Lana frowned slightly as she stared at the rapidly increasing orders.
"This is getting out of hand..." she murmured.
Curious, she checked the source when she saw Noah’s post, a small smile curved on her lips.
"So he chose to repay the favor," she said softly.
Her eyes softened slightly. ’At least he’s smart enough to understand...’
Without hesitation, she made a decision. "In the future... Margaret gets special treatnt."
She quickly set a permanent thirty percent discount for Margaret’s account before returning to her work.
Not long after, Margaret noticed sothing strange.
She stared at her phone, her brows knitting together.
"That’s... odd..." she muttered.
Her friends, who also bought talismans from Lana’s shop, were paying one hundred thousand dollars for a single talisman.
But she was the only one paying seventy thousand.
A noticeable difference. Her friends quickly noticed too.
"Wait... why are you paying less?" one of them asked, her tone filled with disbelief.
Another leaned closer. "Is that so kind of special privilege?"
Envy crept into their voices.
Margaret blinked, equally stunned.
’Is this... a mistake?’ she wondered.
For a mont, she even felt a slight pang of guilt.
’Am I... accidentally taking advantage of Lana’s hard-earned money?’
Margaret did not let the matter rest so easily. The uneasy feeling lingered in her chest, tugging at her conscience like a faint whisper that refused to fade.
"I should at least confirm it," she muttered under her breath.
She eventually filed a complaint, explaining the discrepancy in pricing and asking whether it was so kind of error.
Only after receiving a response did she finally relax.
"This discount... is because of Noah’s post," she read aloud softly, her eyes widening slightly.
A faint smile appeared on her lips. The tension in her shoulders lted away as relief washed over her.
’So it wasn’t a mistake...’
That evening, she told Noah everything. Noah listened quietly at first, but soon a chuckle escaped his lips.
"She really went that far?" he said, shaking his head slightly.
He hadn’t even asked for anything in return. Yet Lana had rewarded him so generously.
’That girl...’
A thoughtful expression appeared on his face.
"She’s promising," he murmured. "Soone like her... is rare."
For a brief mont, the idea of recruiting her crossed his mind, but he quickly pushed it aside.
’No... soone like that won’t be easy to bring under control.’
At the sa ti, Lana received a proposal.
The mont she saw the offer, she almost laughed out loud.
"Ten million?" she muttered, her lips curling into a cold smile.
Her eyes flickered with amusent and a hint of disdain.
’Do they take for a fool?’
Her current net worth had already reached billions.
Every single day, her sales exceeded one hundred million dollars.
And yet, the Talisman Association dared to approach her with such an offer, as if they were doing her a favor.
"It’s not even insulting," she said quietly. "It’s... laughable."
Without hesitation, she rejected it.
When Giovanni received her response, he imdiately reported back.
Boris’ expression darkened the mont he heard it.
"So she refused..." he muttered, his tone turning cold.
After a brief silence, he added, "Let her be for now. But when the opportunity cos... We’ll drag her down."
Amin, who stood nearby, could not help but sigh softly.
"Nowadays, the Talisman Association doesn’t feel like an association anymore," she murmured. "It feels like a battlefield."
Her gaze turned distant.
"I joined hoping to learn... to grow," she continued quietly. "And I did. I even beca one of the founding directors."
A bitter smile appeared on her lips.
"But now... everything revolves around profit. Power. Competition."
She shook her head slightly. "I don’t even feel joy being here anymore."
Yet she remained. Because she had no choice.
A large portion of her inco ca from the association.
And more importantly, she did not have the courage to leave. Nor the strength to make them her enemies.
Still... a faint admiration flickered in her eyes when she thought of Lana.
’At least she’s doing things her own way...’
anwhile, a small disturbance began brewing online.
A custor had posted a complaint, claiming that he received a fake talisman.
His post was aggressively promoted, gaining visibility quickly.
At first, many dismissed it.
"He must be hired," soone comnted. "Probably sent by competitors."
But Lana did not ignore it. She narrowed her eyes slightly as she read through the post
Then she checked the records. To her surprise, the man was indeed a genuine custor.
And not just that... he was a loyal one.
’That’s strange...’
Without wasting ti, she contacted him directly.
At that mont, the man sat in frustration, staring at his phone.
"No response... no justice..." he muttered bitterly.
Just then, his phone rang. An unknown number. He frowned before picking it up.
"Hello?"
"This is Lana," a calm voice ca from the other side. "The owner of the talisman shop."
He froze. At first, he thought it was a prank.
But after a brief verification, he realized it was real.
His emotions surged all at once, shock, frustration, relief.
"You finally called," he said, his voice carrying a mix of anger and exhaustion.
Then he told her everything. Every detail.
Once he finished, Lana spoke calmly.
"While we cannot take responsibility if the talisman was swapped after delivery," she said, "I can personally verify whether it was tampered with during the process."
The man hesitated for a mont before nodding. "Alright... co check it."
Soon, Lana arrived at the location with a companion.
The woman beside her was from Shadowridge University’s exoray departnt.
She possessed a rare ability to glimpse into the past by touching an object.
When they arrived, the man introduced himself.
"My na is Nicholas."
He looked at Lana with a slightly stunned expression.
’The founder herself ca...?’
His impression of her improved instantly.
After handing over the talisman, the woman, Jamie, stepped forward.
She gently touched it. Her eyes closed.
For a mont, everything fell silent.
Then, she was transported back to the mont of delivery.
Her brows furrowed.
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