Bianca did not want to anger Luke by telling him about her encounter with Queenie, but she would feel uneasy if she did not. It was not easy for her to be where she was now. She was afraid that she would lose this blissful scene. After all, she was too unremarkable. The other women who coveted the man came from powerful and influential families. "Luke, I'll strive to become a world-renowned designer so that I can stand shoulder to shoulder with you. That way, there won't be as many rumors and negative remarks even if we're together." Bianca whispered into his ear. Her warm breath had traces of melancholy. "I believe in your capabilities, and you should believe in yourself more. Success isn't achieved overnight, and there is much room for you to grow. You'll have to take it slow, but I believe that my Bianca will one day stand on the pinnacle of the world, living the life that you want… Perhaps even I might find it difficult to reach that height," Luke said as he carried Bianc
Later, Luke took Bianca back to Crawford Manor in his car. At first, Bianca did not agree to it. With so many negative news reports revolving around her, Old Master Crawford and Allison must not want to see her. However, Luke insisted on bringing her home. He wanted to announce to the rest of his family that Bianca was his woman and that she would soon become Mrs. Crawford. Bianca had no other choice but to follow him back. She gingerly followed behind Luke, afraid that Allison or Old Master Crawford would see her and humiliate her. Fortunately, it was already past midnight, and everyone was fast asleep. No one noticed her going into the house. Bianca first went to Lanie and Rainie's room. The two young children slept in the same room because Rainie was timid. Seeing that her two angelic children were sleeping soundly, she left kisses on their foreheads. Then, she went to take a hot water shower, which comforted her cold and tired body. When she stepped out of the b
The Crawford family had many rules. Old Master Crawford placed a lot of emphasis on having breakfast as a family. One unbreakable rule was that on the 15th of every month, the entire family had to gather for breakfast, no matter how busy or unwilling everyone might be. Today was the 15th of the month, and it was the day of the breakfast gathering. Moreover, the day was extra special because Luke was about to announce to the family that he had brought his future wife home. It was also an indirect challenge from Luke to the family members that did not favor the relationship. On the breakfast table was an array of different breakfast items served on lavish plates. There was something suitable for every taste. The meats were lightly seasoned because it was breakfast. Every dish was exquisitely prepared, as though it was the morning of a festival. Old Master Crawford sat on the lead position at the breakfast table with a stern expression. He might be old, but his bearing was
Meanwhile, Leia woke up from a deep sleep. She opened her eyes and found herself in a luxurious but otherwise vacant hotel suite. Her entire body was in pain as though it had been ripped apart, and her waist was so worn that she could not straighten it. Down there, she felt nothing but searing pain. She pressed on her throbbing temples, and memories of last night's lovemaking surfaced. The bed was a mess, her evening gown had been torn into shreds, and there were signs of intimacy all over her body. Leia could vaguely remember the warmth of the man's body. That man's figure overlapped with Luke's handsome face. Leia's face blushed shyly. Not only the man that she loved had a handsome face, but his prowess in bed made her crave for more. Her desire for claiming Luke became even stronger. 'Why is Luke so rough though? He didn't seem to care that it's my first time!' Leia could not remember how many times he had hugged her the night before. Even after her voice was hoa
Susan pointed a finger at Louis's face. "Look at your brother. He already has two children, so when is your turn to settle down? Quickly go and get yourself married! You'd better stay at home tomorrow. I'll arrange several matchmaking sessions for you so we can get this done as soon as possible." Louis wailed. "That can't be, Mom! I'm still young, and I don't want to get married…" "Enough excuses. If you don't want to get married, be like your brother and give me a baby," Susan said. "I can consider that." Louis rubbed his chin and gave that a serious thought. That seemed to be a good idea. If he gave his mother a baby, she would not bug him anymore about getting married. Old Master Crawford whacked Louis's leg with his walking stick, breaking his train of thought. "Over my dead body, you rascal!" Louis felt aggrieved. "Not fair, Grandpa. Why can Brother do that but not me? The twins…" Luke glared at Louis with a stern gaze. Louis noticed that the twins were looking at
When Bianca hurriedly arrived at the hospital, she saw Nina sitting in a daze at the obstetrics and gynecology department. The other women had their husbands and boyfriends with them. Nina seemed especially lonely. Bianca had not met Nina in a while, and Nina had lost a lot of weight. Her round and plump face was now sharp, and her bangs almost covered her eyes. Her expression could not be clearly seen, though her lips that were tightly pressed together told Bianca that she was in a gloomy mood. Nina clutched several medical reports in her hands. Bianca did not know what she was thinking. Looking at that thin figure, Bianca could not help but feel sorry for her. She sat down next to Nina and gently called out her name, "Nina…" When Nina heard Bianca's voice and saw her, she fell into her arms, and tears started to fall. "I'm… I'm pregnant, Bianca," she sobbed, "I wanted to abort it, but the doctor said that my uterine wall is very thin. If I abort this child, I might not
Regal Capital. "You can live here for now, Nina. I've paid a year's rent in advance, and the lease won't be up for more than half a year. It's non-refundable, and it'll be vacant anyway," Bianca said as she held Nina's hand. "Thank you, Bianca. Without you, I don't know what I should do if I'm alone." Nina looked around the one-bedroom house with homely furnishings. She was extremely grateful for Bianca. Right now, her mother's full attention was on her brother Jean. Anna was running up and down different prison departments to help Jean and ignored what Nina was doing. Moreover, if her conservative mother found out that she was pregnant, she would be forced to abort the baby. "I'm the one who has to apologize to you." Bianca's gaze was once again suffused with guilt. "Stop saying that. What happened has happened, and there's no use regretting it. You're my best friend, and I don't want to see you living in the guilt. What we should do now is to think positively. I believe w
Bianca made a sumptuous lunch for Nina. After lunch, Bianca did the dishes and thoroughly cleaned the kitchen. Then, she returned to the grocery store and replenished the supplies in the fridge. She had said that the roads were slippery from the snow, and she did not want Nina to step outside. With the fridge stocked full of vegetables and poultry, it would be convenient for Nina to cook for herself. Nina was grateful beyond words for what Bianca did to her. "It's almost the end of the year, so you don't have to go to work. I'll let Luke know, and he can approve your leave until the new year," Bianca discussed with Nina before she left. Nina shook her head. "It's been too long since I've skipped work, and you know that I can't sit still at home. You can let Luke know that I'll go to work when I'm ready. I'm afraid that if I stay for too long at home, I'll start imagining things…" Bianca could only agree. "You should just rest at home, and we'll talk after you're ready to co
“No.” Shanks’ tone was cold and firm with no trace of hesitation.Abel still looked doubtful.Shanks added, “Would you like to see her medical report?”Abel was startled for a moment. How did Shanks know he had been thinking about that report?Now that Shanks brought it up, the idea lost its appeal.Abel shook his head. “Even if you showed it to me, I wouldn’t understand it. Shanks, Kassy’s life is in your hands. If you can give her a second chance, I’ll provide as much research funding as you need."Shanks remained silent. He could save Kassy. In fact, his research had always been for Kassy.However, he did not expect Abel to be so ruthless as to insist on using a living person as a donor for Kassy. That was something he could not accept.Kassy’s condition could be treated with organs from a brain-dead patient. Why destroy a perfectly healthy life?Shanks was not acting out of mercy. He simply refused to go against his medical ethics.He was not someone who had to save lives
“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.