In the morning, the scattered sun rays shone through the floor-to-ceiling window, through the white lace curtains, and landed softly on the rose-gold carpet. Bianca woke up from her dreams. She habitually reached out, but there was no one lying next to her. She was all alone in the spacious bedroom. She stretched and yawned lazily before glancing at the clock on the wall. It was half-past eight. Bianca felt a little frustrated. She used to wake up at six o'clock, but ever since Luke returned, she stopped going to work, and she might have become lazy after staying at home for so long. She got out of bed and drew the curtains. She was putting on her clothes when she heard a soft rustle. A small piece of notepaper fell from the bedside table to the carpet. It was very eye-catching under the morning sunlight. She picked up the note and read it. "I'm off to work, baby. Sleep a little while more. The caretaker has already prepared breakfast, and I've placed it in the warmer.
Mavis narrowed her eyes and glared at Nina. Her well-manicured hands rapped her desk. "What did you see?" Mavis's tone was unlike her usual coldness. It was stern and close to savage, which made Nina shudder uncontrollably. She tried to maintain her composure and tried her best to speak calmly. "I didn't see anything, Ms. Laviere. Right, I'm here to ask you about my transfer. I'd like to remain in A City and not transfer to Snowdon District because my father has ill health, and it'll be easier for me to take care of him if I remain here. Can you reconsider your decision?" Mavis leaned back on her chair elegantly, rested her chin on her hand, and chuckled coldly. "The company has arranged the transfer, and it's not good if you want to change it. Also, Ms. Langdon, if every employee starts giving excuses like you, would the company prosper? It's natural that every employee wants to stay in the big city. Who would be the ones to explore the company's frontiers then? I respect my e
Seeing Leia's tear-stained face as she sobbed broken-heartedly in Queenie's arms, Bianca could only find it very funny. She glanced at the blood-speckled bandages on Leia's wrist and rolled her eyes. She did not expect that Leia would hurt herself to get out of the drug rehab center. She remembered that Leia was afraid of pain. Leia would not even dare to get an injection, but she somehow found the courage to cut herself. Bianca had underestimated her. Bianca composed herself and wiped her eyes with her shirt sleeve. She pretended to be sad as she sat down in front of Leia and Queenie. "Mom, is Leia okay? I heard that she tried to slit her wrist. How could she be so silly?" She asked softly. Leia's body trembled when she heard Bianca's voice. Fires of resentment burned in her eyes. It took her a long time to control her emotions. She lifted her head and looked at Bianca pitifully. "Elder Sister…" Queenie noticed that Bianca was in the ward. She let go of Leia, looked at h
As night fell, Luke drove back to Crawford Manor. When he stepped into the living room, he saw his mother and Maxine sitting on the couch, chatting and laughing. There was a hint of displeasure in Luke's eyes, but he did not say anything. Instead, he quickly stepped around them and headed toward the stairs. Old Master Crawford noticed his grandson and stopped him from leaving. "Why are you back so early today, Luke?" Luke stopped walking and nodded toward his grandfather. "I'm here to pick up a few things, and I'll be leaving soon." "Mother," he greeted Allison coldly. He did not even look at Maxine sitting next to his mother. Allison was disgruntled when her son barely noticed her, but she was angry when he totally ignored Maxine. Maxine's face flashed with awkwardness, but she did not say anything. The caretaker came into the living room and told Old Master Crawford, "Dinner is ready, Sir." Allison immediately said, "It's rare that you come back, my son. How about you
Bianca's heart was beating wildly. She had the urge to run out of the door. Her anxiety reached a maximum as she saw the office door that opened suddenly. Many scenes from horror movies flashed past her mind. A lot of ghost stories happened in offices around midnight. Was she going to encounter one in real life? Bianca began to regret not leaving the office sooner. Why must she stay in the office alone to work overtime? The footsteps got closer and closer, and she trembled more and more violently… A handsome and graceful figure appeared in front of her. The man was dressed in a light-colored suit that made him look like a model. The sculpted features and profound gaze made him look like a marquis in an oil painting. That person was none other than Luke Crawford. Bianca heaved a sigh of relief. She opened her eyes wide in surprise. "Why did you come here?" She knew that Luke was a workaholic. Most of the time, he would get off work later than her. Why did he have the tim
Despite the chilly weather in the night, Luke broke out in a cold sweat when he could not see Bianca. He parked the car by the roadside, and his sharp gaze pierced every dark corner. He thought of many horrifying possibilities. Could someone have abducted her? After all, Wayne Blatt had not been brought to justice. That man would do anything, now that he was forced into a dead end! Luke hurriedly took out his phone and began to dial her number. He did not want Bianca to follow him to the basement parking lot because the place was not well-ventilated. He did not expect her to disappear after leaving her alone for a short while… Luke had just dialed her number when he noticed a frail figure appear at the entrance of the office building. It was Bianca. Luke dashed up to Bianca and hugged her tightly. "Where were you? Why didn't you wait for me?" He roared. He hugged her so tightly as though he wanted to fuse her body with his. Bianca could feel that Luke's body was sha
The moment Bianca saw the notification, she immediately clicked on it. Her mood instantly came crashing down when she read the contents of it! The Galleria was regarded as one of the most well-known department stores owned by T Corporation. They had more than 400 stores, and because of their excellent locations and high-end interior, they had tens of thousands of customers every day. The annual turnover exceeded 100 million dollars. How did it suddenly collapse? The media had eyes everywhere. With such a major accident involving the Galleria, even if T Corporation immediately dispatched their public relations team to deal with the issue, it was impossible to suppress this news.Bianca froze. She called Luke and wanted to ask about the situation, but no one picked up the call. She assumed that he was in an emergency meeting with the management team. One thing that frightened her the most was that there was an unread message on her phone from Rainie. Raini
Many people were crowded in front of the site of the accident, and everyone looked somber. Bianca pushed through the crowd and stared at the ruins of what was left of The Galleria. It was a sea of red under the rubble. The paramedics carried the little girl on the stretcher and placed her on the flat ground. Blood was still flowing, staining the white cloth... Bianca could not see the girl’s face because she was covered with a white cloth, but the little girl seemed to have two pigtails... Judging from her figure, age, and hair, it seemed to fit Rainie's description. Bianca covered her mouth and kept shaking her head desperately, forcing herself not to cry. ‘No, nothing bad would’ve happened to Rainie!’ Rainie was so well-behaved and sensible. She would not leave her just like that! "Rainie, tell Mommy that it’s not you, okay? You told me in the morning that you were going to bring home a bouquet of roses for me. I’ll wait for you to come home… Y
“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.
Hera heard that Luca had returned and immediately went to find Shanks. She narrowed her eyes.That woman went to see Shanks. Could she be talking about her?The thought made Hera uneasy. She had a nagging feeling that something was wrong with her medical report.However, when they left the medical center earlier, Abel asked Luca when the report would be ready, and she said it would be available tomorrow.Hera turned to Gerald and said, “Take these back for me first.”“Alright.” Gerald carried the bags as he walked away. He could not help but wonder what exactly Hera bought. These bags were really heavy!Only after Gerald went upstairs did Hera slowly make her way up as well. Her room was on the third floor, but she stopped when she reached the second floor. She glanced around to make sure no one was watching before heading toward the laboratory.The door was closed.Instead of knocking, Hera pressed her ear against it, trying to eavesdrop.However, the laboratory was special