When Bianca next set foot in the busy A City once more, five years had passed. She had been away for almost two thousand days and nights. It was not a very long time, but it was not nothing either.Back then, she had been pushed about mercilessly by destiny. She had been completely powerless!Now, she just wanted to use her own strength to take control of her life with her own hands.It was morning.“Bea, over here—” Nina wound down her car window and waved at Bianca, who was walking out of her suburb.Time had passed. Five years later, the two of them were no longer clueless girls of eighteen or nineteen.Bianca and Jean had returned to the country together yesterday, and Nina had been the one to pick them up from the airport.That night, Jean had taken Bianca back to the Langdons’ place for dinner.Mr. and Mrs. Langdon were more than happy with Bianca as their future daughter-in-law.That morning, Jean had wanted to go to the interview at the company with Bianca, but someth
Ten minutes later, Jean was done with his interview.He pushed the door open and walked out.Bianca immediately got to his feet. “How was it?”“The interviewers ask some tough questions, but it isn’t anything we can’t handle.” Jean could not help but kiss Bianca on the forehead, saying calmly, “Overall, it’s not bad.”Bianca heaved a sigh of relief.“Next, Bianca Rayne,” the female secretary called out.Bianca hurriedly straightened out her clothing and went inside anxiously.The second she walked into the room, Luke looked at her with a complicated gaze.Bianca sat down properly and raised her head, meeting each interviewer’s eyes, one at a time.After that, she introduced herself briefly. “Good morning, everyone. First of all, thank you for giving me this opportunity to attend this interview. My name is Bianca Rayne.”Since she decided to return to this country and find a job here, she had come up with plenty of interview openers in her mind.It may not be the most creativ
Bianca left.Luke suddenly put down the blueprint he had been holding. He stood up and left his workstation, walking toward his wine cabinet instead. There, he took out a glass and filled half of it with wine, draining the whole thing with a frown.This cursed lust!It was already quite late when Bianca left the company, but thankfully there was one last subway to take her home.Once she reached home, the first thing she did was reply to Jean’s messages on WeChat.After that, she pulled out her luggage and started to organize the things she needed for her trip tomorrow.Just then, her phone rang.The caller ID said it was Jean.“Aren’t you asleep yet? I thought I told you to rest early instead of calling me,” Bianca said in concern when she picked up.“I’m not done with work yet, so I brought the stuff back to the hotel room to continue overtime.” Jean continued, asking her, “I saw your text earlier. Why are you going outstation too? Who will you be going with?”“I don’t real
Bianca did not dare to say anything more after the little boy turned his nose up at her.The time ticked past.The boy said, “It seems pretty awkward, huh.”The girl nodded.Bianca, “...”“Lady, you can call my father right now and tell him that you don’t want to care for us,” the boy said.He was quite the hostile little boy.“I never said I don’t want to take care of you.” She had to make that clear.How could she dare to say she did not want to care for her boss’ kids? The boss would eat her for lunch.“Since you want to take care of us, then you should act like you do.” The boy clearly did not like this cold atmosphere.This lady was much dumber than the other ones.Bianca, “...”It was her fault for not checking the almanac before she left the house.“Come with me, Big Bro.” The little girl could tell that the aunty’s expression was turning unpleasant, and she dragged her brother away angrily.Bianca let out a long breath, watching as the two children disappeared thr
Little Rainie was unbelievably happy now that she had sneakily eaten some fried chicken behind her father's back. On the way back to the room, Rainie kept sticking to Bianca, hugging her leg like a koala to a tree.It was quite hard for Bianca to walk with a baby hanging off her leg.She had to limp all the way back upstairs. "It's really late now. I'll send you back to your room so you can get to sleep." The adult and two children watched cartoons in the room for a while before Bianca turned to the pair of siblings. The older brother looked up at her and said, “We don’t have the room card.”Rainie was hugging Bianca with her plump white hand, her eyes tightly closed. She was almost completely asleep now.Still, how could they get back without the room card?Bianca was feeling conflicted. She had no idea when the president would be able to finish his work for the day and return to the hotel. "Lemme call Mr. Doyle." Bianca looked at Rainie, who was already falling asleep. S
For a few seconds there, Bianca's mind went blank!She frowned and inwardly berated herself for being so weak-willed.'Bianca, don't forget, you have Jean!'Jean is the only man you can feel anything for!'"You're with me now. How could you get distracted?!" The man forcefully pushed her white coat aside. There was a moist and warm sensation on her lips.He then lowered his head and kissed her hair. After a long time, his low voice spoke into her ear seductively. Bianca was about to explode when she heard the man’s low voice!Luke had a really nice scent of shower foam on him, just like she did. That meant that this man had just used her shower foam when he took a shower earlier.Bianca knew just how dangerous it would be if she did not put up a desperate fight right now.Just plain struggling was not going to work.All she could do was apologize in advance for disrespecting her boss. At least that would be better than whatever was going on now!Bianca’s eyes grew used to
Bianca went back upstairs.The cleaner lady was tidying up her room.Bianca nodded at the cleaner politely and then walked to her closet, opening it and taking out one set of the clothes she had ironed last night. After that, she went to the bathroom to change into it.The cleaner worked very quickly.By the time Bianca was done washing her face, the room had been wiped more or less clean of every trace of Luke Crawford.She heaved a sigh of relief.Ten minutes ago, Jean had sent her a message. “Bianca, my team is done with the project. I’ll go to H City in the afternoon and visit you at your hotel. We get the day off tomorrow.”Bianca had replied with, “Sounds good. I’ll send you the hotel address.”For some reason, as she looked around the room Luke Crawford had spent the entire night in, she felt a little guilty.When the cleaner was done with her cleaning, she found Bianca staring at the bathroom, frowning and distracted.“I’m done,” the cleaner said with a smile, holding
The two cars left the renowned hotel and headed back to the hotel they were staying in.Once they reached the hotel, Bianca got out of the car.Sue soon followed suit.At the hotel entrance, they saw Jason Doyle waiting, dressed in his smart suit and leather shoes.“Good afternoon, Mr. Doyle.” Just like Sue and the others, Bianca greeted Jason as she went in.Jason nodded at Bianca too, but his gaze changed when he looked at Bianca.After Bianca walked into the hotel lobby, Jason was still frowning slightly as he looked inside.Luke got out of the car and noticed that there was something off about Jason’s expression.As usual, he turned his dark gaze directly at Jason. When Jason realized something amiss, he hurriedly turned around too, looking at his boss perfectly professionally.Standing tall and straight, Luke strode into the hotel, his voice icy cold as he stated, “You were looking at her.”He was addressing Jason, who was behind him.Jason seemed to be deliberating if
The sales associate nodded and said, “Yes, we do. I’ve already placed them in the fitting room for you. Would you like some assistance?”Hera shook her head and pointed straight at Luca. “No, I want her to do it.”Luca shook her head helplessly. It seemed that Hera was determined to make her play the role of a sales associate today.Luca asked, “Ms. Sanchez, where’s Mr. Abel?”“What does that have to do with you?” Hera shot her a wary look. “Where he goes isn’t important. What matters is that you’re spending the day shopping with me. And if I’m not happy, be prepared to face his punishment.”Then, Hera strutted toward the fitting room like a proud peacock.Luca had no choice but to follow.Inside the fitting room, Hera closed the door behind them and commanded, “Help me unzip the back.”“Alright.” Luca lowered her gaze. Since they were both women and Hera clearly had no reservations, there was no reason for her to feel uncomfortable. She placed her hands on the zipper.Hera re
After Hera got into the car, Abel turned around. His piercing blue eyes locked onto Luca.“When will the test results be ready?” asked Abel. His primary concern was the results.Luca replied, “It won’t be that fast. She did quite a few tests, so it might take until tomorrow or the day after. But the hospital assured me that as soon as the results are in, they’ll give me a detailed report right away.”Abel looked a little unhappy. “Didn’t I tell you to choose the VIP package?”“Mr. Abel, even with the VIP package, the results won’t be immediate. Getting them by tomorrow is already considered fast,” explained Luca.Abel let out a cold snort.Just then, the car window rolled down.“Baby, I’m still upset.” Hera’s voice dripped with sweetness.Abel turned around, his previously cold expression instantly replaced with warmth and tenderness. “What will make you feel better?”Hera thought for a moment. “How about this? Let her follow me around today and carry my shopping bags. That mi
“You!” Hera was clearly caught off guard that the driver had the nerve to talk back to her.She yanked off her sunglasses, just about ready to snap back at him when the driver got a good look at her through the rearview mirror.“Oh, it’s you?” said the driver.“Who the hell are you? Do I know you?” Hera’s tone was arrogant as though she was naturally above him.The driver reminded her, “Remember yesterday? You had me tail a cab and park outside some ancestral hall for half the day, and you refused to leave. I wasted a ton of gas just idling there with the A/C on because of you.”Hera’s face turned red, then pale. She did not expect Luca to randomly call a cab and end up with the same driver from yesterday.Luca also found it a funny coincidence and glanced back. Hera’s expression was awful.The driver, being a straight shooter, did not hold back. “Huh. Funny how you didn’t complain about my car smelling bad yesterday, but today, all of a sudden, it stinks? After I dropped you of
Luca also reminded Luke to tell the kids not to contact her during this period. The device could not be removed. If it was, Abel would definitely notice. Rather than making him suspicious or prompting him to install even better devices, it was better to just leave this one in place.Luke quickly replied: [Got it.]Luca put on a faint smile and began narrowing down the search, trying to figure out where that man had installed the device.If it was just for listening, she did not care. It could stay. However, if it was a surveillance camera, she needed to be more cautious. In the end, she found the device under the bed.She did not bother checking whether it was for listening or monitoring. After all, if it was placed there, the only possibility was that it was an audio bug. A camera in that spot would not capture anything useful.Anyone trained on the Island of Despair would not make such a rookie mistake.After a quick wash-up, Luca went to bed.The next morning, she receive
“Babe, don’t listen to her nonsense. She’s just trying to drive a wedge between us,” Hera said gently, hoping to earn Abel's affection.Abel did not take Hera’s words seriously. Instead, he picked up his phone and made a few inquiries.After checking with multiple sources to confirm where Lucius and the others had gone, the person on the other end of the line reported that Lucius had not left home in the past few days.As Luca listened to the voice on the other end of the phone, her expression remained calm.Gerald let out a sigh of relief but was also puzzled. He had always felt there was something going on between Lucius and Luca, yet unexpectedly, Luca’s outing this time had nothing to do with Lucius.Hera’s face turned pale. So, it really was not because of him.In that case, she…Hera instinctively looked at Abel, only to find that he was already staring at her. Their eyes met, and Hera could not help but shudder. Abel’s gaze was terrifyingly cold.Just when she thought he
“Oh? What made you so happy? Spill the tea.” Hera’s curiosity grew. Whatever it was that had Abel smiling like this had to be something big.The last time she was with him, he had closed a billion-dollar deal over the phone, but his expression had remained indifferent. It was like it was just another ordinary day at the office.However, he was currently grinning from ear to ear. Could it be something even bigger than that?Abel set down his unlit cigar. His fingers lightly traced along Hera’s cheek before resting on her eyes.“Your eyes… They’re beautiful,” murmured Abel.It was not the first time he had complimented her eyes.Hera had gone for the perfect foxy-type eyes, and every man she met would gush over how stunning they were.However, Abel was different. Other men would say her eyes were beautiful and then follow it up with praise for her face, her figure… The whole package.Yet Abel? He never mentioned anything else but just her eyes. It was as if her face and other par
“Alright. Ouch, it hurts when you flick me, Lanie!” Tommy pouted.“Don't cry. You were just saying you’d protect your sister, and now, you’re crying? What’s going on?” Lanie rubbed Tommy’s forehead. “Alright, I’ve rubbed it. Stop crying.”“Heh, Lanie, you're the best to me!” Tommy immediately beamed with happiness.“The whole grandma situation is over. From now on, let’s just behave ourselves and wait for Daddy and Ms. Luca to come back,” Lanie told his younger siblings.Even though their parents were not around, he had taken on the responsibility of being the elder brother. Despite being the same age as Rainie, he was much more mature.“Yes, I’ll listen to Great-Grandpa and you, Lanie!” Tommy nodded eagerly.…After Jason hung up on Allison, he let out a deep sigh.Sue walked over with a plate of fruits and placed it beside him. “What’s with that look? Have some fruits.”Jason picked up a toothpick, speared a piece of fruit, and brought it to her mouth.Sue opened her mouth
“Good evening, Madam Allison.” Jason quickly answered the phone.Allison wasted no time and demanded, “Why did you only send me such a small amount of money?”“It’s Mr. Crawford’s decision,” replied Jason, “If you suspect I’m withholding anything, you may ask him directly…”He reckoned that Allison might not be able to get in touch with Luke, so he added, “Or I could show you the chat records.”By now, Allison could not really doubt him anymore.However, with frustration in her voice, Allison asked, “Why is it so little? How am I supposed to live in A City on this?”“Mr. Crawford said that you have no extra expenses. You’re not shopping, so a hundred thousand dollars should be enough,” Jason relayed Luke’s words.A hundred thousand dollars was an amount that the average working family could not even earn in a month.Allison could not go out shopping right now, and she was not making any other extra purchases while staying at home every day. Why would it not be enough?Sophian, who over
“She's busy, so use something else. I’ve got stuff to do. I’m hanging up now.” Luke did not want to hear her rambling.Allison quickly added, “Wait, there's one more thing.”Luke frowned in annoyance.“I don’t have any money left. Send me some,” continued Allison. She was worried he might refuse. “It’s been over a month, and you still haven’t sent me my living expenses.”“Don’t worry, Jason will transfer it to you in a bit,” replied Luke. It had indeed been a month. However, he had been too busy to remember.“Alright.” Allison was about to say more when Sophian called out sweetly, “Mr. Crawford…”Before she could finish her sentence, Luke hung up the phone.Allison stared at Sophian. “What did you say that for?”Sophian was confused. She had only said a word, and the call was already disconnected. Was it her fault?“I just wanted to talk to him…” replied Sophian.“You didn’t have to say anything. I wasn’t done talking yet, and you made him hang up.” Allison was furious. She k