Sue shook her head indignantly. "Not good. Ever since that incident, we've received far fewer orders. Some clients would rather pay the penalty for breach of contract than let us do the design for them." Bianca was not too flustered, knowing what those people were thinking. "How does it compare to the previous month?" "It's at least a forty-percent decrease. We're not a big company, and there are several designers without any work on hand. Even St. Heckler Hotel is already looking for another company," Sue reported. St. Heckler Hotel was a three-star hotel construction project in A City. It took Bianca a lot of effort to convince them, but Riley's incident happened right before they were about to sign the contract. She was not at liberty to continue negotiations, so she delegated the task to Sue and Nina. "Have they signed the contract with the other design company?" Bianca asked. "No, they're still negotiating. I've heard that the company is charging a high price, which is
"Yes, I've met her before. I always remember the beautiful women I meet. Your company really has a lot of beautiful women. Ms. Langdon is one, Ms. Rayne is too." Mr. Steven's eyes on his corpulent face narrowed into slits as he ogled brazenly at the two women in front of him. Bianca and Nina exchanged glances. Both of them thought that Mr. Steven's perverse gaze was quite disgusting. Bianca tried to hold back her disgust as she smiled and said, "Please have a seat, Mr. Steven." Mr. Steven's beautiful secretary pulled a chair, then removed his coat with her delicate fingers and hung it on the rack. "Please sit, Mr. Steven," she said coyly. "Yes, yes." Mr. Steven copped a feel as he sat down on the chair. The secretary smiled and said nothing. She sat down next to him. Nina could not help but wonder how that perverted man managed to get to where he was. She smiled brilliantly, hiding the disgust in her heart, and poured some tea for the man. "Please have some tea, Mr. Steve
Mr. Steven took a step forward in front of Bianca, sniffed the air in front of her, hugged her waist brazenly, and smiled. "Yes, we can talk about the price. After all, your company seems quite capable. So how much will it be, Ms. Rayne?" Bianca turned her head away in disgust when she saw his oily, sausage-like lips leaning close to her face. She discreetly distanced herself and said, "We can talk about it, Mr. Steven. How about if we sit down and talk?" "Alright, alright, alright. Sit on my lap and we'll talk." Mr. Steven prepared to sit down while hugging her. Nina stepped in between the two. Mr. Steven let go of Bianca and hugged Nina instead. He did not mind that. After all, both of them were beautiful. He smiled at Nina and said, "Would you rather sit on my lap, Ms. Langdon?" After many drinks, all Mr. Steven wanted was to cop a feel. Nina was appalled, but she would rather Mr. Steven take advantage of her than her good friend. "How about if we give you a five percent
Percy's dark eyes dripped with spite. He stared intently at Steven's fat hand that was on Nina's waist. ‘How dare this pig lay his hands on my woman? Is he tired of living?’ Percy asked Bianca, "Is Luke aware that this is how you have business meetings?" Bianca’s scalp felt numb. If Luke found out, she would never hear the end of it. Just as she was about to explain further, Nina got closer to Steven and said in a chilly tone, "We're just talking about work and didn't do anything else. What's wrong? Does it feel dirty? To a dirty man, everything looks dirty." Steven hugged her and said triumphantly, "Yeah! Who are you? You barged into our private room, how rude!" One could seemingly smell gunpowder in the air, and Bianca was caught in the middle. She tried her best to diffuse the situation. "This is Ms. Langdon's—" "Nina, come home with me now." Percy clenched his fist, walked over, and grabbed Nina's hand. "Hmph..." Nina snorted and was taken away by
Percy's body temperature turned warmer as he pulled off his tie impatiently. The smile on Nina's mouth carried a touch of mockery. She was well aware of what was coming next. She stood up and took off her coat with one hand. "I reek, I'll go wash up first." She was still sober. As the most special character around him, she was well aware of his likes and dislikes. Percy hated women who smelled like alcohol. She planned to take a quick shower before they got down to business. Percy gave her a push and she landed on the sofa. "No need, I want you right now!" After an hour, Nina was exhausted and lay on the sofa. She watched him dress himself up and leave. She slowly let out a sigh when she heard the sound of his car driving away. In Percy's heart, she was nothing more than a tool. Her status was lower than that of bottle girls in the nightclubs. Bottle girls could choose which customers they wanted to accompany. They had money in their pockets and were
After Percy left with Nina, Bianca had to spend some time reassuring Steven and promising that she would arrange for another meet-up soon enough. Steven was dissatisfied but did not say much. Bianca knew he was upset and bought two bottles of fine wine at the hotel. When she sent him off, she handed him the wine and the other's mood seemed to ease a little. She was relieved when she watched him leave with his secretary. Bianca was not confident that she could secure this partnership. Bianca massaged her face, which had been cramping from smiling all night. She sighed helplessly. She called for an Uber because she did not want to drive after drinking. When she got home, she walked into the living room and found that Luke was not working in the study as he usually was. He was sitting on the sofa waiting for her. "Luke?" Bianca called out to him softly. The moment she saw the man waiting for her in the living room, her foul mood was gone. She did not
Half an hour later, Luke presumed Bianca was asleep when he heard her breathing slow down. He picked up the phone on the bedside table and sent a message to Jason. [I want everything you can find on the CEO of the developer for St. Heckler on my table tomorrow morning.] Jason was coaxing the twins to sleep. After he received Luke's text, he immediately replied: [Okay, Mr. Crawford.] Kari was awakened by the notification. She opened her eyes in a daze and muttered, "Dad." Jason put his phone away. He was a workaholic. Even if he was asleep, his phone would never be on silent mode. That was so that he could attend to Luke’s requests at the first instant. He apologized. "I'm sorry, baby. Did it wake you up?" Kari glanced at her sister who was sleeping next to her and found that Teri was still asleep. She shook her head and said, "No, Dad." "Baby, go back to sleep." Jason tucked her in, then gently rubbed her belly and soothed her. Kari smiled sweetly and
Bianca's eyes widened as her spoon fell on the table. The red tablecloth was covered with cream. Luke went slow, unlike his past enthusiastic self, and licked the cream from the corners of her mouth little by little. Bianca could not breathe. His slow-paced kisses were heavenly. Her heartbeat sped up and eventually lost its rhythm. She felt like she was in the clouds. She could feel her body, but it felt like nothing else was in her mind as she indulged in his graceful warmth. One of their phones rang, disturbing their kiss. Luke slowly moved away. He held her face in his hands, rubbing it gently with his fingers. Their love was in the air. Bianca gasped lightly. After her cheeks were rubbed by him, they turned even redder. She was swept off her feet by him. Luke looked at her affectionately but did not say anything. He answered the phone. Jason said, "Mr. Crawford, he’s at Club Gravity." "Okay, we’ll be over." Luke ended the call, to
“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