Chapter 622: Corrupted Soul
She had been a good person all along, just as he had always believed, and realising the truth only made him feel even sadder.
When Lana noticed the pain on his face, she let out a soft sigh and walked toward him.
She gently wrapped her arms around him and said, "It’s all right, Uncle. Sometimes these things happen."
Axel remained silent for a moment.
However, before he could completely lose his composure, he pulled Lana into a tight hug and said,
"Lana, if I ever make a mistake like this again, don’t lower your head and apologise to me. Just scream at me and shout at me until I understand what I have done. Make me apologise to you instead. Don’t ever think that you need to apologise to me when I am the one who has wronged you."
Lana froze in his arms, her eyes widening slightly.
She subconsciously glanced toward Mr Crow, wondering if he was the one who had told Axel something earlier or had somehow influenced him.
However, Mr Crow quickly shook his head, making it clear that he had nothing to do with it.
Lana released a quiet sigh and patted Axel’s back. "All right, all right. I understand. You don’t have to keep worrying about it."
After dinner, Axel left earlier than everyone else. He mentioned that he had some matters to deal with, and Lana did not think much about it at the time.
However, the following morning, while she was passing through the university gate, she suddenly noticed a beautiful white car parked nearby.
She could not help but stare at it for a few seconds. ’What a gorgeous car.’
It was one of those cars she had often browsed online and admired whenever she came across pictures of it.
She had thought about buying one for herself several times, but because of her busy schedule and the constant demands on her time, she had never actually gotten around to purchasing it.
Just as she was admiring it, the car’s window slowly rolled down, revealing Axel’s smiling face behind the wheel.
"Want to go for a ride?" he asked.
Lana sighed helplessly before smiling. "Yes, yes. Why not?"
She opened the passenger door and climbed inside.
Once she had settled into her seat, Axel started the engine and drove toward the university.
Soon, they arrived at the university gates. Lana was about to open the door and get out when Axel suddenly stopped her.
He reached toward the center console, picked up the car keys, and placed them in her hand.
Lana stared at the keys before frowning in confusion. "Uncle, what do you mean?"
Axel smiled warmly. "This is my apology gift."
Lana was startled for a moment. She immediately shook her head and tried to hand the keys back. "No, Uncle. I can’t accept something this expensive."
However, when she saw the faint guilt still lingering in Axel’s eyes, she paused.
’If I reject this, he will probably continue blaming himself and remain trapped in his guilt.’
She knew her uncle well enough to understand that he would keep dwelling on what had happened if she refused the gift.
She did not want him to spend the rest of his days punishing himself over a mistake he had already acknowledged.
After a moment, Lana finally smiled and accepted the keys without making any further fuss. "All right, Uncle. I’ll accept it."
Axel immediately let out a quiet sigh of relief, and the tension that had been sitting in his chest finally eased.
Once Lana entered the university, she began telling Betty, Layla, Richard, and Quinn everything that had happened.
However, while she was talking, she noticed that Betty looked unusually distracted, as though something was weighing heavily on her mind.
Lana genuinely wondered what had happened to her, but she did not have to wait long to find out.
Later, while Betty and Lana were walking toward the cafeteria, Betty suddenly glanced at her and said, "Lana, do you know that something happened with Fay?"
Lana immediately looked at her. "Oh, what happened?"
Betty did not bother beating around the bush.
"Here is the thing. An investigation was carried out, and one of the investigators eventually discovered a clue suggesting that Fay had been in contact with a member of the GA organization."
Lana’s expression changed slightly. "What?"
"At first, nobody understood what was happening," Betty continued. "They even suspected Wade and thought that perhaps Wade had some connection with Fay. However, they eventually discovered that the contact with the GA member was actually Fay’s own contact."
Lana’s brows furrowed as she listened.
"Later, they discovered that all those messages Fay had been receiving, the ones constantly telling her how pitiful Wade and Christina were, had actually been sent by the GA member. Fay genuinely believed that the two of them were pitiful. She never realized that someone had been manipulating her thoughts from the beginning."
Lana stared ahead, stunned by the revelation.
"Who would have thought that everything had been a scheme from the very beginning?"
Betty shook her head. "But that is not even the most shocking part."
Lana looked at her curiously. "There is something more?"
Betty nodded. "Her family completely lost their patience with her. They cut off her allowance, and her wealthy family even went as far as hiring several teachers to teach her basic common sense."
Lana’s eyes widened.
"Apparently, even after enrolling, Fay couldn’t distinguish right from wrong, and she kept on running toward negative energy-filled places."
Lana nodded slowly. "That is very strange."
"But that is the fact," Betty replied.
"During those classes, her parents eventually realised that half of her soul had already been corrupted. According to what they discovered, it had happened during the time when she was here at Shadowridge University."
Lana’s expression became more serious.
"Now even the principal has to investigate the matter further to determine whether the source of that corruption was related to Shadowridge University or whether Wade was somehow behind the entire idea."
As Lana heard those words, everything suddenly clicked in her mind.