Chapter 68: Y-You’re Brandon’s mother?

Staring at the unfamiliar street in front of her, Hana finally came to a stop. She cautiously glanced over her shoulder when she heard footsteps approaching.

"Miss?" called a middle-aged woman in her fifties as she walked toward Hana with a subordinate.

Hana’s brow immediately furrowed when she saw the woman’s appearance, which clearly indicated that she belonged to the upper-class social circle. Hana didn’t know her. She couldn’t remember ever seeing the woman’s face before, either.

Hana lowered her head and checked herself. She hadn’t stolen or taken anything while escaping. She hadn’t damaged anything along the way, either. The only thing she had on her was the clothing prepared by Brandon’s servants.

Hana swallowed hard when she saw a large man walking behind the middle-aged woman. Without realizing it, she took a step backward.

Thud!

Her body collided with someone.

Hana immediately turned around. A man dressed entirely in black, similar to the subordinate who had accompanied the middle-aged woman, was now standing behind her, looking at her with a sneer.

Hana’s body stiffened. She knew this wasn’t good.

Without thinking twice, Hana turned and ran as fast as she could. She tried to find a more crowded place where she could ask for help.

The middle-aged woman watched her with a disdainful look.

"Catch her and take her to the car!" she ordered.

The three burly men immediately ran after Hana as she continued trying to get away from them.

Hana had no idea what was going on, but her instincts told her these people weren’t good. Her body trembled violently as she imagined the terrible things that might happen to her. There was something about the middle-aged woman that frightened her, as if her body recognized the woman even though her mind couldn’t remember her at all.

Thud!

Hana finally fell after tripping over a curb she hadn’t noticed in time.

"Ugh..." she groaned as pain shot through her kneecap.

Seeing the burly men drawing closer, Hana shook her head vigorously, trying to ignore the pain. She was about to get up and run again when one of the men grabbed her long hair first.

"Miss..." the man said coldly.

Hana immediately stopped struggling and looked at them in horror.

"What do you want from me?" she shouted between ragged breaths. "I haven’t stolen anything, I haven’t damaged anything, and I haven’t bothered any of you!"

The man gripping her hair gave her a cold smile. Without answering, he covered Hana’s mouth just as she was about to scream again, then lifted her with ease.

Hana struggled with all her might. She flailed her arms and legs, trying to break free from the man’s grip.

However, her efforts were futile.

A black SUV stopped right in front of them. The man immediately threw Hana into the car.

Thud!

Hana was thrown against the seat, her forehead striking the backrest hard.

"Drive," ordered the middle-aged woman, who was already sitting calmly in her seat.

The car immediately pulled away.

Hana winced in pain, then looked up at the man sitting next to her and the middle-aged woman. The woman maintained her elegant demeanor, as if she had nothing to do with the rough treatment Hana had just endured.

Hana looked at them one by one.

"What do you want from me? Did I do something wrong? I don’t know any of you. I..."

"Silence!" the woman in front of her interrupted.

Her gaze swept over Hana’s face before she continued coldly, "You haven’t changed at all, even after seven years, Hana."

Hana froze. She immediately looked into the woman’s eyes.

"You know me? Am I..."

"Why have you come back and shown your face to my son again? Didn’t I already tell you that you’re completely unworthy of standing by his side?"

Hana fell silent for a moment. She tried to recall the face of the woman in front of her, but couldn’t find a single memory that explained her hostility.

"Y-You’re Brandon’s mother?" she asked cautiously.

The woman frowned. She then leaned forward and grabbed Hana’s chin, forcing her to lift her face.

"Hana, even before your family went bankrupt, you were still unworthy of being my son’s girlfriend." She looked Hana up and down with contempt. "Now that you’ve become like this, do you think you’re any more worthy?"

Hana shook her head and tried to remove the woman’s hand from her chin. However, Brandon’s mother’s subordinate, who was sitting beside her, immediately restrained both of her hands.

"Hana, after failing to become Brandon’s wife, are you now willing to lower yourself to being his mistress?" the woman sneered. "You’re truly an annoying girl. It seems my judgment of you was never wrong."

Hana’s brow furrowed deeply.

"I have absolutely no intention of becoming Brandon’s mistress. He and I broke up seven years ago. So please, let me go!"

"Hana..." The woman leaned back against her seat again. "Back then, I let you go. But now you’ve dared to bother him again. It seems the lesson I taught you seven years ago meant absolutely nothing to you."

Hana shook her head in panic.

"You’ve got it all wrong. Brandon was the one who forcibly brought me to Melvin City. I don’t even remember you at all." She looked at the woman hopefully. "Now, can you let me go? If you’re willing to let me go, I promise..."

Hana swallowed before continuing earnestly.

"I promise I won’t return to Melvin City."

"A promise?" The woman laughed mockingly. "You already broke the promise I made you keep back then by showing up in front of my son again. And now you expect me to trust your word?"

She sneered, then looked at Hana coldly.

"Since you don’t appreciate the chance I gave you, you’d better learn your lesson properly this time."

Hana shook her head in fear.

"You... what are you going to do?" she asked in a trembling voice.

The woman didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she took out her tablet, opened an image, and showed it to Hana.

"Your parents’ graves..." she said with a faint smile.

Hana froze when she saw the picture of her parents’ graves.

"Perhaps I should turn them into the graves of Laila’s dog, which died a year ago. As it happens, Laila wants a new resting place for her dog, too."

The woman paused for a moment, allowing her threat to sink in before continuing in a forceful voice.

"And there’s something else I want to know. How would my son react if he found out that the woman he likes chose to run away from his residence, only to become a prostitute at a gambling house?"