Luca thought she should just leave them now, but she was too reluctant to do so.

Such conflicting thoughts made her feel defeated.

At least she knew what she needed back then, but right now, she could no longer figure out what she needed.

Luca gently pushed away Tommy who was clinging to her and stood up.

This was the first time Luca pushed Tommy away. He lifted his head and looked at her with some confusion. “Ms. Luca?"

Luca explained while concealing her feelings, "It's almost dinner time. I'm going to prepare dinner first."

Tommy watched her walk into the kitchen and looked at Luke, feeling sensitive. "Daddy, did I say something wrong to make Ms. Luca unhappy?"

Luke shook her head. He noticed that something was wrong with Luca's emotions, but it was not because of the children. He reckoned she must be having a hard time now due to the different emotions surging within her.

He wanted to help her, but what could he do if she refused to talk?

"Daddy, go ahead and cheer her up." Rainie pushed Luke's hand gently. She thought Luca was tired of a bunch of children surrounding her.

Luke knew what she had in her mind and emphasized, "She has always loved all of you. It's not what you think it is."

Rainie nodded.

Luke stood up and said, "I'm going to find out what's the matter."

He entered the kitchen as he said that.

Luca took the ingredients out of the fridge that the cleaning lady bought when she came to the house. She was thinking about what she should prepare for the children.

Luke leaned on the kitchen door and asked, "What happened at the police station?"

The sudden voice gave Luca a scare as she was deep in thought. She turned around and looked at the man at the door.

'"Sorry, I didn't mean to." Luke noticed her small reaction.

"It's alright. I was thinking of what I should prepare for dinner and got lost in thought..." Luca put the ingredients that she would not be using back into the fridge.

Luke realized her explanation was strange and continued to ask, “Did you get bullied at the police station?" "No. They don't have any evidence. There's nothing they can do to me." Luca shook her head, worried that he might stand up for her. Hence, she quickly explained herself.

Luke remained silent. If it was not about what had happened at the police station, she must be thinking about the children.

There had always been a question deep down in Luke's heart. What was being held against Luca that made her refuse to acknowledge her identity in front of them?

Luca noticed Luke was still standing there, so she asked, "Mr. Crawford, is there anything else?"

"No. The kids are worried about you. That's why I came here to comfort you." Luke directly told her that he was just doing what the children wanted him to do.

Luca let out a sigh. She felt amused and helpless when Luke straightforwardly replied to her.

"I'm alright. If you keep staring at me like this, I'm afraid I won't be able to finish preparing the dinner in two hours."

She felt happy to be watched by him, but there was a hint of uneasiness amid the happiness.

His eyes were too deep, as though they could see through what she was thinking.

Luke slightly narrowed his eyes. "Watching you make dinner reminds me of someone."

"Who?" Luca placed the ingredients on the countertop, getting ready to clean them and cut them.

"My wife," said Luke. He noticed her body tensing up when he said the word. "She used to cook for the kids back then. And the kids loved her cooking too. They always finished their food and everything on the dining table when she was the one preparing the meal."

Luca cleaned the ingredients with her back facing Luke. Only she knew how stiff her actions were.

"Really? Your kids aren't picky with food, so it doesn't matter who cooks the food, right?" She tried hard to speak gently to make herself sound more natural. Original from .

Luke added, "They're picky. They don't like eating certain foods unless it's their mother or you who cooked them. That's the only time they finish eating everything even though they don't really like the food."

"Really? Perhaps my cooking tastes good, and that's why the kids enjoy it." Luca watched the water running from the tap. She was swallowing all the bitterness she felt.

Luke did not say anything more when he heard that. He turned around and left.

The children were sitting in the living room. They asked their father immediately when they saw him return, "Daddy, is Ms. Luca alright?"

"How could she be cooking your dinner if she's not alright? Don't worry." Luke comforted them.

Rainie glanced at her elder brother. Girls were usually more attentive and sensitive. When the adults said it was nothing, she knew it might not really be the case.

The maid was washing the dishes after dinner. Luca headed upstairs, planning to continue with her work.

Abel called her on the phone once she sat down.

Luca looked at the string of numbers on the phone screen and sighed. Did he install a security camera to monitor her?

Why would he call her whenever she was enjoying these blissful illusions, reminding her of the cruel reality and how she would never be happy?

Luca picked up the phone as she stood up. She walked into the bedroom's washroom and turned on the tap.

Luke and his children were staying here with her now. She had to be more careful.

Luca only answered the call after she made sure she was in a noisy environment. “What's the matter?"

“Is your research going to launch in the market soon?" Abel asked.

Luca's heart tightened. Was he going to make his first move?

"You're asking me to expose my formulas to the public to cause problems with the launch? Won't I be digging a hole for myself this way?" Luca lowered her voice and said with her teeth clenched.

Abel could do anything just to take revenge on Luke Crawford.

However, she could not do that.

Abel's laugh came from the other end of the line. "Ivana, do you think I don't know what you're up to? Don't worry. What you're thinking now isn't what I want to do."

Luca did not feel relieved because of this. Instead, she asked him another question, "What do you want, then?"

"It wasn't easy for me to arrange for you to go back there, so I won't let your identity be exposed that easily. If your identity is exposed, a pawn of mine will be wasted. I won't let you get away easily. I want you and Luke Crawford to suffer every bit as much as I did!"

Luca clenched her fists tightly when she heard Abel's gruesome words.

What did Abel want from them? How far would he go to torture them? When would he stop?

Did he really want them dead?

Abel continued to say, "I want you to steal another professor's study and publicize it in advance, causing the pharmaceutical company to suffer losses. Then, you'll be promoted to a higher rank. What I want you to do is stay beside Luke and take over his pharmaceutical company."

Luca gasped. That was what he was planning.

If she really took over the pharmaceutical company, then every research would fall into her hands.

In other words, they would fall into Abel's hands...