Chapter 6

As soon as Lana left, the first thing she did in her car was pull out her phone and make a call. "Arrange for reporters to wait outside the Mitchell house."

Since they had all thrown away their shame, she would help them tear off that last fig leaf.

After hanging up, Lana drove to her new house.

Southern Court was located in the most prosperous area of the city center.

A nearly 2,000-square-foot duplex apartment.

Great location, naturally with a hefty price tag.

Over thirty million, which Lana paid in full.

She used the emergency fund that Ethan had asked her to keep—money she had never been willing to touch before.

Ethan was an extremely meticulous person who not only strategized but also liked to prepare for contingencies.

So shortly after establishing the company, he would regularly deposit money each year for emergencies.

The money was deposited under her name, with amounts based on company profits. Over four years, he had saved a total of five hundred million.

This money could indeed help him make a comeback if anything went wrong.

Too bad he would never get the chance.

Just as she finished organizing the things she'd brought, there was a commotion at the Mitchell house.

It was almost 2 PM when Ethan and Lily finally left the Mitchell house, with Margaret and Stephanie seeing them to the door.

Just as they were reluctantly saying goodbye, a large group of reporters suddenly rushed out.

“Mr. Mitchell, while you claim your relationship with Miss Walsh is just a normal superior-subordinate one, you bring her home to meet your family. Are you really planning to abandon the wife who suffered through hardships with you for years?"

"And Mrs. Mitchell and Miss Mitchell, not only do you have no objections to Mr. Mitchell's actions, you seem to actually support them!"

"What's wrong with subordinates having dinner together?" Stephanie immediately stepped forward. "I invited Lily here. She just happened to run into my brother..."

"At a time like this, you not only don’t avoid suspicion but actually host the woman at the center of rumors with Mr. Mitchell at home. Where does that leave his wife? Or are you hoping they'll get divorced?"

The reporters' questions were particularly sharp. Stephanie, whose motives were impure to begin with, looked guilty. "Who sent you here? What's your purpose in targeting my brother?"

This was also Ethan's main concern. "Go back and tell whoever sent you—bring it on. I'm not backing down!"

Lana knew that Ethan said this not only to declare war on his imaginary enemy, but mainly to tell the netizens following this story that he and Lily were innocent—that someone was scheming behind the scenes.

Seeing this, Lana laughed lightly. "Ethan, since you want to prove yourself, I'll give you that chance!"

Exiting the livestream, Lana first sent a text to someone, then put down her phone and went to the kitchen to make herself a bowl of noodles. After eating, she went upstairs for an afternoon nap.

Her mental state hadn't been great these past few days.

Even though she no longer cared, sometimes her mind was completely out of control.

Especially at night—whenever she closed her eyes, she would think of people and things she didn't want to remember at all.

She thought she wouldn't be able to sleep since this was a new environment, but surprisingly she slept until 8 PM.

She was woken up by Sophie's call.

Sophie Chancer, her best friend, was asking her to go to a bar.

She changed into a white knit cardigan and light blue jeans, casually tied up her hair, and didn't even put on makeup before heading out.

Since she was just meeting Sophie, comfort was key.

At the entrance of the bar, Lana met Sophie, who was wearing elaborate makeup.

As soon as they met, Sophie scolded her. "What are you wearing?"

Lana laughed. "I don't remember this place having a dress code."

"...Don't laugh! Look at everyone going in there—they show as much skin as possible, and here you are dressed like a nun." Sophie dragged Lana to the women's clothing store across from the bar as she spoke.

Once inside, she immediately found a strapless red dress that went to the knees. "Go change into this."

Lana had never dressed like this before, so she was a bit resistant. "Pick something else."

"Change into what? This one, hurry up..." Sophie's eyes narrowed. "Or do you want me to help you?"

"..."

Lana eventually went to change. It was cold outside anyway, so she'd have to wear a coat over it.

When she came out after changing, Sophie was very satisfied. "This is how you should look! Lana, since your time and devotion were wasted on a jerk, from now on lock away your heart and live as freely as possible!"

Lana understood Sophie's concern for her. She smiled and nodded. "Okay!"

Actually, Lana envied Sophie. She lived very freely and was never bound by anyone.

She should learn from her.

The two left the clothing store and returned to the bar. As they walked in, Sophie immediately spotted Ryan Luther, who was drinking with his buddies in a booth.

He and Sophie had been sworn enemies since childhood.

Sophie's face immediately darkened. "Damn it, what a small world! Lana, with that outfit Ryan probably won't recognize you, so you go in first. I'll wait a bit longer!"

After saying this, she thought of something and quickly added, "Just to clarify, I'm not afraid of that bastard—I just don't want to see him."

Lana was noncommittal. "I'll wait for you in the private room then."

"Okay!"

Sophie hid back in her car while Lana continued walking in. Just as she reached the private room door, someone suddenly grabbed her.

The person was running very fast and slammed her against the wall, pressing their full weight against her.

Everything happened so suddenly that it took Lana several seconds to react. Just as she was about to push the person away, she heard...

"Save me..."

The person's voice was barely louder than a whisper.

Only then did Lana notice that the man was breathing heavily and had a strong smell of blood on him.

Not knowing what the situation was, Lana didn't dare meddle randomly. What if she provoked the wrong people...

It wasn't that she was afraid of trouble, but she still had Ethan to deal with and couldn't afford complications.

Besides, bars were places where all kinds of people mixed—who knew if this person was good or bad.

With this thought, Lana pushed hard. "Find someone else. I can't save you."

"...Sorry for troubling you."

The person didn't say anything more, covering his abdomen that had already stained his white shirt red, and continued walking forward.

Lana looked away and was about to push open the private room door...

"Thud..."

The sound of a heavy object hitting the ground.

Lana looked around and found there was no surveillance cameras in the hallway.

In the end, Lana's reason lost to her overflowing sympathy.

She brought the person into the private room and had him lie on the sofa.

Looking at his pale face, Lana hesitated before lifting up the hem of his shirt.

The wound was on the lower left side of his abdomen—a long gash, but not serious, just a surface wound.

Lana found the first aid kit in the private room and helped him stop the bleeding and bandage the wound.

During the treatment, she accidentally hurt him. He sucked in a sharp breath and opened his tightly closed eyes.

Their eyes met. Looking into those ink-black starry eyes, Lana suddenly felt a sense of familiarity.

She felt like she had seen him somewhere before, but couldn't remember exactly where.

A sudden knock on the door brought Lana back to her senses.