Luke walked out of the bathroom to see Luca hiding under the blanket like an ostrich.
He could not even see her head.
Luke chuckled and asked, "Isn't it hard to breathe under the blanket?"
It was suffocating.
Luca could hear her heart pounding fast under the blanket. She was nervous, like a child who was about to do something bad.
She could not get used to it.
Luke noticed that she was pretending to sleep, so he said, "Don't worry, I won't do anything to you tonight."
They had work to do tomorrow, and Luca had to help him. If he indulged himself tonight, she would be tired tomorrow.
Luke could not bear to see her tired.
Luca slowly stuck out her head and looked at him, "Is that true?"
"I've never lied to you," said Luke. He picked up the hair dryer and dried his hair.
Luca listened to the whirring sound of the hairdryer. It reminded her of the past.
Luke would not let her go that easily.
However, it seemed like Luke would still succeed in conquering her heart when she tried to push him away every time.
Luca found a comfortable sleeping position and lay down on the bed. She listened to the sound of the hairdryer and recalled the
intimacy they shared back then. Her face turned slightly red.
Luke's hair was short, and it only took him a while to dry his hair.
He put the hairdryer back and lay down on the bed.
Luca could feel the warmth of his body leaning close to her. She could not help but tense up. Then, she felt his palm crossing her
waist before she was pulled into his arms.
"You're tensing up." She could hear Luke's breath in her ears. "Why are you so nervous?"
"No, I'm not. Good night," replied Luca. She thought of reaching out to turn off the lights.
Luke held Luca's hand that was reaching out of the blanket and said, "Let me do it."
Then, he reached out and turned off the lights.
Darkness fell upon the room.
Luke's hand was on her waist, and with her leaning against him, it made her feel secure.
Luca slept through the night without dreaming. Luke told her that he would not do anything to her, and he kept his word.
The man beside her was already awake when Luca woke up the next day.
Luca habitually listened to the noises around her to check if anyone was in the bathroom. After making sure no one was in the
bathroom, she picked up her phone lazily and glanced at the time. It was still early.
She headed downstairs after freshening herself up.
Percy, Nina, and the kids were still asleep. Luke sat at the dining table, reading the local magazine.
Luca walked toward him. She noticed the magazine in Luke's hands was on the traditional customs and practices in X City.
“Mr. Crawford, are you trying to understand the culture of X City?" asked Luca.
"Yes." Luke had asked the butler to get him two local magazines that were on the customs and cultures.
Although Luke's ancestors had settled in X City, he was born in A City.
Hence, he did not know much about the customs here.
The ancestral hall was related to the local cultures and religions. That was why he wanted to know more about the customs here
before he started designing.
Otto walked toward them and said respectfully, "Good morning, Young Master Luke. Good morning, Madam. The kitchen has
finished preparing breakfast. Would you like to have your breakfast now?"
"Yes, please. Thank you." Luca nodded. She dispelled the thought of asking Otto to stop calling her 'Madam'.
Luke would interrupt her if he heard that.
"Should I wake the kids up?" Otto asked.
"It's okay. Let the kids sleep for a while more." Luke closed the magazine, rose to his feet, and said, "We're going out to work
today. They'll be staying in the villa."
"Okay. I got it." Otto smiled and nodded.
After Luke and Luca had their breakfast, they set off to the ancestral hall.
It was a 20-minute drive from the villa to the ancestral hall. After Luke drove out of the Crawford Ancestral Home, Luca glanced
at the people who were standing outside. She could not help but shake her head.
"What's the matter?" Luke asked.
"It's still the New Year holidays, right? They don't look like they're celebrating New Year when they keep coming here," said Luca.
She was talking about the people wandering outside the wall.
When Otto told her that there was a display board out there, it aroused Luca's curiosity and she wanted to take a look at it.
However, she gave up the thought of looking at it when she saw the crowd.
"Holidays are the best time for architects to visit and look at various kinds of architectural designs. Plus, Influencers never get to
enjoy their holidays." Luke was being honest.
“But there are so many people..." Luca looked at those people. Some of them even picked up a selfie stick and did a live stream
under the snow.
She could not understand them.
"It's normal to have so many people out here as they're not allowed to go in. Besides.." Luke paused for a moment.
Luca turned to look at him with curiosity and asked, "Besides?"
"The Crawford Ancestral Home won some awards. Be it the architectural design or the courtyard and interior design, the place
has won all sorts of awards," said Luke.
Luca was surprised. Luke had never mentioned it to her.
An ancestral home that won so many awards. That explained why so many people came here.
Sure enough, holidays were the best time for the designers who strived to gain higher achievements to gain inspiration.
It was difficult for a building to win three such awards.
"Are they international awards?" Luca carefully asked. Although it was difficult to gain such an achievement, it seemed not too
hard if it was Luke's work.
Even though Luke was an architect, he knew a lot about other stuff.
"Yes." Luke nodded.
Luca smiled. Since Luke had brought up those awards to her, they must be internationally recognized awards. After all, he had
already won many local awards.
Luca made a wild guess and asked, "Is it the Pritzker Architecture Prize.."
"Bingo. You're smart. Let me reward you with something. What would you like to have for lunch?" Luke asked.
He was planning to have lunch with Luca outside so that they did not have to come back and forth.
Luca did not know whether she should laugh or cry when she heard him telling her that he was going to reward her like he was
rewarding a kid. She said, "Mr. Crawford, are you sure we have time to enjoy some good food? We can just order takeouts."
"We might have some time," said Luke.
"The two of us will be measuring everything and recording the data ourselves. We don't have so much time." said Luca. If they
took a day to finish the foundation work, they might have to work until midnight.
Judging from Luke's workaholic personality, he would not be distracted when he was at work. He would not waste his time on
other things either.
Luke raised his brows and said, "Trust me."
"Okay. I believe you. Let's have some seafood, then. I heard that there's a seafood restaurant nearby where we can get takeouts
from. Mr. Muller told me that their business is doing well too. We can order takeouts," said Luca. She had already asked Otto
yesterday.
She knew Luke was a picky eater.
They would not have time to hunt for good restaurants too. That was why Luca asked Otto about the restaurants that were open
during this period that served good food while providing takeouts too.
Luke could not help but exclaim when he heard her last sentence. “It seems like you've done some homework."
"As your assistant, I thought I should figure out these things in advance. Am I right?" Luca said playfully.
"I think I'll have to fire Mr. Doyle, then," Luke replied with a calm voice when he heard Luca tease him playfully