Bianca raised her head and looked at Luke with her eyes unblinking.After a long time, it felt as if time had stopped. She had barely returned to normal and the unspeakable emotions still aroused her to the edge.Under her long and trembling eyelashes, they were eyes brimming with tears.Luke Crawford was upperclassman Crawford.The doubts in her heart in the past were completely different from the true testimony before her eyes.The man had changed a lot throughout the years ago, but so had she…Fortunately, many years had passed. From their schoolyard to working society, from the loose and spacious school uniforms to professional workwear. After all this time, she still met the man who had a special place in her heart.Sadly, when she left high school, her life was not a smooth sail and she had to get her hands dirty.When they were face to face, Bianca remembered the hot kiss that they shared in the car just a while ago. Suddenly, a strong and ardent emotion surged up in her
Bianca could not listen to the story anymore."I need to go to the bathroom." She put down the cup and got up.She admitted it! She was envious. She was jealous.In the last twenty-four years, she had been unhappy ever since she found out how life was. She did not know what made her happy. When she was a kid, all her meals were cold. She was bullied by kids when she was a kid, and then mocked and scolded by her high school classmates.She knew from a young age that she would not have what others were born with.Such as a mother.If it was something that others had to beg and work hard for it, she knew she could never have.Like Luke Crawford. Finally, she became an adult and reached the age that everyone said was liberating. However, she never felt the freedom nor the happiness. All she had was just the cruel shackles of reality.‘Bianca, you must’ve been a sinner in your past life.‘That’s why you had to exhaust all your strength to redeem the sins of your past lives in thi
No woman in the world would not like a confession like that.From the beginning of a relationship, a woman wants nothing but care and a sense of security.Bianca knew very well that Luke was born with a silver spoon and the woman he’ll marry in the future must match his elite family background.Unfortunately, she did not have such a family background.Therefore, it was destined for their love to fail from the beginning. If the same confession came a few years earlier, the only result would be a breakup because he was at an age where he had to obey his parents and had no independence. There were too many people involved and too many uncertain factors.If that was the case, their love would only hurt the two of them even more. However, perhaps they could have continued their love affair secretly.However, that kind of love was tiring. Even if it was strong from the start, reality probably would have ground them down to bits, rendering them surrendering from the relationship and
Old Master Crawford stood in the courtyard with a cane as he observed from afar.When his grandson got back with the weird look on his face, the old man knew something was up. The reckless bad boy finally got himself a girlfriend!Rainie came up from behind her daddy. She stood on her tiptoes and craned her neck to take a look. She said in a baby voice, "Daddy, I didn’t know you used WeChat."Rainie knew that Great-grandpa, Grandma, Grandma Susan, and Uncle Louis had WeChat, all of them except Daddy and she never saw him used it.Luke sat on the sofa with a frown as he stared at the phone screen intently and anxiously.He did not get a reply from Bianca.‘Is that a no?’ At that moment, Louis came downstairs. When he heard that Luke had a WeChat, he walked toward them in surprise and glanced from the side, "Hey, you don’t even have a profile picture.”Luke turned off the screen that showed his chat with Bianca and had a sullen look on his face.‘Why isn't she replying?’"Talk
When Bianca walked out of her neighborhood, she saw a man standing there. That perfect view of a man, standing right there.Every cell in Luke's body was waiting for her to come over. When she finally came out, he opened the car door for her to get in, and placed a cup of hot drink in her hand.Even in summer, it was slightly breezy at three o'clock in the morning.Bianca felt the warmth in her heart.After she got in the car, she fell asleep.Before she went out, she told herself not to fall asleep and to accompany him by talking to him because if she was sleepy, he was also going to be as sleepy.Luke drove attentively. The sports car drove down the street in the middle of the night which was much quieter than it was during the day. He drove for twenty minutes before reaching the place to watch the sunrise.He glanced at the time on his watch and then looked at her who was asleep. He could not bear to wake her up.If she missed the sunrise, they could try again another day.
On the way to Luke's uncle’s house, Luke, Lanie, and Rainie, the family of three, plus Bianca, found a restaurant to sit down for breakfast.Bianca was very embarrassed because she felt that Luke and she looked out of place.Fortunately, she wore her workwear that day. She was worried that it would be time for work after watching the sunrise and would not have time to go home to change her clothes.If anyone were to look at them, she hoped they would think that she was Luke's secretary.Bianca noticed that Lanie and Rainie seemed afraid of their father.When Daddy went to the bathroom, Rainie ate a mouthful of strawberry jam and complained, "Aunt Bea, Daddy acts like a child who hasn't grown up. He always makes me cry.”"My brother is better than me. He's stronger than me so he’s never cried because of Daddy before.”Lanie nodded in agreement, "Daddy has a bad temper and doesn't like to communicate with others. We really want to take care of this psychological problem of his, bu
Granduncle had his hands behind him as he went to the living room.Grandaunt held the reading glasses in one hand and the watering can in the other as she continued to water the blooming flowers on the windowsill.The living room had an old cabinet with red lacquer and large peony patterns. Every green leaf that was drawn on looked very realistic.He opened the cabinet.There was a stack of newspapers on the left side of the cabinet. Granduncle had a habit of collecting old newspapers.On the top of the stack, there was a thick photo album.Granduncle took out the photo album and flipped through it until he found the photo that was bugging him. There were four people in the photo—granduncle himself when he was young, and three other girls in their 20s.In that photo, Allison stood in the middle with red trousers that were very popular in that era. However, she did not look as happy as the other two girls.On the left of Allison was Grandaunt when she was young.On the right
A crisp slap sound was heard. Anna roared at the same time, "You’re dead, girl! How dare you beat your sister-in-law?! Will you take responsibility if you hurt the child in her stomach?""I would rather die than give birth to this child…”The tears that Marie shed might have been real or perhaps they were fake. After she said that, she left as she clutched her cheek.Anna did not have time to slap her own daughter and hurried toward Marie.As she chased her down, she begged. "Marie, slow down! You’re still pregnant with my grandson! I’ll let you make your own choice! You said that you have no sense of security after getting married and that there’s no guarantee even after giving birth to your child. So tell me, let me know how I can make you feel safe and secure!"Anna, who was anxious to hold her grandson, followed Marie in a hurry."Is this shrew never going to give it a rest? Does she want to destroy our family so badly? Isn’t she making all this noise to make my parents buy h
Luca deliberately cracked her knuckles, making a loud 'pop' sound.Gerald immediately shrank back, pulling his neck in.“Ms. Craw, I’m sorry! I was being nosy. Please don’t be mad. I’ll just go take a nap,” he quickly apologized.“Hold on.” Luca stopped him.“What is it?” Gerald looked at her in confusion.“Do you know how to remove an IV yet?” asked Luca.“I’ve seen it done a lot, but I haven’t actually tried it myself.” A glint of eagerness flashed in Gerald’s eyes. “Ms. Craw, are you asking me to give it a shot?”“Do you want to try?” asked Luca.“Yes!” Gerald nodded enthusiastically. “I may not be a medical genius, but I can at least do something useful.”“Come with me. Let’s start with changing the IV bag,” instructed Luca.Gerald followed her, and under her guidance, he clumsily went through the steps but managed to replace the IV bag successfully.“This is so cool! I think I could totally be a nurse.” Gerald flashed a victory sign. “What do you think? Would I make a g
“Yeah, something came up with my family, so they got delayed. They just brought me my meal,” answered the volunteer.Luca glanced at his food, which consisted of meat and vegetables. It was clear that his family treated him very well.“That’s quite a feast,” remarked Luca.“Heh, they know I need the nutrition, so they always give me this much. Ms. Craw, have you eaten yet?” the volunteer asked cheerfully. Now that his health was improving, his appetite had returned, and his mood was much better too.“I have. You should eat more. I just came in to check how much IV fluid is left. There’s still quite a bit, so I think it won't be done before the guys are done eating," replied Luca.The volunteer chuckled. “They eat fast. You guys are amazing, taking such good care of me. I haven’t suffered at all since being here.”“Your recovery is our biggest wish,” replied Luca.“Mm, I’ll definitely cooperate with the treatment,” replied the volunteer.“Alright, I’ll get back to work. Enjoy yo
Abel's hand paused for a moment before he continued stroking her eyelids.“What’s wrong?” His voice was eerily low, carrying a chilling edge.Hera could not see his expression, but just the sound of his voice was enough to send shivers down her spine.“Thank you.” Hera forced herself to smile, summoning what little courage she had.“No need for thanks. Just be good from now on.” Abel’s fingers continued their slow, deliberate caress. It was like he was handling a priceless treasure.Hera remained still, letting him touch her without protest. More than anything, she did not dare to speak. She was terrified that if she broke the moment and interrupted whatever was going through his mind, he would be displeased.At that moment, Luca brought the food to the table and asked, “Mr. Abel, Ms. Sanchez, lunch is ready. Would you prefer to eat here or in your room?”“I’ll go with whatever my baby wants.” Hera smiled sweetly, masking her fear behind a bright smile. For some reason, she ha
“I’m just making plans with a friend. No need to go into all that, right?” As Luca said, she lifted her gaze to meet Shanks.His eyes were as deep as the ocean, and in that split second of eye contact, she felt like she was being pulled in. She suddenly felt like she had just exposed herself.Awkwardly, she cleared her throat and said, “Mr. Shanks, I’ll head downstairs to make lunch.”Shanks did not call her out on it, nor did he press further. He simply returned to his experiment.Downstairs, Luca saw Abel sitting on the living room couch. Ignoring him was not an option.Luca greeted him politely, “Mr. Abel.”Abel took a slow drag from his cigar, his blue eyes scanning her from head to toe. He was deep in thought.He remained silent, seemingly deep in thought. His dark and brooding expression sent a chill down Luca’s spine. Without saying a word, she turned around and walked straight into the kitchen.Gerald was already inside.When he saw her, he mouthed, “You’re here?”Luc
If Shanks’ prescription could help Hera sleep earlier, that would not be a bad thing.“Then I need to be treat…” Hera paused for a moment, realizing she could not say the word treatment. That would imply she was sick, and she could not let people know that. Instead, she corrected herself and asked, “How long will I need to take this herbal medicine?”“You can stop when your test results are back to normal,” replied Luca as she picked up the medical waste and headed out of the room.Gerald followed closely behind and asked with curiosity, “Ms. Craw, how long is that?”“How long is a standard treatment cycle?” Luca asked in return.Gerald pondered for a moment. “Usually about a month?”“The average endocrine cycle for women is three months, so the minimum duration for proper regulation is three months,” explained Luca.Although Abel could take action at any time, there was no way Hera could endure three full months of treatment. However, until Abel made his move, she would have
Luca’s head was slightly tilted, her cheek burning with pain.Abel had not held back at all. The force of his slap was merciless. A numbness spread across her face at an alarming speed.From the next room, someone peeked out again and asked in a low voice, “You okay?”“I’m fine.” Luca’s expression remained calm. This kind of injury was nothing to her.Back on the Island of Despair, she had endured far worse during training. She survived, did she not?Without another word, Luca pushed open the lab door and stepped inside.The man watching shook his head. Her face was already that swollen, and she still said she was fine… What a tough woman. She took a slap that hard and brushed it off like it was nothing.Shanks lifted his head when he heard the door open. When he saw it was Luca and noticed how swollen the side of her face was, his brows furrowed.“Abel did this?”“Who else?” Luca let out a bitter laugh, only to wince as the movement tugged at the pain. She sucked in a sharp b
“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