Lana frowned slightly as she stared at the rapidly increasing orders.

"This is getting out of hand..." she murmured.

Curious, she checked the source when she saw Noah’s post, a small smile curved on her lips.

"So he chose to repay the favor," she said softly.

Her eyes softened slightly. ’At least he’s smart enough to understand...’

Without hesitation, she made a decision. "In the future... Margaret gets special treatment."

She quickly set a permanent thirty percent discount for Margaret’s account before returning to her work.

Not long after, Margaret noticed something strange.

She stared at her phone, her brows knitting together.

"That’s... odd..." she muttered.

Her friends, who also bought talismans from Lana’s shop, were paying one hundred thousand dollars for a single talisman.

But she was the only one paying seventy thousand.

A noticeable difference. Her friends quickly noticed too.

"Wait... why are you paying less?" one of them asked, her tone filled with disbelief.

Another leaned closer. "Is that some kind of special privilege?"

Envy crept into their voices.

Margaret blinked, equally stunned.

’Is this... a mistake?’ she wondered.

For a moment, she even felt a slight pang of guilt.

’Am I... accidentally taking advantage of Lana’s hard-earned money?’

Margaret did not let the matter rest so easily. The uneasy feeling lingered in her chest, tugging at her conscience like a faint whisper that refused to fade.

"I should at least confirm it," she muttered under her breath.

She eventually filed a complaint, explaining the discrepancy in pricing and asking whether it was some kind of error.

Only after receiving a response did she finally relax.

"This discount... is because of Noah’s post," she read aloud softly, her eyes widening slightly.

A faint smile appeared on her lips. The tension in her shoulders melted away as relief washed over her.

’So it wasn’t a mistake...’

That evening, she told Noah everything. Noah listened quietly at first, but soon a chuckle escaped his lips.

"She really went that far?" he said, shaking his head slightly.

He hadn’t even asked for anything in return. Yet Lana had rewarded him so generously.

’That girl...’

A thoughtful expression appeared on his face.

"She’s promising," he murmured. "Someone like her... is rare."

For a brief moment, the idea of recruiting her crossed his mind, but he quickly pushed it aside.

’No... someone like that won’t be easy to bring under control.’

At the same time, Lana received a proposal.

The moment she saw the offer, she almost laughed out loud.

"Ten million?" she muttered, her lips curling into a cold smile.

Her eyes flickered with amusement and a hint of disdain.

’Do they take me for a fool?’

Her current net worth had already reached billions.

Every single day, her sales exceeded one hundred million dollars.

And yet, the Talisman Association dared to approach her with such an offer, as if they were doing her a favor. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"It’s not even insulting," she said quietly. "It’s... laughable."

Without hesitation, she rejected it.

When Giovanni received her response, he immediately reported back.

Boris’ expression darkened the moment he heard it.

"So she refused..." he muttered, his tone turning cold.

After a brief silence, he added, "Let her be for now. But when the opportunity comes... We’ll drag her down."

Amin, who stood nearby, could not help but sigh softly.

"Nowadays, the Talisman Association doesn’t feel like an association anymore," she murmured. "It feels like a battlefield."

Her gaze turned distant.

"I joined hoping to learn... to grow," she continued quietly. "And I did. I even became one of the founding directors."

A bitter smile appeared on her lips.

"But now... everything revolves around profit. Power. Competition."

She shook her head slightly. "I don’t even feel joy being here anymore."

Yet she remained. Because she had no choice.

A large portion of her income came from the association.

And more importantly, she did not have the courage to leave. Nor the strength to make them her enemies.

Still... a faint admiration flickered in her eyes when she thought of Lana.

’At least she’s doing things her own way...’

Meanwhile, a small disturbance began brewing online.

A customer had posted a complaint, claiming that he received a fake talisman.

His post was aggressively promoted, gaining visibility quickly.

At first, many dismissed it.

"He must be hired," someone commented. "Probably sent by competitors."

But Lana did not ignore it. She narrowed her eyes slightly as she read through the post

Then she checked the records. To her surprise, the man was indeed a genuine customer.

And not just that... he was a loyal one.

’That’s strange...’

Without wasting time, she contacted him directly.

At that moment, the man sat in frustration, staring at his phone.

"No response... no justice..." he muttered bitterly.

Just then, his phone rang. An unknown number. He frowned before picking it up.

"Hello?"

"This is Lana," a calm voice came from the other side. "The owner of the talisman shop."

He froze. At first, he thought it was a prank.

But after a brief verification, he realized it was real.

His emotions surged all at once, shock, frustration, relief.

"You finally called," he said, his voice carrying a mix of anger and exhaustion.

Then he told her everything. Every detail.

Once he finished, Lana spoke calmly.

"While we cannot take responsibility if the talisman was swapped after delivery," she said, "I can personally verify whether it was tampered with during the process."

The man hesitated for a moment before nodding. "Alright... come check it."

Soon, Lana arrived at the location with a companion.

The woman beside her was from Shadowridge University’s exoray department.

She possessed a rare ability to glimpse into the past by touching an object.

When they arrived, the man introduced himself.

"My name is Nicholas."

He looked at Lana with a slightly stunned expression.

’The founder herself came...?’

His impression of her improved instantly.

After handing over the talisman, the woman, Jamie, stepped forward.

She gently touched it. Her eyes closed.

For a moment, everything fell silent.

Then, she was transported back to the moment of delivery.

Her brows furrowed.