“Madam Mallory, what’s the matter?” Luca was not particularly polite to her.If Karen were not Percy's mother or if Luke were not friends with Percy, she would not have come to see her.Although Luke had said she could do what she wanted and did not need to worry about him or T Corporation, there were some interpersonal relationships that she felt should not be strained too much.After all, even though Luke now said it was fine and Percy's relationship with Karen was not great, what if…What if in the future, Karen accepted Nina and her relationship with Percy returned to normal?If she embarrassed herself now, it might affect Luke and Percy's friendship.That was why she decided to come see Karen.“Dr. Craw…” Karen greeted her, then paused for a moment, not saying anything else.Luca sat across from her and glanced at the time with a cold expression on her face. “I have another meeting soon. If you have something to say, please do. My research tasks are quite heavy.”Even tho
“Yeah, we still need to be cautious. With Percy's wedding approaching and Pierre's recovery not going well, her emotions might go haywire. Who knows what she might do?”Luke, despite not meddling in women's affairs, still had some understanding of Percy's mother. Most of what he knew came from Percy himself, with some additional insights from past interactions. He knew Karen was not simple.Therefore, when he heard Karen was going to see Luca, he grew concerned. Despite Luca's skills and professional training on the Island of Despair, she could still be in danger if Karen caused trouble.“Yes, I know,” replied Luca, knowing Luke was worried about her from his long-windedness.She could not help but wonder how surprised T Corporation's employees would be if they knew about Luke's current state. “I have dinner tonight. Will you come with me?” asked Luke.“Dinner? I'd rather not go if there are strangers,” replied Luca. As the elevator reached the floor, she stepped out.“They
“I'll think about it.” Pierre immediately hung up the phone. It was just as Abel expected.Abel listened to the busy tone on the phone, leisurely lighting a cigar.It seemed like Luca had been busy lately.Now that Luke cared so much for Luca, if Pierre intended to deal with her, Luke would certainly be involved too.Abel's sour mood suddenly turned pleasant, causing Shanks, who was across from him, to furrow his brows.“What are you up to again?” He was picking through the herbs.He collected all these herbs in the mountains of X City and brought them to A City afterward.“What's the matter? Are you nervous?” asked Abel.Shanks ignored him and continued sorting through the herbs.“If you ask me one more question, I'll tell you what happened on the phone just now,” Abel teased mischievously.Shanks gave him a sidelong glance. “Say it if you want to.”“Tsk. Shanks, sometimes you really deserve a smack,” Abel retorted impatiently.He crouched beside Shanks, watching him sorti
“Okay.” Luke's eyes held endless affection as he looked at her.Luca took the cup downstairs. After setting it down, she went back up to check on the kids. When she saw that all of them were in bed, she returned to the master bedroom.“What are you looking at?” Luca saw Luke sitting on the couch, staring at his phone. She could not help but ask.Luke's expression was grim.“Luca.” He looked up at her.Luca turned around and looked at him, feeling puzzled, “What's wrong?”“Just got word that Karen’s crew hired extra hands.” Luke's tone was heavy.Luca frowned in confusion. “Why did she hire more people?”“Gale investigated and found out that they were hired to capture you,” answered Luke. Gale's intel was always accurate, so if he said it, Karen definitely had such a plan.Luca frowned. “I made things clear to her this morning. Some people just don't give up until the very end.”She hated being treated like a prey.Matysh was like that before, but Luke took care of him.Now,
“Okay, thank you,” thanked Luca.“Luca, what's going on?” Vivian's voice came from a distance.Luca looked toward the sound and noticed that Vivian had already approached. Vivian glanced at the man in a security uniform standing next to Luca and recognized him as a security guard from Capital University.“It's nothing,” replied Luca. She did not intend to tell Vivian about the incident to avoid making her worry.After nodding at the guard to show her gratitude, she took Vivian's hand and started walking toward the restaurant where they had reserved a table.“Let's go. I'm hungry. Let's get something to eat.”“Sure.” Vivian noticed that students were looking in their way. She was puzzled, but since Luca did not say anything, she figured it was not the right place to discuss it and left with her.Once they were seated in the restaurant and ordered their food, Vivian handed Luca a bottle of water. She asked, “Now that there aren't many people around, can you tell me what happened?”
After hanging up the phone, Luca let out a helpless sigh. “What's with the smile?”“Your call was so loud that I heard everything,” replied Vivian, pointing at her phone.“You’re even making fun of me now? Your English is getting better and better,” said Luca, sticking out her tongue at her.Vivian nodded. “Of course. I’m the fastest learner in my language class. The lecturer even said that if I kept it up, I could skip the language class and go straight into my major next semester.“Are you planning to go straight into your major?” asked Luca.Vivian nodded. “The new school year starts in September in A City. I’m working hard to keep up with the new semester so that I won’t fall behind."“Don’t worry, you already know quite a bit.” Luca was impressed by Vivian’s progress.“That's for everyday language. I still struggle with professional terms. Besides, I'm better at speaking than writing. And I can’t answer the exams in Russian, right?” Vivian shared her recent experiences. S
Therefore, Luca could not quite connect with Vivian emotionally in this regard.After lunch, they decided to head to Vivian's apartment to rest. The two of them headed toward the apartment.Vivian’s apartment was close to the university. Vivian had eaten a bit too much and suggested they take shared bikes back. Luca agreed happily.They each rented a bike and headed toward the apartment. The midday sun was strong, but luckily, the road was shaded, so it was not too hot. As they rode along, three men suddenly appeared and blocked their way."Ms. Craw, we meet again," said Gerry. He was the same burly man who had stopped Luca earlier.Luca was rendered speechless. She did not expect them to show up again after their failed attempt just an hour before. “I underestimated them,” Luca said in Russian.Vivian did not expect them either. She replied in a guilty tone, “I'm sorry, Luca. I didn't think they would be this persistent…”They could have had Warren drive them, but Vivian
The man who talked to Luca gave the other thug a look.The other man immediately understood and tried searching for information. However, he could not find anything using A City’s intranet.“Boss, she's just bluffing. There's nothing here!” reported the man as he handed over his phone.Luca chuckled.Gerry’s expression turned sour. “What's so funny?”“I'm laughing at how clueless you guys are. You used A City’s intranet, didn't you?” asked Luca.“Is there a difference between the internet and intranet?” Gerry was confused.Luca was puzzled by the type of people Karen had hired. They seemed less competent than those she had dealt with before.“I've never heard of intranet and internet. Boss, don't let her mess with you,” the other man chimed in.Luca nodded repeatedly.“Why are you nodding?” Gerry narrowed his eyes and looked at her.“I'm agreeing with your friend. Satisfied?” Luca was starting to get impatient.Gerry had a gut feeling she was not lying and continued fiddlin