After Ella’s roast, Stephanie was convinced the twins were probably as ugly as the rumors said—so ugly they were an eyesore. More importantly, Ella was still in a good mood and hadn’t cried since the previous night’s incident.

Seeing Ella completely calm, Stephanie couldn’t help but ask, “What are you planning to do now?”

Ella said, “I’m not going to bother my mom during this time.”

“Huh?” Stephanie was puzzled. She couldn’t keep up with this jump in logic, thinking, ‘Ella had been so eager to see Andrea, so why was she now saying no?’

Ella said, “She’s taking some senior members of Dark Portal to establish her own force.”

“Your mom is amazing!” Stephanie was shocked, thinking, ‘If that’s true, Dark Portal is in for a real shake-up!’ Stephanie had only known Andrea as a woman used to being self-reliant. She was beautiful, but she never relied on her looks to get ahead. She had worked her way up in Long Harbor, carving out a place for herself with her own two hands.

“But she’s up against Dark Portal,” Stephanie said, her voice laced with worry. ‘What kind of place was Dark Portal? Even Sebastian, who was involved in the underground business, looked down on them!’ Stephanie thought.

Ella said, “I know. It’s either her or Dark Portal.”

Stephanie nodded.

Ella continued, “The only reason the twins came after me was to use me as leverage against my mom.”

At that moment, Ella seemed to understand everything. It was true that she had been terrified recently, but she wasn’t stupid. Having spent all this time with Lorenzo, she must have found ways to gather information and analyze the situation. Ever since she found out that Andrea had been taken by the people from Dark Portal, Ella had probably been reading everything she could get her hands on about them.

Stephanie didn’t say anything.

“Since they pushed my mom this far, I’m not worried anymore,” Ella added.

“You’ve got a point,” Stephanie agreed.

Indeed, even the twins had been called upon, which showed just how much influence Andrea had over Dark Portal.

It might have been Dark Portal who took Andrea in the beginning. But now that the creepy twins had been involved, it was clear that Andrea had turned Dark Portal upside down.

“Dark Portal must be regretting taking my mom. It’s like they invited a god they can’t get rid of,” Ella said.

“You might be right,” Stephanie replied.

Stephanie was impressed by Andrea’s unexpected triumph. Dark Portal’s plan to kidnap Andrea and force her to reveal the other half of the treasure map had completely blown up in their face. As Ella had said, Andrea must have truly shaken things up in Dark Portal for them to resort to such extreme measures as kidnapping her only daughter, Ella, to use as leverage.

Stephanie said, “In that case, all you need to do now is take care of yourself and don’t fall into their hands.” This was the greatest support she could offer Andrea.

Ella replied, “Yeah.”

They talked on the phone for a while longer before hanging up. Ella made it clear that she wouldn’t be going to Dark Portal to find Andrea for now. Instead, she had other plans.

Sebastian came upstairs just as Stephanie hung up the phone. Slipping his arms around her from behind, he murmured, “Talking to Ella?”

“Yeah,” Stephanie replied.

“What did she say?” His voice was as gentle as ever.

Even though she had been hearing this since she was a child, Stephanie couldn’t help but be captivated by the tune at that moment.

“She said that the twin sisters of the Dark Portal leader are so ugly,” Stephanie murmured.

Sebastian fell silent.

“She even doubted if they were the children of that mistress and the man,” Stephanie continued.

Speaking of which, Stephanie had met the current Dark Portal leader’s father once, finding him quite handsome. As for the mother of those twins… well, as his soulmate, she must have been attractive too. It was just surprising the twins were so ugly.

“Why aren’t you saying anything? Do you think I’m gossiping?” Stephanie mumbled, noticing Sebastian’s silence.

She turned around and rubbed her face against his chest. “It’s not just me who’s gossiping about this.”