Bianca fantasized about the carefree lifestyle after she and Luke retired. Their hair would have been graying, and they would be living a relaxing life with their children and grandchildren without the troubles from work. As the sky continued to darken, the family walked back to the mansion. Old Master Crawford was sipping tea in the living room and watching financial news on the television. Susan and Allison had already retired to their bedrooms because they were not interested in that. Louis and his family were not in the house. They were at a dinner banquet. Only Old Master Crawford was in the spacious living room. Bianca looked at Luke and said, "I'll go and help Lanie and Rainie with their homework." "Mm." Luke nodded and let go of her hand. He went to the couch and prepared to spend some time with his grandfather. "Grandfather." "How was the walk?" Old Master Crawford turned his head and glanced at Bianca and the three children. Bianca smiled gently and replied, "
"That's not what you originally told me, Madam." Jon thought that it was very troublesome. Allison had told him that he could dispatch anyone that tried to stop him, and that would have been a much easier job. "What do you want then?" Allison was getting annoyed. If things went her way, she would not have wanted Luke to stay in the mansion for the night. Other than Luke and her three grandchildren, she did not care if anyone else in Crawford Manow lived or died. Jon saw the antiques in the study and thought that Allison had paid him too little. It was the right opportunity to ask for more. "It'll be easier if you pay up," he said. "How much?" Allison had expected him to say that. However, she had no other choice. "Five hundred thousand," Jon said. "That's daylight robbery!" Allison was reluctant to part with that much money. After all, that was ten days' worth of living expenses. "Those antiques are worth a lot of money, even in the black market. The more I take, the more
Luke quickly drove his car to the front door. Louis carried Thea into the car while Yuri pressed the bandage tightly on her head. Susan also went along to the hospital. Bianca looked at the bloodstains and the broken shards of the antique vase on the corridor. The stench of blood was thick. She could not forget how lifeless Thea seemed as she lay on the floor. "I'm scared, Mommy." Rainie took a step back and hid behind Bianca. She stuck her head out to look at the blood on the floor. "I'm scared too." Tommy also hid behind Bianca. He did not know why Thea was bleeding or why she did not answer when the adults called her name. Bianca covered the children's eyes and glanced at Lanie. His cute little face remained cool, and Bianca was impressed by his maturity. "It's fine. Let's go back to bed," she coaxed the children softly. "Mm," Rainie replied softly and looked away from the bloody floor. After Tommy fell asleep, Bianca went to Rainie's bedroom to check on her. The lit
Allison's heart skipped a beat when she heard that. "You can restore the footage?" She blurted. "The surveillance system is the most advanced in the world. Barring a power disruption, there's an eighty percent chance that the footage can be restored," the manager said. They would use the best technology for their important clients. "How about the remaining twenty percent?" Allison asked. "If the jamming device is too close to the camera, then our technicians can't do anything about it." The manager did not want to admit it, but he could not hide the facts when he saw Old Master Crawford's gloomy expression. "Don't worry, Old Master Crawford," he said, "We'll do our best to restore the footage and cooperate with the police." The stolen antiques were worth at least a hundred million dollars, and the culprit had injured someone. The manager knew how serious the incident was. "Mm." Old Master Crawford nodded as he saw the caretaker come over with cleaning equipment. The police ha
"Faster," Luke urged because he thought that Johann was too slow. "There's no point in hurrying. A mercury thermometer needs time to work," Johann said leisurely. He shook his head when he saw how anxious Luke and Bianca were. "It's normal for kids to have a fever, especially Lanie, who hasn't fallen sick in a while. It shouldn't be surprising that the fever hit him hard." As the saying went, "Sickness comes on horseback and leaves on foot." Bianca was nonetheless anxious when she heard that. She had been focused on taking care of Rainie and Tommy the night before and had neglected Lanie. She did not even know when he started to have the fever. Five minutes later, Johann took out the thermometer and glanced at it. "103.1 degrees. Don't worry, Lanie is a strong boy. He'll be fine after an injection and an IV drip." "Alright. Sorry to trouble you." Bianca's heart wrenched when she saw Lanie's lips cracking from the fever. She took a cup of water and a straw and said, "Drink som
Johann raised an eyebrow and looked at Lanie's handsome little face. "Why would you want to stay here? I thought you hated hospitals." Lanie glanced at his parents and said, "Daddy and Mommy want to visit Thea. I shouldn't go, in case I pass my germs to her." Johann turned his head to look at Luke and Bianca. "Am I a babysitter too?" "Fifteen minutes," Luke negotiated with him with his glacial demeanor. He meant that Johann would only have to take care of Lanie for fifteen minutes. "That's too long. Ten minutes." Johann did not hate Lanie, but he felt uncomfortable looking at the boy's face. It reminded him too much of Luke. He would try to avoid Luke whenever possible, and looking at a copy of Luke's face would give him a headache. "Twenty minutes," Luke said with finality. He took Bianca's hand and left the room before Johann could say anything. Johann pouted. "What a hard sell. I haven't even agreed to it." Even so, he had no other choice but to take care of the bo
Luke frowned, and his gaze turned sharp. If the signal jammer was in the mansion and close to the cameras, how did the thief manage to sneak it in? Bianca noticed the grim expression on her husband's face and could guess that he was thinking about the incident. She did not want to disturb him, so she said softly, "I'll bring Lanie upstairs." "Mm. I'll get the caretaker to bring breakfast upstairs later." Luke kissed her forehead and went to the couch. Bianca held Lanie's hand and said softly, "Let's go upstairs." "Alright, Mommy." Lanie still looked a little weak. The two of them went up the stairs. After seeing his wife and son go up the stairs, Luke went into the kitchen to tell the caretaker to prepare breakfast for them, then walked around the living room. "Why are you so sure?" "It's like this, Mr. Crawford. The technicians have managed to restore the footage from outside the mansion, but they haven't managed to do so for the footage within the mansion. The footage g
"Mm." Luke turned his gaze back to the computer screen and took out a name card. "Send to my email the restored footage as well as the footage before and after the incident." "Yes, I'll do that right away." The manager replied and handed the name card to his subordinate. "Send the clips earlier to this email address." "Yes." Luke received an email notification on his phone. He added, "Inform the butler if there's any new information." Then, he went up the stairs. The manager watched Luke go up and said to his subordinates, "Keep working, stop daydreaming." Upstairs, Luke saw Bianca and Lanie eating their breakfast in the second-floor hall. "Are the things downstairs settled?" Bianca handed him a bowl of lukewarm oatmeal. "Here, have some oatmeal." "They haven't restored the footage." Luke sat down next to her. He could feel through the bowl that the temperature of the oatmeal was just nice for him, so he took a big gulp. "We should give them some more time," Bianca sa