Twins in Her Womb: Sir President, Please be Gentle by Heap Heap

Luca was surprised. Did he find more medicinal herbs?

That was quick.

Even though this industry networking event was not huge, the venue was sizable
with so many pharmaceutical merchants and herbalists around.

Luca wondered how many people Luke had dispatched to find these medicinal
herbs one after another so quickly...

"Found more?" Luca did not realize her voice was trembling as she spoke.
Warren nodded and replied, "Yes, Mr. Turner found another batch, but Mr.
Crawford wanted me to ask if you still want to purchase all of them this time?"
Warren spoke in a low voice. After Luca pondered for a few seconds, she replied,
"Not for now. Just let me know the booth number. Oh, and ask Mr. Turner to
purchase a few medicinal herbs and keep them aside.”

"Alright." Warren knew what she meant. She wanted Evan to make a small
purchase and then inform her of the booth number.

Luca had no intention of making a large purchase.

Warren left again after receiving her instructions.

Luca stood in the venue and continued wandering aimlessly. She was not
worried about Abel causing trouble for her anymore. If she continued to search,
she could tell him that there was another booth that could provide him with the
herbs he wanted.

She did not know what Abel and Shanks were researching since they were
looking for so many poisonous herbal medicines. Her intuition told her it was not
simple.

Thus, she did not want them to smoothly collect all the medicinal herbs.

What if the drugs they were researching were meant to harm Luke or Nyla...
Luca dared not think further.

She knew Shanks would not harm people indiscriminately, but Abel would.
Moreover, if Abel really intended to harm someone she valued, Shanks would not
warn her either. Therefore, she had to be cautious.

After a while, Shanks called Luca.

When Luca saw him calling, she felt a tremor in her heart. She was concerned
that the herbs Shanks found might be the same ones found by Luke's men.

She answered the phone, "Mr. Shanks, what kind of medicinal herb did you
find?"

"Pinellia ternata," replied Shanks on the other end of the call. "It's around booth
number 1347. You can skip that area later. I've already checked."

Luca let out a sigh of relief. It was not the medicinal herb Luke had found, nor
was it a booth from that area. Then, she said, "Alright, I got it."

After hanging up, Warren sent her a message: [Purchased.]

Luca replied: [Noted.] Then, she cleared the chat history.

After Shanks made that call, Luca did not receive any more calls from Shanks or
Abel until noon.

She knew these medicinal herbs were not easy to find. Finding three of them
instantly could be attributed to good luck.

When it was noon, the crowd at the venue diminished significantly due to the hot
weather. Many pharmaceutical merchants and herbalists were not standing at
their booths. They had gone off to have lunch.

Additionally, the area here was about to temporarily close and would reopen
around three in the afternoon.

Luca returned to Luke's side, and Evan also came back.

Evan's face was red because of the sun. It showed that he had been in many
places for quite some time under the scorching sun to complete Luke's task.
Luca thought to herself that Evan's determination to cooperate with Luke was
evident.

If he did not have any intention of cooperating with Luke in the future, he would
not be taking Luke's tasks so seriously now.

"Let's grab some food." Luke watched as Luca walked toward him and noticed
she had been out in the sun for a little too long. It caused him to furrow his brows
involuntarily.

The woman he held dear in his hands and protected in his heart was having a
rough day.

When he recalled Luca taking a punch from Abel and running around the venue,
he felt a twinge of annoyance.

Just a moment ago, he had put on a fake smile and exchanged pleasantries with
Abel. He met Abel on equal terms, with both of them uttering insincere words to
appease each other.

Knowing that Abel was not who he claimed to be, Luke was observant and
noticed many details.

Luke never paid much attention to these things before, partly because he did not
know Bianca was an imposter. It was also partly because he had more
suspicions about Luca at the time. That was why he had not noticed as much.
When he saw Abel, he felt not only resentment but also regret.

He regretted his previous carelessness that had caused Luca so much trouble.

If he had known Abel was from the Island of Despair, he would have confessed
everything he knew to Luca.

"Sure." Luca nodded, trailing behind Evan. She was not sure if Abel's
subordinates were still around, so she kept her distance from Luke.

The three of them exited the venue together.

Luke had already booked a table at a nearby restaurant, and Warren drove them
away.

Once Luke's car had left, Abel and Shanks walked out of the venue. Their gazes
followed the direction Luke's car had taken.

"Does she know we're keeping an eye on her, so she's intentionally keeping her
distance from Luke?" Now that they were out of the venue, Abel lit up a cigar and
took a puff.

He remembered the scene where he and Luke had exchanged pleasantries. His
face darkened.

Even though Luke had not said anything out of line, his words hinted at Watson's
promising future and his intention to acquire Abel's company.

It was a joke! Watson's promising future was all thanks to Luca's research.

At first, Abel was worried that if Watson did not want Luca, he would have trouble
getting Luca closer to Luke. Thus, when Luca left the Island of Despair, he had
her take Shanks' two research findings with her.

With those two research findings, there was no way Watson would reject Luca.
Watson was not as formidable as he seemed. He was merely making a sacrifice
to get Luca closer to Luke, giving her more opportunities to make a move.
Watching the lovers fight each other was part of Abel's plan to retaliate against
Luke.

Moreover, could Luke really acquire his company?

Sooner or later, he would make Luke understand the consequences of his
actions!

At the thought of this, Abel took another harsh drag of his cigar.

Those who were leaving the venue caught a whiff of Abel's secondhand smoke
and grimaced. They shot him reproachful glances before hurriedly leaving.
Shanks also headed toward the parking area.

"You..." Abel had no choice but to follow him. He caught up to him and asked,
"Are you mad?"

Shanks was naturally aloof. He spoke in a cold tone, but his coldness differed
from Luke's imposing demeanor. He was the kind who preferred to blend into the
crowd. "Why would I be angry?"

"lvana’s tagging along with Luke." Abel had always thought that Shanks had a bit
of a soft spot for Luca.

Otherwise, why would Shanks, who typically remained aloof toward everyone,
keep helping Luca?

At the same time, he also treated Luca's little girl with warmth and affection.
Every time Abel witnessed such scenes, he could not help but feel like Shanks
was willingly taking on the role of that little girl's stepfather.

"What's going on in your head?" Shanks gave him a cold stare. The cigar in
Abel's hand was nearly burnt to the end, but he had not taken a puff.