Mr. Crow tilted his head, his dark feathers ruffling slightly as he asked, ’Are you sure you’re not misunderstanding Cassandra?’
Lana shook her head firmly, her expression unreadable but her eyes cold and certain. She knew Cassandra... at least, she thought she did.
’I know her better than anyone else,’ she told herself, though even that conviction now sounded hollow in her mind.
Looking straight at Cassandra, Lana said calmly, "I don’t want others to know that I was abused."
Cassandra stared at her in confusion. "Why are you hiding it? Why can’t you just expose the Almond family’s flaws? Let them face public sha for what they’ve done!"
Lana let out a bitter laugh, glaring at Cassandra as she unlocked her wristband and opened the university’s online forum.
"Expose them, huh?" she muttered coldly.
On the screen, the forum was filled with heated discussions. The topic?
The bet between her and Brenda, and how Lana had already paid off the $30 million she owed to the Almond family.
Originally, everyone had cheered for her. She had been praised for her courage and independence, celebrated for standing tall against her past.
But now, the tide had turned completely. The forum was overflowing with hatred.
Soone had posted pictures... disturbing pictures... of Brenda’s scarred body, covered in old marks and burns. The caption asked:
"Does Lana still deserve all the praise she’s getting?"
It claid that Brenda’s suffering was the result of Lana’s greedy parents... the very sa parents who had switched the two girls at birth.
The post spread like wildfire, and in an instant, the entire campus began to sympathize with Brenda.
No one spoke up for Lana anymore.
There were still so who didn’t attack her, but their silence was just as cruel.
Others went further, claiming that Lana must have been in contact with her biological parents, conspiring to make Brenda suffer.
One comnt read, "Do you really think soone as calculating as her didn’t know what her parents were doing? She’s just acting innocent now."
Another said, "She probably used that $30 million to silence the Almond, just to clean her image. God knows how she might have earned it anyway!"
There were even conspiracy threads accusing her of playing the long ga... pretending to be the victim while being the real culprit all along.
Cassandra’s face twisted with anger as she read through the comnts.
"This is insane! I’ll use my family’s influence and make sure whoever spread this filth pays! They can’t just slander you like this!"
Before she could continue, Lana’s voice cut through sharply.
"Are you blind, Cassandra? Or are you just pretending to be?"
Her tone was colder than ice. For the first ti, it wasn’t the composed or teasing Lana that Cassandra knew.
’She’s really losing it,’ Mr. Crow realized silently, watching from her shoulder.
The Lana he knew about was calm and composed. She could even laugh when others insulted her and stand tall when others bullied her, but now...
Lana could feel her own control slipping. Her voice trembled slightly, not from fear... but from the haunting mories and Cassandra’s strange yet familiar actions.
It was as if... as if she was back to the ti when she was just 16...
Her chest felt tight. Her throat burned.
’Why... why does she always make my heart ache like this?’ she thought bitterly. ’Why does she keep reopening wounds I worked so hard to bury?’
Before Mr. Crow could ask Lana what type of mories, the scene in front of him blurred, and suddenly he saw a lush green garden with bushes and trees pruned into ornantal shapes.
In the center was a round white table with two chairs occupied by two beauties. One with black hair and a charming smile, while the other with blonde hair.
"Then I confronted her and asked why she was so envious of . You should have seen her face! She almost fled in panic! Her exit couldn’t be any more chaotic! Haha!" Cassandra laughed, and Lana laughed along.
Just then, one of their servants entered and waited at a certain distance from them. Cassandra bead at the sight of the maid and motioned her.
"Co here."
Though Lana was confused, she obediently waited.
After all, before, Cassandra never let any maid interrupt their conversation.
Her catchphrase was, ’Let spend ti with my bestie! Otherwise, she would be stolen by the bandits of the Almond family!’
Indeed, the Almond brothers once loved Lana to the point that they limited the ti she could spend with others so that they could spend more ti with her.
She watched in confusion as Cassandra took out a blue sapphire bracelet from a velvet box.
The mont Lana saw the chain, her eyes widened in surprise, and she opened her mouth in surprise.
Cassandra checked the watch before counting down, "5... 4... 3... 2... 1! Happy Friendship Day!"
"Eh..." Lana was confused before she realized that the country from which Cassandra’s family belonged had a ti difference of 6 hours, and it must be another day here.
The 15-year-old Lana looked mischievous like a cat, and her eyes sparkled at the sight of the bracelet. "Did you..."
"Yes! I designed it myself! Even these blue sapphire diamonds aren’t real; I made them from a special stone that resembled sapphire but had the power to increase the chances of awakening a superpower!" Cassandra said proudly, her blonde curls bouncing as she smiled.
Lana’s lips parted in awe. "You... you made this for ?"
Cassandra nodded eagerly. "Of course! Who else? You’re my best friend, dummy. No one deserves it more than you."
Lana chuckled softly, her cheeks tinting red as she extended her hand. "Then I’ll treasure it."
Cassandra grinned and gently fastened the bracelet around Lana’s wrist. "Just for this gift that required 2 months to make... You need to make sure that... you will never break off our friendship!"
Lana giggled, "Hey! Don’t worry! I will stick to you to the point your children will call Daddy instead of your real husband!"
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