"Yes, I know," Luca murmured against his chest, her voice muffled.
She had not made up her mind yet, so she did not n on saying anything. She just wanted to hug him
and breathe in his familiar scent.
Luke Crawford was the man she loved the most...
Luke waited for a while but did not hear Luca continue. He knew she still had not made up her mind to
speak.
His chest was a tumultuous mix, brimming with warmth but also a profound sense of helplessness
toward Luca.
She still could not bring herself to say it at this moment. Luke had no choice but to give her some more
time.
"Hmm, it''s gettingte. I need to go to work." Luca felt her strength returning to her body and slowly
raised her head, looking at the man''s resolute jawline.
"Okay,e back early tonight if possible. I promised the kids we''d go out for dinner," replied Luke.
Luca wanted to agree immediately, but she frowned at the thought of the recent rumors.
This scandal had shaken Wanda and Queenie. She did not have the courage to be seen in public with
Luke at this moment.
If the reporters caught wind of anything, it would be even more distressing for both of them, who were
already in the hospital.
Luca hesitated and felt anxious.
"Don''t worry. It''ll be fine." Luke reassured her. "It''s just a small restaurant. A friend of Mr. Doyle owns it.
He has everything arranged, and it''s a private setting. Only the restaurant owner and his wife will be
there, no one else.
“The owner’s lips are sealed tight. He won''t gossip about anything,” added Luke to assure her. “The
kids haven''t dined out for a long time. They know you''ve been downtely. That’s why they suggested
this. We shouldn’t disappoint them, right?"
What Luke said at the end left Luca with no room to refuse.
After all that had happened recently, her kids had seen right through her emotions. She thought she
had hidden them well, but they still knew her all too well...
"Okay," Luca agreed. She trusted Luke''s choice of location, believing that reporters would not discover
them there.
N?velDrama.Org ? content.
After she agreed, Luke let her go. "It''s gettingte. Go to work. I need to prepare for work as well."
"I''ll head out to work first," said Luca. Her research group had a lot of work to do today, especially after
yesterday''s unfinished experiment.
"Okay." Luke went into the master bedroom to change into his work clothes.
Throughout the day, Luca had consumed several cups of coffee to keep herself focused and prevent
her mind from wandering.
However, her work efficiency still decreased after what had happened yesterday.
As she left theb at the end of the day, she looked at the experiments she had notpleted. She felt
helpless.
She had overestimated her ability to focus on her work.
There was no way she could work properly when she was dealing with personal troubles.
Rhett approached her with some documents in his hands, noticing her absent-minded look. He asked
in a low voice, "Dr. Craw, what''s the matter with you?"
"It''s nothing." Luca came back to her senses, knowing that there was no way she could share her
personal troubles with her colleagues. She shook her head and nced at the documents in Rhett''s
hands. "Is this the experimental data?"
"Yes, it''s the experimental data," answered Rhett as he handed over the documents.
"Alright. Let''s call it a day for now. I''ll take the documents home to review. The rest of you can go
home." Luca did not forget what Luke had said in the morning. She did not want to disappoint her
children.
That was why she decided to leave work at a normal time.
She did not want the other researchers to work overtime as well since she was getting off work.
"Understood, Dr. Craw," replied the other researchers, but they did not leave immediately. They needed
to tidy up their workspaces before leaving.
Luca exited theb first.
One of the researchers watched her leave and could not help but mutter, "Why does it feel like Dr.
Craw hasn''t been herself these past couple of days?"
"I have the same feeling. Maybe something''s bothering her," another researcher replied. They were
puzzled because the rumors about Luca and Luke had already been rified. There were no reporters
bothering them either.
"What else could it be? Everything has been cleared up, hasn''t it? Unless..." The researcher who was
speaking stopped and did not continue.
Could it be that Luca was preupied due to the recent rification?
Or was it that the rtionship between her and Luke had truly ended after the scandal? Was that why
Luca was in such a state?
The group of researchers made guesses, but they dared not continue discussing it. Such matters were
not suitable to be discussed in the office.
If someone secretly recorded their conversation and shared it with Evan Turner or Luca, they would
risk losing their jobs.
Evan had even held a special meeting in thepany to prohibit employees from discussing Luca''s
personal matters previously, let alone sharing them with the media.
Any breach of this policy would result in immediate termination, and legal action would be taken against
the person responsible.
After that meeting, the entirepany was cautious when it came to Luca''s personal affairs. They
dared not to gossip about her, and they avoided discussing it behind her back.
Rhett heard their conversation, cleared his throat, and said, "Let''s call it a day for now."
"Yes, let''s go home. Knowing our research schedule, we''ll probably have to work day and night in the
future. We should cherish these days when we don''t have to work overtime," said one of the
researchers.
After they tidied up everything, they did not linger in theboratory. Instead, they left together.
Luca took a ride in Warren''s car back to the vi.
Her three children had already finished school and were busypleting their homework as quickly as
possible since they were going out for dinner tonight. When they saw Luca return, they greeted her
briefly before continuing with their work.
Luca entered the kitchen. There was no need to prepare dinner tonight, so Aunt Neile was busy
preparing breakfast for the next day. She had already prepared the ingredients.
This way, she could arrive a bitter when she came over tomorrow and also speed up the breakfast
preparation.
"Aunt Neile, you don''t have to prepare dinner tonight. You may leave early," said Luca when she
noticed that Aunt Neile was still working. It was a rare asion that she did not need to prepare dinner,
so she wanted Aunt Neile to go home early.
"Sure, Ms. Craw. I''ll prepare the burger patties first and head home afterward," Aunt Neile happily
agreed. She held a knife in each hand, manually chopping the patties.
Hand-chopped patties had a better texture than machine-processed patties. After finishing the task,
she ced the minced meat in arge bowl and began seasoning it.
When Aunt Neile noticed that Luca was still watching her, she asked, "Ms. Craw, would you like to do
the seasoning? The kids love your cooking. If you season the patties, they might enjoy the food even
more. Who knows, they might have an extra burger?"
"Sure." Luca did not refuse. After she walked to the sink and washed her hands, she took therge
bowl from Aunt Neile and added the seasonings to the meat.
Aunt Neile usually followed Luca''s recipes for the exact measurements, even using a kitchen scale to
weigh the seasonings.
Aunt Neile watched Luca season the meat. Luca did not use the kitchen scale but added the
ingredients one by one in the same order before mixing them in thoroughly. Aunt Neile could not help
but marvel. "Ms. Craw, it''s like you''ve got a scale in your mind..." "After doing tons of experiments, I can
pretty much eyeball how much seasoning I need," exined Luca.