Ghost Exorciser: The Oust Fake Heiress Strikes-Chapter 352 - 350:The Truth

He inhaled deeply. "On the day of the incident, I genuinely believed all core issues had been handled."

Lana looked at him quietly. There was a faint trace of pity in her eyes.

"And Tan?" Axel asked coldly.

"Tan is a mystic cultivator. He spread the cream and handled the execution. The so-called foreign institute that provided the ’miracle cream’ never existed. That entire narrative was fabricated by Bella from the start."

Lana slowly shook her head. What a web of deception.

Everything had been connected from the very beginning.

She looked at Wayne. "But why? Why would Bella harbor such hatred?"

Wayne let out a hollow chuckle. "It was my own foolishness."

He did not elaborate fully, but the weight of regret in his expression spoke volumes.

"I will find a way to accelerate the restoration of my cultivation," he added quietly. "As for the rest, I will compensate accordingly."

Then, as if remembering something, he reached into his spatial ring and took out a small wooden box.

He handed it to Lana.

She blinked. "Isn’t this a little too generous?"

She thought that it was again some kind of compensation. By this point she even started to suspect if Wayne had any ulterior motives.

Wayne shook his head.

"This isn’t generosity," he replied solemnly. "This is something you earned yourself. It should have belonged to you and Axel from the beginning."

When Wayne spoke those words, Lana looked at him with quiet curiosity, her brows knitting slightly as if trying to read something hidden beneath his calm tone.

Wayne crouched down, slid the box toward himself, and slowly opened it.

The faint scrape of the lid sounded unusually loud in the silence.

The moment Lana saw what lay inside, her breath caught.

A black crystal rested there, dark and lustrous, yet strangely translucent, as though shadows themselves had condensed into solid form. It pulsed faintly, giving off a cold aura that made the skin prickle.

Her eyes widened in shock. ’That... that’s...’

She recognized it instantly.

It was a ghost core.

To be precise, only ghosts that had cultivated for over a thousand years could condense such a core.

Lesser ghosts, those below that threshold, left nothing behind when exorcised, dissolving like mist.

But once a ghost crossed the 1000-year mark, its essence crystallized into this, an object capable of enhancing another’s cultivation.

Wayne left after giving the ghost core.

Lana’s eyes began to sparkle, a mix of excitement and urgency flashing across her face. Without hesitation, she pushed the crystal toward Axel.

Axel glanced at it, then at her, immediately understanding her intention. A soft chuckle escaped him.

"Even with this," he said, his voice tinged with amusement, "I wouldn’t be able to fully recover my cultivation."

Lana shook her head firmly.

"That doesn’t matter," she insisted. "As long as you regain even a fraction of it, that will be enough."

But Axel slid the ghost core back toward her.

"I can’t absorb it," he replied. "I practice a rather... contradictory technique. Because of it, this ghost core would reject me. It would be better if you kept it."

Lana frowned, about to argue, when Axel raised a hand to stop her.

"I’m telling the truth. This thing is useless to me."

Hearing the firmness in his voice, Lana could only sigh and take the core back.

At first, she had thought he was being polite, refusing out of consideration. But if he insisted so strongly, then it had to be genuine.

’What a waste... If only he could use it.’

After a brief pause, Lana asked cautiously, "If Bella really was the one behind all this..."

Axel chuckled again, though this time there was no humor in it.

"You really think Wayne is as innocent as he looks?"

Lana immediately leaned forward, eyes gleaming with interest.

’There’s more to this?’

Seeing her expression, Axel continued without holding back.

"Wayne has been involved in numerous secret affairs over the years. Bella likely found out. She didn’t explode immediately. Instead, she endured it."

Axel’s voice grew colder.

"Don’t forget, it was Bella’s family that supported him from the beginning. They provided resources, helped his cultivation, even pulled him out of poverty. They were childhood sweethearts. They suffered together, struggled together. At one point, Bella’s family nearly went bankrupt helping him."

The room felt heavier with every word.

"Once Wayne finally began earning," Axel went on, "he repaid them on the surface, but the truth is he still owed them an enormous debt."

Lana clenched her fingers slightly.

"At first, Bella chose to overlook everything," Axel said. "She pretended not to notice his betrayals. She even forgave him repeatedly. But instead of correcting himself, Wayne grew bolder. He believed Bella wouldn’t act against him because she loved him too much."

A faint scoff escaped Axel. "Perhaps she finally snapped."

Lana frowned. "Even so, why would Bella join the GA members?"

Axel looked at her with faint amusement.

"Because your understanding of the GA is far too shallow. Not every GA member is evil by nature. Most of them are people abandoned by the law, people who lost everything. They joined because they believed they had no other path."

Lana shook her head slowly.

"I know humans aren’t born evil. Circumstances twist them. But still... how can they support ghost portals and even help ghosts take over the world? Aren’t they afraid those ghosts will enslave them in the end?"

Axel gave a knowing smile.

"That’s because you don’t know about the contract."

"The contract?"

"Long ago, when the first GA leader founded the organization, he made a pact with an extremely powerful ghost. The terms were simple. The ghost would never harm GA members, would help them gain strength and revenge... and in exchange, the GA would assist the ghosts in ruling this world."

Lana’s eyes widened. "Strange... what a twisted agreement."

Axel nodded.

"Many GA members believe it’s only a matter of time before ghosts dominate everything anyway. To them, joining early is simply choosing the winning side." 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Lana’s gaze hardened, her eyes narrowing thoughtfully. "Is that all?"

Axel shook his head.