The moment Jones spoke, the others immediately forced smiles onto their faces.

"Of course not."

"Welcome to the team."

"We’re honored."

Soon, applause filled the room.

Some people even enthusiastically praised Lana nonstop.

"Miss Lana is truly beautiful."

"Even her aura feels extraordinary."

"Her way of speaking is so graceful."

Hearing these fake compliments, Lana merely maintained a polite smile.

Internally, however, she felt nothing.

The reason she agreed to help Jones was simple.

Back in her previous life,when everyone accused her of stealing those office documents, Jones was the first person who pointed out inconsistencies in the evidence.

At that time, even Leonardo’s closest friend directly condemned Lana without hesitation.

Nobody cared whether she was innocent.

Nobody cared whether she was framed.

They only wanted someone to blame.

And because Lana already carried the reputation of being troublesome, everyone naturally assumed she was guilty.

Only Jones insisted on investigating further.

And eventually, he truly found the real clues.

Unfortunately, before he could publicly expose the truth, he died unexpectedly during a mission.

Thinking about that incident still left a heavy feeling inside Lana’s chest.

In a way, she always felt partially responsible for his death.

Meanwhile, once the introduction ended and Lana temporarily stood alone near the hallway, Leonardo immediately rushed toward her anxiously.

This time, he directly reached for her wrist.

However, before he could touch her, Jones suddenly intercepted him and grabbed Leonardo’s arm firmly instead. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Jones’ eyes turned cold instantly.

"What exactly are you doing?"

Leonardo’s face darkened.

Ignoring Jones completely, he looked directly at Lana.

"I need to talk to you."

Lana chuckled softly.

Unfortunately, her expression carried obvious mockery.

"I don’t want to."

Then her voice turned colder.

"So leave me alone."

Hearing that, Leonardo immediately lost control.

"You are my sister!" he shouted angrily. "You should help me!"

Lana laughed again.

This time, however, the laughter sounded bitter.

"Sister?" she repeated softly.

Then her eyes narrowed sharply.

"From writing assignments for you while you took all the credit..."

Her voice remained calm, yet every word carried pressure.

"...to secretly solving problem after problem for you while never receiving acknowledgment in return..."

She stared directly into Leonardo’s eyes.

"Why should I continue doing everything for you when you’ve never truly done anything for me?"

The moment those words fell, Leonardo instantly became furious.

"I’ve never done anything for you?" he snapped angrily. "What kind of joke is that?!"

He pointed at her accusingly.

"I took you shopping countless times! I gave you so many gifts!"

Lana tilted her head slightly.

Then she smiled coldly.

"Do you want me to remind you that all those gifts were later taken back?"

Leonardo froze.

"And the clothes I wore?" Lana continued calmly. "Those were bought using money I earned myself while working as a child actress."

Thinking about those memories only made Lana feel more disgusted.

In the past, she once genuinely believed those small gestures meant affection.

Now she finally understood the truth.

They merely treated her like a convenient tool.

Eventually, Lana sighed softly before waving her hand dismissively.

"Anyway," she muttered. "From what I can see, you’ve never truly given me anything."

Then she looked toward Jones calmly.

"Let him go."

Jones released Leonardo immediately.

Without another glance backward, Lana turned gracefully and walked away.

Seeing this, Leonardo became completely furious.

His face twisted in anger.

"Just wait!" he shouted loudly. "I’ll tell Mother everything! Let’s see how she punishes you afterward!"

Hearing those words, Lana suddenly stopped walking.

Then she slowly turned her head slightly.

A faint amused smile appeared on her lips.

"You seem to have forgotten something," she remarked softly.

Her eyes carried faint mockery.

"I already left that family."

Soon, everyone arrived at the mission site.

To Lana, it felt like an incredibly easy mission because she had already participated in operations far more dangerous and terrifying than this one.

While the other participants struggled to keep up with the pace of the mission, Lana moved through every task effortlessly, almost as if she had done it hundreds of times before.

Her performance immediately caused everyone to raise their eyebrows in shock.

Some people even stared at her with defeated expressions because no matter how hard they tried, they simply could not catch up to her.

However, despite their frustration, they were also thrilled that Lana was on their team because her presence reduced their workload tremendously.

Several members even began whispering among themselves, praising her abilities while looking at her with admiration.

Because of this, almost everyone developed a good impression of Lana.

Almost everyone except Leonardo.

Leonardo stood at the side with a dark and twisted expression.

Unable to tolerate it any longer, he immediately complained to Mr. and Mrs. Almond after the results were announced.

The moment Mr. and Mrs. Almond received the news, they rushed over to the scene without hesitation.

They were never gender biased... they only measure children based on their benefits.

Now that they realized Lana possessed extraordinary abilities, they instinctively began to ignore Leonardo’s complaints altogether.

The moment they arrived, they directly walked toward Lana.

Leonardo lowered his head slightly, a cruel smile appearing on his face.

’Now she is definitely going to get slapped.’

However, the next second, his smile froze completely.

Instead of scolding Lana, Mr. and Mrs. Almond suddenly rushed forward and hugged her tightly.

Lana’s entire body stiffened in shock.

Her brows furrowed deeply as she immediately tried to push them away.

"What are you doing? Let go of me."

However, Mr. and Mrs. Almond refused to loosen their grip. Mrs. Almond even held onto Lana’s arm desperately, her eyes already turning red.

"Lana, we finally found you. Do you even know how worried we have been?"

A trace of irritation flashed through Lana’s cold eyes. Without another word, she directly used force and separated herself from them.

The sudden movement caused both Mr. and Mrs. Almond to stumble backward awkwardly.

Lana immediately stepped away and hid behind Jones, who had just arrived at the scene.

Jones instinctively stretched his arm protectively in front of Lana.

"Interrogating her like this is meaningless."