Meanwhile, at Crawford Manor. The scene at the dining table was relatively harmonious. Bianca was surprised that Allison did not pick on her or insult her while they had their meal. However, she noticed that Allison would occasionally look at her with a deep-seated hatred, though Allison dared not say a hateful word. Bianca was curious about what was going on. After lunch, Luke and Bianca sent the twins to their tutor. They dropped the children off at the destination. Then, Luke turned the car around and drove along Orchid Road, which Bianca was quite familiar with. The road led into the commercial center of A City. It was wide, but traffic was usually heavy. Moreover, it was the weekend, and the traffic was worse than usual. Bianca sat in the side passenger seat and waited patiently for the traffic light to turn green. She thought that Luke was going to bring her home. However, she began to have doubts when she saw that they were on the jammed road. "Why aren't w
Bianca felt that everything was so surreal as she walked out of the city courthouse, clutching the wedding certificate in her hands. They were really married. They were now a legally married couple. Luke turned his head to look at her. It was noon, but the sky was partially cloudy. It was not very hot, but instead cool and windy. Loose strands of hair danced on Bianca's face. He pushed them back behind Bianca's ear. The man's slender fingers were like paintbrushes, gently tracing the outlines of her eyebrows and eyes. Her smile was like a blooming flower that heralded the summer. Luke thought that he would never get tired of looking at her face, no matter how long they would be together. As he thought of that, he abruptly picked up the pregnant Bianca off her feet and twirled her around. He was laughing without restraint. "We're married, Bianca. We're now officially husband and wife." Bianca was red-faced as she hugged his neck. "Put me down. I'm too heavy." Luke
Leia stepped into Dr. Hoover's office on her high heels and closed the door behind her. Dr. Hoover was surprised when he saw Leia walk in front of his desk and take off her sunglasses. "Do you have any more questions, Ms. Norman?" Dr. Hoover sat up straight and put on his glasses. Leia smiled at him. To the doctor's shock and surprise, she took out a ten-million-dollar check from her pink handbag. Then, she placed the check on the desk and pushed it in front of the doctor. "I'd like to trouble you with something, Dr. Hoover…" "It's no trouble at all. Please state your request, Ms. Norman." Dr. Hoover suddenly felt an ominous premonition. Indeed, the words that came out of Leia's mouth chilled Dr. Hoover to his core. "I'm asking you to tamper with the DNA test results, Dr. Hoover. I want to make it so that Julie's DNA is a perfect match with my parents. That shouldn't be too hard for you, right? I've heard that… you've acquired a new mansion recently, and you need some mon
Even though she was jealous, Julie remained sensible. She would not have gotten this job if not for Bianca. If she were to apply to T Corporation with her own abilities, she would not have been considered, even though she had a bachelor's degree from a ranked university. She knew that the recruitment process of T Corporation could be inhumanly harsh. Candidates needed to have at least a master's degree, which she did not have. She counted her lucky stars. Julie sneaked a few glances at Bianca, who was hard at work. She still could not understand why the idol of many young women around the country would have his eye on the unremarkable Bianca. While Julie's thoughts wandered, several gossips in the office started to discuss her… "Hey, who do you think that Julie Anderson is? Mr. Doyle was the one who brought her to the office…" Female Employee A said. "I don't know, but it looks like her qualifications don't match the company's most basic requirements. Did higher manag
After work, Luke told Bianca to go to the CEO's office to look for him, and they would leave together. Bianca waited next to the CEO's personal elevator to head up to Luke's office. Meanwhile, Julie joined Nina, Sue, and her other colleagues to wait for the employees' elevator. Julie saw Bianca, who was standing not far away, enter a bigger elevator by herself. On top of the elevator doors was a sign with "CEO's Elevator" written in gold. It was a dazzling sight. Building A of T Corporation was quite big and had a lot of employees. Even though many high-speed elevators were operating, they were quite crowded during peak times. Julie was envious that only Bianca alone could use the CEO's personal elevator. She could not help but tug at Nina's shirt sleeve and ask softly, "Nina, is Bianca… going into the CEO's personal elevator? What is her relationship with the CEO?" She knew perfectly what Bianca's relationship was to Mr. Crawford, but she wanted to confirm it. "Bianca?
Queenie and Jack walked toward Julia. Queenie held an exquisite jewelry box in her hands. Her eyes were still red. She had been crying ever since she received the test results, though those were tears of joy. She did not expect that her birth daughter was still alive, and that she would find her in such a short time. When Julie saw them, she eagerly hugged Queenie's elbow and greeted her, "Mom." Then, she greeted Jack, "Dad." Those greetings were very natural, and Julie did not sound like a stranger at all. Tears of love gushed out of Queenie's eyes again. "Oh, my dear daughter…" Jack was usually an emotionally stoic man. Tonight, everyone could see from his face that he was happy and excited. Julie did not expect that she was actually the birth daughter of the Provincial Committee Secretary. She almost passed out from the good news. Until now, she was still immersed in ecstasy. Queenie composed herself and placed the jewelry box in Julie's hands. "This is my present
Leia's mocking words made Julie feel humiliated. She was in ecstasy a moment ago, bidding farewell to poverty. Her joy did not last long; the harsh truth had left her battered and bruised! It took Julie a long time to come to her senses. She turned stiffly to look at Leia. "If you know that I'm not their birth daughter, why did you tamper with the test results? What objective could you possibly have, Leia?" "You should've seen in these few days that Mom is eager to reunite with her birth daughter, right? She's been doing that for years and she hasn't succeeded. It's seriously wearing her down, and I can't bear to see her like that. I had to create a lie to comfort her and keep the family intact," Leia said. Julie still could not understand. "Why did you choose me?" Leia chuckled. "Do you think I want to choose you? You happened to be at the right place at the right time. How lucky… let me warn you, Julie, don't think that you're the real Ms. Norman just because my parents ac
After the opening ballet performance, a pair of male and female emcees walked up the stage and delivered their opening speech. "Respected administrators and dear guests, it is our honor today to welcome you to the award ceremony of our school…" At the end of the speech was the award ceremony. The emcees announced the third-prize and second-prize winners first. The vice-principal and the various heads of department awarded the trophies to the students. Every named student went up the stage excitedly. The school was the most renowned private school in A City, and every student there came from a wealthy and influential family. The school had the best educational infrastructure and teachers, and the students were naturally intelligent and talented. It was evident that being an ace student there was not an easy feat. All the students who went up the stage were excited and proud, while their parents in the audience shared their glory. Bianca waited patiently for Rainie's turn
“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.
Hera heard that Luca had returned and immediately went to find Shanks. She narrowed her eyes.That woman went to see Shanks. Could she be talking about her?The thought made Hera uneasy. She had a nagging feeling that something was wrong with her medical report.However, when they left the medical center earlier, Abel asked Luca when the report would be ready, and she said it would be available tomorrow.Hera turned to Gerald and said, “Take these back for me first.”“Alright.” Gerald carried the bags as he walked away. He could not help but wonder what exactly Hera bought. These bags were really heavy!Only after Gerald went upstairs did Hera slowly make her way up as well. Her room was on the third floor, but she stopped when she reached the second floor. She glanced around to make sure no one was watching before heading toward the laboratory.The door was closed.Instead of knocking, Hera pressed her ear against it, trying to eavesdrop.However, the laboratory was special