Chapter 546: Chapter 546: Quinn’s Confession
The thugs exchanged confused glances. Lana’s voice remained calm.
"I won’t repeat myself. Come out."
The thugs immediately misunderstood. A few of them stepped forward. "Oh?"
One of them laughed. "The beauty is calling for us. How could we possibly refuse?"
However, before they could get any closer... Whoosh!
Several figures suddenly appeared from the shadows.
Like ghosts materializing from thin air, multiple bodyguards emerged and instantly charged toward the thugs.
Cries of pain echoed throughout the alley. Within less than a minute, every thug had been neutralized.
The alley fell silent once more. Lana blinked.
"So they were bodyguards."
She had originally suspected some sort of surveillance team.
She simply hadn’t expected them to be protecting her. After the bodyguards finished dealing with the thugs, Lana looked toward them.
"Who are you?"
No response came. "Who sent you?"
The bodyguards exchanged brief glances.
Then, without answering a single question, they disappeared into the darkness as quickly as they had appeared.
Lana frowned. Their actions only made the situation stranger.
With no leads available, she eventually returned to the mansion. Throughout the journey, she considered asking the driver.
However, she ultimately decided against it.
...............
Later that evening, during dinner, Lana finally brought up the matter.
Conrad sat across from her while Lucian and Axel occupied nearby seats.
Lana looked at Conrad. "Brother."
Conrad looked up.
"Did you assign bodyguards to secretly follow me?"
Conrad frowned. "No."
He immediately shook his head. "It wasn’t me."
Lana then turned toward Axel.
He quickly shook his head as well.
"It wasn’t us either, Lana."
Lucian narrowed his eyes. "Why?"
His expression became serious. "Do you feel someone has been following you?"
Lana nodded. "I sensed their presence."
She calmly recounted the entire incident. "They only appeared when I was in danger."
Her brows furrowed slightly. "It felt as though they had been protecting me the entire time."
Hearing this, Lucian’s expression darkened.
Without hesitation, he took out his phone. "I’ll investigate."
Lana did not stop him.
.................
Later that night, the investigation results arrived.
Lucian personally handed the report to Lana. Curious, she opened it.
The moment she read the contents, she froze. Her eyes widened.
The person behind the bodyguards was Phillips. For several moments, Lana simply stared at the report.
She genuinely could not understand it. ’Why? Why would he protect me?’
The same man who constantly accused her.
The same man who believed she was trying to steal his place within the family.
Why would he secretly assign bodyguards to protect her?
Nearby, Lucian noticed her confusion.
After a moment of thought, he spoke. "It’s probably because he thought you might be in danger."
Lana remained silent. A bitter smile slowly appeared on her face.
Truly...
Human emotions were strange.
No matter how much hostility existed between family members, blood ties often created feelings that people themselves couldn’t fully understand.
Perhaps Phillips hated her. Perhaps he distrusted her.
Yet when he thought she might be harmed, he still chose to protect her.
Lana stared quietly at the report for several moments.
Eventually, she shook her head.
’Forget it.’
There was no point in overthinking the matter.
With that thought, she placed the report aside and pushed the entire issue to the back of her mind.
Anyhow, it was no longer a big deal to Lana.
There might have been a time when she would have felt attached to the idea of family, or perhaps even cared about what Phillips thought of her.
However, after recalling his ridiculous accusations and arrogant attitude, she could only classify him as another fool.
’A complete idiot.’
With that thought, she pushed the matter aside entirely.
After returning to her room, she focused her attention on a far more important project.
Sitting at her desk, Lana carefully worked on a jade talisman.
This was not an ordinary talisman. She was preparing it as a gift for Lucian.
His birthday was still six months away, which meant there was plenty of time remaining. Nevertheless, Lana wanted the gift to be perfect.
She planned to put special effort into it. Every line she engraved was done with utmost care.
Meanwhile, Axel, who had already received a jade talisman from Lana, was practically overjoyed.
The man had become obsessed with showing it off whenever possible.
The next day, Lana arrived at the university as usual.
Just as Lana was heading toward her classroom, Quinn nervously approached her.
His palms were slightly sweaty. Even his heartbeat had accelerated. "Lana."
His voice sounded somewhat stiff. "Would you allow me to visit your mansion?"
Lana blinked. "What for?"
Quinn quickly replied, "I have something I need to discuss with Uncle Lucian."
Hearing that, Lana looked genuinely confused. "Lucian is your uncle."
She shrugged casually. "You can visit him whenever you want. Why would I stop you?"
The answer immediately left Quinn speechless.
The reason he had asked in the first place was because he wanted to create the impression that he was close to Lana.
Unfortunately, Lana completely failed to understand the hidden meaning behind his words.
Quinn could only force a smile. "I see."
Later that day, after arriving at the mansion, Quinn deliberately wandered around for some time.
In reality, he was gathering courage. Eventually, he arrived at Lana’s room.
The two of them studied together for a while. The atmosphere was peaceful. Only the sound of pages turning occasionally broke the silence.
However, Quinn’s attention wasn’t on the books. His eyes repeatedly drifted toward Lana.
Eventually, he took a deep breath. His heart pounded so loudly that he could hear it.
Slowly, he reached into his pocket and took out a ring. Lana immediately noticed the movement. She paused her reading and looked up.
Quinn swallowed nervously. Then he finally gathered enough courage. "Lana. I like you."
The words had barely left his mouth before he continued.
"I’ve liked you since the first time I saw you."
Silence filled the room.
Lana stared at him for several seconds.
"You mean the time when I had appeared completely naked in front of you?"
Quinn: "..."
"No... not at that time..."
