Ghost Exorciser: The Oust Fake Heiress Strikes-Chapter 283: Shame

Until now, they had managed to coexist, not as friends, but as allies. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

That fragile balance was shattered the moment Lana appeared.

The instant Quinn discovered she was living with Lucian, jealousy flooded his chest.

’This isn’t how things were supposed to be,’ he thought bitterly.

Yet all he could do was watch helplessly as Lucian and Lana grew closer.

He had considered visiting Lana countless times, telling her the truth about Lucian’s identity.

But every time he saw the admiration in her eyes, he couldn’t bring himself to destroy that illusion.

Still, he refused to believe Lana was foolish enough not to notice that Lucian wasn’t even fully human.

Taking a deep breath, Quinn looked at Lucian. "If you have even an ounce of shame," he said coldly, "you’ll leave Lana on your own."

With that, he stepped out of the car, the door slamming shut behind him.

Lucian laughed quietly. "Shame?" he muttered.

"What can I do? I’m shameless." His eyes softened. "Shamelessly in love with Lana."

In his previous life, he had been bound by shame, never daring to take a single step toward her.

Later, conspiracies and misunderstandings tore them apart.

But this time, he was determined to leave that shame behind.

’I don’t need it anymore,’ he told himself.

If Lana truly didn’t want him, he would love her from afar. But if she liked him even a little, he would do everything he could to make her accept him.

The driver wiped cold sweat from his brow, his hands trembling on the steering wheel.

He had never expected Quinn and Lucian to clash like this. ’If I had known,’ he thought nervously, ’I would never have let Quinn into the car.’

Meanwhile, Lana returned to her assigned university classroom.

The moment she stepped inside, she noticed her classmates huddled together, whispering excitedly.

Curious, she walked over. When they spotted her, Layla immediately waved. "Come sit here."

Lana took a seat, and Layla leaned closer. "The practical exams will be held within the next month."

Lana smiled lightly. "So where are they sending us this time?" she joked. "Haunted grounds or somewhere worse?"

Layla nodded. Lana’s eyes narrowed slightly. Recently, she felt as though she was on the verge of breaking through to the yellow rank.

’Maybe I just need one more push,’ she thought. The haunted grounds were her best training ground.

Thinking about how she might soon reach the level of her earth rank of mystic cultivation, excitement bubbled in her chest.

Just then, Axel entered the classroom. The moment he walked in, Lana straightened instinctively.

She wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but lately Axel had been looking at her with a strange fondness.

It wasn’t the affection of a teacher toward a student. It felt deeper, warmer, as though she were someone incredibly dear to him.

For a moment, she wondered, ’Could he be my brother?’

But she quickly dismissed the thought.

If Axel were truly her brother, he would have told her. He didn’t seem like someone who would hide such a truth.

Axel began his lecture, his voice calm and steady. Once it ended, he looked at Lana. "Meet me in my office."

She nodded. She already knew why.

It had become routine. She had been selling talismans lately, and Axel had been acting as a buffer between her and others.

Recently, he had gone even further, providing her with a fake number, a false identity card, and even face-changing devices.

The problem was, those devices weren’t perfect.

No matter how advanced the technology was, true perfection required peak artificial intelligence.

While the current world had made progress, creating images and videos was easy, crafting a completely different person through AI-integrated devices was still far from flawless.

Even Lana could see through the imperfections.

Still, they had one advantage. The devices could project a random face onto hers, making her nearly unrecognizable to anyone who didn’t know her well.

Once she arrived at the office, she barely had time to set her bag down before Alex looked at her, raised an eyebrow, and spoke with pride.

"I’ve sold out," he said. "All of them."

Lana blinked.

"All the talismans," he continued, tapping the table lightly, "and the intermediate talismans you released are in extremely high demand. People are already asking when I’ll be able to produce more intermediate exorcism talismans."

He paused, then added with emphasis,

"They’re far more interested in these than the basic rank exorcism talismans. After all, those can only deal with ten-year-old or fifteen-year-old ghosts."

The room grew quiet as she went on.

"The intermediate talismans can suppress ghosts that are twenty to thirty years old. For ordinary people, it’s like handing them a weapon they can actually rely on. Something small... like a handkerchief, but powerful enough to save their lives."

That was exactly why they were selling so well.

As he listed, his expression gradually tightened.

The popularity wasn’t the problem. The problem was what that popularity meant.

The stronger Lana became, the more exposed she was. The enemy already knew far too much about her, yet Lana herself knew almost nothing about them.

Taking a slow breath, he looked directly at her.

"From now on," he said seriously, "you must make sure no one suspects that you’re a Talisman practitioner."

His gaze sharpened.

"How many people know about it so far?"

Lana thought for a moment.

"About five," she replied honestly.

He immediately noted it down, his brows knitting together, before pausing mid-motion. A quiet sigh escaped him.

Relief flickered across his face. Everyone she had named was closely connected to Lana herself.

That meant NDAs could be enforced, and Lana could be kept far away from unnecessary danger.

He lifted his head again and looked at Lana with an uncharacteristically solemn expression.

"There’s a lot I can’t tell you right now," he said slowly.

"But there’s one thing you need to know. From this point onward, you can trust me completely. I will never betray that trust."

Lana narrowed her eyes.

"You’ve learned something about my background," she said quietly.

He didn’t answer.

That silence was answer enough.