After that, Elenor told him everything. She had known for a long time that Lena was not her son's child but her husband's, but it was all the result of her son's plan. He had deliberately set up his father to sleep with his own wife, whom he had also instructed to do so.

The reason was that his father had cut him out of the will due to his business failures. But the father, or Lena's grandfather, knew about his son's scheme and intentionally pretended to fall for it. He then confessed to Elenor, apologized, and explained his reasoning.

When Lena was born, Elenor and her husband were much happier compared to their son and his wife. They then changed the name on the will and handed everything over to Lena, whose actual name was Elena. Everything was safe until Lena decided to attend high school in the city where her grandparents lived.

Her father, Mark, finally discovered that the will had been changed to Lena's name. He immediately borrowed a large sum of money from Jacob and used Lena as collateral. He told Lena he was bankrupt and asked her to marry Jacob to clear the debt, hoping her grandparents would step in to save Lena.

But Lena ran away to her grandparents' house, which stopped Mark from making a move. It wasn't until last month, when Lena's grandfather passed away, that they dared to act again and started plotting a new scheme.

"So that's it," Dylan muttered. "Hmm... Lena's grandfather also passed away last month? The same as my grandfather and Amy's grandfather... this doesn't seem like a coincidence... but Ellie's grandfather died six months ago, and Maya's just today... this is confusing," Dylan thought to himself.

"Now they've come here trying to win me over so I'll leak Lena's whereabouts. I'm asking for your help, Dylan. Please look after Lena and don't let her come home for now, until I deal with those two upstairs," Elenor replied.

"Understood, Grandma. I will," Dylan replied.

"Now you should go home, before it gets too late," Elenor replied.

"Alright, Grandma, I'm heading off, but before that, can I have your number?" Dylan asked.

"Oh yes, certainly," Elenor replied.

After exchanging QR codes for the chat app, Dylan said goodbye once more and immediately teleported out of the house. Elenor, watching Dylan disappear, smiled. Then she turned to look at a black and white photo displayed on the wall of the arsenal room, which showed her, Lena's grandfather, Dylan's grandfather named Bruno, and one of his wives.

"He really is just like you, Dave... I'm grateful I could still meet your grandson before I close my eyes," Elenor muttered, sad and smiling.

***

The next day, "clink," Dylan walked into a cafe in the center of the city with Maya, Lena, Ellie, and Amy. They looked around, searching for Mike. Suddenly, a person sitting in the corner seat near the window, behind a pillar, raised his hand. Dylan turned to see Mike already sitting at his table with a girl.

They immediately approached Mike, then sat across from him and pulled up a chair for Dylan, who sat in the middle.

"Sorry we're late. We had to stop at the showroom to buy a car first," Dylan said as he sat down.

"No problem, I just got here too," Mike replied.

Mike then turned to look at the four girls with Dylan, including Maya, his sister. He immediately whispered to Dylan,

"I'm... I'm not gonna get jumped by all of them, am I?" Mike asked.

"Nah, take it easy," Dylan answered. He turned to look at the girl next to Mike, who was talking to Maya. "Who is she?" Dylan asked.

"My fiancée, Carla. Remember when I told you how I found out about Mom?" Mike answered.

"Ah, that's right. You did say you were engaged," Dylan replied with small talk.

"Let's get introduced first," Mike replied.

Mike introduced Carla to Dylan, Amy, Ellie, and Lena. Then they exchanged some small talk while ordering drinks because a waiter came up to them. After the waiter left with their order,

"Okay, let's get straight to it. I need you all to listen to this recording," Dylan said.

He took out his smartphone, opened his voice recorder, and played the 15-minute recording he had taped last night, which was an excerpt of Lena's parents discussing Lena's true origins. Hearing the conversation between her own father and mother,

Lena immediately covered her mouth with her hand. Maya looked furious, as did Mike, because their stepfather, Karl, had been talking about their inheritance to outsiders and planning a scheme for Mike to marry Lena. Mike immediately put his arm around Carla next to him.

"Hah... that's never going to happen. I'm marrying Carla next month," Mike said.

"That's right. After Mike told me the story last night, Mike and I decided to speed up our wedding," Carla added.

"That's good. But does this guy named Karl know that you two and Maya are here? Just to make sure," Dylan replied.

"Of course not. The reason I moved Mom to a hospital in this city was to avoid that guy and the city he's in," Mike replied.

"But the problem is my parents. They're still thinking like that, it's really too much," Lena muttered angrily.

"Your grandmother said it's best if you don't go home for now. She'll be the one to deal with your parents," Dylan replied.

"They plan to go to school on Monday, right? Should Lena just skip?" Maya asked.

"That's probably best. There's no point in avoiding them if Lena's at school and runs into them," Ellie answered.

"Yeah, Ellie's right," Amy added, nodding.

"Don't worry. I can make sure Lena isn't marked absent and that I'm present too, so you don't have to worry, Lena. You won't be marked as skipping," Dylan replied.

"Huh... how?" Lena asked.

"Sorry... a magician never reveals his trick before the show, right? Just wait for Monday," Dylan answered, winking and smiling at Lena.

"I trust you, just like when you helped me with my dad," Ellie replied, smiling at Dylan.

"Same here, just like at the bank," Maya added.

"Drrrrt," suddenly a message came in on Lena's smartphone, and not just one, but a series of messages from Mark and Viola came through again. When she read them, they looked like a novel script with many paragraphs, starting with anger because Lena ignored them, then trying to guilt-trip Lena with words like "ungrateful child who abandons their parents," then claiming they love Lena and want to build a new relationship with her, and finally, a half-hearted apology that didn't even acknowledge what they were apologizing for.

"Don't even bother with them, Lena," Mike said, who also read the messages.

"Yeah, I'm sick of their attitude... even if I feel a little guilty," Lena replied.

"Don't. You're not wrong. You're doing what you should, and your decision is right. Don't fall for that guilt they always exploit," Ellie said.

"I know. Sorry," Lena replied.

Suddenly, Carla reached out her hand, held Lena's hand, and smiled. Then she looked at Lena,

"Everything's going to be fine, trust me," Carla said.

"Thank you," Lena replied.

"Okay, now let's eat... can I order some food? I'm hungry," Maya said.

"Me too," Amy added.

"Go ahead, order whatever you want (turning to look at Mike). You too, if you want to order something, go ahead. It's on me," Dylan said.

"Wow... really? I won't hold back, you know," Mike replied, smiling.

"Sure, I'd hit you if you did, haha," Dylan replied.

Finally, they ordered some light snacks and coffee to fill their stomachs.

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