"A gift? I've prepared something on your behalf." Luke went to the trunk and took out a nicely packaged gift.
The gift was handed to her but Luca did not take it. "Is there only one? If you give me yours, what are you going to give to Old
Master Crawford?"
"My gift has been passed to Grandpa. I prepared this for you. Take it," Luke said. He guessed that Luca might have forgotten to
prepare a gift so he prepared one for her in advance.
In the past, she was not as forgetful and was always the one who reminded him about things as such. He was somewhat not
used to it now that the tables were turned.
Luca took it. The gift was heavy and looked expensive. "Mr. Crawford, how much is this? I'll pass you the money for it later."
"We'll talk about it later." Luke helped her prepare the gift but had no intention of asking her to pay him back.
Luca felt impotent. Luke then took out an envelope from the pocket inside his suit and handed it over.
"I assume you didn't prepare any birthday money for him. Here," Luke said.
Luca shook her head. Her initial plan was to buy a gift or get an envelope at a nearby shopping mall so she could put some cash
into it. Unexpectedly, Luke had already prepared everything. However, she did not have any cash on her.
"Mr. Crawford, I don't have any cash. I'll just give Old Master Crawford the present. Hopefully, he won't mind."
Luke shoved the envelope into her hand and said, "I got it all ready for you."
Luca felt the thick envelope and realized that there was money in it. Luke had indeed gotten everything ready.
With these, she would not be ashamed to walk into the hotel.
"All good?" Luke asked.
Luca nodded. The gift and birthday money were all prepared. Even if Susan made things difficult for her during the event, she
would not be able to pick on Luca.
The two entered the hotel together.
Old Master Crawford was sitting and waiting for the guests to arrive. When he saw Luca walk in with Luke, he immediately
smiled and stood up with the help of his cane.
"Luca, you're here." Old Master Crawford was full of vitality. Luca could hear his every word even from a distance. She quickly
walked toward Old Master Crawford.
"Old Master Crawford, I wish you a happy birthday, good health, and long life," Luca said.
Old Master Crawford smiled happily. He thought that her wishes were thoughtful and exactly what he wanted in life. "Thank you,
Luca. You're too sweet."
Luca smiled and handed him the gift along with the birthday money. "Old Master Crawford, these are for you."
Old Master Crawford was delighted when he saw the gift and birthday money. It was not that he liked receiving gifts but that
these showed Luca's care for him.
"I'm happy that you're here. You didn't have to prepare these." Since the last incident, Old Master Crawford has been more and
more pleased with Luca.
Luca explained, "This is what I should do. Please accept them."
Old Master Crawford was satisfied. He nodded and gave the butler a wink. The butler, who was standing beside him, nodded
and accepted the birthday money and gift in Luca's hands.
Many wanted to send gifts to Old Master Crawford but there were not many gifts that the butler would manage personally.
Susan stood not far away. She kept watch and understood what their actions meant. Luca was important to Old Master
Crawford.
There were many rich and famous in A City. Many of them were as established as Old Master Crawford but few could get his
attention.
The birthday money and gifts presented were usually handled by the maid and the waiters from the hotel. The butler stood
behind Old Master Crawford, and only those who were valued would have their gifts kept by him!
Susan looked at Luca, who looked exquisite. She was fuming inside. She finally drove Bianca away but now, there was Luca.
Based on the present development, even if Bianca died, sooner or later there would be another woman by Luke's side. At
present, the woman who was most likely to replace Bianca was Luca.
Susan knew a lot about Luca. She was more difficult to deal with than Bianca...
The most important thing was, she had talked to her before and found that Luca did not seem to plan to stand on her side nor did
she care about being Luke's wife.
It seemed that it was not that she did not care about being Luke's wife but that she knew she had the chance to win, so she did
not bother working with Susan.
Susan thought that a woman as such was ambitious and scheming. If she succeeded in marrying Luke, Susan and Louis' status
in the Crawford family would worsen day by day.
She could not let this happen.
When Susan thought of that, she walked over with a smile on her face and said, "Ms. Craw, you're here. You even brought a gift
and birthday money for Old Master Crawford. How nice."
Luca nodded. She knew that Susan did not have the best of intentions but she could not do anything about it. "Mrs. Crawford,
hello."
Susan glanced at the gift in the butler's hand, pretended to be curious, and asked, "I'm a little curious, Ms. Craw. What did you
prepare for Old Master Crawford? Tell us more."
Luca was in trouble. After being the granddaughter-in-law of the Crawford family for so many years, she knew that the gifts kept
by the butler would have the sender's name written down on them. Old Master Crawford would unwrap them after he returned
home from the banquet.
However, she did not prepare the gift herself.
She did not expect Old Master Crawford to let the butler keep it, so she did not ask Luke what he had prepared in advance. After
all, what he prepared would be something of Old Master Crawford's taste. She was not worried that it would offend Old Master
Crawford.
"Why are you so quiet all of a sudden? Don't worry, Old Master Crawford is not stern. Even if the gift is not valuable, it's good
enough that you have the thought. He doesn't care whether the gift is valuable or not." Susan continued. She thought that Luca
got something worthless seeing how embarrassed she appeared.
Luca smiled, went along, and said, "It's nothing much. It's just a small gift. I hope Old Master Crawford will like it."
"Of course, I'll like what you gave me." Old Master Crawford was cheerful. He appreciated the thought.
Susan felt unhappy when she saw Old Master Crawford react as such. She spent a lot of money to prepare his birthday gift but
when Old Master Crawford saw it, he did not say anything. On the contrary, he was chatty when he received Luca's gift.
"Oh, I'm so curious now. Since there aren't many people now, why don't we open it and take a look?" Susan was dissatisfied.
She already regarded Luca as an enemy, so she wanted to compare her gift to Luca's.
Luca understood what she meant and felt helpless.
Luke said, "Dr. Craw knows that Grandpa likes to collect antiques, so she bought him one."
Susan keenly captured some information and asked sharply, "Antique? Luke, how do you know that? Could it be that Dr. Craw
asked you to help her buy this gift?"
What Old Master Crawford liked most was the sincerity of others. If this gift was bought by Luke on behalf of Luca, the sincerity
would be greatly discounted.