Sarah let out a short, dismissive chuckle. "That’s not my concern," she replied bluntly. "My concern is accumulating wealth."

For a moment, even the others seemed slightly taken aback.

But Sarah only seemed more at ease, as if shedding a mask had relieved her.

Lana observed her quietly before letting out a faint chuckle.

"I read a few things about you," she said. "I thought you were someone who donated talismans to help ordinary people."

Sarah waved her hand dismissively.

"Don’t misunderstand," she replied. "I still do charity. But that doesn’t mean I’m wealthy enough to ignore profit. I need money too, and this is the most effective way to earn it."

Lana nodded slightly.

Then she asked, her tone shifting, "How long does it take you to make one talisman?"

The question caught them off guard.

They exchanged glances before Giovanni finally answered, his expression serious. "At least an hour." 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

Lana nodded again, her eyes thoughtful. "One hour for one hundred thousand dollars," she said slowly. "If you work seven hours a day, that’s seven hundred thousand daily."

She continued, her voice steady as she calculated, "In ten days, that’s around seven million. In a month, over twenty-eight million."

Her gaze lifted to meet theirs.

"Isn’t that enough?" she asked quietly. "From my perspective... that’s more than enough."

The room fell silent again.

Sarah frowned deeply, her lips tightening. "The public has always paid more," she said.

"Why should we settle for less? If we can charge one million per talisman, why reduce our profit?"

Lana shook her head slightly. "Profit is still profit, even if it’s smaller," she replied. "You’re not losing anything."

Her voice softened.

"You inflated the prices from the very beginning. That’s why the gap has become so extreme."

Her eyes darkened slightly.

"Do you even know how many people are dying every day," she asked quietly, "just because they can’t afford a talisman?"

Sarah pressed her fingers against her forehead, clearly irritated. "You don’t need to lecture us," she said coldly. "We know the reality."

Lana gave a small nod. "If that’s the case," she replied calmly, "then I’ll take my leave."

Without hesitation, she stepped forward and brushed past them.

The door opened.

And then it closed behind her.

The moment she left, Sarah’s face twisted with anger, the restraint she had been maintaining finally cracking.

"That girl..." she muttered under her breath, her voice filled with frustration. "She refuses to listen to anything."

Serafina wiped the thin layer of sweat forming on her forehead, her voice hesitant. "What... what should we do now?"

A low chuckle escaped Sarah’s lips.

It was cold.

"We move to plan B," she said.

The room grew still.

"Our plan B is simple," she continued, her eyes gleaming with a dangerous light. "If she refuses to work for us willingly... then we’ll make her work for us."

The implication was clear. Kidnap her. Force her.

For a moment, no one spoke.

Then, one by one, they nodded.

In their minds, it was the most effective solution.

And far away from that room, Lana walked out into the open air.

If she had been present in that room, she would have laughed outright at their absurdity.

’Just because they couldn’t profit from me, they resorted to something this ridiculous?’ she would have thought, her lips curling with quiet disdain.

However, what the Talisman Association didn’t know was that Lana had already prepared a far greater "gift" for them.

Just as the association finalized their internal plan and stood on the verge of executing it, a video suddenly went viral across the internet.

The footage was clear. Painfully clear.

It showed Sarah and the others attempting to pressure Lana.

It even captured the moment they tried to force her to raise her prices... something that immediately ignited public outrage.

The reaction was explosive.

At first, many ordinary people had thought Lana’s prices were already somewhat high, something they tolerated reluctantly.

But now, hearing that she had been pressured to increase them even further, anger began to boil.

"This is outrageous!"

"They’re forcing her to make things expensive?!"

"So all this time, they were controlling the prices?!"

Resentment toward the Talisman Association spread like wildfire.

At the same time, their arrogant tone and borderline threatening behavior toward someone who wasn’t even affiliated with them became a focal point of discussion.

Clips were shared, dissected, and criticized relentlessly.

The situation escalated so quickly that even government authorities were dragged into the storm.

High-ranking officials began receiving complaints.

Public pressure mounted.

Only then did they realize they had reacted too slowly.

A public apology was issued almost immediately, promising a thorough investigation into the matter.

Soon after, the members of the Talisman Association were summoned.

The atmosphere in the government office was suffocating, as the officials delivered a harsh reprimand.

When the scolding ended, one of the senior officials looked at them coldly and asked, "So... who will take responsibility for this?"

No one dared to speak. Faces turned pale.

Meanwhile, Sarah clenched her fists tightly, her nails digging into her palm.

’This... this is because of me,’ she thought bitterly. ’If I had handled Lana more carefully... things wouldn’t have ended like this.’

After a long silence, she stepped forward.

"I’ll take responsibility," she said.

And she did. Her name was officially reported.

She was expelled from the Talisman Association.

Not only that, she was forced to record a public apology video, her once-proud demeanor replaced by visible restraint and humiliation.

The association also compensated Lana with two million dollars in damages.

When Lana received the apology, she chose not to pursue the matter further.

Instead, she appeared online.

With a calm, gentle expression, she said, "It’s all right. I won’t take this to heart."

Her tone was soft, almost forgiving.

The public was instantly moved.

"She’s so kind..."

"She could have destroyed them, but she chose to forgive."

"She’s like a fairy..."

Praise poured in endlessly.

Lana simply waved her hand modestly in response.

But deep inside...

’Everything went exactly as planned,’ she thought, a trace of satisfaction flickering in her eyes.