Chapter 97: Chapter 97: Cassandra’s Arrival

The reason Tom had stepped up was purely because he didn’t trust Lana and wanted to make sure Brenda wasn’t tricked.

After all, everyone knew about Lana’s mischievous personality.

He patted his chest and declared, “I’ll count the money in front of the entire class.”

At the same time, he gave a subtle glance to Brenda, as if to say,

’Don’t worry, I will manage everything!’

Brenda rolled her eyes internally. This guy was just a toad lusting after a swan!

However, she gave him a gentle smile.

Everyone looked at him in admiration while Lana tossed the bag in Tom’s direction.

Lana then watched as Tom took out the money and began inspecting it.

A few other classmates stood nearby, observing him from a distance. Once they were sure the notes weren’t fake, they nodded in approval.

Tom started counting. As the total neared thirty million dollars, his lips grew dry and cracked, and the confident smile on his face turned weak.

He glanced subtly at Brenda before looking back at the cash. At times, he wanted to skip a few notes, but the classmates behind him always corrected his count.

When he finally finished counting the thirty million, Tom gave a strained nod to Lana, signaling that the money was complete.

Hearing that, Lana turned toward Brenda with a wide grin. “So, Brenda, what are you going to do now?”

“Now, are you finally going to hand over the IOU,” Lana asked in a loud and clear voice, “or are you going to come up with another excuse, like the IOU is in the Almond family’s hands, or you didn’t bring it because you never thought I’d fulfill the deal?”

Brenda’s face turned red with anger. After all, she hadn’t expected Lana to expose every excuse she had planned.

Taking a deep breath, Brenda forced a smile and said, “My brother’s bringing the IOU. He’ll be here any second.”

Lana nodded patiently. “I just hope your brother arrives before nightfall. Otherwise, once the classmates leave, you and the Almond family might just act like bandits and not hand over the IOU.”

Brenda clenched her fists, her tone sharp. “We’re not that kind of people.”

Lana laughed softly and stayed silent.

Now, Brenda truly had no choice. She gestured sharply at Aston.

Aston, who had been watching everything, knew they couldn’t trick Lana this time.

’She’s already exposed every legitimate excuse we could have used to delay,’ he thought bitterly.

Begrudgingly, he took out the IOU. In fact, Leonard had anticipated this outcome and had sent a maid to secretly pass the IOU to Aston earlier.

Aston walked forward, handed the IOU to Brenda, then turned toward Lana and said calmly,

“From now on, the Almond family will have no relation with you. Since you’ve fulfilled what you owed, the Almond family will not bother you again.”

Lana smiled, took the IOU from Brenda’s hand, and examined it with satisfaction.

Then, using a matchstick she had brought, she lit the IOU on fire and watched it burn into ashes. Once it was completely gone, she let out a sigh of relief, turned, and left.

She had nothing more to say to her ex-brother or to Brenda.

Some people were just eyesores, and even though she knew how awful they were, the memories they shared were still painfully heavy. So, she left.

“Oh my god, Lana truly paid the debt! This girl has backbone!” Someone from the crowd whispered in admiration.

“Don’t you think the Almond family is going too far? Why so harsh on her? It’s not like she was behind the switch!”

“Brenda too… I thought of her as a victim, but with this IOU, it shows how deep her resentment was!”

“Correct!”

Aston gave a disappointed look in Brenda’s direction before walking away. However, in his heart, he was panicking a bit.

Even in his previous life… Lana never ignored him. But in this life…

’She must be acting to gain my attention!’ Aston comforted himself and walked away.

After returning to her mansion that evening, Lana lazed around for a while before resuming her talisman practice.

The next day, as she arrived at the school gate, a hand stopped her.

Looking down at the familiar hand, she slowly raised her gaze to see a beautiful woman with auburn hair and blue eyes.

Lana sighed inwardly.

’Of course. My luck with attracting the wrong people never fails.’

Taking a breath, she smiled and asked, “What are you doing here, Cassandra?”

Cassandra looked at her with teary eyes.

“Lana, have you cut ties with me too?” she asked in a trembling voice. “Did you really end our friendship just because you broke off with the Almond family? How can you be so selfish?”

Her voice carried deep grievance, and she immediately burst into sobs, hugging Lana tightly. Lana stiffened in disgust.

’This girl’s acting is so good that even I’d be moved if I didn’t already know her twisted mind,’ she thought.

Cassandra continued,

“I’ve been trying to reach you for a whole month! I even fought with my family over you! Do you think so little of me? I found out you were living in a temple, but when I went there, you were already gone. Later, I learned from the forums that you were at the university, but by the time I arrived, you had already left! So, I waited here at the entrance, hoping to see you.”

She sobbed again, hugging Lana even tighter.

“I’ve been standing here since four in the morning. If you hadn’t shown up today, I would’ve made the newspaper headlines or used the newspapers to track you down!”

Mr. Crow, perched on Lana’s shoulder, asked through their link, ’Is she lying?’

Lana chuckled softly and replied, ’No, she’s not lying. That’s exactly something Cassandra would do.’

“Anyhow! Now that I have found you, you should come and live with me! Forget about that bitchy Almond family! I will pamper you instead!” A voice laced with such utter sincerity that even Mr. Crow started to doubt if Lana had misunderstood Cassandra.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep