Leia, immaculately dressed, was playing bridge with Allison and two of her other friends. The caretaker brought Old Master Crawford and the twins to the nearby park, and Susan was back at her parents' house. That was why Allison could gather her friends for a bridge session at Crawford Manor. "I win again!" Allison seemed to be lucky that day. She won the last few rounds in a row. She was the one who was laughing the loudest in the living room. "You're so lucky, Aunt Allison. You've won several rounds in a row. That's amazing," Leia said. "I'm done for the day. I haven't won a single round today." Mrs. Willow seemed unhappy. Allison grinned even wider when she heard Mrs. Willow's complaints. "Leia is my lucky charm. I used to lose more than I win whenever I play, but when Leia is here, I have a winning streak!" "I say, Allison, Leia is always here to keep you company whenever she's free. I think she's as close to you as a birth daughter. When is Luke going to propose to
Bianca had thought that the oil paintings in the living room of Crawford Manor and Luke's bedroom were antiques. She never thought that Luke was the one who drew everything. Bianca loved to paint too. She possessed talents in painting. She had studied oil painting when she was abroad, and her teacher had always praised her. However, painting was an expensive pursuit. Moreover, she was working while she studied, and she did not have the time and effort to paint. She gave up after a while. Whenever she walked past the art room and saw other boys and girls focusing on filling their canvases with colorful paints, she would nonetheless feel envious. Luke's imposing demeanor translated into unrestrained brush strokes in his vibrant and moving paintings. Just like him, the paintings were noble, elegant, and carried a hint of mystery… "If you like to paint, I can teach you when we're free." Luke opened a box of paints, mixed several colors, and placed a brush in Bianca's hand.
The soup sent Leia's taste buds into overdrive! The sour, bitter, spicy, and salty taste of her soup assaulted her sinuses. It felt as though a thin needle was poking on her nostrils and caused beads of sweat to form on her nose. She wanted to cough, and there was even an urge to vomit coming from the back of her throat! However, Leia had to maintain her graceful demeanor in front of the two Crawford elders and the two children looking at her with delighted anticipation. She tried her best to suppress the urge to throw up, and her smile froze on her face. "How does the soup taste, Aunt Norman? Don't you like it? Big Bro said that it's very tasty! The chef even added truffles in it. It's not only delicious but also healthy! You're so pretty, Aunt Norman. You'll be even prettier after you finish the soup!" Rainie's fingers kneaded her princess dress, and she smiled sweetly. She looked very adorable. Allison was overjoyed when she saw that her two grandchildren were kind towar
Leia's expression turned unpleasant when she heard Bianca's laughter. 'Did I say something wrong?' Ever since she was adopted into the Norman family, she had gone to an elite school and even studied abroad for two years. She did not believe that Bianca was anything more than a philistine! Leia was not interested in art since she was young, but her mother was a big fan. She forced herself to read up on art history so that she could humor her mother. However, she would begin to fall asleep as soon as she opened a book and read about the boring theories and the lives of famous artists. Eventually, she gave up and instead tried to please her mother with other activities she was good at. Leia stole a glance at Luke. The man sat on his chair elegantly. He was straight like a pine tree, and his silence was imposing. However, his demeanor changed as he filled up Bianca's plate. His penetrating gaze would turn gentle, and the corners of his lips would inadvertently curl up with
Queenie was very protective of Leia. After losing her birth daughter, she had considered Leia to be her only daughter. She felt very sorry for Leia when she saw the aggrieved tears in her daughter's eyes. She hugged Leia and said gently, "Can you tell me what happened, my daughter?" Leia wanted to complain to her mother about how heartless Luke had been. However, she was afraid that her complaints would cause her mother to be prejudiced against Luke. She swallowed the words that were on the tip of her tongue. Her gaze flashed, and she started sobbing. "Mom, I think Luke… doesn't like me. That Bianca isn't a pushover either. She embarrassed me in Crawford Manor earlier. She thinks that she's smarter than me, and she showed off her knowledge in front of Old Master Crawford. Even Old Master Crawford is favoring her more than me now… I really like Luke, Mom. He's the first man that I like. What should I do?" Leia rested her head on Queenie's shoulder, and warm tears slid down h
Johann arrived, examined Luke, gave him a prescription, and fed him liquids. After that, Luke's high fever subsided a little. Bianca breathed a sigh of relief. She was busy the entire day. Earlier, they sent their children to the hospital. As they recovered, Luke fell sick. She had to take care of the big one as well as the little ones. When she prepared the liquid medicine for Luke, she took a whiff of the pungent smell of medicine, which instantly caused intense discomfort in her stomach… Bianca hastily ran to the bathroom and dry-heaved into the hand basin, but nothing came out of her mouth. The nausea subsided a while later. Bianca seemed to have realized something. She remembered how Sue had dry-heaved in the washroom at the office, as well as her reactions when she was pregnant with the twins. She abruptly covered her mouth and tried to recall when was the last time her period came. Her period should have been one week ago, but it had never come. Luke had always
After Luke calmed down from the joy, he asked Johann about taking care of a pregnant woman. Johann told him a lot of things. Luke listened to him attentively. He also used a recording pen in case he forgot what Johann told him. He even asked Johann to email him the relevant information after Johann returned home. Johann recommended to him several famous books about pregnancy. They contained detailed information about taking care of a woman during and after pregnancy, as well as the solutions to any problems that may arise. Bianca wanted to fall asleep as she listened to that. Luke, however, continued to take notes. That was not their first child. Bianca did not expect that Luke would be so concerned… Before Johann left, he said jokingly to the couple, "There's something else I should remind you, Sis. You don't have to be embarrassed after hearing it." Bianca did not know what he was talking about. 'Embarrassed? What is he going to say?' Then, Johann turned to face L
Susan did not expect that Louis was standing at the door. She instantly came to her senses and remembered what she said at the peak of her rage. She had to admit that the twisted marriage to Zachary Crawford had caused irreparable psychological damage, but undeniably, she was a doting and caring mother to her son Louis. Her position in the household was precarious, and she only had her son to rely on. She could not afford any cracks in her relationship with Louis. "What are you saying, my son? I don't understand," Susan said sheepishly. "See, Luke already has a pair of twins, and now Bianca is pregnant with a third child. You'll have to buck up and get your mother a grandchild soon. That way, the Crawford family business wouldn't fall entirely into the hands of Allison and her son!" "Tell me honestly, Mom, did you hire someone to cause Luke's car crash?" Louis was not beating around the bush. Louis's gaze was like Zachary's. Susan felt an inexplicable panic when looking int
The two women froze in surprise at the sound of the commanding voice. Allison realized Luke had returned, and from his tone, he was clearly angry. Panic gripped her, and just as she was not paying attention, Susan scratched her again. The pain on her face was searing, and she let out a loud, pained scream, stumbling back and covering her face.Luca, who stood beside Luke, was equally stunned. They were actually fighting! What on earth was going on?!Allison staggered back a few steps and saw Luke's dark expression. Even though she was afraid, she felt reassured that her support had arrived. She cried out, “Luke, you're finally back! Your mom's getting beaten by an outsider!”Luke looked at the two women, whose ages added up to over a hundred years, in complete disbelief. He exchanged a glance with Luca before speaking again, “Are you two going to keep fighting?”Susan let out a cold sneer. She had been scratched by Allison several times, and her face now burned with pain.
Sophian realized she had made a mistake and quickly apologized, “I’m sorry, Madam Allison. I saw it was someone familiar, so I didn’t think too much about it.”Allison shot her a furious glare.Sophian knew full well that Allison and Susan did not get along, yet she still opened the door for her. Was she out of her mind?“Oh my, after all that time in Seoul, you didn’t pick up anything good? Still that same fiery temper.” Then came Susan’s mocking voice.Allison froze for a moment and shifted her gaze toward the doorway.“How did you get in here?” demanded Allison. Did she not just ring the bell outside? How did she get in so quickly and without anyone opening the door to the villa?!Susan gave Sophian a smirking glance. “Your helper let me in.”Allison frowned, still confused. Susan continued, “I’m living right next door now.”“Oh, so I heard you got kicked out by Old Master Crawford. Moved right next door, did you? Sticking around like a ghost that won’t go away, living jus
Sophian stood before her. Her face was a picture of hesitation and discomfort. “Madam Allison, how about you order using your phone?”“What? You can’t even handle this small task?” At this point, Allison had completely shifted her view of Sophian, now seeing her as just another maid. Her previous tone vanished, replaced by a much more domineering attitude.Sophian felt helpless and quickly explained, “It’s just that the food from this place is just too expensive. I don’t have that kind of money.”Once she finished speaking, a flush of embarrassment crossed her face.Sophian had come back with Allison to work off the debt she owed from her cosmetic surgery. Therefore, she had no money to spare.Allison paused for a moment, a thought crossing her mind. After a brief moment, she picked up her phone and said, “It's not like I'm having you pay for it. You can't even temporarily cover it?”Sophian smiled awkwardly. “I just transferred money to the hospital.”Allison let out a faint hu
“You don’t like eating outside food, do you?” Luca thought that preparing breakfast and dinner for him was not a big deal.Besides, the main point was that Luke did not like eating out. He always felt the taste was off and lacked nutrition.“Actually, it’s not that I don’t like eating out. It's just that all the food outside tastes the same to me.” Luke gently squeezed her hand.“Hey, focus on driving.” Luca chuckled.Luke withdrew his hand and returned it to the steering wheel. “With that woman around, it wouldn’t be convenient for you to cook. Are you really going to make breakfast for them too?”If that happened, it would defeat the purpose of his plan.Luca thought for a moment. She did not mind ignoring Sophian, but if she cooked for Luke and not for Allison, that might not sit well with her. Allison could easily make a fuss over even the smallest details. “So, should we just eat out for breakfast and dinner from now on?”“Yes.” Luke did not mind.It did not matter where t
“Something I like?” Luca laughed. “What could that be?”“You’ll find out when we get there.” Luke kept it mysterious.“Alright then, I’ll wait for your surprise, Mr. Crawford.” Luca was in good spirits without letting family issues dampen her mood. Therefore, she video-called the kids.Luca dialed Mr. Griffin’s number.After Mr. Griffin answered the call, he handed the phone to Lanie. “Young Master Lanie, Ms. Craw wants to talk to you.”“Thank you, Mr. Griffin.” Lanie took the phone and pressed ‘accept’.Luca positioned the camera to include both her and Luke. She waved at the screen. “Lanie, Rainie, Tommy, what are you all doing?”“Lanie! Lanie, I want to talk to Ms. Luca!” Tommy waved excitedly at the camera, eager to take the phone.Lanie handed it to him. “Go on, tell Daddy and Ms. Luca about your good news.”Luca smiled and asked with curiosity. “Good news?”“Daddy, Ms. Luca, I made it to the next level in the math competition! The finals are this Saturday!” Tommy said e
“Why are you being so slow?” Allison was irritated. She shoved the products into Sophian’s hands.“I told you to use them, so just use them.” Allison ran out of patience. After urging Sophian, she lay back down.Sophian had no choice but to follow her instructions and poured out some product. The texture of the product in her palm made her pause for a moment. It was incredibly moisturizing!She gently patted it onto Allison's face and noticed the area she touched felt just as smooth.Allison let out a content sigh. “This essence is really soothing.”Even though Sophian was still worried about potential side effects, she could not help but admire the instant hydrating effect. She asked in a low voice, “Madam Allison, is this really developed by that woman?”She could not believe that Luca had such skills and wondered if the essence had just been repackaged into another bottle and sold as her own creation.“That's what she says,” replied Allison. “But she's into pharmaceuticals, s
After agreeing to become the maid, Sophian’s excitement gradually turned into anxiety.The villa was so large. Could she really handle all the tasks a maid was supposed to do?As she thought about it, she accidentally left the bread in the toaster for too long. After serving it to Allison, she was scolded.“What’s this? It’s just a slice of toast. How could you burn it like this? How am I supposed to eat it?” Allison was clearly displeased.Sophian awkwardly explained, “Madam Allison, this is my first time using this toaster. I didn’t quite get the temperature right...”Allison was about to keep complaining but paused for a moment, remembering that Sophian was the one she had brought in to be the maid. Now, she was the only one who could make breakfast for her. She disdainfully tore off the burnt part and took a bite. “Where’s the soy milk?”“It’ll bring it out,” replied Sophian, heading back to the kitchen. She brought out two glasses of soy milk and another slice of toast tha
“Are you planning to tell me that Madam Allison brought someone back?” Luca had a feeling she knew what was going on. Luca had been wondering why Allison had taken such a big risk by going out during the day, but it all made sense now.“Yes, she brought someone back and said she'll be taking over my job,” Aunt Neile replied helplessly. She was worried she had lost her competitive edge, which made her feel anxious.“I got it, Aunt Neile.” As soon as Luca spoke, there was a cheer from inside the lab. She glanced back and saw that there seemed to be progress in the research. Rhett gave her a thumbs-up to signal success.She slightly smiled and nodded before hearing Aunt Neile's voice again on the phone. “Ms. Craw, there’s something I’d like to say, though I’m not sure if I should. I’ve thought about it, and I feel like I should. Even though Mr. Crawford isn’t the type to fool around, you have to be careful. He has no interest in that woman, but she’s clearly interested in him. You sh
Allison watched the two of them go upstairs, and instantly, her temper flared.Not allowed, huh?Allison refused to believe it. She would find a way to turn things around and reclaim her position in this family!…The next morning, as Luke and Luca came downstairs, they noticed Aunt Neile looking at them with red, puffy eyes.“Aunt Neile, what happened?” Luca was puzzled. What happened?“Mr. Crawford, Ms. Craw, Madam Allison just told me that I’m fired.” Aunt Neile looked distraught. She thought Allison’s words yesterday were just a joke, but first thing in the morning, she was told to settle her wages and leave. She was completely stunned.“Mr. Crawford, did I do something wrong?”Luke’s brows furrowed. Allison’s behavior was truly astonishing.“You’re not fired,” replied Luke. “Is breakfast ready?”Relieved to hear she still had her job, Aunt Neile quickly wiped away her tears and let out a sigh of relief. “Yes. Mr. Crawford, Ms. Craw, please have a seat. I’ll bring it out.