Wayne's muscular body stood in front of the bed. His well-built body formed a stark contrast with Leia's frail body, who seemed more like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered. Leia had always known that Wayne had certain interests in bed. She had suffered quite a lot, but today was shaping up to be the worst torture ever. Leia retreated out of shock. When her back hit the corner of the room, she realized that she could not escape. "W… Wayne… I'm not feeling very well today. Can we do this some other day?" She sounded like she was almost crying. Wayne grabbed Leia's hair and pulled her away from the corner without showing her any tenderness. "You'll do what I tell you! I'll kill you if you don't!" He delivered a mighty slap on Leia's face, which caused her to tumble off the bed and onto the floor. Leia's cheek instantly swelled up. She felt that her teeth were coming loose too. She spat out a mouthful of blood, though more blood continued to flow from the corner of her lip
Bianca's gaze fell onto a rose garden in full bloom in the garden outside of the window. The flowers were white, pink, red, and orange. Thanks to her meticulous care, the plants were especially healthy. The bloom brought love and warmth to the house. However, Luke would be gone for a few days. Without Luke at home, there would be less love and warmth. Bianca lowered her gaze. When she looked at Luke again, she seemed visibly unhappy. Luke kissed her lips helplessly and promised Bianca once more, "I'll come home safely, and I can promise you that. If I can't do that, you can punish me however you want." "Alright." Bianca agreed to it, though her left ear was ringing once again, which made her uneasy. She hugged Luke tightly to try to make herself feel better. "You will come home safe. Otherwise, I won't forgive you!" … Luke sat in his seat on the flight to Country M. He closed his eyes to rest. He had developed a keen intuition in his stint on the Island of Despair
Bianca struggled to breathe when she looked at Tommy, whose face resembled Luke. Pain spread throughout her chest. Every breath felt painful. What followed the pain was sorrow and grief… Luke had promised her that he would return safely, but it seemed that he would be going back on his word again. Tommy could see from Bianca's face that she was not in a good mood. He was not as naughty as before. Instead, he handed Bianca a napkin and said, "You're crying, Mommy. Wipey…" The little boy tiptoed and tried to reach his mother's face so that he could wipe off the tears for her. However, he was too short. Dejectedly, he tugged the hem of his mother's sleeve and asked her, "What happened, Mommy? Don't ignore me. Did I do something wrong? I won't ever make you angry again, Mommy. Can you please forgive me?" The little cutie that was half his mother's height thought that he had gotten into trouble. He was apologizing to Bianca, even though he did not know what he did wrong.
Bianca felt relieved when she found that Luke was alive. Around noon, Tommy said that he was hungry, while Old Master Rayne said that he was craving cornbread buns with collard greens. He was already quite old, and he missed comfort food from his younger days. Furthermore, he was sickly, and it was natural that he had specific cravings. Bianca almost missed the taste of cornbread too. She had lived with her grandfather since young. They were poor, and they ate cornbread for most meals. Grandpa used to make his own cornbread in the kitchen, and Bianca had learned how to do so by watching him. Cornbread was quite tasteless and rough, but it was delicious to her because she was hungry and poor. Now that her living conditions had improved and the food at every meal was of much higher quality, it was nonetheless healthy to eat grains sometimes. It might help Old Master Rayne in his recovery too. Bianca got the driver to go to the grocery store and bought a bagful of cornmeal a
Bianca hastily put on her slippers and rushed out of the door. She did not even realize that she knocked over a vase. Tommy ran across the yard with his short legs and stretched his arms toward the man that just came out of the parked car. "Daddy, gimme a hug!" Luke picked up the little boy in his arms and straddled him across his shoulders. "You're finally calling me Daddy. Tell me, what do you want me to buy for you this time?" The man's expression was cold, but his gaze was brimming with care and indulgence. "I don't want anything, Daddy. I miss you!" The cute little boy planted a kiss on Luke's cheek and slobbered all over his face. Luke helplessly wiped his face. His son was getting better and better at flattery. The little boy was jealous of him when they first met in Russia. Now that they were back home, he seemed to be quite clingy toward his father. "Daddy, Lanie already has his own car. When can I have one of my own?" Tommy stared at his father with his puppy ey
Luke tried to coax Bianca with a gentle voice. His low and resonant voice had a hint of an indulgent smile in it. The setting sun gave his sculpted facial features a charming silhouette, which made Bianca's heart beat faster. She could feel her earlobes turn hot. "Don't make me worry about you again. Otherwise…" Luke lowered his voice and stared at her gentle face. "Alright, but will you forgive me this time?" Bianca grunted coyly. "What if I don't forgive you?" Luke smiled, and his gaze became gentler. "Then I'll do whatever I can to convince you to forgive me. You know that I love you. I'll even pluck the stars from the sky if you want me to." His words made Bianca bite her lip. Her emotions were undergoing a tremendous change. She pretended that she was still angry, though she could not help but smile. "I want the stars in the sky. Are you going to fulfill my wish?" Luke tousled her hair and said abruptly, "Close your eyes, Bea." Bianca was surprised but did what s
Wayne grunted nonchalantly. "Don't you have anything else to do lately, Vince? You rarely meddle in my business." He was not the pushover third son that he used to be. As lowly as he was in the past, he was now on top of the chain of command. The populous Blatt family had a massive family business with more than a century of history. Naturally, a family like that would place importance on the preservation of their main bloodline. They were a weak and unremarkable branch and had been bullied and oppressed by the main family. All three brothers were competitive and ambitious. They were not going to yield to others so easily. The three brothers joined forces and, in the short span of a few years, eliminated the other branches of the family one by one. Victor Blatt, the eldest brother, was successful in the military circles. Vincent, the second brother, was an influential figure in the business circles. Wayne, the youngest brother, wielded considerable influence in the underwor
Leia's gaze discomfited Bianca, but she did not think too much of it. After all, Leia had never seen eye to eye with her, especially after she had reunited with her birth mother. She had taught Leia a lesson several times, which kept her attitude in check. However, she wondered if she was seeing things. She thought that Leia had lost a lot of weight recently, and her beautiful hair that used to be her pride had become a lot thinner. Her animated gaze was sunken, hollow, and unfocused, as though she was a migratory bird that had lost her way. Leia flashed an unnerving grin when she saw Bianca. Bianca shuddered and turned her head away. She looked at the black jar next to Queenie. She could catch a whiff of something fragrant emanating from the jar. "Are you pickling something, Mom? It smells quite good." "Your dad loves pickles, and so I'm pickling some radishes and gherkins for him. I'll give you and Luke some when it's ready. Do you like pickles too, Tommy?" Queenie said