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
Meanwhile, at the Norman residence. The lamp in the yard cast a dim light on the fragrant garden and onto a gentle breeze of the early fall. Under the dense canopy of leaves was a white steel table. On it was a white porcelain pot with a small mouth that emitted a wisp of vapor. Next to the pot was a basket with an assortment of delicate desserts. Jack stared vacantly at his beautiful and elegant wife, who was sitting in a rattan chair and sipping a cup of tea. The entire space belonged to the couple. As he stared at her, time seemed to have frozen, and they were back in their younger days. Jack was in a calm mood. He was not bothered by the political squabbles at work or any other earthly worries. All he wanted to do was sit there and enjoy the tranquility with his wife. He admitted that he had failed her. Because of him, their birth daughter had gone missing for more than twenty years, and they had adopted Leia from an orphanage. His wife had doted upon the young girl
Leia could not accept that horrible fact. She instantly went to the best hospital to confirm if she was really pregnant. 'What if the pregnancy test kit is faulty?' She remained hopeful. 'What if I'm not really pregnant?' She rushed into the VIP wing of the hospital wearing a mask and an oversized pair of sunglasses. The nurse took a urine and blood sample for the hCG test. Half an hour later, the head of the obstetrics department read Leia's test report carefully. "You are pregnant, Ms. Norman. The baby is thirty-six days old," she announced formally. "That's… that's impossible! I can't be pregnant!" Leia shrieked and covered her mouth. She felt her blood turning cold. "Your urine and blood tests both show that you are pregnant, Ms. Norman. It is almost impossible that both tests are wrong. Do you want to carry the child to term?" The doctor did not know how else she should explain it to Leia. Leia was already an adult. If she did not want a child, she could have taken
Leia stepped out of the hospital entrance and hurried over to the parking lot. She did not want to be late. After all, her father had summoned her back home, and she dared not disobey him. She had just fastened her seatbelt when she realized that the pregnancy test report was missing. She must have accidentally dropped it when she bumped into that young woman earlier! Leia's head spun. She wanted to go back up to collect it, but there were so many people in the hospital, and someone might have already taken it. Moreover, if Xavier had picked it up, he must have already seen it. There were so many people with the same name in the world. Even if Xavier had seen it, he might not guess that it was her. Even if Xavier guessed that it was indeed her, all she had to do was not admit it. Leia breathed a sigh of relief after thinking of that. She started the car and left the hospital. She tuned in to a radio station, hoping to lighten the mood by listening to some music. There
Jack paused for a moment as he looked at Leia's pathetic demeanor. "Are you still trying to deny what you've done, despite all the evidence that's been laid bare in front of you? If you've been honest with me right from the start, I wouldn't have been so angry. Do you think that I'm an idiot?" Jack had to admit that the mountain of evidence presented to him was true. He was stunned when he first saw the evidence. He could not believe that his "considerate" daughter could be so ruthless in private. It took him a long time to accept it. Tears swished in Leia's eyes. Her back was straight, but her chest was heaving. "I only have one question for you, Dad. In all my years in the Norman household, have you ever treated me as your daughter? You've always been cold to me, and I can never figure out what you're thinking. You don't seem to like me no matter what I do to gain your favor. I thought that it's just how your personality is, but the truth is cruel to me… "Ever since Bianca
Jack calmly kept away the stamp pad and the documents. Queenie happened to step into the study as he locked the drawer. Leia remained kneeling on the floor, staring vacantly at her father's actions. How she wished that she could spit fire from her eyes to burn those documents into ashes! Fortunately, her mother came back just in time. Her father would not give her a hard time. Queenie's smiling face sank drastically when she saw her daughter kneeling on the floor while sobbing as though she was punished. She hurriedly rushed up to Leia and helped her up. "Why are you kneeling on the floor, Leia? The floor is so cold. Get up!" Leia stubbornly remained kneeling, her frail body swaying as though she was a dying flower, and shook her head at her mother. "I should be punished for my mistakes, Mom. Dad is right to punish me." When Queenie heard that, she dragged Leia from the floor and glared at her husband. "Why did you have to make her kneel if she did something wrong? You co
Other than giving the families of the victims a huge sum of money as compensation, Luke Crawford, the CEO of T Corporation, made a personal promise that he would grant a job for anyone from the victims' immediate family. If there were any elderly dependents, Luke also promised that T Corporation would support them with their living expenses for the rest of their lives. The families of the victims were incredibly grateful for Luke's generous measures. T Corporation had resolved its crisis, and its share prices continued to rise. The companies that had severed ties with T Corporation during its crisis regretted doing so, but it was already too late. However, the collapse of The Galleria was a serious incident. Even though T Corporation was innocent, the police arrested eighteen people, including the contractor, the general manager of the management company, and the construction company. The head architect of The Galleria was investigated by the Public Integrity Committee, and T C
Wanda had been undergoing a naturopathic treatment procedure for her breast cancer. She took bitter herbal tonics every day, and her health slowly improved. She was happy that she did not have to remove her breasts. One day, she came over to the mansion to visit Bianca and Old Master Rayne. Bianca was giving some pointers on oil painting to her aunt in the studio. On the walls of the studio were an assortment of paintings done in different styles. The paintings were beautiful. Bianca had painted most of them during her free time. She mixed some oil paints on the palette while explaining the theory behind oil painting to her aunt. "Painting with oils is very different from painting with watercolors, Aunt Wanda. "When you paint with watercolors, you treat the paper as part of your process. Even if you leave certain parts unpainted, it can still be a completed piece. On the other hand, oil painting emphasizes shape and color. You'll have to fill in every square inch of your c
“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