"No!"Gina's face fell at Helen's word. "Going back to Laneville now? You'd be going straight into the lion's den—you're never making it out! Do you think that Fleur Lang would just let you go?"Helen sighed. "But if I don't, they will kill Granduncle—""Enough."Frank strode up just as mother and daughter argued, glancing between them. "I caused this in the first place—Hardy Xinder reached out to Corpsedale to get back at me, and Corpsedale reached out to Southstream Lanes. That said, I already have an idea how to resolve this issue. Both of you just have to play along…""Frank…"Helen's eyes flickered at him.He pulled her into his arms, chuckling as he understood what she was thinking. "I'm your darling, so there's no need to stand on ceremony. And I've put in blood and sweat for Lanecorp too—we're never giving it up willingly to Fleur Lang, don't you think?"Helen finally laughed after scowling for a while, while Gina sighed emotionally as she watched them, feeling troubled
Jon Lane—Gavin Lane's second son—alighted. "Madam Lang? What are you doing out here? Dad's saying that Grandfather fell sick, and he's asking you to head back right away."He was very respectful, since he had no idea why his grandfather was sick in the first place.As he finished and turned to see the imposing woman beside Fleur, he stiffened right then. "Madam Yimmel? W-What are you doing here? My dad just sent someone to Bralog—"Yora snorted coolly. "Hmph! It would be the end of the world if I had to wait that long!"Jon quickly hung his head, sweating all over his brow in silence. After all, Yora held a special place in the family—not only was she Mark Lane's first wife, but she was also the foundation which Mark built his success in business upon.One might say that the Lane family would not enjoy their current status without the Yimmels' help—even Mark usually had to defer to her.And since Yora was as unreasonable as she was assertive, the Lane were all terrified of her.
Yora, however, sneered. "You don't worry about that. While you're head of the family, you're no more than a figurehead—every family matter will instead fall under my control.""What?!"Jon almost tripped—so he was only supposed to be a puppet?What did Yora want? To take over the family?"That's a big deal, Madam Yimmel. It's not too late—we can go back and discuss this with Grandfather…""Resistant to the idea, Jon decided to name-drop Mark, but Yora did not even flinch.Shaking her head in disdain, she scoffed. "You said it, didn't you? The old man's dying and can't decide on anything. As the most senior member of the family, I'm the only one who can make the call.""No, no, no…"Jon protested. "Grandfather is just sick. It's not so serious that he must leave a will already… and Dad's already sent for the best doctors. He'll regain consciousness soon enough."Seeing that Jon was still not playing along, Yora turned toward Fleur, who flinched but said coolly, "Your grandfathe
"B-But even if Grandfather wouldn't listen, you didn't have to go that far. He's your husband, and…"Jon trailed off feebly as fear seized him.If Yora could go that far, it made sense that she could eliminate him for her own ends.And to no surprise, Yora narrowed her eyes dangerously at him as she snorted. "Hmph. I guess I can make it simple for you—go back to Laneville and take your place as the new head of the Lane family… Or I'd just have to pick someone else."Jon gulped, as his worst fear had come true.If he refused Yora, he would not fare any better than his grandfather.What choice did he have if he wanted to stay alive?Hence, after some thought, Jon quietly nodded.However, his face was ashen, and he certainly did not appear pleased or thrilled to become the new head of the Lane family."Very good."Yora clapped him on the shoulder with a smile. "Though you might be head of the family in name only, you stand to gain much. Just stick to being a figurehead—don't wor
Fleur's vitals finally stabilized after the doctors operated on her, but things did not look well despite her survival.Jon quickly stopped one of the doctors after the surgery and asked, "Is she going to be alright?"The doctor sighed. "Her condition is terrible, Mr. Lane. Most of her organs are failing given her old age, and…""And what?!"Jon was very irritable just then.Yora suddenly appointed him head of the Lane family and then left Fleur in his care.It certainly went without saying that this was a test assigned by the matriarch, and Jon would be punished if Fleur died under his care.The doctor continued just then, "It seems that the patient has been routinely consuming a certain substance. While it improves her health for periods of time, it's also highly addictive and accumulates in the body over time, building up toxicity."After a moment of hesitation, the doctor shook his head. "I'm sorry, Mr. Lane, but there's really nothing we can do here.""What?!" Jon bellowe
While Jon was really not bothered by the details, something occurred to him and he asked gingerly, "By the way, how much is the medicine?""How much…?The elderly woman suddenly breathed a grating laugh that Jon had to hold his handset away from his ear.And when she was done laughing, the elderly woman rasped, "It's a favor to an old friend. Money can wait."And with that, she hung up."Huh…"Jon shook his head exasperatedly as he put away his phone. "That's just freaky…"After he sighed and opened the staircase door, he found a familiar face leaning against the wall and smiling at him."Y-You're… Frank Lawrence?!"Jon was shocked his voice quivered."Hehe. Long time no see, Jon…"Frank strode over, clapping him on the shoulder, but suddenly narrowing his eyes. "Or is it Master Lane now?"Hearing Frank say 'Master Lane' almost left Jon with a heart attack, and he promptly flashed an apologetic smile. "What are you saying, Mr. Lawrence? I have no intention to take over as f
Knowing that he just had to wait for Borc to run straight into him, Frank quickly drove to Black Mist Bar down at Hale Lane.The place was exceedingly lively despite it being noon, the bustling crowds giving Frank the perfect cover.He just had two drinks by the bar when he sensed a familiar presence approaching.Naturally, it was none other than Borc, who was at once wary and annoyed.He had already been told of his father's death and felt both immense hatred and terror toward Frank.He wanted to leave town right away, only for Baba Yaga to assign him another task—to deliver Fleur Lang's Mildron Balm.Borc almost snapped right then but he had no choice but to carry out his superior's orders, or things would end terribly for him.Arriving at the appointed location as Baba Yaga had told him to, he immediately found the figure by the bar, wearing that silver suit with his back to him.Borc did not hesitate to head over to the bar. There's plenty of people watching, and all he wan
"Lake Cove, huh?"Frank nodded in disappointment, but it made sense that a secret outfit like Corpsedale would maintain secret between hierarchies.If anything, it was amazing that a pawn had a general idea of where his boss was."Go on, make it quick!"Borc clenched his teeth just then, clearly ready to die."Oh, hahaha…" Frank suddenly laughed. "But I wasn't going to. There's someone else who's really interested in meeting you."And as Borc looked on in shock, Frank struck him on the back of his head with the side of his palm, knocking him out.Then, after feeding Borc a latent poison pill, he called for members of Lanecorp's health and safety department. He instructed them to take Borc to Jade Zahn, so she could have her revenge against her daughter's killer.After dealing with Borc, Frank threw Jon's suit in a garbage can and called Helen. "Prepare a share transfer agreement.""A share transfer agreement…?"Helen was exceedingly surprised—she was being forced to leave Lan