The hospital.She had no idea if it was because the air conditioning in the room was a little low, but Bianca felt a little chilly.She carefully covered Wanda with the blanket and turned up the temperature of the air conditioner. Then, she sat beside her aunt and quietly watched the woman who had fallen asleep while receiving her infusion.Although Bianca's face seemed calm, she was worried.'How on earth can I persuade Aunt Wanda to have the operation?'While she was lost in thought, the ding of her phone notified her that she had received a few Facebook messages.Worrying that it was about work, Bianca quickly took out her phone and clicked on it. Apart from several notifications that automatically popped up from the Facebook pages she had subscribed to, there was also a message from Queenie.Bianca curiously clicked it and Queenie's message popped up before her.Queenie: [Mrs. Rayne, this is Aunt Queenie. I hope you don't mind me disturbing you. I like the style and design
Linda's office.Leia rushed to her office with her skirt in hand, asking right away, "Linda, how did someone steal my role? Why did the director say that I’ve been replaced when the drama is about to start filming?"Linda looked distressed as well. "How do I know? That's the arrangement from the higher-ups. Leia, you've been causing too much trouble lately! You're too brash..."God knew she thought her career would soar since she was managing an actress who came from a formidable background and status. However, she did not expect that the innocent image she had worked so hard to create for Leia over the years would be ruined by Leia herself. Who could give her an explanation for this?Leia slammed her hand on Linda's desk and looked at her sarcastically. "Brash? I've been low-key enough these days. How am I brash when I've been resting at home for so long? Linda, have you been slacking off? Look at the roles you've gotten me. They're either annoying second female leads or roles in
Luke stared at Bianca's face with a doubtful expression. He could not help but chuckle when he saw how serious she was. He tucked her hair behind her ear and said gently, "You should accept Mrs. Norman's hospitality to you. She's your birth mother after all. It's better than giving you the cold shoulder, isn't it?" He thought that his woman was intelligent, but she could be confused sometimes. Bianca buried her face in his chest and said, "I know that Mrs. Norman is my birth mother, but she doesn't know that I'm her daughter. I'm afraid that I can't control myself if I interact too much with her…" Luke scraped the bridge of her nose with a fingernail and smiled. "Why are you so unconfident about yourself, hmm? You don't have to worry about anything. After all, she…" Before he could finish his sentence, his phone started to ring abruptly. It was an unknown foreign number. Luke answered the call. Someone was panting heavily on the other end of the call as though trying to c
Bianca stood in a daze in front of the window. The scene of Luke's car speeding away replayed in her mind. She felt both sad and angry. She was also aggrieved that the man did not care about her feelings at all. Bianca knew that Gordan had risked a lot when he saved Luke. Not only did Gordan perform plastic surgery on his face, but he had also taken the fall for a crime he did not commit. She knew that Luke was duty-bound to save Gordan, but did he ever spare a thought for him and the children? Gordan might have gone to prison because of Luke, but Luke eventually found a way to free him as well as get the Italian mafia to stop hunting him down. Was that not enough? The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. She hugged her knees and buried her red face between her legs. Even though she was angry, she could not help but feel worried. What if something really happened to him? The caretaker saw that Bianca was in a bad mood. She put the vacuum cleaner in her ha
Security was tight in the double-storied mansion. Men in black were stationed every few feet apart. Ray was waiting for Luke in the first-floor foyer of the mansion. Luke had expected that the cruel and merciless Ray was a stern old man or a violent middle-aged man, but he was surprised to find out that Ray was quite young. Ray was tall and well-built like most Russian men, but he had a warm and gentle smile on his face. Luke found it hard to associate a gentleman like that with the feared Mafia boss in the rumors. While Luke sized up Ray, Ray was also silently observing Luke. The man who had expanded his business across the continents had outstanding looks. He might be a mere businessman, but he carried the bearing of a noble. It was impressive that he remained calm despite the perilous surroundings. The two men sat down opposite each other in the foyer. The atmosphere was stifling. Ray took out a cigar and handed it to Luke. "You've come a long way, Mr. Crawford, so I
At the shopping mall. Nina tried on one outfit after another but did not find one that she liked. It was rare that Nina was so excited over shopping, and so she did not disturb her. She sat on the couch, feeling rather bored. Half an hour later, the sales clerk was still recommending clothes for Nina. Bianca strolled over to the men's section nearby. She saw an elegant black windbreaker on display and reached out to touch it. An observant sales clerk noticed her. She quickly walked up to Bianca and asked eagerly, "Madam, are you planning to buy it for your husband? This is the latest limited edition design, and it looks very well on tall men. How tall is your husband?" "He is six-foot-four and weighs 160 pounds," Bianca answered without thinking. The sales clerk opened her mouth wide. "Wow, your husband is probably a model! You're beautiful, Madam, and I believe your husband must be handsome too. The windbreaker must look good on him." Bianca smiled. The string of zer
Bianca did not want to talk to Xavier. She felt that the atmosphere was too awkward. She had tactfully declined Xavier's attempts at striking up a conversation, but Xavier continued to talk as though he did not understand Bianca's words. Nina was exasperated. She wanted to shoo him away, but she did not want to embarrass Bianca. Just when the atmosphere could not have gotten any more awkward, they heard a shrill and coy voice. " I say, Cousin Xavier, I tried to look for you, but it turns out that you're having an intimate rendezvous with this seductress! How could you? You promised me that you won't ever look for her, so what's going on now?" Bianca's expression changed slightly. She turned to look in the direction of the voice and saw Melissa, whom she had not met for a long time. Melissa was dressed in a glittering gown, and she wore delicate make-up on her face. She was walking toward the table while twisting her waist. Xavier's expression changed drastically the moment he
Melissa covered her cheek that was throbbing in pain, and she looked at Xavier in utter disbelief. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she shrieked. "How dare you hit me! This is the second time that you hit me because of that b*tch!" Xavier's expression was ice-cold. "That's enough. You caused a pregnant woman to fall. Don't you know that your action might result in the loss of two lives?" Melissa cackled loudly, not feeling any remorse for what she had done. She grunted coldly and said, "She deserves to die anyway. That's for…" Bianca took a deep breath to calm herself down so that her emotions would not affect the baby in her womb. However, her eyes brimmed with killing intent when her gaze shot toward Melissa. Melissa instinctively took a step backward because of fright. However, she was not going to back away. Instead, her hatred toward Bianca became even stronger when she saw Xavier being protective of Bianca. Melissa raised her hand and prepared to slap Bianca, but a sl
“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.