“I know where Nina is,” said Jean.As soon as Anna heard this, she stopped worrying about the gift and immediately asked, “Where did that brat go?”“She's with the Crawford family,” answered Jean.Anna thought she had misheard. “What?”“Crawford Manor, as in Luke’s place,” repeated Jean.“That's impossible!” Anna snapped angrily. “I heard that when the Mallory family didn’t approve of Nina and Percy’s marriage, Old Master Crawford stepped in and took Nina as his god-granddaughter, leaving the Mallory family with nothing to say," explained Jean.“Are you kidding me? Even so, she shouldn’t have gone back! They just feel guilty and did her a small favor, and your sister actually bought into it?” Anna stomped her foot in anger. Was the Crawford family determined to take away their family member from them?“Visiting the Crawford family of all places! If it weren’t for them, you'd be at the top of your game right now, and she’s over there? I raised a traitor!”Jean replied, “We’re
Nina looked at Luca with a serious expression. Sometimes, she felt like Luca had known her forever.How did Luca know her so well? “Luca, have you been secretly investigating me?”“No, I haven't.” Luca was surprised. “What makes you say that?”“You know me so well. It's shocking!” replied Nina. “Sometimes I really wonder if you can read my mind. How else could you know me so well?”“Is that so? Do I know you well?” Luca smiled. “Even if I did investigate you, I wouldn’t be able to do it so thoroughly. I just feel like you’re that kind of person.”Nina nodded. “Yeah, things have definitely changed after getting married.”Luca listened to her without saying anything.“To be precise, after the wedding, I've been feeling like I need to work harder to stand by Percy’s side and not be a burden to him. The old, go-with-the-flow me is gone.”“Working hard isn’t necessarily a bad thing,” replied Luca. It was not that Nina’s old way of life was bad. Everyone would choose different ways
With a soft click, the manor’s door swung open. Jean wiped the smile off his face, staring seriously at the people stepping out.There came Luke, Luca, Percy, Nina, and Louis. There were five of them. That seemed like a lot, but Jean had brought ten thugs with him, which clearly outnumbered them.His lecherous gaze lingered on Luca for a while before shifting to Nina. He picked the weakest target to start with. “Nina, look at you. Instead of visiting your real family, you come here to people who have nothing to do with you. Have you lost your mind? Or are you just hoping for me and Mom to drop dead so that you can forget your own family?”Nina rolled her eyes and let out a cold snort. “This is my god-grandfather's house. Where else would I go? Jean, I suggest you don’t stir up trouble, or you’ll regret it!”Jean erupted with rage. “So what? You’re treating me and Mom like we’re dead, is that it? Do you even have a conscience? Mom raised you through thick and thin, and now you
“Jean!” Percy shouted angrily. “If you dare try anything reckless, you’ll be spending the rest of your life in prison.”Fear and panic flashed in Jean's eyes when he heard the word prison. He had endured unbearable torment during his years behind bars, all because of Luke and Bianca!“My boys are here today to make sure I get justice. What's the matter? You think you can scare me with prison threats? If you really want to go that route, I'll hold a press conference and tell everyone how Luke stole my fiancée, then expose how he cheated after stealing her!”Jean spoke confidently, thinking this would pressure Luke. What an idiot!Percy secretly cursed Jean as he listened to him. He had considered stepping in to help, knowing that Jean was Nina's brother. After all, there would be no mercy once Luke made a move. Unfortunately, Jean was a hopeless fool, and there was no way to save him.Percy decided to stay quiet.Luke calmly pulled out his phone, which made Jean alert. He th
“Get lost.” Luke's gaze was cold and sinister. If today were not about Percy and Nina, there was no way he would have let Jean off so easily. How dare a useless piece of trash like him come here to cause trouble? Such thoughts crossed Luke’s mind as he glanced at Luca. She gave him a faint smile, indicating she was fine.Jean left with Anna with a gloomy expression on his face.The few bodyguards spoke up once they saw that the matter was resolved, “Mr. Crawford, Mr. Mallory, if there's nothing else, we'll head out. If you need anything in the future, just reach out to us.”“Alright, thanks,” replied Percy.The person most upset by today’s events was not him or Nina. It was probably Luke.After all, he and Bianca truly loved each other, yet Jean had spoken so disgracefully. Knowing how protective Luke was of his wife, it was unlikely he would let Jean’s apology be the end of it.After Jean left, Percy and Nina did not linger either. They said their goodbyes to Luke and left.
“Now that you've signed that agreement, we can't ask Percy for money anymore!” Jean laid out the harsh truth neither of them wanted to accept.Marie heard this and started thinking about ditching the whole mess. However, she kept a straight face, deciding to play it cool for now and see how the mother and son were going to handle things.“I didn’t know! What do we do now?” Anna was panicking now. “Come on, tell me! What’s the plan?”Marie chimed in, “Why don’t we try getting some legal aid? I mean, they set us up first, right? We can’t just let them get away with this!”Jean thought to himself that Percy definitely covered all bases. There was no way Percy would waste his time on something pointless, so he definitely had a lawyer look over that agreement. Otherwise, Percy would not have let Anna sign it in the first place.Therefore, if they wanted more cash without paying back what they already got, legal aid was probably the only shot they had.“Alright, let’s do it. Legal
After they got to the airport and boarded the plane, Nina finally figured out where their honeymoon destination was.“Haven't we already been to the Maldives?” Nina asked Percy, who was sitting next to her.“Yeah, we have, but I thought that place meant something special for us, so why not go again?” Percy gently played with her hair.Nina blinked her eyes, “What do you mean it’s special?”“That’s where I really fell for you,” confessed Percy.Nina’s face turned red, remembering how they went to the Maldives not long after she started following him around. If Percy was telling the truth, he must have fallen for her way back then.As that hit her, she gasped and covered her mouth like she had just uncovered a huge secret.“What’s up?” Percy thought she looked adorable looking so surprised.Nina shook her head. “Are you saying you had feelings for me ages ago?”“Yes,” Percy admitted to it pretty easily, “Back then, I didn't have much experience with these things, so I didn’t thi
“Modern medicine hasn’t been able to achieve that yet,” said Luke.“But he’s Shanks. No one else can do it at the moment. Even if he hasn’t done it before, there are plenty of test subjects on the Island of Despair. Who knows? He might be able to figure it out,” replied Luca.Even though the Island of Despair was now powerful enough, Abel was still abducting captives from every impoverished place in the world, and there was no shortage of prisoners on the Island of Despair.With so many captives, Shanks could conduct experiments on them one after another, keeping just one of their eyes intact. He could run hundreds of experiments under such conditions.Given the intensity of the experiments, it was certain that Shanks would make significant progress.Luke knew that Luca’s statement was not an exaggeration. It was a real possibility.A glint of ruthlessness flickered in his eyes.He should not have spared Kassy back then.However, if he had been ruthless and eliminated Kassy, ma
Luca instantly understood the situation. It was about Hera.Hera was someone Abel valued, possibly as a future corneal donor for Kassy. While Abel might not love Hera now, he certainly took her health seriously.In a calm tone, Luca explained, “She was hospitalized due to inflammation that caused a fever.”Abel furiously flung his half-smoked cigar at her. The glowing embers singed her clothes, leaving a small burn mark.She instinctively stepped aside.Abel roared, “What kind of care is this?! I told you to look after her! Is this how you handle things?”Luca was perplexed. When did he ever tell her to look after Hera?Besides, she did take care of her.”When Ms. Sanchez fainted last night, she already had a low-grade fever. I diagnosed her condition as inflammation and prescribed anti-inflammatory and fever-reducing medication. I also emphasized that she needed to take oral anti-inflammatory drugs. She didn’t trust me and threw out Mr. Shanks’ medication, which led to her con
Luca placed her hand on Hera’s other wrist, checking her pulse. “Her condition is worsening. The inflammation in her body has intensified.“I prescribed her medication. Those are Mr. Shanks’ formulations, and they're highly effective for reducing inflammation. It shouldn’t be getting worse.” Gerald pursed his lips before finally speaking up. “Luca, when I was cleaning yesterday, I saw that Ms. Sanchez had thrown all the medication you prescribed into the trash. She didn’t take any of it.”Luca was speechless.She had been questioning whether the medicine was ineffective or if she had made an error in diagnosis. It turned out that it was Hera herself who had sabotaged her treatment.“What should we do now?” asked Gerald.“There’s no other option. She needs to go to a hospital,” Luca decided firmly. “Her condition is serious, and since she doesn’t trust my treatment, the hospital is her best choice.”“Can’t you help her just this once?” pleaded Gerald, “I mean, she looks really b
Luke stayed silent, letting the chilled beer cool him down, washing away some of the lingering heat.Gerald glanced around to make sure no one was nearby before leaning in and speaking softly to Luke. “Actually, I’ve seen it.”“Seen what?” Luke could not be bothered.Lowering his voice even further, Gerald whispered just loud enough for the two of them to hear, “I’ve seen you going into Ms. Craw’s room quite often.”Luke’s expression sharpened instantly. A cold glint flashed in his eyes.He had been so cautious. How had Gerald noticed? Was he bluffing?Luke narrowed his eyes and said nothing.His aura grew colder by the second.Gerald, sensing the rising tension, shrank back slightly and quickly added, “Relax, I’m not going to tell anyone. If I wanted to report you, I would’ve done it already.”Luke’s expression eased slightly.Gerald continued to reassure him, “I’m not one to meddle. Look, I haven’t said a word about you, and I even stood up for you during that whole thing
“Sure.” Luca was unsure why he was suddenly interested in the volunteers. She led him into the room where the volunteers were.Luke noticed that the volunteer’s legs were covered in needles.If Johann saw this, he would probably make a big fuss about it.Luke watched as Luca carefully removed each needle, checked some of the volunteer’s nerve functions, and offered a few reassuring words before picking up a tray filled with medical waste and leaving the room.Once they were outside, Luke, not having seen the volunteer's previous condition, asked, “Were his legs completely immobile before?”“Yes. He said it was an injury caused by a machine malfunction at the factory. It hadn’t been treated properly for years. By the time he was sent here, his family didn’t have time to help with massages, and his calves had atrophied. But now, as you can see, the muscles are gradually recovering, and he’s starting to regain sensation. In another week or two, his legs should be able to move.” Luca
“Yes.” Luca nodded. “You have a mild fever and some inflammation in your body.”Hera was surprised. “Inflammation? Where?”She often mingled with men, so every few months, she made sure to get a check-up to avoid picking up any unwanted diseases. Her previous check-ups had all been normal, with no signs of any illness.“You've been getting along well with the boss these days, haven't you?” Luca did not say it outright but hinted at it. She then glanced at the thermometer, seeing that her temperature had returned to normal.Hera understood and widened her eyes. “You're saying I have inflammation there? That's impossible.”“Your body can't handle too much.” Luca did not want to go into too much detail. She looked up and saw that the IV was nearly done. She rose to her feet, removed the needle, and pointed at the medicine on the side. “Your body won't have any major issues. Don't worry. Here are the anti-inflammatory pills for the next three days. Take them, and you should be fine.”
Gerald was relatively strong. However, he tried to avoid touching other parts of Hera's body, making it quite difficult to carry her. By the time they reached the third floor, he was out of breath.Luca, however, seemed to handle it better than he did.“Ms. Craw, aren't you tired?” Gerald could not help but ask as he set Hera down on the bed, panting.Luca glanced at him and replied, “I'm not tired because I'm not worried about touching other parts of her.”Gerald, whose hands were on his hips, was out of breath and muttered, “This is the first time I've realized how exhausting it is to carry a woman upstairs.”After positioning Hera properly, Luca took her pulse and frowned. “Did she mention feeling unwell earlier?”“Yeah, but wasn't she pretending? She was crying, throwing a fit, and making a scene downstairs. It was quite the performance,” Gerald recalled, chuckling at the memory of Hera trying to cling to Luke and failing.Luca switched to her other hand to take Hera's pulse
Abel did not have much of an impression of Lucius. However, he believed he would not lie to him. If Lucius had actually done something to betray him, he would not have been foolish enough to admit that Hera had tried to seduce him.Abel studied his face. Lucius was not handsome, and his physique was not any different from the other people in the organization. His gaze then shifted to Hera. “You didn’t do anything?” Hera could feel the chilling intensity in his eyes, and she could not help but shiver.“A man had to step forward to file a complaint because you were harassing him, Hera. Have I been too lenient with you?” Abel continued, his voice light, almost indifferent. Still, the underlying menace was unmistakable. Despair filled Hera as she shot a resentful look at Luke. How could he be so ruthless, pushing her toward the brink of destruction?“Hera, look at me,” Abel commanded coldly, his hand suddenly gripping her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze.Hera knew she had no
Luke stood still, waiting as Hera had instructed.Hera, on the other hand, walked toward the door with a look of eager anticipation on her face.Gerald stepped forward. “Are you crazy? She told you to wait, and you’re just standing there? Hurry up and go upstairs.”"Isn't she trying to cause trouble? Do you think I can just walk away from that?" Luke suddenly asked.Gerald was rendered speechless. What Luke said made sense, so he patted his shoulder. “I heard everything Hera said to you in the garden. Pal, I respect you for being a man, but this time, you’re on your own.”Luke remained expressionless. His gaze was fixed on Hera, who was now smiling brightly as she linked arms with Abel. Even so, his face betrayed no emotion.Hera noticed that Luke, just as she had instructed, was standing there without moving. Her irritation flared up.If he was too stubborn to bow his head and beg for mercy, then she would not hold back!“Darling, I’ve been so upset today without you around."
Sensing the looming danger fading away, Hera furiously demanded, “What is wrong with that man?”Gerald let out a sigh of relief. He had been truly worried that Shanks might take a few swipes at Hera.It was common knowledge that medical professionals could be terrifyingly skilled. They could cut with precision, avoiding vital organs, leaving you in excruciating pain but far from death.Gerald had witnessed Luca’s expertise in this field and knew Shanks likely had the same skills. That was why he would not dare provoke him.If Hera ended up hurt and miserable, Abel would hold them accountable for failing to protect her. Shanks, however, would walk away unscathed. The blame would fall squarely on them.“Ms. Sanchez, Mr. Shanks doesn’t like people entering his lab without permission. Everything in there is extremely valuable to him.” Even though Gerald did not understand why, it was what the others told him, and he dutifully passed on the message.“I knocked, and he told me to come