Mandy frowned. Did Johann not see it yet? Why else would he not accept her friend request?

While she was wondering, she opened her profile.

Her photos and posts displayed her beauty and elegance, so all Johann had to do was click on her profile to see them.

Mandy was not willing to give up, so she took a mirror selfie and posted it after photoshopping. She said how tired she was from work as the caption.

Before she could enjoy all the likes and comments, Matysh's impatient voice could be heard from the outside. “What are you doing in there? What's taking you so long to fix your makeup?"

"I'm almost done." Mandy took out her setting powder and used it to touch up the oily spots on her face before applying more lipstick.

Finally, she walked out of the bathroom and sat next to Matysh.

"Mr. Matysh, let's have a drink." Mandy lifted the glass of wine to clink glasses with him.

Matysh looked at Luca's photo and tilted his head back to finish his wine in one go.

"You're really good at drinking. Say, are all Russian men as good as drinking as you are?" Mandy rested her chin on his shoulder and teased him while she talked.

The fire Matysh had for Luca had not died out. He put the wine glass on the coffee table and picked Mandy up to walk into the bedroom. "Drinking is not the only thing Russian men are good at."

In the mansion.

After putting the children to sleep, Luca returned to her bedroom.

Percy came to pick Nina up after dinner, so she was in charge of looking after the children again.

Good thing the kids were well-behaved enough to go to bed at bedtime. Plus, they had grown up quite a bit as they did not even need bedtime stories anymore. It gave her peace of mind.

When she returned to her room, she took a shower and sat down at her dresser to start crunching numbers.

She seemed to have broken down the ingredients, but she could not get the concentration right yet. Hence, rushing it would not get her anywhere...

In times like this, the only way to develop the antidote was by analyzing the data in detail and doing meticulous experiments.

Luca sighed. Sorting data was so tedious that she could not suppress a yawn. She glanced at the time to see that it was already 11.

Luke had yet to return from the Norman family's residence.

After entering the last of the data, Luca lay in bed and closed her eyes after turning off the lights.

She placed a pillow next to her and consciously left some space on the bed. However, because Luke was not beside her, she could not fall asleep even when she was feeling sleepy...

Luca got up and fumbled around for her sleeping pills. The moment she opened the drawer, she heard the sound of the door being pushed open.

She immediately switched on the bedside lamp.

She could see everything inside the room with the faint light, including Luke who was walking in.

“Mr, Crawford, you're back.." Luca said bashfully. She noticed that Luke had changed into pajamas, so she wondered when he returned to take a shower and why she did not hear anything when she was checking the data.

Perhaps Luke's footsteps were too light, so she did not hear him.

"Did I wake you up?" Luke closed the door behind him and walked to the bedside.

"No, I just laid down." Luca lay back down and pulled the blanket over her nose, so her voice was muffled. Now that he was back, she could finally fall asleep.

Even though she was still lying to him, it could not be denied that Luke was the one who made her feel most at ease.

There was no need to use sleeping pills when she was with him.

Luke walked over, lifted the corner of the blanket, and lay down as well.

He naturally hugged Luca. "Go to sleep. It's late."

It was indeed late, but Luca had something to ask him.

"Did Mrs. Norman talk to you about Leia?" Luca closed her eyes and felt his hands caressing her tummy before he rested them at a certain position. It made her feel all warm and cozy inside.

"Yes, and I also mentioned Dexter to her." Luke shifted his head closer to the nape of her neck and sniffed the fragrance of her hair which smelled sweet even when she was about to sleep.

He had not slept with Luca in his arms for a long time, and that period was excruciating for him. If sleep was not necessary, he would rather not sleep if it were not as sweet as this.

When he was asleep, he would only dream of torture and torment. Only when he held her to sleep could he feel at ease and sleep without dreams.

"Did she agree to look for Dexter?" Luca asked.

"She's very concerned about Leia's illness, so she agreed even though she despises Dexter. I'll help her look for him." Luke hugged Luca even tighter.

"Okay.." Luca slowly closed her eyes. Even if Dexter was hiding in the dirtiest corners of this city, they would be able to find him with Luke's help.

After feeling a sense of relief, she fell into a deep sleep. Têxt © .

She woke up the following day.

Luke had already gotten out of bed.

Luca listened carefully. There was no sound of Luke in the bathroom, so he must be working in the opposite bedroom.

After getting out of bed and washing up, she walked out of the bedroom. The door of the opposite bedroom was not closed, so she peeked inside to see that Luke was indeed working.

Luca did not say anything. She headed straight downstairs to help Aunt Neile prepare breakfast.

Half an hour later, the kids got up.

When the three children passed by Luke's bedroom, they saw that their dad was working. Hence, they greeted him and left.

Rainie suddenly thought of something. She turned around and stood at the door of Luke's bedroom as she asked softly, “Daddy, can I come in?"

Luke put down his pen and looked at his daughter. He nodded and said, "come in."

Rainie walked in.

"What is it that you want to tell me?" Luke asked. He knew that his daughter would be understanding enough to know not to disturb him when he was working, so if she wanted to come in while he was working, there must be something she wanted to tell him.

"Daddy, Ms. Nina has left. Mr. Percy took her away," said Rainie.

"I know." Luke nodded slightly. Percy had informed him before picking her up.

Now that Nina was gone, Luca would be more comfortable being intimate with him.

Rainie's hands gripped the corner of the table as she added, "Daddy, do you know why Ms. Nina and Mr. Percy are so in love?"

Luke raised his eyebrows and looked at his daughter. What was she trying to say?

"No. Why?" He went along with it.

"Because Mr. Percy often sweet-talks Ms. Nina. Ms. Nina said that sweet talk is like dessert. Dessert can sweeten one's stomach, while sweet talk can sweeten one's heart. Daddy, you should learn from Mr. Percy how to sweet-talk so that Ms. Luca will know that you like her," Rainie said seriously as she thought that Luca and Luke's relationship was not progressing at all because of Luke's slow- wittedness.