[You're not feeling well? What's wrong?] Sue asked caringly.

[It's nothing. I just want to take a rest for a day or two. You don't have to worry about it. If there's any important work that needs my attention, I'll head to the office to handle it.] Nina replied. She had always asked for leave too when she was together with Percy.

However, she had never delayed her work at the company because of her absence.

Sue replied: [Alright. Take good care of yourself. You can come over to my place if you're struggling with anything. I can take care of you.]

[Don't worry. I've asked Luca to come here to keep me company.] Nina replied. She had always been sick and weak in Sue's impression.

Still, she used to be healthy and was nothing like this now. Now, she had to take pills to make her sleep. She would often catch a cold if she was unlucky.

The reason why she ended up like this today was that she met the two brothers of the Mallory family.

Nina pondered and picked up the concealer to try and cover the hickeys on her neck.

She thought of Percy, then Pierre came into her mind again. She wondered if she had done anything to offend the Mallory family in her past life, which was causing her to suffer so much in this life.

Luca packed a few clothes and hailed a ride to Nina's apartment.

Nina had informed the guards at the entrance in advance, so everything went smoothly when Luca came in. When she reached the door, she knocked on the door and said, “Nina, I'm here."

Nina heard her voice. She quickly checked herself in the mirror a few times to make sure the hickeys that were left on her neck were concealed. Then, she went to open the door.

"Luca, come in!" Nina invited her to come in. She thought that Percy would not do anything to her if Luca was here.

Although she was not disgusted by him, Percy had taken advantage of her, after all. She refused to let this happen again.

It was uncertain and confusing...

Luca walked into the apartment and was surprised to see how messy it was. She was unable to recall that Nina was such a messy woman. "Why is it so messy?"

"I've been busy and forgot to clean up. Let me clean up now." Nina looked at the mess. She was so busy concealing the hickeys that she forgot to clean the place up.

Nina felt embarrassed for showing Luca the messy side of her.

Luca shook her head and said, “Let me do it."

“No, no. You're the guest. I'll do it. Please wait for a while. I can clean up real fast." Nina endured her sore body and got ready to clean up.

Luca grabbed her hand and said, “Are you sure you have the stamina to clean up?"

Nina blinked her eyes with a surprised expression on her face. “What do you mean?"

Luca pointed at her neck. “Here. You didn't blend it well. I saw it."

Nina touched her neck unconsciously. How did that happen? She was pretty sure she had concealed them carefully. How could Luca find out with just a glance? “It's a mosquito bite. Don't get me wrong!"

"Alright. Let me clean up for you." Luca smiled and shook her head. She cleared the empty packets of snacks on the coffee table away and threw the bottles into the trash bin.

As Nina watched Luca clean up for her, her legs could no longer support her. She sat on the couch.

She felt very uncomfortable...

After Luca finished cleaning up the trash, she carried the trash bag and put it in the dumpster in the corridor. Then, she picked up the vacuum cleaner and began to clean the floor.

Nina said hurriedly when she saw her, “Luca, you're the guest. How can you do these for me?"

"It's been days since you cleaned the floor. I'm a little particular about cleanliness. If you'd like me to make myself comfortable here, then just let me do it. Otherwise, I'm leaving." Luca could see how tired Nina was from her eyes, but she did not question what actually happened.

It was not hard to figure out that Percy had begun his pursuit. It seemed like he had slept with Nina but it did not win her heart as he had hoped.

Otherwise, Nina would not have asked her to come over to be her shield.

Nina felt embarrassed when she looked at Luca who was helping her clean up the apartment. Indeed, she was not in the mood to do the chores these days. She was planning to hire a cleaning lady to clean the place up for her a few days later.

She did not expect Luca to do it for her.

After she finished cleaning up the apartment, Nina poured a glass of juice for her. “You must be tired, right? Drink some juice."

Luca took the glass of juice from her, knowing that it was freshly squeezed. She could not help but make fun of her. “You didn't leave the juice here to spoil, right?"

“No way. I bought this when I was on my way back home yesterday. It's still fresh." Nina picked up another glass of juice and took a sip. “Sweet and fresh!"

Luca smiled and took another sip. When she was about to ask about Percy's matter, her phone rang.

She glanced at her phone. It was Luke who was calling her. Original from .

Was he calling her at this hour because of work?

“Why aren't you picking up the call? Answer it!" Nina also saw the phone that was left on the coffee table. The caller ID displayed 'Mr. Crawford' when the phone screen lit up.

There was no term of endearment, it was merely a respectful remark—Mr. Crawford.

Luca was really different from other women.

“Where are you? The cleaning lady told me that you're not in the apartment," Luke asked her whereabouts right away without greeting her.

"I'm at Nina's apartment. Something came up and that's why I'm here. I couldn't wait for the cleaning lady to arrive." Luca was startled. Did he call her only because the cleaning lady could not find her?

She had never exchanged phone numbers with the cleaning lady before.

If the cleaning lady could not find her in the apartment, she should have called Jason instead. How did Luke know about it?

"Alright. She wanted to know what ingredients she should buy today." Luke continued to ask. He was not worried about Luca going to Nina's place at all.

He was worried just now because he was afraid that she would suddenly go missing again, and that was why he called and asked for her location anxiously.

"I'll be staying with Nina for a few days to keep her company, so there's no need to buy any ingredients," Luca explained.

"Staying at Nina's place?" Luke frowned and wondered why she made that decision all of a sudden.

The only explanation he could figure out was Percy.

Percy announced that he had called off his wedding with Madison this morning. He must be excited to look for Nina.

He had probably done something to her, and Nina asked Luca to stay with her to avoid Percy or to stop him from doing anything to her.

Hence, Percy's matter would still affect him and Luca.

"Yes, Mr. Crawford. Please let me know if there's anything you need me to do. I brought my laptop along with me. I can work anytime," Luca pretended to ignore Luke's unhappy tone and replied to him respectfully.

Luke felt his chest tighten as if it was blocked.

He sounded rather offended and said, "Fine."

He hung up the call right away after that.

Luca listened to the busy tone on the other end of the phone and pondered carefully. There was a trace of anger in Luke's tone when he said that just now.