Luke's words were more shocking than the booming thunder outside the window. Bianca's body was trembling slightly. She shook her head in despair, and she asked with an extremely soft voice, "So the man that night was you? So the reason why the room was reserved with my ID was that you know it very well? So that's why the clothes on the bed fit me perfectly, because you planned all that?" Luke's hawk-like eyes narrowed slightly when he saw how Bianca was holding back her tears while asking those questions. "I'm sorry, I didn't know what I was thinking back then. I didn't expect the incident to cause so much harm to you. I thought I'd teach you a lesson not to easily trust others. I didn't mean anything else. I didn't expect…" Bianca glared at him. Her gaze was hollow. Her frail body was as weak and helpless as a leaf floating on the surface of the water. Suddenly, she started to laugh. She bit her lips tightly, which made for a sorrowful yet beautiful scene of despair. "Do you
In the morning, when the first rays of light appeared on the horizon, Jason came to the VIP ward carrying a stack of documents and several sets of new clothes. He turned a corridor and saw Luke sitting on a bench outside of the ward. Next to the bench was a mound of cigarette butts and ash. Jason was shocked. "Did you sit here the entire night, Boss? Didn't you rest?" The VIP ward had a fully-furnished lounge for the patient's family to rest, so why was Mr. Crawford sitting outside, and why was he in such terrible shape? He had a beard stubble on his chin, which made him look haggard and dispirited. Jason could not understand why his boss's gaze was gloomy, as though a storm was approaching. Luke shot a glance at Jason, and his well-built body trembled slightly. He took the documents and clothes from him and asked, "Any news about Wayne yet?" They had prepared for that night for a long time. They gathered evidence of Wayne's crimes and presented them at the banquet: Smu
The weather became cooler, but the sun was shining brightly. Bianca brought Old Master Rayne to the back garden. There was a pond in the back garden, in which the water lilies were in full bloom. The slender flower stalks were like the necks of graceful swans, supporting the big flower petals. Old Master Rayne seemed to be in good spirits, though he continued to struggle to speak. "B… Bianca… why isn't… Luke… here…" Bianca stopped pushing the wheelchair. She went in front of her grandfather and crouched down. "Grandpa, Luke has been busy recently with several major projects that need his approval, and so he moved to the company for the time being. He'll be back when he finishes his work." Bianca knew that her grandfather's mind was still sharp even though he could not speak properly. That was why she lied to him. She knew that he would be worried if he found out that Bianca and Luke were not on speaking terms. Old Master Rayne nodded stiffly. "Mm… I… I'm feeling a lot… be
Luke went into the guest room. He saw his clothes, used and brand-new, arranged neatly in the closet. His shoes were placed on the shoe rack, and his toiletries in a bag. He could not help but grimace. Not only did his wife not speak to him, but she also moved his belongings into another room. How dare she! … Bianca went around the city, busy surveying for a suitable location for her company. Now that she had decided to embark on this journey, she realized that starting a business was not as easy as she thought, even after being CEO of T Corporation for two years. After all, T Corporation was a corporation with established business and management practices. Even though the workload was heavy, Bianca found it manageable. On the other hand, starting a new company meant that she had to start from scratch, whether it be about financial and human resources or other aspects. She did not want to involve T Corporation in her new company. If she did that, it would be no differen
The security guards of the bridal boutique rushed up with their batons when they saw someone trying to cause trouble. However, they were no match for those gangsters with weapons. Soon, the security guards were all sprawled on the floor, wailing in pain and clutching their injuries. Jason protected Sue in his arms and glared at his ex-wife. "What do you want, Bailey?" Bailey sat on the couch and looked at the "loving" couple with a sinister gaze. One of them was her ex-husband, while the other was the "mistress" whom she envied. Her brown eyes were shooting countless invisible icicles at them! She had the urge to burn down the bridal boutique. As for the woman who stole her husband, she wanted to chop her into tiny bits! "Why, my dear ex-husband, are you angry that I've interrupted your photo session with that mistress of yours? Do you remember that our son is still heavily sick? Not only did she bear two of your b*stard children, but now you want to marry her. Where do
Bianca had just come out of the shopping mall and was about to go into her car when she received a call from Luke. "It's the 15th today. Let's go back to Crawford Manor and have dinner. Where are you now? I'll go and pick you up." Considering their current standoff, Bianca wanted to hang up immediately. However, she thought of her three children. She bit her lip and replied coldly, "You don't have to pick me up. I can drive there myself. I'm a little busy now. See you later." She hung up before the other party could reply. In T Corporation, Luke's eyebrows twitched as he stared at his phone. Then, he sighed. The woman was becoming more and more brazen. He knew that Bianca was in the midst of starting her own company, and he had the intention of helping her. Bianca might have experience with managing a company, but she did not have the experience of starting one. He expected that she would come and ask him for help. However, the woman never once asked him for advice, n
Maxine turned away from Bianca and looked at Allison once more. She pointed at the two exquisite gift boxes on the coffee table and said, "I bought these presents for you and Grandpa, Aunt Allison. I hope you'll like them." The sweet smile on Maxine's delicate face made Allison smile. "You didn't have to bring any presents, Maxine. The climate in A City is very different from the capital. Are you used to it?" Maxine stuck out her tongue and began to unwrap the gift box. "I'm used to it. I can adapt to different environments easily. I've even gone on an expedition to the North Pole with my friends. I'm fine here." Bianca glanced at Maxine again. She did not expect that the young woman who seemed frail and delicate dared to explore the North Pole. Allison exclaimed in surprise, "As expected of a girl who grew up overseas. Your courage and constitution are exceptional. What… did you bring?" Maxine smiled sweetly and carefully detached the ribbon. The first box contained a ca
Allison could feel anger rising when her son had embarrassed her in front of a guest. She was about to open her mouth when Maxine gently tugged her elbow and smiled sweetly at Luke. "If that's the rules of T Corporation, then I shouldn't ask for special treatment. I'll apply to the company and go through the interview process. If I succeed, I'll do my internship at T Corporation. If I fail, I won't give you any trouble." "Mm." Luke looked at Maxine with some surprise. He did not expect her to say that. He had no recollection of that cousin at all. He did not care about her supposedly influential background either. In fact, he was not fond of any of his mother's relatives. They had never helped Allison when she needed them the most. After he took over T Corporation and brought the company to prosperity, Allison's relatives started sucking up to him. He hated materialistic and opportunistic people like those. Maxine's heart started beating faster when she saw Luke looking at
“As long as he stays out of your sight, I won’t make a move,” said Ray.If Gordan were not one of Luke’s pals, he would have been long gone.Anyone who dared to mess with someone Ray cherished would not be let off easily. The only reason Gordan was still breathing was thanks to Luke.“Alright, Ray. Just let it go. I’ve moved on and started a new life. Plus, I’m studying at Capital University. We have mutual friends, so running into him is inevitable. If that happens, we’ll just be strangers. There’s no need to step in for me or act impulsively.” Just as Vivian finished speaking, the doorbell rang.“Is it the clothes delivery?” asked Ray.“No, while you were talking with Mr. Crawford, I asked someone to buy some medicinal cream. The ones here work better than the ones in Russia. A little massage with it should help you heal faster,” Vivian said, grabbing a mask and hat before heading to the door.“Miss, is the boss alright?” asked one of Ray’s subordinates.“He’s fine. Did you ge
When Ray heard that there was a 90% chance of success, he could not help but ask, “Can you walk me through your plan?”“The prison where Kassy is being held actually has an underground passage. I’ve already spoken with the prison officials, and we can use that passage to transport her out. It connects to the sewage system, which leads directly to another detention facility. "The only catch is that this facility’s underground pipes don’t connect to the outside world, so the remaining 10% risk lies in moving Kassy onto the main road and securing her at the new location.“This whole operation can be done without anyone noticing, which is why I’m confident it’ll work.” As Luke explained, he pulled out a detailed map of the sewer system. “Here’s the layout I had someone retrieve. This is the starting point, and this is the destination. If we take this route, we can move Kassy without alerting Abel’s people.”Abel’s men were keeping a constant watch outside the prison now. That was prec
Luke had no idea what kind of mindset the person who poisoned Vivian had. However, he found Gordan’s current behavior quite intriguing.“Luke, what’s with that look?” Gordan felt uneasy under his gaze.“You seem pretty concerned about Vivian,” Luke leaned back on the couch and said thoughtfully.Gordan froze for a moment before laughing it off. “What? No way! Why would I care about her? Come on, Luke, don’t say stuff like that. If she hears it, she might start getting ideas.”Luke could not be bothered to expose his act and got straight to the point. “Why are you here?”“Speaking of that, I almost got sidetracked by that woman.” Gordan quickly pulled out his phone, grimacing. “Man, Ray really didn’t hold back. I need to get some treatment for these bruises later.”Luke took the phone and tried to unlock it. It needed a passcode. He handed it back. “Unlock it.”“All set, boss.” Gordan unlocked the phone and went back to pressing an ice pack against his face.Luke scanned the scr
It was the sound of a body slamming onto the ground.Gordan’s furious curses rang out. “Damn it! You're really going all out, huh? Do you think I'm scared of you?”Another loud thud followed.Vivian frowned. What the hell were they doing? Were they really going to fight until one of them won?Both of them were skilled fighters. If they kept this up, neither would walk away unscathed.“Enough!” shouted Vivian.The two men locked in the fight froze for a moment.“Vivian, stay out of this. I’m beating him to a pulp today,” growled Ray, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth. He was not in great shape, but neither was Gordan.“Ray, I don’t want to see him,” said Vivian. She did not want Ray fighting him. It was not to protect Gordan but because she did not want Ray getting hurt.Also, she definitely did not want Gordan to see her like this. She could already picture his smug face, his sarcastic remarks and his gloating.“Fine. If you don’t want to see him, I’ll just beat
After returning to the hotel from the hospital, Vivian felt much better.To her, the fact that Ray had taken her to the hospital meant there was hope for the future, which lifted her spirits. She picked up an apple from the fruit platter the hotel had provided and took a bite.“Ray, this apple is really good. Want to try one?” asked Vivian.Ray shook his head. “You go ahead. By the way, can I take a look at the luggage you brought from Russia?”Vivian nodded. “I only hung up my clothes. Everything else is still in the suitcase. You can just take the things out.”Ray walked into the bedroom, pulled out her suitcase, and opened it. Inside were just books and a few other small items, nothing unusual.“You didn't bring any food with you?” asked Ray.“I haven’t really been in the mood, but the food here is way better than Russian food, so I didn't feel the need to bring anything.” Vivian’s tone was lighthearted now that she was in a better mood.“That's true.” Ray agreed, then asked
Ray's tone turned serious. “Alright, I'll make the arrangements immediately. Dr. Craw, once the toxicology report is out, we’ll still need your help.”“For toxicology cases like this, I recommend combining both modern medicine and traditional herbal medicine. Don’t worry, if I can help, I definitely will,” Luca assured him.“Alright, thank you.” Ray expressed his gratitude and ended the call before updating Luke on the situation.Luke reassured him, saying, “If Vivian was really poisoned, don’t worry. Previously, Luca discovered that her biological mother had been poisoned with a slow-acting toxin. She prescribed herbal medicine and used purely traditional herbal medicine to detoxify her. It didn’t take long for all the toxins to be expelled, and her health fully recovered. So, rest assured. If it’s something she can fix, she’ll do everything she can.“Besides, once we identify the exact problem, the doctors will be able to step in and help, right?”“Yes. Thank you both in advance
Gerald walked over. “Ms. Sanchez, what's wrong?”He was eager to get back upstairs and stash his cigarettes before someone noticed and took them.Hera yanked open his bag, glanced at the cigarette brand, and scoffed. “I thought it was some expensive brand. But it's just this? And you’re acting all deferential to her over this?”Gerald was rendered speechless. “I knew Ms. Craw was going out, so I asked her to bring these back for me. This is the brand I’m used to. Maybe it’s not expensive to you, but for me, it’s what I can afford.”Realizing she had misspoken, Hera felt a bit awkward. She quickly changed the topic. “Still, is a pack of cigarettes really worth you being so grateful to Luca? How much could it have cost?”“It’s not about the money,” replied Gerald. “It's just a nice surprise. I never expected to get anything out of helping Ms. Craw, and this kind of unexpected gift has nothing to do with the price. Besides, I'm not being overly grateful. I'm just happy.”He was ba
Luca’s lips were already swollen and flushed from Luke's kisses.That deep shade of red, reflected in Luke’s eyes, was utterly captivating. It tugged at his nerves, stirring an uncontrollable desire within him.At that moment, he had only one thought, and it was to completely lose himself in her.…The two of them stepped out of the bedroom.Vivian quickly turned her back and greeted Luke when he saw him coming out, “Hello, Mr. Crawford.”“Vivian, don’t worry. Everything will get better,” replied Luke.Vivian simply hummed in response.Ray gave them a grateful nod as Luke took Luca’s hand and led her away.It was only after hearing the door close that Vivian finally turned back around.Ray glanced at her and said, “Vivian, they’re your friends. You don’t have to act this way around them. They won’t judge you.”“I know they won’t…” Vivian let out a soft sigh. “I just feel like I look terrifying right now. I didn’t want to scare them, so I avoided facing them directly. But it’
“I once treated someone who had been slowly poisoned over a long period of time. Their pulse was similar to Vivian’s. Given that your family has good genetics, yet Vivian is different from the rest of you, and her skin improved after leaving her original environment, all of this confirms my suspicion.“Could it be that someone in your family has been poisoning Vivian? That would explain why her skin ended up like this.”“If she really has been poisoned, then would staying away from that environment or identifying the person responsible help her get better?” asked Ray.Luca shook her head.“The poison I’ve encountered before was a slow-acting toxin that kept the victim’s skin dark. I don’t know exactly what it was, but long-term exposure to any poison has an effect on the body. It's just a suspicion now. I need to consult someone I know. And honestly, I can’t be sure what’s really causing Vivian’s condition.“Is her skin deteriorating so quickly because she was poisoned once more a