James panicked instantly.

"All right, all right..." he murmured softly before quickly pulling her into his embrace. "Everything bad will be over soon."

The moment Gwen buried herself into his arms, her emotional control completely collapsed.

"I feel so ashamed," she whispered brokenly.

Tears rolled down her cheeks continuously.

"I feel so ashamed..."

Her voice cracked painfully.

"I was so wrong about her."

She clenched James’ clothes tightly as though trying to suppress the guilt suffocating her heart.

"I’m such a horrible person."

As Gwen continued repeating those words, James gently stroked her hair again and again, patiently comforting her without the slightest trace of annoyance.

"You... you should ask her not to get involved lest she be troubled by those greedy people!"

Only after wiping away her tears did James finally lower his head and look at her seriously.

"You know," he muttered softly, "if Sister Lana makes a decision, nobody can change her mind. Not me. Not anyone else."

Hearing those words only made Gwen choke up even harder.

For the first time in her life, someone from the same gender was treating her with such sincere and unbiased affection.

Not out of pity. Not out of obligation. But genuine care.

And that feeling touched Gwen deeply.

At that moment, she suddenly found herself wishing for something she never dared imagine before.

’A real relationship...’

A relationship where she could call Lana her elder sister openly.

A relationship where she could visit her freely, talk to her whenever she felt lost, and hug her whenever life became unbearable.

Because of that, Gwen genuinely did not want Lana dragged into her problems.

Yet now, Lana had already stepped in without hesitation.

............

Meanwhile, Lana sat calmly in her seat while using her connections to quietly begin legal procedures against those people.

Mr. Crow looked at her with confusion for a long while before finally speaking.

"Why are you helping them this much?"

His voice carried genuine puzzlement.

"It isn’t like you have any special relationship with them."

He paused before continuing.

"If you had simply handed Gwen five hundred million dollars directly, then she would’ve remembered your favor forever. In the future, she might’ve even repaid you with one or two billion dollars willingly."

Lana merely chuckled softly.

She did not answer immediately.

Instead, she quietly looked outside the train window.

Then slowly, she spoke.

"I was once like her. The Almond family had riddled me with debt. Back then, they made sure I suffered terribly."

Her voice was calm, yet strangely heavy.

"At that time, I desperately wished someone would help me too."

A faint smile appeared on her lips.

"And during that journey, a few people really did help me."

She lowered her gaze slightly.

"So now, whenever I can help someone, I do."

Mr. Crow stared at her silently for several seconds.

Then he sighed helplessly and shook his head.

"You’re still too kind for this world."

Lana simply chuckled again.

Meanwhile, not far away, a stylishly dressed woman wearing expensive sunglasses glanced toward Lana with obvious disdain.

"What a country bumpkin," she muttered mockingly under her breath. "Why is there a crow in this train? How low the standard would continue to drop?"

Lana heard every single word clearly.

Slowly, she turned toward the woman.

Then suddenly, she waved her hand lightly in front of her nose.

The woman frowned immediately. "What are you doing?"

Lana looked at her calmly before replying.

"The moment you opened your mouth, it smelled terrible. Did you fart through your mouth?"

Instantly, the stylish woman’s face twisted with fury.

"Is this how a mannerless girl speaks?!" she snapped angrily.

Lana lazily leaned back against her seat.

"I thought trash-talking strangers in public was already considered mannerless."

The woman froze.

Then she looked Lana up and down disdainfully before sneering,

"A girl like you is truly unladylike. Someone like you is destined to struggle after marriage."

At that point, Lana finally lost patience.

Without warning, she took out a talisman from her pocket and waved it slowly in front of the woman.

The paper talisman fluttered lightly in the air.

The stylish woman’s expression changed instantly.

"W-What is that?"

Lana smiled faintly.

"This is a bad luck talisman," she replied casually. "Do you want me to stick it on you?"

The moment those words fell, the woman visibly panicked and hurriedly leaned backward in fear.

"You know black magic?!" she exclaimed.

Lana chuckled softly.

"No, I don’t know black magic."

Then her eyes narrowed slightly.

"But I do know quite a few mystical practitioners."

She lightly tapped the talisman against her fingers.

"So... do you still want to try your luck?"

The woman’s face immediately turned pale.

She shook her head so quickly that her earrings rattled faintly.

Seeing her frightened reaction, Lana calmly crossed her arms.

"Good."

Then she glanced toward Mr. Crow beside her.

"Now apologize to my people."

The stylish woman clenched her fists tightly in humiliation.

After several seconds, she finally lowered her head slightly.

"I’m sorry."

Lana tilted her head innocently.

"What was that? I didn’t hear you."

The woman’s face turned completely red.

Finally, she shouted loudly, "I AM SORRY!"

Only then did Lana smile in satisfaction.

Meanwhile, the surrounding passengers merely glanced over briefly before losing interest again.

To them, it looked like nothing more than a minor argument during a flight.

After returning to the city, Lana immediately focused on more pressing matters.

However, something unexpected suddenly happened.

Two videos abruptly started circulating online at explosive speed.

The first video involved Sophie and Lana.

The second showed the confrontation between Lana, Gwen, James, Willow, Sophie, and their respective partners.

But the videos had clearly been edited.

The cuts were deliberate.

The context was twisted maliciously.

Every scene was carefully arranged to portray Lana as the villain.

Very quickly, the internet exploded.

People who knew nothing about the actual truth began cursing Lana aggressively.

Some called her heartless.

Some accused her of bullying grieving parents.

Others even claimed it was completely justified that she had once been kicked out of the family.