Bianca rubbed her temples. She realized that she was in an unfamiliar place. The bedroom was spacious, and in front of the bed was a large floor-to-ceiling window that showcased the beautiful scenery outside. She could not help but open the window as she looked at the sea of flowers. The cherry trees were in full bloom. The blossoms were as white as snow, and the fragrance was thick in the air. The place was more beautiful than the peach garden Luke brought her last time. However, Bianca was not in the mood to appreciate it. She must have offended the Crawford family by rejecting Luke's proposal yesterday. Not only was the Crawford family angry, but her grandfather and aunt must be very sad too. They must think that she was immature. However, she had no other choice… Just when her brain was in a mess, her phone suddenly started ringing. It was Nina. Bianca answered the call. Nina started rambling worriedly, "Have you scrolled through your Twitter feed today, Bea? Ma
Blue Honors. Charmaine walked into a VIP private room, dressed in the most beautiful and most expensive clothes and shoes that she got from Leia. She got to know from a friend that Mr. Ford, an internationally renowned director, intended to shoot a movie with a hundred-million-dollar budget using only actors with no previous screen experience. That friend knew Mr. Ford's producer, and that was why she recommended Charmaine. After looking at Charmaine's photo, Mr. Ford decided to give her a chance in an audition. Charmaine found out that Mr. Ford had reserved a private room in Blue Honors, and her friend had somehow gotten an invitation for her. She was so happy that she was losing her mind. She arrived at Blue Honors with the invitation card. She wanted to show her face to Mr. Ford. The director might even make an exception for her if he was charmed by her voluptuous figure. "Mr. Ford…" Before she stepped through the door, Charmaine's seductive voice was heard. She
Luke stopped walking. He turned around, and his gaze became colder. "Are you telling the truth?" He waved his hand, and the bodyguards let go of Charmaine. She was on the verge of tears. She loved to play, but only if both parties were consenting. Those instruments might be fun and exciting while making out, but now, it seemed as though the bodyguards were going to use them to kill her. That had made her fear for her life. She slumped onto the floor and begged him. "I was wrong, Mr. Crawford. Forgive me! I don't have any grudge against Bianca Rayne. I only did that because Leia threatened me. She told me that if I don't do what she says, she'll make sure that I can't survive in A City. I had no other choice! I swear that I won't do it again. Please forgive me…" Luke's tall body towered over Charmaine. His figure was as exquisite as a sculpture, but Charmaine was not in the mood to appreciate it. She thought that the man was too scary. "What is inside the CD that caused Bian
After Jason sent his boss back to the mansion, he drove the car away. After Luke stepped out of the car, he could hear Bianca's voice from afar. "Let me go! I want to leave!" "Ms. Rayne, Sir said that we can't let you leave the mansion without his orders." That was the caretaker. Luke hastened his footsteps. He saw Bianca, dressed in a thin shirt, standing at the doorway of the living room facing the two caretakers. Luke's heart ached when he saw how stubborn Bianca was. "Bianca!" He called out her name. Bianca turned around and saw that it was Luke. Tears welled in her eyes. She turned around again so that her back was facing him. She knew that it was impossible for the two of them to be together. However, Bianca was moved when she saw him return. She had to remind herself that she could not turn around. Luke's hawk-like gaze fell on her face, then on her defiant back. He sighed imperceptibly. Bianca was flustered even though she did not see his gaze. She cou
"What? Aren't you worried about your safety?" Bianca's eyes opened wide when she heard what Luke said. She tried to stop her heart from beating too hard. She had lived those past few days in agony because she could not find a solution. Every night, she would have nightmares of Luke being taken away by enforcement officers. She would wake up drenched in sweat, but she was helpless about it. She did not expect that Luke already knew about the CD with the incriminating evidence, but he was not worried at all. Did he not know the grave consequences if the contents of the CD were leaked? Luke's big hand gripped Bianca's lower jaw hard and made her chin hurt. "Why didn't you tell me that something so serious happened? Don't you know that I was so relieved when I knew that you rejected my proposal because of the CD, but at the same time, I was angry because you didn't tell me?" Bianca fell silent. She did not know how to tell him; she did not want any harm to come to him. Lo
An enchanting scene in a hotel at night. A man wore a mask that covered half of his face. The uncovered half was extraordinarily handsome. Gordan Norton was hugging a woman. Suddenly, he saw a very faint red light from outside the window. Hugging the woman in his arms tight, he swiftly rolled off the bed. A silenced bullet sliced through the air and landed on where the man was lying a second earlier. A hole appeared on the bed! Two men in black balaclavas barged in from the window. Seeing that their assassination attempt had failed, they pointed the guns in their hands at the masked man. Before they could pull the trigger, the masked man had already pulled out a gun and delivered a bullet to each of them. Gordan's gun skills were impeccable. The bullets landed between the eyes of the assassins! Blood flowed from their foreheads. The two assassins had died even before they realized it. Their eyes remained wide open in disbelief that someone could have such a fast rea
The next day. Leia sat in the makeup room while a makeup artist worked on her face. She browsed on her phone, eager to look at the latest updates on Bianca's scandal. She could imagine Bianca's face at that moment. However, as Leia scrolled through her Twitter feed and looked at the various accounts of the major influencers and media outlets, she could not find any scandalous news about Bianca. Leia was shocked. She realized that something was amiss. She could still find news and gossip about Bianca at midnight yesterday. How could everything disappear in just one night? Most shockingly, when she tried to search for the accounts that Charmaine had contacted to share Bianca's article, all of them seemed to have disappeared. She could not find anything in the search bar… Leia started to panic. She immediately dialed Charmaine's number, disregarding the fact that she was in a makeup session. However, no one answered the call, no matter how many times she dialed the numbe
Bianca glanced at the photo on Bella's phone. Suddenly, she laughed. "I was wondering what you're going to show me. Turns out that it's just a few photos. How sure are you that the woman in those photos is me? Image editing technology is so advanced now. It's so easy to transplant someone's face onto another body. Moreover, the so-called evidence provided by the article is full of errors. Do you actually believe it? Are you three years old?" As Bella looked at her phone while churning her brain, trying to find a retort, Bianca continued, "Haven't you realized something else too? Every account that shared the article is banned. Can you open the link to the article? You can't! How could that happen? It's because the article is false and libelous. Mr. Crawford has already reported the article to the authorities, and anyone who shares it will face legal consequences." Nina glared at Bella, then at the nosy male colleague. Bella could feel her heart skip a beat. She was starting to
“I’m still a bit worried. Let me take a look in your room and change the dressing while I’m at it.” Luca knew Luke would not want her to worry. Therefore, she needed to see for herself that everything was fine before she could feel at ease.“Alright.” Luke knew she was worried about him, so the two of them headed into the room.He took off his shirt, revealing the bandage wrapped around his torso.Luca could not help but chuckle at the sight. The wrapping was done by Gerald, and it was hilariously sloppy. It was haphazardly bound—overly tight in some places and entirely uneven. It looked like it was just meant to cover the wounds, with no thought for neatness.“Stop laughing.” Luke was clearly rendered speechless by Gerald’s lackluster bandaging skills as well.If it were not for the fact that it was difficult to bandage himself, he would never have let Gerald do it.“With it wrapped like this, how are you supposed to sleep at night?” Luca asked as she began unwrapping the ba
Abel chuckled. His voice was low and gravelly.“Hera, let’s agree on something. Don’t use threats of leaving to manipulate me anymore, or I won’t be happy,” said Abel in a low voice.What might have sounded like a plea or a compromise came across to Hera as a veiled threat.The cool sensation of his fingers brushed against her eyelids, and she could not help but shiver. His touch felt as cold as death itself. She could not feel a trace of warmth.Her hands clenched tightly together. The tension in her grip was the only thing keeping her from trembling further.“Alright,” Hera murmured obediently.Abel withdrew his hand. Hera opened her eyes. A strange unease stirred within her. For reasons she could not quite explain, Abel’s behavior filled her with an unsettling dread…“Will you stay at the hospital with me tonight?” Hera could not help but crave some semblance of comfort.Abel frowned slightly. “Stay here with you? And what about Luca?”“You could just send her home. I onl
Luca's expression was serious, and Hera realized she was not just trying to scare her. Ignoring her warnings had already caused her to suffer once.Unwillingly, Hera sipped on the cereal. Her resentment was evident in every movement.Luca noticed it was not difficult for her to handle. She quietly sat down and ate her own bowl of cereal.Hera did not have much of an appetite.Hera took a couple of bites before growing bored. She glanced at Luca and asked, “How did you end up working for Abel?”Luca did not respond. She calmly blew on her cereal and ate in silence, showing no intention of engaging in conversation.“I’m talking to you. Are you deaf?” snapped Hera.Luca lifted her gaze briefly and replied, “You should finish your cereal before it gets cold.”“I’m not even hungry.” Hera really had no appetite and was not planning to eat the cereal.“It’s still better if you eat something. Otherwise, when hunger strikes later, don’t expect me to help you,” said Luca, “I’m only he
Luke had never taken the medicine that could speed up healing, so his recovery was nowhere near as fast as the others from the Island of Despair.Luca did not respond to Gerald’s comment. Her gaze fixed on him with intensity.“No stitches,” said Luke, “I trust you.”Luca bit her lower lip.“But if you don’t stitch it, it might tear open,” insisted Gerald, staring at Luke’s wounds.Luke glanced at his injuries and shrugged, seemingly unconcerned, as though the wounds had nothing to do with Luca.“Stitches will leave scars.”“Are you afraid of scars? What kind of man doesn’t have a few scars on him? Scars are a symbol of manhood,” teased Gerald with a playful tone, “Scars show you’re reliable, that you can protect a woman.”Luke gave him a look as though he were an idiot, then his gaze shifted to Luca. “I don’t want too many scars. I’m worried my future wife might dislike them.”Luca’s heart sank at his words, but his lighthearted remark eased her sadness. Despite the severity
Luca could not help but tremble with heartache. She fought hard to resist the urge to rush forward.Everyone in the room had survived brutal training to make it out of the Island of Despair, and they could not help but shudder when they saw the scene. The sound of the whip felt like it was landing on their own bodies.Gerald closed his eyes, unable to watch any longer. It was too cruel for him to watch.The ten lashes felt like an eternity, stretching on for what seemed like a century.Luca looked at the drenched clothes on Luke. His eyes were red, and his shirt was so soaked that you could wring out the blood from it. Her hands were clenched so tightly into fists that the veins were bulging.Abel tossed the whip aside, looking at Luke’s disheveled state with satisfaction. He enjoyed the thrill of this bloody scene.He turned to Luca, noticing her reddened eyes, and smiled even more devilishly. “Hera is in the hospital now. You’ll go take care of her for the next few da
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