However, deep inside her heart, resentment continued to grow wildly.

’Even if my son marries a beggar in the future, I will never allow him to marry Lana.’

Meanwhile, after watching Nina leave, Lana entered the car in an unusually good mood.

With the extra five hundred million dollars now in her possession, Lana immediately reinvested a large portion of the money while also donating part of it to charity.

Then she calmly opened her investment portfolio.

Recently, her main focus had been the stock market.

The moment she saw the rising numbers on the screen, even Lana’s usually calm expression slightly changed.

Her profits were climbing rapidly.

In just one glance alone, nearly twenty million dollars in profit had appeared again.

Taking a slow breath, she suppressed the excitement surging inside her chest.

Nowadays, she receives similar notifications almost every single day.

That meant she was practically earning close to six hundred million dollars every month.

And that was merely from a smaller section of her investments.

Some of her earlier investments had already doubled or tripled in value. Others had increased fourfold, while a few terrifyingly successful ones had even multiplied more than ten times.

The more she looked at the numbers, the brighter her mood became.

Meanwhile, while Lana was happily counting profits, someone else was surrounded by an entirely different atmosphere.

Lucian’s mood had become terrifyingly dark.

The moment he discovered that Phoenix had started targeting Lana, a dangerous coldness appeared inside his eyes.

How could he possibly not know about Phoenix?

In his previous life, Phoenix had been one of the greatest thorns buried inside Lucian’s heart.

If there was one thing Lucian regretted the most, then it was the fact that Phoenix had raped Lana.

Even now, merely thinking about it filled him with suffocating rage.

Taking a deep breath, Lucian quietly arranged several things behind the scenes.

Once everything was finished, he leaned back against the chair and chuckled softly.

The smile on his face was frighteningly cold.

"Phoenix, in this life, let me see how you survive."

At the same time, Selena’s situation became even more miserable.

Within merely three days, her company completely collapsed.

She went bankrupt overnight.

Not only that, but she also ended up owing more than two hundred million dollars in debt.

Looking at the horrifying numbers before her, Selena could barely believe her own eyes.

She had originally believed that even if her situation worsened, it would never deteriorate to the point where she would need to beg others for help.

But reality slapped her mercilessly across the face.

Her very first thought was to seek help from her aunt.

Unfortunately, the moment she contacted her, the response she received nearly made her collapse.

"If you still have any shame left, then stop bothering our family."

Selena’s hands trembled violently after hearing those words.

Left with no other choice, she desperately sought help from the rest of her family members.

However, they treated her even more coldly.

Some of them directly ignored her calls, while others openly avoided her.

A few even bluntly warned her.

"If you truly care about us, then stay away from us from now on."

In the end, she was kicked out of the family entirely.

However, Phoenix’s fate was even worse.

Within only two days, he lost his status as a billionaire.

Even his mother mysteriously disappeared afterward.

Then came the cruelest blow of all.

His father directly abandoned him and even secretly leaked his location to several of his enemies.

As a result, Phoenix quickly fell into endless misery one after another.

At one point, he genuinely started wondering which terrifying big shot he had offended to deserve such a horrifying fate.

Eventually, one of his former friends could no longer bear watching his miserable condition and finally revealed the truth to him.

"You tried to pursue the girlfriend of the newly rising business king."

The man hesitated before continuing.

"That woman... Lana."

The moment Phoenix understood everything, he became utterly devastated.

In fact, he nearly wanted to cry.

Back then, he had merely thought Lana was beautiful and interesting.

He never imagined that simply flirting with her would result in such a cursed ending.

If he could travel back in time, he would definitely never approach her again.

Unfortunately, there was no medicine for regret.

Meanwhile, Lana remained completely unaware that Lucian had secretly manipulated everything behind the scenes.

Only later did she hear rumors that Selena had started begging various people for money just to survive.

Eventually, she disappeared completely after barely gathering enough funds to afford a small place to live.

As for Phoenix, he was eventually exiled from the city entirely.

Rumors later spread that he had become mentally unstable and was even supposedly possessed by a ghost.

His ending was extremely miserable.

When Lana eventually heard those stories, she could not help but chuckle softly.

"People truly receive their karma eventually."

Her mood improved significantly afterward.

Meanwhile, while all of this was happening, Axel received an invitation from his older sister, Melody.

To be honest, Axel was still deeply disappointed in her.

He had never expected Melody to behave so insensitively toward Lana.

Even if Lana had never revealed their earlier conversation, it did not mean the rest of them were blind.

Melody looked at Axel’s disappointed expression and finally spoke with guilt written all over her face.

"You do not understand me."

Her voice sounded weak and helpless.

"At that time, I did not fully understand the situation, which is why I said those thoughtless things. I promise I will never speak to Lana like that ever again."

A faint mocking smile appeared on Axel’s face.

"You know nothing."

His voice was calm, yet every word carried disappointment.

"In fact, sometimes I feel that your innocence itself is your greatest crime."

The moment he spoke those words, Melody’s face immediately turned pale.

After a long silence, Axel finally sighed tiredly.

"Sister, if you invited me here because you want me to arrange a meeting between you and Lana, then forget it."

He looked at her directly. "I am not interested."