At the Crawford Manor.A huge spread of Chinese-style breakfast was laid on the dining table.The old man had not been sleeping these few nights. He woke up easily whenever he heard tiny movements in the middle of the night. That grandson of his seemed to make a good show out of it. Every time he drove back in the middle of the night, there was always a lot of noise when he parked his car in the garage. It was hard for the old man to ignore his grandson when he had a spring in his walk and brought a breeze when he drove. However, the problem lied there. A diligent workaholic who only cared about his company had not been working overtime in the company recently and was not at home either. ‘So where does he go in the afternoon till night time?‘Especially last night when he came back even later than usual!’The old man secretly took his little great-grandson to ask him about it. The honest kid gave him some bad news."Great-grandpa, Daddy tosses and turns in his sleep when he’s
Louis’ face also seemed to say that if he did not do it, he should bring the woman over to prove it…Louis had always been intrigued by the psychology of a strange man like his brother who had been abstinent for more than five years. A man like him could live a normal life without touching a woman? It was unheard of!"You think she’s unworthy to meet us? Do you know how bad that would make her feel..." the old man asked. After he asked that question, he stared at his grandson’s face to observe his expression. He was afraid that his grandson was an unfaithful lover who slept with someone every night but had disdain for them.Luke figured that his grandpa had no other choice. His grandpa probably thought that he did not discipline his own son enough when he was alive. Even though that man was not worthy of his respect at all, his grandpa was still his sensible grandpa.It was probably because he was anxious for Luke to get married, so he had to ask. "I'm afraid that you guys will s
"Uh…"Jean closed the frosted glass bathroom door with the back of his hand to enjoy what was happening with a peace of mind. He looked down and saw Marie's pale and well-proportioned thighs as well as her round and supple toes.She stood on her tiptoes and leaned forward. Her body pressed against him and they got busy."Uh, hurry up..."Jean pressed the back of Marie's head and thrust forward.He urged her without a hint of gentleness at all. "Hurry up. Ah… You're a naughty girl, aren't you..."…Bianca got out of the taxi and walked into the neighborhood.It was a very old neighborhood in A City. Many years ago, her dad bought a house in that neighborhood that had two bedrooms and one living room.In the house, it was littered with many of Bianca's memories, but most of them were bad ones. When Bianca walked in, she looked at the old corridor that she had not walked through for more than five years. She remembered how she moved in to live with Marie before she graduated fr
"But……"Bianca was hesitant and had many concerns.Today was the second day that she and Luke were officially dating. It was too soon to meet his family for dinner. To be honest, she had not mentally prepared herself yet.In addition to that, another very realistic and cruel problem was that Luke was way over her league in terms of their background."Don't feel pressured. In terms of our family, I’m actually no better than you. If you look into my family, we’re basically the same." Luke guessed what she was concerned about."..."Since he put it that way, there was no way Bianca could deny it. Since getting the call from Luke, Bianca felt as if a big rock was pressed against her chest. She felt out of breath and assumed that weight would only be lifted once she met his family. Her phone rang a few more times again. Bianca saw that they were all from Jean.She did not answer nor decline.She merely ignored the calls as if she never heard them.At that moment, Bianca was g
When the two little kids went down, they saw a luxury car parked in front of the manor. 'A black Range Rover! Daddy's back!'"Aunt Bea, we missed you…" The two kids ran out. The first thing Rainie did was hug Bianca who just came out of the car. Bianca almost lost her balance. She squatted down to pat Rainnie's chubby little cheeks. "I missed you too." When the old man saw the perfect family scene, he was overjoyed. It seemed to him that his grandson's marriage was imminent. If the adults agreed and the kids did not hate the stepmother, then there was nothing stopping them. "The two of you, stand properly over there. Don’t drag Aunt Bea that way.” Luke stepped down from the car with his long legs and stared at the two clingy little kids with a serious face. Rainie pursed her lips, snorted, and muttered, "Why is that you can hug her, but not us? Last time, you hugged Aunt Bea so hard that she cried..."Luke, "..."Bianca blushed awkwardly."So you’re the Aunt Bea that t
"Are you... Luke’s girlfriend that he brought to introduce to us?" Susan asked with tears in her eyes. "How’s your family background? If you’re wronged by your future husband after your marriage, will your family be able to support you?"Bianca did not know how to answer her. When Louis introduced himself, he said that he was Luke's half-brother and that they shared the same dad.That might mean that the middle-aged woman wearing the Gucci custom-made qipao once shared the same man with Luke's mother, Allison. Susan looked at the big family gathered together and walked toward Bianca with the stench of alcohol on her."Be careful." Bianca quickly propped Susan up with agility when she was about to fall. Susan leaned on the sofa while being supported by Bianca. She frowned uncomfortably and said, "By the looks of your appearance, I can tell that you probably come from an average family. I advise you to know better and not to marry into the Crawford family.""Go back to your roo
"Oh, it's nothing. I just think that it's a rare surname." Allison was a woman who had seen the world. Even though she was turbulent internally, she looked as if nothing was bothering her on the outside. 'Bianca Rayne.'Allison repeated the name in her head. Bianca looked at Allison one last time. She did not think too much about it. There were many people with her surname in her country, but a typical person would not know too many people with that surname. Since elementary school up to her working life, the people around her only knew one person, which was her, with her surname. Allison looked at her son leaving with Bianca. After his car left, Allison was the only one left standing in the garden of the manor. After a while, Allison took her phone out. She looked back to make sure no one was around her before Allison walked far away toward the swimming pool. She called the person she hated the most. "Sorry, the number you have dialed is unavailable…" When she heard
After recovering from the violent coughs, Kevin said, "Can you apply for leave these two days... To visit Luojiazhen? Your grandfather is in the old house, and Marie’s mom might also be going there...""Grandpa?" Bianca was surprised.‘Didn’t Grandpa go to Japan with Dad’s sister? When did he come back?’Kevin held his daughter's hand because he was worried that she would get angry. He coughed and told her everything weakly. After he told her everything, the doctor came in just in time.The doctor was there to do the daily monitoring and examination."Dad, I have to go first," Bianca said.Kevin nodded.She was lost in her thoughts as she tried to digest what her dad told her about Grandpa. She walked out of the hospital.In the ward, Kevin stretched one arm over to let the doctor draw his blood while his other picked up his ringing cell phone. "Hello, this is Kevin." Kevin was focused on the needle sticking into his arm and did not see who was calling before he picked up.
“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
“Are you planning to tell me that Madam Allison brought someone back?” Luca had a feeling she knew what was going on. Luca had been wondering why Allison had taken such a big risk by going out during the day, but it all made sense now.“Yes, she brought someone back and said she'll be taking over my job,” Aunt Neile replied helplessly. She was worried she had lost her competitive edge, which made her feel anxious.“I got it, Aunt Neile.” As soon as Luca spoke, there was a cheer from inside the lab. She glanced back and saw that there seemed to be progress in the research. Rhett gave her a thumbs-up to signal success.She slightly smiled and nodded before hearing Aunt Neile's voice again on the phone. “Ms. Craw, there’s something I’d like to say, though I’m not sure if I should. I’ve thought about it, and I feel like I should. Even though Mr. Crawford isn’t the type to fool around, you have to be careful. He has no interest in that woman, but she’s clearly interested in him. You sh
Allison watched the two of them go upstairs, and instantly, her temper flared.Not allowed, huh?Allison refused to believe it. She would find a way to turn things around and reclaim her position in this family!…The next morning, as Luke and Luca came downstairs, they noticed Aunt Neile looking at them with red, puffy eyes.“Aunt Neile, what happened?” Luca was puzzled. What happened?“Mr. Crawford, Ms. Craw, Madam Allison just told me that I’m fired.” Aunt Neile looked distraught. She thought Allison’s words yesterday were just a joke, but first thing in the morning, she was told to settle her wages and leave. She was completely stunned.“Mr. Crawford, did I do something wrong?”Luke’s brows furrowed. Allison’s behavior was truly astonishing.“You’re not fired,” replied Luke. “Is breakfast ready?”Relieved to hear she still had her job, Aunt Neile quickly wiped away her tears and let out a sigh of relief. “Yes. Mr. Crawford, Ms. Craw, please have a seat. I’ll bring it out.
Luke was driving back home with Luca. It was already 9:00 pm when they arrived at the villa.Just as they reached the foyer and had not taken more than a few steps, Allison's voice rang out.“Oh, so you're finally willing to come back from Crawford Manor?” Her voice was dripping with sarcasm.Luca did not know how to respond to Allison and looked over at Luke.Luke let go of Luca's waist and whispered, “Go upstairs first.”“Okay.” Luca nodded, changed her shoes, and was about to head upstairs when Allison said again, “Stop. Who told you to go upstairs?”“Madam Allison, is there something you need?” Luca's tone was cold, carefully masking the helplessness inside her.Since she learned that Allison would be returning to the country and moving here, Luca had mentally prepared herself to be put in a difficult position. She loved Luke, so she was willing to tolerate whatever troubles came with it.Luca believed that as long as she and Luke faced things together, there was nothing th
After finishing work, Luca headed straight to Crawford Manor.When she arrived and greeted Old Master Crawford, the three kids came running down the stairs and surrounded her. They each took turns expressing how much they missed her and Luke.Luca missed them too, so after exchanging a few words with Old Master Crawford, she went upstairs with the kids to help them with their homework.It did not take long before Luke arrived.Not seeing Luca in the living room, he asked Old Master Crawford, “Grandpa, has Luca arrived?”Old Master Crawford was in a good mood. He nodded and replied, “She's upstairs, helping the kids with their homework.”Luke sat on the couch and watched the evening news with Old Master Crawford.“Has your mother caused any trouble lately?” asked Old Master Crawford.“Not really,” answered Luke. He could still manage Allison.“That doesn’t sound like her,” added Old Master Crawford, assuming Allison would always be causing trouble.“Her condition is bad right
“What do you mean ‘suppose so?” Allison hated vague answers like that. The more uncertain she was about how Old Master Crawford felt about Luca, the more she wanted to know.“Where's the car key?” asked Allison.“Madam Allison, what do you need the car keys for?” asked Aunt Neile, already knowing the answer but trying to delay her.“Of course, I’m going to Crawford Manor. Old Master Crawford is the strictest with Luke, and I can't let him ruin everything because of a woman." Allison was already planning ahead. She was worried that the old master would not like how Luke was behaving and that he might strip him of his power. A wave of panic washed over her.“Madam Allison, it’s already too late to go to Crawford Manor now,” Aunt Neile quickly said. “If you drive over there now, they’ll already be having dinner. If you go now, Old Master Crawford will just scold you for being disrespectful. You just came back. It’d be better not to upset him, right?”Allison paused for a moment.