Everyone Can Hear My Thoughts, and Now They're Panicking

Mia Lanley’s eyes instantly filled with resentment. "Aha, so it was you! You’re the one who had the school fire me, aren’t you?"

Jane Lancaster said, "While I’m sorry to hear that, I actually only found out yesterday you’d been fired."

Mia Lanley didn’t believe her at all. She had been fired for over a month, an utterly humiliating experience.

"How could you have only just found out? You were probably dying to laugh at my expense. You’re the one who did this. What, you did it but you’re too scared to admit it?"

"Wow, Jane Lancaster, are you that much of a tyrant? You even pushed our Teacher Langley into getting fired?" Jim Jenson sauntered over, clearly relishing the drama.

He had been waiting for the show to start, and the moment the two began to face off, he eagerly made his way over.

Jane Lancaster turned her head to look at him.

Jim Jenson raised his hands. "Okay, I know. You want me to make myself scarce again, right? But here’s the thing: this is the Hughes Family’s estate, I’m a relative of the Hughes Family, and you... you’re just an outsider."

He paused, then added with a smirk, "If you don’t want to see me, you could just leave. Then you wouldn’t have to."

He had been waiting for this moment for a long time. Jane Lancaster was always so arrogant, wasn’t she? He was dying to see what she’d say now that the boomerang had come back to hit her.

Jane Lancaster’s gaze swept to the side, landing on Alvin Lancaster, who had just rushed over.

"Alvin, come over here," she beckoned.

Seeing her, Alvin Lancaster’s anxiety finally subsided. "What is it?"

Jane Lancaster told him to stay put, then stood behind him. "There. Now I don’t have to see him."

Jim Jenson was taken aback. "What?"

’What’s the big deal? I can graciously allow myself to be temporarily blind. As long as I don’t have to see you, it’s fine.’

’Seriously. When I roast people, I don’t expect them to be this thin-skinned. If your brains worked just a little bit faster, you wouldn’t have worked yourselves into such a tizzy.’

Hearing his sister’s casual, snarky inner monologue, Alvin Lancaster stifled a laugh. "Um, Jay said that with me blocking her, she doesn’t have to see you."

Jim Jenson’s face darkened. "Are you fucking messing with me?"

Jane Lancaster was a bit surprised. ’He’s triggered already?’

"How could that be considered messing with you? While I don’t want to see you, you clearly want to see me. After all these years, I’d almost forgotten you, but you’ve kept me in your thoughts this whole time."

Jim Jenson seethed, gritting his teeth. He wasn’t ’keeping her in his thoughts’—he hated her to the very bone!

During every frustrating moment of his years abroad, he had viciously muttered her name, terrified he might forget his hatred.

And here she was, daring to say she’d almost forgotten him?

Alvin Lancaster stood protectively in front of his sister. Jim Jenson’s expression was terrifying. ’Is he going to start a fight?’

’But my sister really is mischievous. Her comebacks are lethal. The way she’s hiding behind me is... surprisingly cute.’

’As her big brother, it’s my duty to protect her.’

"Hey, Jim Jenson, isn’t it a bit unseemly for a grown man to be picking a fight with a girl?"

Jim Jenson snapped impatiently, "Get lost, you country bumpkin!"

Alvin Lancaster froze. He hadn’t been called a "country bumpkin" in years. Hearing it now felt strangely foreign.

After saying it, Jim Jenson paused. He looked at Alvin Lancaster and frowned, falling silent.

Alvin Lancaster hesitated. "Were you just insulting me?"

Jim Jenson said, "No, you misheard. Alvin, you know, we used to be good friends as kids."

Alvin Lancaster gave a small smile. "We did play together a lot before you went abroad."

He was careful to deny the "good friends" claim. He vaguely recalled enjoying playing with Jim Jenson and a few others as a kid, but they were playmates at best.

’I’d never call someone who bullied my sister a friend.’

Jim Jenson was momentarily speechless. ’Why did I go abroad in the first place? Wasn’t it because Jane Lancaster forced me out? What the hell does he mean by that?’

’Is he deliberately testing me, or is this a warning?’

Jim Jenson was annoyed. He never thought a pushover like Alvin Lancaster would learn to be so sharp.

One look at Jim Jenson’s expression told Jane Lancaster that he was overthinking things.

’Yeah, but... this simpleton isn’t nearly cunning enough for that, okay? He just hit the nail on the head by accident.’

Alvin Lancaster was baffled. ’Hit the nail on the head by accident? What does she mean?’

’Does she mean Jim and I really weren’t good friends?’

Jim Jenson turned to Mia Lanley and patted her shoulder. "Teacher Langley, you’re the little one’s auntie, not to mention a future childcare expert. If you have any grievances, speak up! We’ll definitely have your back!"

A wave of warmth spread through Mia Lanley’s heart. With his support, she stood up even straighter.

She demanded loudly, "Just because of one little disagreement, you held a grudge, bribed the school administration to fire me, and cost me my job. Aren’t you just vicious?"

Everyone in the banquet hall had been chatting in low tones, but her loud voice immediately drew all eyes to her.

Jim Jenson exclaimed, "Whoa, costing someone their job... that’s like smashing their rice bowl. Miss Lancaster, what’s your side of the story?"

The surrounding guests seemed to agree with Jim Jenson, their gazes turning to fix on Jane Lancaster with condemnation.

As academics themselves, they all placed great importance on careers and faculty positions. The fact that Mia Lanley had earned a teaching position at the university proved she was quite capable. Yet, she had lost that opportunity to a personal vendetta over a minor squabble.

This would be a black mark on her record forever, making it difficult for her to find another university teaching job.

It was despicable and simply couldn’t be tolerated.

Jane Lancaster replied, "If I had done it, I’d have no problem admitting it. But your accusation is absurd. I took a month’s leave at the start of the semester and haven’t even been to the university. I have no idea what’s been happening there."

Alvin Lancaster quickly added, "I can vouch for that. Jay really did take leave for health reasons."

Mia Lanley retorted, "That doesn’t prove you didn’t do it, does it?"

Jane Lancaster sighed. "Why don’t you think back to who you offended that day? Someone said in no uncertain terms that a person like you was unfit to be a teacher and that he would report you to the university."

Alvin Lancaster thought back. "Oh, that was Mr. Leo!"

’That’s right,’ he thought. ’My sister even snarked about it in her head, saying that Mia had pushed someone’s berserk button.’

’Back then, Mia Lanley also tried to drag Luna Morgan into it, and my sister had commented that she was doing something idiotic.’

"So, did Mr. Leo do something?" he couldn’t help but ask.

Jane Lancaster corrected him. "His real name is Sean Grant. Leo is just an alias."

After a pause, she turned to Mia Lanley. "You knew that, didn’t you?"

’Otherwise, why would your face have turned pale with fright back then?’

Mia Lanley cried out, "That’s impossible!"

She had assumed he was just speaking in a fit of anger and wouldn’t actually go through with it.

Jane Lancaster said, "Why is it impossible? By forcing Luna Morgan to testify, you were implicating Sean Grant. Did you really think he would let you off the hook?"

’In the original novel, that madman Sean Grant considered Luna Morgan untouchable. Whoever messed with her was a dead man walking. What’s a minor cannon fodder like you supposed to count for?’

’Then again, who knows? Maybe he’s just a psycho with a massive inferiority complex—the kind of guy who’d kill a random passerby just for looking at him the wrong way.’

’So for you to drag him into your mess... wasn’t that just courting death?’