that the person in front of them was wearing the exact same clothes as the man who entered earlier."What..." Jeff pinched his thigh, doubting if he was dreaming and
The reason he gave to the reporters actually had loopholes. Still, whatever reason one chose, there would always be loopholes. Hence, he opted for this one. This way, he could provide an explanation without offending Luke.Karen naturally knew there would not be an audio with the same frequency. After all, that was the sound of Silas being beaten up. How could that possibly be found in a movie? Therefore, when the man explained it to the reporters, he was actually avoiding offending Luke.Karen initially thought that since there was someone so similar to Silas, he should teach the reporter of New Youth Daily a lesson. However, this man straightforwardly told her that she did not have the ability to contend with Luke. She felt humiliated.The man rose to her feet and said, "The mission is over. As for the person in the bedroom, you'd better get a doctor to check on him. If he dies, you'll be in trouble."Karen retorted, "Trouble? Well, if he dies, it's just as well. It'll save
"Then you should just stay here for a week. Name your price," said Karen."But..." The doctor was slightly tempted. A week was not very long, after all. Plus, he had an assistant at the clinic to help, so there should not be any major problems. After all, things were relatively peaceful in A City these days. Usually, it was just some people from various organizations getting into fights. At most, they just ended up getting slashed a bit.These injuries were not troublesome. If there were any life-threatening injuries, they would go to the hospital rather than his black market clinic. Therefore, being away for a week was really no problem, and he could even make money."How much? If you're not willing, I can find someone else," added Karen. There was more than just this one black market clinic in A City."5,000 dollars a day," replied the doctor.Five thousand dollars was a lot for an ordinary person. If they went to the hospital, they would not even spend that much on treatment
There was no such thing as off-the-book members of the Island of Despair before this.That was why Luca did not know about them either. During the time she was away from the Island of Despair, she wondered how much Abel had actually done. However, the more he did, the more it showed he was becoming restless... At the very least, it proved he had intentions. However, Luca was not sure about whether this matter had anything to do with Luke. She just felt very passive now, not knowing what Abel was up to or whether it had anything to do with Luke. Therefore, they could only passively observe what he was doing and then analyze his actions."Don't think too much. If he really takes action, we'll know." Luke knew what she was worried about. Worrying now was useless. After all, Abel was in the shadows while they were in the light."If you're free today, could you accompany me to visit Marcos' mother?" asked Luke. He was entrusted by Marcos to check on Sarah's recent condition.
Karen recalled how Percy had only helped her to find Silas and then everything else was handled by her. If only he had been willing to help handle everything, things would not have turned out so bad. After all, Percy was much calmer when dealing with things. If he had handled this matter himself, Silas would not have ended up half-dead at her hands. The more Karen thought about this, the more uncomfortable she felt. She glanced at the news report again. Even though the situation was resolved, she could not feel happy at the moment.…At five in the afternoon, Luca left the laboratory on time and ensured other researchers also left on time. After clocking out, she left the building. In the parking lot, she saw Luke's car parked in its designated spot and hurried over. Lliam saw Luca and helped open the back door. Luca bent to get into the car, but before she could sit down, Luke pulled her into his arms. Sensing her unease, he chuckled lightly and said, "No need to rus
“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