Doubtfully, Jack began to unwrap the mysterious delivery package. It was mysterious because there was no name or address on it. Ms. Bosch was worried that it might be a letter bomb or that it might contain harmful substances. She scanned it and made sure that it only contained paper documents before handing it once more to Jack. When Jack opened the envelope and read the document, his usually stern face turned ashen, and his body began to tremble slightly. He slammed the document on the table, picked up his coat, and rushed back home. … A few days earlier, Luke had obtained several bottles of imported herbal liqueurs. Bianca gave Old Master Rayne two bottles. She wanted to give two bottles to Old Mr. Norman, but she was busy with her new business, and she had nearly forgotten about it. She only remembered it when she happened to glance at the two bottles sitting in the wine cabinet. Old Mr. Norman was her biological grandfather. Bianca did not have too many interactions
Leia was dressed in a pure white sleeveless scalloped dress with a round neckline and a tapered waistline. She had light makeup on, and that made her look like an innocent young woman. She seemed quite docile, just like the character she always portrayed back when she was an actress. Her right hand was holding Old Mrs. Norman's arm, while her left was holding two big shopping bags. She was whispering something to her grandmother. Old Mrs. Norman was giggling happily. Wrinkles appeared on her well-maintained face. "Grandma," Bianca stood up from her seat and greeted Old Mrs. Norman. She held a grape in her hand. The sweetness that had lingered in her mouth suddenly became tasteless. Old Mrs. Norman reflexively turned to the voice that had greeted her. She was visibly surprised when she saw Bianca, and the joyous expression on her face reduced by a little. "It's you, Bianca. Why did you come here when it's so warm outside?" She was not fond of that granddaughter, even though
There was an unexpected guest at lunch. That was a young man in his late twenties who looked somewhat effeminate. He was dressed in a suit and leather shoes, and his hair was in a side part hairstyle. He looked like a business elite. Old Mrs. Norman explained that the young man was named Brody Hilton, and he was the grandson of a good friend. He had just returned from abroad and was here to visit Old Mrs. Norman. She said that the young man had a good background. He had a doctorate from MIT, and he was currently the chairman of an Esports association under Hilton Corporation, as well as the general manager of several media companies. Throughout lunch, Old Mrs. Norman's gaze flitted between Leia and Brody. Her matchmaking intentions were all too obvious. Bianca did not have a good impression of that young man. He might seem gentlemanly, but Bianca always felt that his eyes often wandered toward her chest. Bianca was dressed in a conservative dress that covered her body fro
Brody might have been abroad for many years and interacted with many women there, but he remained a conservative and chauvinistic man. He could not tolerate his future wife having sexual relations with other men before marriage. He grunted contemptuously and said, "I guess young women are more liberal nowadays. They like preening themselves and sleep around while they're barely legal. How shameless! If I were to marry a woman like that, she'd be making me a cuckold the next day!" He thought that Bianca looked pure and innocent, but he did not expect that she was so immodest. His expression was extremely unpleasant, as though he had swallowed a dead fly. Bianca shot a disdainful glance at Brody and chuckled. She was not going to entertain him. That man did not specifically name her, but Bianca was less than impressed by his beliefs. 'Is he from the Victorian era? Who still thinks like that nowadays? 'To think that he works abroad, too!' Old Mr. Norman seemed extremely un
Of course, Bianca did not say it. After all, she did not want anything to do with that man. Whatever he did was none of her business. The rest of the lunch was just as dramatic. Bianca enjoyed her meal while watching the comedy. On the other hand, Leia was the total opposite. The meal was tasteless, and she found it hard to swallow her food. After lunch, Brody and Leia looked at each other for a while, and he invited her to go shopping. Old Mrs. Norman stared earnestly at Leia, and she could only agree sheepishly. After the couple left, Bianca stayed at home and played chess with Old Mr. Norman. Old Mr. Norman was a skilled player, but Bianca was not bad either. That was how they spent the next two hours. While playing, Bianca and her grandfather chatted about architecture. Bianca was surprised that her grandfather was quite knowledgeable in architecture, even more so than some professional architects, even though he did not have a degree in it. That impressed Bianca qu
The exquisite inkwell fell on the floor, but it did not shatter as ordinary ones would. However, one of its corners chipped off when it hit the floor, giving it an ugly imperfection. Leia pretended to cover her mouth. She half-closed her eyes to hide the cunning in her gaze. "Sorry for bumping into you, Bianca, but… you broke Grandpa's favorite inkwell! Don't you know that it's an antique? Dad bought it at his old friend's auction at a high price. Grandpa usually keeps it safe, but you…" Bianca's heart skipped a beat when she saw the inkwell on the floor. She had an ominous feeling about it. She had never seen that small antique before, but she could tell from the exquisite carvings that it was worth a lot of money. It was a pitiful sight that it lay broken on the floor. At the same time, the old couple came into the study. Old Mr. Norman could sense that the atmosphere in the study was not quite right. "What's wrong?" He asked sternly. Leia hurriedly ran next to Old Mr.
Bianca returned to her house unhappily with the pieces of the broken inkwell in her hand. The caretaker noticed her from afar and said excitedly, "You're back, Madam. Sir was mentioning you earlier. What do you want for dinner?" Bianca glanced at her watch and noticed that it was half-past six. She was quite surprised. "Luke usually comes home late. Why is he home so early today?" Her voice was more shrill than usual. The caretaker smiled. "I didn't ask him, but he seems to be in a good mood…" Bianca nodded and stepped into the living room. Luke was sitting on the couch reading a financial newspaper. He smiled happily when he saw his wife come into the house. "You're back." "Mm." Bianca took off her jacket and tossed it on the couch. Luke could see the worry in Bianca's face. Luke put the newspaper away, hugged her from behind, and gently kissed her. "What's wrong? Why do you look so down? Did someone bully you?" Bianca opened the box in her hands and revealed the b
Bianca was watering the plants on the balcony with a watering can. She had just put the watering can away when she saw Luke browsing the movie catalog. She noticed the name of the movie that Luke had picked and could not help but ask, "Why are you playing a horror movie? I thought you always like sci-fi or war movies." She did not want to admit that she was afraid of watching horror movies. That would make Luke think that she was a coward. Luke smiled and turned off all the lights in the room. "Let's watch something else today. Don't worry, I'm here," he said mysteriously. He beckoned at Bianca and told her to sit on his lap. Bianca hesitated for a while before sitting down next to him. She was not fond of horror movies, but she was very curious about the contents of the movie. With Luke sitting next to her, she was not as afraid. In fact, she was quite looking forward to it. She leaned on his chest as he started playing the movie. The movie had just started playing w
“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