The meeting ended at half-past three. The employees of the design department returned to their office and continued their work. Bianca opened her work mailbox and noticed an email from Old Mr. Norman. In the email, he wrote about his feedback on Bianca's design. He said that it was not easy to meet a talented architectural designer, and he wanted Bianca to visit him at his house. He even included several embarrassed emojis, as though he were a child. Bianca grinned. She thought that the picky and unreasonable Old Mr. Norman had an adorable side to him. After reviewing her mailbox, she received a notification in her messenger app. Someone wanted to add her as a friend. Bianca tapped on the notification curiously. The account name was "ElegantQueen." She was surprised, but soon she remembered that Mrs. Norman had asked for her contact. She thought that Mrs. Norman asked for her contact in the heat of the moment, but she did not expect that Mrs. Norman would add her as a f
After Bianca sat down, Yanis swept her penetrating gaze around the office and said sternly, "Now that the urban reconstruction project has already begun, I hope that all of you can complete your tasks to the best of your abilities! Not only that, everyone here has to cooperate with each other. No one can attempt to sabotage another. If I discover it, your name will be instantly removed from the list!" "Yes." Everyone nodded, though a hint of disdain flashed past Bella's face. When it was almost time to go off work, Yanis told everyone that there would be a joint meeting between T Corporation and Vivi Group the next day. The main agenda would be about everyone's progress in the urban reconstruction project. She emphasized that higher management from both companies, including the CEO of T Corporation and chairman of Vivi Group, would be present at the meeting of unprecedented scale. Bianca felt immense pressure after hearing Yanis's announcement. Would she be able to maintain her
Anand looked at the gentle and quiet Bianca. The more he looked at her, the more he liked her. He might be half-Indian, but he was not interested in women of his race. Instead, he was drawn to Caucasian features like his father. He loved Bianca's petite and delicate features. Anand was not worried when he saw that Bianca was uninterested in him. He knew that it would not be that easy to win a woman's heart. He did not want a one-night stand; he was in for the long game. When he saw that the women were purposely ignoring him, he diverted the conversation topic and said courteously, "I've only arrived in the country not too long ago, Bianca, and I'm not too familiar with the local customs… Do you think that I'll blend in better if I have an English name? I can't think of a suitable one." Sue and Nina were eating peanuts while looking interestedly at Anand trying to hook up with Bianca. 'Haha! Our boss has a love rival now! 'Looks like Bianca's charm knows no bounds!'
Late in the night. Sue was in the critical stage of her pregnancy, and she could not move about that easily. That was why she left the venue first. Bianca and Nina also felt tired and said goodbye. Other than Michelle, the ones who remained in the private room were all men. After saying their superficial goodbyes, they continued having fun. Armand wanted to see Bianca off instead of staying in the boring room. He pretended to stumble and said that he was drunk and needed to go home and rest. The other male colleagues did not persuade him to stay. After all, those who remained had their own agendas. After most of the female colleagues were gone, the male colleagues that usually looked serious called for the manager of the karaoke bar, selected several escorts that had decent figures, and continued their merriment… The situation inside the room was warm and lively. Once they stepped out of Blue Honors, the biting cold wind froze their necks. Fortunately, Bianca, Sue, and
As Luke turned his head over, his face was illuminated by the street light and moonlight. That was the first time Anand saw his face clearly. The curves of the man's lips were elegant and graceful. He was noble and otherworldly. For a brief moment, Anand thought that the man was Prince Charming who had walked out of a book. His lofty demeanor was breathtaking, but he emitted an aura as serene and tranquil as the bright moonlight. Anand had to admit that he was impressed. The man whom he had recently classified as a "love rival" was noble and aloof, while Bianca in his arms was graceful and beautiful. As the couple hugged each other, it was extremely pleasing to the eye. Whoever looked at the man or the woman could have easily been charmed. His crush was as docile as a kitten in the man's arms. Anand felt uneasy. He wanted to say hi to Bianca, but the man escorted her to the car and opened the door like a gentleman. Bianca was smiling like a blooming flower. Anand stoo
As Bianca walked onto the podium, her gaze subconsciously turned to Luke. She saw that the man was looking at her encouragingly, and that had made her slightly at ease. She handed copies of the documents to the bosses of the two companies as well as the higher management… Then, she inserted the flash drive into the laptop, adjusted the microphone, and prepared to give her presentation. Quinton flipped through Bianca's document, and his expression instantly sank. "Ms. Rayne, are you mistaken about this meeting's agenda?" Bianca looked curiously at a copy of the document in her hand and was instantly shocked. 'How… how is this possible? This isn't the document that I prepared the day before, but the weekly report of our design department…' Slam! The chairman of Vivi Group slammed the document on the table. Quinton's authoritative expression became even gloomier because of his anger. "How could you possibly make this kind of mistake as a designer? Even a rookie employee wo
What a bold claim! Did she know what she was saying? Some people might meticulously prepare their presentations, and there would still be errors. Right now, she was going to improvise her presentation! Everyone cast suspicious glances on Bianca, which made her palms wet with sweat. Bianca's grip on the stack of documents in her hands became tighter. Earlier, while she was looking for her missing documents, she found some design sketches in her cabinet. Those were not floor plans or 3D renderings but colored pencil concept sketches done during her free time. Bianca was not professionally trained in illustration, but she possessed certain talents. Moreover, whenever inspiration struck her, she would draw her designs on paper with a sketching pen or colored pencils instead of drawing them on the computer. The thick stack of paper was all her concept sketches for the project. The department lead had commented that Bianca was old-fashioned for sketching on paper, but Bianca
The urban reconstruction project involved funds of over a hundred billion dollars. The reason behind T Corporation and Vivi Group's collaboration was not only because of the astronomical sum of money involved, but also because it was impossible for a single corporation to gain sole development rights over the entire area. In an attempt to regulate the economy, the local government did not want to give the entire pie to one corporation, even if the company could do so. Even a single percentage point of profits from this project was a huge sum of money. Vivi Group was not going to go down without a fight. The two parties were caught in a stalemate. All of Vivi Group's higher management was furious. They were planning to fight tooth and nail for one or two percentage points. Now that Luke wanted a whole ten percentage points, they were definitely angry. After all, all civilities were already off the table. There was no point in courtesies, and therefore the boards of directors f
“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.