What was she trying to do?

Mr. Brennan's face darkened ominously.

Lauren saw the shift in their expressions and felt a knot of dread tighten in her stomach. But before she could formulate a defense, Anastasia spoke again.

"And another thing," Anastasia said, her eyes fixed on Lauren. "Yesterday, I needed some life-saving medicine that only Unison Pharma produces. I sent Logan to purchase it, but he was refused."

"He told me that someone at Unison Pharma had given an order not to sell to me."

"I found that rather odd. How is it that I, the owner of Unison Pharma, can't even buy my own company's medicine? So I had it investigated and learned the order came from you, Ms. Brennan."

She let out a cold laugh. "I wasn't aware that an intern held that much power in the company. Lauren, why don't you explain that to me?"

The previous accusations were debatable, but this was concrete. There was no way for Lauren to explain this away.

Just as Anastasia predicted, the color drained from Lauren's face. The order had indeed been hers. The medicine Anastasia wanted was rare, and the company vetted every client carefully. She had overheard that the purchase order was from Rosewood Manor and, still bitter from her past encounters with Harrison and Anastasia, had impulsively given the order to block the sale—and all future sales to anyone associated with Anastasia.

She had never imagined Anastasia would remember it, let alone trace it back to her.

Her flicker of panic did not go unnoticed. The Brennans, who had been trying to give her the benefit of the doubt, now stared at her in disbelief.

"Lauren?!"

"Lauren!" Mr. Brennan's voice was sharp, his eyes boring into her. "Is what Anastasia said true?"

Lauren stammered, "I..." Beads of sweat formed on her forehead. But she couldn't give up now.

She gritted her teeth. "Grandfather, none of it is true! The rumors, the order-l know nothing about any of it! It has nothing to do with me!"

"You say you're not involved," Mr. Brennan pressed. "Who can vouch for you?"

"Mr. Frost cant Lauren declared. "But he was just fired by Anastasia..." She trailed off, a bitter smile touching her lips as she looked at Anastasia. "So that's it. You came after me now because there's no one left to defend me You planned this all along, didn't you?"

The implication was clear: Anastasia was framing her.

The Brennans turned to look at Anastasia.

remained unruffled, a

But Anastasia re

faint smile on her face. "Unison

Pharma has more than one

executive. Just because Regan is gone doesn't mean the directors are useless. If you want to know

whether I'm lying or telling the truth, we can just call them over and ask."

At that, Lauren's heart seized.

Before she could object, Anastasia had already dialed Mr. Lynn's number.

Lauren's pulse quickened. She had been so confident because Regan controlled Unison Pharma, and he was on her side The other directors were nactive and had rejected her attempts to win them over. There was no way Anastasia could convince them to come.

*No, she thought, calming herself. *Those old men haven't cared about the company in years. Anastasia can't possibly have any influence over them.*