As soon as they saw Lana, the Rivers family mbers put on flattering smiles.
Lana’s gaze settled on the man standing at the front.
He carried himself with an upright posture, dressed in a tailored suit with a vest beneath.
His blond hair was neatly styled, his black eyes calm and steady, and his fair skin was nearly flawless.
He looked every bit like soone born into righteousness and authority.
What truly caught Lana’s attention, however, was the aura surrounding him.
White.
Pure, soft white light enveloped his form, giving him an almost benevolent presence.
Intertwined with that white was a faint purple hue.
’He’s genuinely kind,’ Lana thought, mildly surprised.
Behind him stood several bodyguards and an assistant.
The assistant had brown hair and wore a beige suit.
When he noticed Lana’s gaze shift toward him, he smiled politely. Yet Lana was not looking at his face.
She was staring at his aura.
It was pitch-black.
Her heart skipped slightly.
’That’s not normal,’ she thought. ’Sothing bad is going to happen to him.’
The mont that thought crossed her mind, her vision blurred.
She was dragged into a vision.
The surroundings turned dark.
The assistant was being pulled by an unseen force down a long, shadowy hallway.
The lights were completely out. His footsteps echoed as he struggled, his voice shaking as he cried out for help. No one answered. No one ca.
A black door lood ahead.
As he was dragged through it, the door slamd shut.
Everything went dark.
"Lana."
She snapped out of the vision when she heard Lucian calling her na.
Only then did she realize she had blanked out again.
Her breath was slightly uneven as she slowly lifted her gaze back to the man in front of her.
Before she could say a single word, her vision shifted once more.
Another vision seized her.
This ti, it was the head of the Rivers family.
Just like the assistant, he was being dragged toward the sa black door.
His expression was filled with disbelief and fear.
The scene repeated itself with chilling precision. The door closing, the darkness swallowing him whole.
Lana’s consciousness returned abruptly.
She frowned deeply, unease curling in her chest.
’Why am I seeing this?’ she wondered. ’Why am I having visions like these at all?’
Was destiny nudging her to intervene and alter the course of their lives, or was it simply flashing a cold warning she couldn’t afford to ignore?
Either way, Lana knew she couldn’t tune it out.
She lifted her gaze and looked at Mr. Rivers with a calm smile. "I’m Lana."
The mont her na left her lips, Mr. Rivers’ expression softened. "Ian Rivers."
As soon as he finished speaking, Lana gave a small nod, then shifted her attention toward the man standing slightly behind him.
The assistant straightened instinctively, as though he already understood her unspoken question. "Joseph."
The instant he introduced himself, Lana smiled faintly. "Joseph, you shouldn’t go near dark places."
The words landed softly, yet both Ian and Joseph stiffened.
Lucian, however, rely smiled.
He glanced at Ian and Joseph before speaking evenly.
"Our Lana loves to care about everyone. Shall we sit?"
The suggestion dissolved the tension.
Everyone took the hint, deliberately brushing past Lana’s strange warning as if it had never been spoken.
Once they were seated, Mr. Rivers looked directly at Lana, his gaze steady.
"Because of our family, you’ve suffered a great deal. I’m here to offer compensation."
Hearing that, Lana’s eyes lit up with interest, though she kept her emotions carefully restrained.
Ian glanced at his assistant, who imdiately gestured to the bodyguards.
One by one, they stepped forward, placing several red booklets onto the table.
The mont Lana saw them, her eyes brightened despite herself.
Property transfer deeds. More than five properties, each worth a fortune.
Any ordinary person would have lost composure on the spot.
Yet Lana didn’t reach for them. She didn’t even let excitent show on her face.
’Negotiations are never about what’s offered first,’ she reminded herself calmly.
She studied the docunts for a mont before smiling faintly and lifting her gaze to Ian.
"So this is what I’m worth to you?"
The atmosphere froze instantly.
Ian hadn’t expected her to be this sharp, this calculating.
Anyone else, especially soone cast out by a wealthy family, would have been overjoyed. Instead, he found himself reassessing her entirely.
’I underestimated her,’ he admitted inwardly.
Five properties were generous, but hoping she would quietly let everything go in exchange was, in hindsight, naïve.
Ian smiled again, though this ti it carried a hint of seriousness.
"This is only preliminary compensation. The real compensation is a wish. Whatever you request, I’ll see it fulfilled."
Lana narrowed her eyes slightly before speaking, her voice steady.
"I want the breakthrough materials for celestial rank mystic cultivation."
Silence swallowed the room.
Even Ian Rivers hadn’t anticipated sothing so drastic.
Celestial-rank materials were worth billions, rare to the point of absurdity.
To ask for them so directly was almost shocking.
Ian inhaled deeply.
"That... may be difficult. Even with money, those materials are extrely hard to obtain. We would need ti."
Lana smiled, unbothered. "I have ti. I am at Yellow Rank now."
She didn’t bother hiding her cultivation any longer.
There was no reason to.
Power had to be displayed, or others would continue to trample over it without even realizing they were doing so.
Just monts ago, Ian had offered real estate, excellent compensation by any standard, but compared to her life as a mystic cultivator, it was trivial.
’If I died tomorrow,’ she thought coolly, ’my worth would already surpass this.’
She had assud Ian knew everything about her.
After all, how could he not have investigated her background?
And yet, if he truly knew, why offer only five properties?
Ian, anwhile, exchanged a stunned glance with Joseph. ’A mystic cultivator?’
In truth, Lana had been mistaken. Ian had investigated her, but all he discovered was that she possessed unusual abilities.
There had been no ntion of mystic cultivation.
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