"Yes, Ms. Laviere. I know what I should do," Bella replied fawningly. Bella was a smart woman, and Mavis had made it obvious. She would be an idiot if she did not understand what her superior was trying to imply! So many people coveted the position of deputy general manager! There were so many talented people in the design department. Even Tom and Sue were just as capable as she was. If she were to rely on her capabilities alone, it would take her a few more years of hard work. She would have to come up with a scheme tomorrow so that Bianca would be forced to leave T Corporation! … At the hospital. Leia was dressed in a loose hospital gown and looked haggard. She stared blankly at the ceiling, and no one knew what she was thinking. She had not applied beauty cream to her face for a few days, and she had not been sleeping well. Her skin was not as smooth and tender as before, and it was a stark contrast to her beautiful and pure image on television. The nurses were e
After work, Bianca received a call from her aunt Wanda, saying that Old Master Rayne had been thinking of her. He also wondered about how Bianca's health had been, and he missed Lanie and Rainie. Bianca had been busy with work lately, not to mention that she had been stuck at her home for the past few months while her leg recovered. Her communication with her grandfather had been limited to phone and video calls. After hearing from her aunt, Bianca decided that she would visit her grandfather. She wanted to bring the twins along. However, it would be difficult. The twins were in Crawford Manor, and Luke was away on a business trip. Bianca knew that Old Master Crawford still had a negative impression of her, while Allison did not even want to talk to her. She would only be humiliating herself if she went there. … At home. Old Master Rayne was very excited when he saw Bianca. He asked her many questions, including questions about her health and why Luke did not come along.
Wanda did not want Bianca to notice that something was wrong with her. She quickly pinched her nose to stop the blood from flowing while she brought the spatula under the tap to wash away the bloodstains. Her movements were natural and agile, as though she was used to it. She thought that it was fortunate that the blood did not drip into the pan and that her back was facing Bianca at the moment. The scene at the hospital replayed in Wanda's mind. "Mdm. Rayne, your immune system is getting weaker, and you need to be hospitalized for chemotherapy as soon as possible. If you delay it, you'll only be causing more damage to your body, and the chances of you recovering will be lower." "I don't want chemotherapy, Doctor. Are there any less intrusive methods of treatment? I don't mind taking medication too, as long as I can maintain my basic bodily functions," Wanda asked. She knew the side effects of chemotherapy. Other than nausea, vomiting, and lethargy, she would also have to l
Wanda prepared breakfast early the next day. After breakfast, the driver sent her to the venue. Bianca would be taking her test at a famous economics college. Bianca could see that there were already a lot of people at the venue. It was an impressive scene. Most of the candidates were male, and there were relatively fewer females. Many candidates were reviewing their study material on the eve of the test, whether they were going through what they already knew or cramming last-minute. They seemed to be working hard. That was a regular sight at all test venues. Sean, the driver, was worried that an accident might happen to Bianca. He parked the car at the parking lot and accompanied Bianca to the venue. He did not want a repeat of the accident last time! No one dared to be careless when it came to the people closest to Luke! Many candidates crowded in front of a notice board to find their seating arrangement. Bianca's test location was at Classroom 302, on the third f
Julie noticed that Bianca was watching Luke make his speech. She leaned over and asked, "What are you watching, Bianca?" When she saw the handsome and gentlemanly Luke on the screen, her face lit up with admiration. "Wow, it's Luke Crawford, the rising star of A City! He's so handsome! That man is my idol. He has developed T Corporation from the ground up. That's a miraculous feat! My dream is to work in T Corporation as a regular wage-earner! Do you want to work at T Corporation too, Bianca? We should do our best in this test, get our architect certification, and apply to T Corporation! How about that?" Bianca could not stand Julie's chatter. She seemed like a lady when she kept her mouth shut, but once she started speaking, she was like a twittering sparrow. "Madam is already…" Sean wanted to explain on Bianca's behalf, but Bianca shot a glance at him. "I hope that we'll pass with flying colors," Bianca said. Julie nodded. She wanted to continue watching her idol on Bia
Bianca did not expect that Bella's seat was number 17. That instantly put her in a bad mood. It was already an uncanny coincidence that they were assigned to the same classroom, but consecutive seats too? She cursed her luck! The test was starting soon, and she did not have the time to be bothered about Bella. Bianca shot a glance at Julie, who was sitting diagonally opposite her. The young woman seemed to have noticed that, and she pumped her fist at Bianca as a show of encouragement. Bianca felt relieved when she saw that warm smile. Ring… The bell rang, and the invigilators gave out the test papers and answer sheets. Bianca wrote down her name on the answer sheet, then started to fill in her candidate number with a #2 pencil. After filling in her information, she checked it one more time before quickly browsing the contents of the test paper. She gained a brief understanding of the questions and started to answer them with a black ballpoint pen. It was an Enginee
Right after Bella finished speaking, the classroom instantly erupted in surprised exclamations! The architect certification test was a national test, and the consequences for cheating were harsh. Not only would the results of this test be annulled, but the candidate could not take any more technical certification tests for the next two years! In serious cases, the perpetrator would be criminally viable! The invigilators opened their eyes wide as they looked at Bianca! The other candidates also looked at Bianca differently. They did not expect that the beautiful and gentle pregnant woman would be cheating! The invigilator walked up next to Bianca and looked at Bella sternly. "What happened?" Bella pointed a finger at Bella and said maliciously, "Sir, I noticed that when she was tidying her answer sheets, a ball of paper fell out and landed under her chair. She must be cheating!" Then, her finger pointed to a spot below Bianca's chair. Everyone followed her finger and s
The man's voice on the other end of the phone was too attractive. Julie could not contain her happiness. She could feel her ovaries exploding. She thought that Bianca's husband must have been a perverted middle-aged man, but she had guessed wrong. The man's voice sounded even better than a certain prime-time news anchor she was obsessed with. Someone with such an attractive voice could not have been a middle-aged, potbellied tycoon. She tried to sound as calm as possible. "Nice to meet you. My name is Julie Anderson. I became friends with Bianca before the test. It's like this: Someone framed Bianca for cheating, and the invigilators brought her to the office for an investigation. She gave me your phone number to ask you for help, and that's why I gave you a call…" "Understood. I will show you my gratitude later!" After a pause of a few seconds, the phone call was abruptly cut off. "Um…" Julie wanted to continue hearing the man speak but did not expect that he instantly hun
Sophian was also shaken by the events of the day. If Luke had not returned just in time, she did not know how long the fight between the two would have lasted. As Sophian thought about Luke, admiration showed in her eyes. Her heart fluttered at the thought of him, making her lose focus and become careless with what she was doing.“Ouch! Are you trying to kill me?” Allison winced as she clutched her face. Her hand instinctively shot up.Sophian came back to her senses and quickly moved away. “Sorry, Madam Allison, I’m so sorry!”Allison’s slap did not land, but her anger was evident. “What are you doing? Are you trying to hurt me?”“No, Madam Allison, I was just lost in thought and didn’t pay attention…” Sophian stammered, terrified of Allison’s strength.Allison's strength was immense! If Sophian took a slap from her, it would probably hurt for days. What worried her most was that Luke would see it, and it would ruin the impression he had of her.Allison noticed the lingering
Allison was so thrown off by his commanding presence that she took two steps back.When Luke mentioned Susan, her eyes widened, and she shook with anger. “I'm your real mother! Who does that woman think she is?! You call her 'Mother'? No! Susan’s not your mother. I'm your only mother!”Consumed with jealousy, Allison's eyes turned red. She could not stand Luke calling Susan 'Mother'.Furious, she smashed several items in the living room.“Madam Allison, please calm down.” Sophian was startled by Allison's sudden outburst.Allison shattered another item, casting a hateful, challenging glare at Luke. She was like a child causing trouble. When he still showed no reaction, she picked up a vase and smashed it, creating a louder racket.Luke watched the whole scene with an icy calm.These were genuine art pieces from reputable brands. Even though they were not as costly as his grandfather’s antiques, they were still valuable. One piece could cost a white-collar worker half of thei
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