Luke picked up the coffee cup and took a sip. He frowned when he tasted the sweetness. That was not what he usually drank. He put the cup down after taking only one sip. The steam that rose from the cup and the sweetness of the aroma gave off an inexplicably eerie atmosphere. He gently closed his eyes and massaged his temples as he thought of the various things that troubled him. After resting for a while, he took out his phone and noticed several missed call notifications and messages. They were all from Bianca. Luke felt a lot more relieved when he saw that. He pressed a button to access his voicemail, and Bianca's soft and gentle voice entered his ears. "Remember to take a short rest when you're feeling tired, Luke. Please don't overwork yourself. I've made some soup for you. Should I send it over to your office?" Luke quickly typed a reply. [It's fine. It's not very safe here. You should stay at home and look after the children. Don't go anywhere. Just place the soup
Luke's mind was occupied by other troubles. He could not be bothered to wonder what was going on between the two of them. He nodded at the two women, then went to the balcony and lit a cigarette. "Mr. Crawford, I've already put the contracts you asked for on your desk. If there's nothing else, I'll be back to my office," Tina said politely. "Mm," Luke replied nonchalantly. Tina shot a warning glance at Mavis before turning around and leaving. After that, only Luke and Mavis were left in the office. Luke was standing at the balcony. One of his hands rested on the railing while the other held a cigarette. His silhouette was sharp against the bright blue sky. He looked like he was the ruler of the entire concrete jungle under his feet. He stood there without saying a word, emanating the bearing of an overlord. Mavis greedily locked her eyes on his handsome face. That man made all other men feel inferior. He was elegant, noble, and gentlemanly, but his character was asser
Susan continued to drink her tea, but in her heart, she despised Allison even more than before.This woman really did not have the slightest bit of shame. Not only did she become Zachary Crawford's mistress, but she also encouraged Old Master Crawford to remove her son's original spouse so that other more powerful women could take the top spot. She did whatever it took to achieve her goal.At this time, she was somewhat sympathetic to Bianca.Although Susan and Bianca did not see each other often, she had been maintaining a hostile attitude toward Bianca as she was Allison’s daughter-in-law. She had done unforgivable things to Bianca out of the hatred in her heart.There was no denying that Bianca was definitely a gentle and virtuous wife.She and Luke Crawford were the epitome of a ‘loving’ couple. She fought alongside him in the business scene while also being independent and strong enough that Luke's accident two years ago did not affect her one bit. She still lived elegantly.
6:30 p.m.Luke Crawford originally wanted to work late into the night, but because of his grandfather's words today, he felt uncomfortable mentally and left work early.He previously thought that his father had a failed marriage and failed to deal with the relationship between the elders and his mother until his death, causing the family to turn into a mess. Grandpa must hate the immoral act of abandoning one’s wife more than anyone else.However, he vastly underestimated his grandfather’s ruthless nature as a businessman.He only had his own best interests at heart. He would ultimately be inhumane to achieve his goal.Perhaps his father, Zachary, inherited the least genes from his grandfather’s side.It was peak hour. There was heavy traffic on all roads. Luke drove the plainest BMW he had, and instead of feeling relaxed like his usual self, he was anxious.For some reason, his right eyelid had been twitching frequently the entire day. He had a hunch that something bad was abou
Soon, the traffic jam in front of Bianca's car was gradually dispersed by the traffic police.She rolled down the window and looked in Luke’s direction. Seeing that it was still heavily congested where he was, she decided to go first and wait for him near Forest Park.After making up her mind, Bianca was just about to roll up the car window when she suddenly noticed a few cold glances that seemed to be staring at her.Bianca looked through the rear-view mirror, trying to catch a glimpse of whoever was staring at her. She saw a black car not far away from them, their windows being rolled down.Inside the car sat two men in sunglasses with scary tattoos.They furtively glanced in her direction and spat out smoke rings in her direction every now and then.Having experienced several deadly encounters, Bianca naturally became more vigilant. All sorts of alarms were going off in her mind!Who the hell were those people?‘Why are they staring at me with that sort of look in their eyes
In the middle of nowhere.The heavy forklift brought Bianca's car to a remote place in the middle of nowhere. They viciously smashed the car’s windows with sledgehammers and then aimed guns at the passengers’ heads, forcing them to get out from the bulletproof car.Right after that, several black Rolls-Royce vehicles surrounded them.Many masked men came down from the cars and brought Bianca and the others captive.To prevent accidents from happening, the driver was taken to a different car from Bianca and her children.Bianca was thankful that the group of thugs were not completely heartless. She would have completely lost her mind and done something foolish if they separated her from her children.Bianca was taken to a military vehicle, and her phone was taken away.The thugs smashed it to pieces right before her eyes.Bianca’s mouth was covered with tape while her hands were bound. It was almost impossible for her to even move an inch.The three children were also tied up w
Meanwhile… Luke had listened to Bianca on the phone while she was kidnapped by the group of unscrupulous thugs. Flames of anger ravaged his entire being. The sheer audacity! Only the people from the League of Shadows could be this bold and put on such a display of arrogance! Kassy was the first person that came to mind when he wondered who could be pulling the strings behind the scenes. He knew full well about Kassy’s ruthlessness. Fearing for his wife and children’s lives, he abandoned his luxury car, hijacked a motorcycle, and bolted to the scene of the incident as fast as he could. However, he was already too late. The crime scene had been cordoned off and about a quarter-mile of the main road was blocked. About 120 people in total were gathered at the scene, comprising of security, special police officers, firemen, and police forces. Dozens of police vehicles could be seen. A large number of police officers and good citizens were helping with the accident. Many were inj
Bianca looked around, observing her surroundings as if looking for an escape route…One of the thugs used the butt of their rifle and slammed it into her head before roaring at her, “You’d better sit still! I’m going to dig your eyes out of you if you look around again!”The eerie echo of his voice rang throughout the factory, making it sound even more spooky.Bianca moved her gaze away as she felt her head pulsing with pain from the blow.She glared fiercely at the thug who hit her in the head, but at the same time, they were already pushing her toward a metal pillar that had a girth of two grown adults.The pillar was at the gates of the factory.The vile thug tightly bound Bianca onto the pillar with a thick rope. The knots that he tied seemed to have no gaps in between them at all.Then, he gripped her face with his black, sticky hands as he snickered. “So soft, this little lady is so soft...”He had never given up his lust for Bianca. He grabbed her slender waist and sniff
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
“This cup of coffee is from that gentleman for this lady.” The waiter smiled as he explained, placing the cup in front of Luca.Hera followed the waiter’s gaze and immediately recognized the man Luca had been looking at earlier.Her eyes darkened. She had noticed the man glancing in their direction. However, she had assumed he was looking at her.After all, she was dressed seductively, had put on makeup, and was undeniably beautiful. Any man who saw her would be attracted. If a man’s eyes lingered on her, it was not surprising at all.Realizing that the man had been watching Luca the whole time instead of her, Hera suddenly felt annoyed.Luca noticed her displeasure, glanced at Gordan, then smiled and said to the waiter, “Please thank the gentleman for me.”“Of course, miss. Enjoy your coffee.” The waiter, sensing the tension between the two women, quickly grabbed his tray and left before Hera’s sour mood could affect him too.“Hmph, feeling proud of yourself?” asked Hera.Luca