“Use anything you like. I haven''t touched any of the products before," Luca replied. After a few times,
she hade to terms with the fact that Luke would abruptly appear at her apartment to have meals
with her and stay with her...
Luke took out a suit that had never been worn before from the maid''s bedroom and walked into the
bathroom.
Soon after, he finished washing up and walked out.
Luca was sitting at the dining table. When she noticed that Luke''s tie was crooked, she said, "Mr.
Crawford, your tie isn''t tied properly."
Luke lowered his head and looked at his tie. He had done it on purpose. Walking over to her, he said in
a low voice, "Help me."
"I''m not good at tying ties. You should do it yourself," Luca said as she lowered her eyes, her hands
clenching into fists unconsciously.
There was a moment when she wanted to reach out and help him put on his tie properly.
However, she immediately returned to her senses. She knew she could not do that.
Luke nced at the breakfast spread on the table. She had prepared an English-style breakfast today,
and there were plenty of different dishes. He grabbed a slice of bread and said, "My hands are greasy.
Help me."
A confused look appeared in Luca''s eyes. She had no idea what the man in front of her was trying to
do.
It seemed like he was acting so shamelessly just so she would help him fix his tie.
The slice of bread he was holding had ayer of butter thered on top of it, and it was true that he
would not be able to fasten his tie unless he washed his hands clean because the tie would get greasy.
Luca raised her head resignedly. As their eyes met, she put on a reluctant expression on her face as
she helped him fasten his tie.
Even though she deliberately kept her distance from him, she could feel Luke''s body leaning forward
slightly. It seemed like he was trying to close the distance she had ced between them.
Luca wanted to get it done as quickly as possible, but it had been a while since shest helped anyone
fix their ties. Moreover, longer ties like his were not as easy to tie as Tommy''s and Lanie''s shorter ties.
The more she wanted to speed things up, the more she struggled with tying it properly.
"Don''t panic," Luke said in a low,forting voice when he sensed her anxiety.
Luca slowed down slightly. Soon, she managed to tie a beautiful Windsor knot.
"All done," she said as she took a step backward, heaving a sigh of relief when she saw the beautiful
knot.
Luke took a look at the tie and nodded in satisfaction. "Well done."
Luca was stunned, and she felt her face turning red because of what he had just said. She pulled a
chair out and said, "Let''s have breakfast, Mr. Crawford."
Luke sat down and noticed that Luca had chosen a seat far away from him. He did not say anything
about that.
The more she avoided him now, the more difficult it would be for her to escape in the future.
Halfway through breakfast, Luca''s phone rang. She nced at the caller ID and noticed it was a
number she did not know. However, she could tell from the numbers that the person calling was either
rich or royalty.
Luke might know who it was.
When he noticed Luca was not answering the phone, Luke asked, "Why aren''t you answering the
phone?"
"Do you know whose number this is?" Luca asked as she extended her phone toward him. There was
only one seat between them, which meant he could see her phone if she reached it out to him.
Luke immediately recognized the number. "That''s Percy''s number."
"Mr. Mallory? What is he calling me for?" Luca was initially worried that it was a call from Abel, but now
that she knew it was from Percy, she answered the call and put him on loudspeaker. "Good morning,
Mr. Mallory."
Percy did not bother with greetings and immediately asked, "Is Nina with you?"
"Nina? No, she''s not with me. What''s going on?" Luca had a confused look on her face as she
exchanged looks with Luke. Deep down, she had a feeling that something was very wrong.
"Nina is missing," Percy said, "She might have been missing sincest night."
He recalled what had happened when he went over to Nina''s cest night. Nina was usually a night
owl, so she would be awake whenever he dropped by. However,st night, the lights were switched off.
If he had chosen to head upstairs and take a look then, perhaps he would have realized what was
going on earlier.
"I just spoke to Nina on the phone during the day yesterday, so she should have been fine during the
day. Don''t worry, Mr. Mallory. Nina''s brother has been discharged from the hospital, so perhaps she''s
gone to the apartment nearby," Luca said. She reckoned that Nina was just busy.
After all, she had no enemies, and there wasn''t anyone who would want to hurt her intentionally.
Unless...
Luca thought of Pierre.
"I''ll go check it out." After Luca''s reminder, Percy began wondering if Nina had returned to her mother''s
apartment. Thus, he left Nina''s apartment and immediately began racing toward his next destination.
ConTEent bel0ngs to N?v(e)lD/rama(.)Org .
When Luca heard the busy signal, she said worriedly, "Mr. Crawford, I think Nina is in trouble."
"Why do you say that?" Luke asked. He did not have any rtionship with Nina, but she was friends
with Luca and also in a rtionship with Percy, which meant he cared about her too.
“I received a call from Nina yesterday morning, and she sounded really dejected. But she didn''t say
what was going on when I asked her about it. I didn''t continue asking questions because I was really
busy and had to end the call quickly." Luca recalled. She would never be able to be at peace with
herself for the rest of her life if anything happened to Nina.
"If anything has happened to her, Pierre would definitely be the person behind it." Luke knew about
how Pierre was constantly pestering Nina and instantly concluded.
"Besides Pierre, I''m also worried about the rest of the Mallory family and the Johnston family." Luca
voiced out her worries, "Mr. Mallory''s mother came to speak with Nina previously and spent the whole
conversation hinting to Nina that she should stay away from Mr. Mallory. Mr. Mallory has been meeting
Nina almost every daytely. If the Mallory family has been spying on Nina, they probably already
know..."
When Luke saw the worried look on her face, he saidfortingly, "If Nina really is missing, I''ll go look
for her with Percy. Have some breakfast first."
Luca nodded and continued eating her breakfast absent-mindedly.
Luke picked up his phone and sent Percy two texts, telling him to ask for help immediately if he needed
it. Then, he continued eating breakfast.
Percy had no time to read his texts as he drove to Anna''s house.
He rang the doorbell once but no one opened the door. Then, he rang it several more times, but still, no
one opened the door. Taking a look at the time, he guessed that Jean would not have left the house so
early. Hence, he began banging on the door.
After several minutes of knocking, a voice rang out from behind the door. "Who is it? Who''s knocking
like crazy this early in the morning? What sort of rush are you in?"
Jean was stunned when he opened the door and saw Percy standing at the entrance. Immediately, the
annoyed expression on his face vanished into thin air as if someone had put a spell on him.
"Mr. Mallory, what are you doing here?"
"Is Nina here?" Percy asked as he stared intently at Jean''s expression. If Nina was really missing, it
was highly likely he had something to do with it.
Jean felt his heart sink to his stomach. Nina was missing?
He knew that if Nina was missing, then it was definitely Pierre behind it. After all, she was tricked into
meeting Pierre to discuss a dealst night.
However, he could not tell him that because he had taken money from Pierre. "Why would Nina be
here? Mr. Mallory, don''t you think that you''vee looking in the wrong ce?"