Phoenix’s expression changed slightly.

The black ashes strangely floated toward him before clinging to his clothes and skin.

He instinctively tried to brush them away, but before he could even react further, the ashes completely vanished into thin air.

Phoenix’s heart skipped violently. A strange uneasiness suddenly rose inside him.

"What... what is this?"

He immediately looked toward Lana. However, she had already disappeared.

Phoenix’s pupils contracted sharply.

At that moment, Lana had already used a teleportation talisman to leave the area entirely.

Back at her residence, Lana calmly sat down while suppressing the killing intent inside her chest.

’That was already me being merciful.’

That very night, she contacted Conrad and Axel, and she briefly informed them about Selena and Phoenix.

Once she finished speaking, both men remained unusually calm.

"We will deal with them."

And just like that, Selena and Phoenix, who were still busy scheming against Lana, suddenly began encountering endless trouble.

Especially Selena.

Her business started collapsing at an alarming speed.

One by one, her existing clients terminated their contracts.

Important partnerships disappeared overnight, and several investors suddenly withdrew their support without explanation.

Selena nearly went insane trying to figure out what had happened.

Meanwhile, Phoenix’s situation was not much better.

He was gradually being isolated and boycotted within business circles.

However, the worst part was the unbearable pain tormenting his body.

At first, it merely felt like difficulty breathing.

Then it worsened.

Sometimes he felt as though invisible hands were tightly choking his neck.

Other times, it felt as though thousands of needles were stabbing directly into his heart.

The pain came without warning. One second he was normal.

The next second, he would collapse while gasping desperately for air.

It eventually became so unbearable that Phoenix started regretting ever approaching Lana in the first place.

His miserable condition naturally terrified his mother, Nina.

Seeing her son suffer day and night made her extremely anxious.

Without hesitation, she ordered her assistant to investigate Lana completely.

Once the information was gathered, Nina personally came to meet her.

Meanwhile, inside the mansion, Lana was quietly cultivating in the living room.

Suddenly, someone knocked on the door. Lana slowly opened her eyes.

A few moments later, Lucy entered with a hesitant expression.

"There is a guest outside who wishes to meet you."

Lana looked at her calmly. "Who is it?"

Lucy smiled awkwardly.

"Her name is Nina. She is currently waiting outside the mansion gates and insists on speaking with you personally."

Lana raised an eyebrow slightly.

"And who exactly is this Nina?"

Lucy immediately explained everything regarding Phoenix and his mother.

After hearing the details, Lana’s expression did not change at all.

"Do not let her in."

Her tone was calm and indifferent.

After speaking, she simply closed her eyes again and continued cultivating.

The next morning, when Lana prepared to leave the mansion, she immediately noticed Nina still standing outside.

The woman looked exhausted. Her expensive makeup could not hide the dark circles beneath her eyes.

Lana ignored her and continued walking forward.

However, Nina instantly rushed toward her.

Unfortunately for her, the bodyguards secretly arranged by Liam reacted immediately and blocked her path before she could get close.

Nina panicked and shouted desperately. "Lana! Stop! I want to talk to you!"

Hearing the loud commotion, Lana finally stopped.

Feeling slightly irritated, she slowly walked toward Nina.

"What do you want to talk about?"

Nina quickly spoke in a hurried tone.

"My son is suffering terribly right now. You poisoned him somehow, did you not?"

Her voice gradually became sharper with panic.

"If you do not cure him immediately, then I will file a police complaint against you."

Hearing those words, Lana suddenly laughed softly.

The smile on her face was calm yet frighteningly confident. "Sure."

She looked directly into Nina’s eyes before continuing.

"Go ahead and file it."

Her confidence naturally came from the fact that the talisman could never be detected through modern medical reports.

Furthermore, there were no surveillance cameras that had captured her activating it.

Seeing Lana’s utterly fearless expression, Nina nearly gritted her teeth hard enough to crack them.

The reason Nina had personally approached Lana in the first place was that she already knew the truth deep inside her heart.

She knew very clearly that her son had crossed the line first.

She slowly took a deep breath.

Looking at Lana, she forced herself to soften her tone.

"I understand that my son made a mistake."

Her fingers clenched tightly around her handbag before she continued reluctantly.

"Here is what I can do. I will compensate you with two hundred thousand dollars. Just remove whatever you did to my son."

The moment Lana heard those words, she almost laughed.

"Two hundred thousand dollars?"

Her voice was gentle, yet every word carried ridicule.

"What your son attempted to do to me, and you think it can be resolved with such a small amount of money?"

Nina’s face stiffened slightly.

Before she could reply, Lana smiled faintly and continued.

"How about this instead? I can give you the antidote talisman."

She paused for a moment while observing Nina’s anxious expression.

"However, you will need to pay me five hundred million dollars."

The instant those words left Lana’s mouth, Nina’s eyes widened in complete disbelief.

"Five hundred million?!"

Her voice nearly rose an octave from shock.

For a moment, she even suspected that Lana had gone insane.

However, when she remembered Phoenix lying on the hospital bed while screaming in pain every single night, her expression gradually became uglier.

After struggling internally for several seconds, Nina finally gritted her teeth hard. "Fine."

Lana remained completely unmoved. "There is another condition."

Nina’s expression instantly darkened again. "What now?"

Lana’s eyes turned cold.

"From this day onward, Phoenix is forbidden from ever appearing in front of me again."

In the end, Nina had no choice but to agree.

After receiving the antidote talisman and transferring the enormous amount of money, Nina left in a hurry without wasting another second.