Chapter 3 Brother’s Private Jet

Elara nodded, but before she could speak, Wendy's scornful voice came from behind her. "You think renting a luxury car makes you an heiress? A duckling can put on all the makeup it wants—it'll never become a swan!"

Elara didn't respond. Truth be told, she was also surprised by today's extravagant display.

But she didn't care whether her biological parents had money. She was only going with them to get some peace and quiet. With her abilities, she'd be fine wherever she ended up.

"Mom, stop picking on Elara. She just cares too much about her dignity!"

Jasmine let out a mocking laugh and turned to Elara with a sneer. "Elara, renting this many Maybachs for a day must cost a fortune, right? Don't tell me you took out a loan to rent these cars?"

The guests burst into laughter, convinced that Elara was pretending to be rich.

After all, Elara had been kicked out by the West family. If she really had that kind of capability, the Wests would have treated her with respect long ago.

James couldn't take it anymore.

The Shaw family had only learned Elara's true identity and address through the family reunion system yesterday.

Elara's brother, Ethan Shaw, had brought them here overnight.

James never imagined Elara's adoptive parents could be this vile!

He snapped angrily, "I thought you Wests were decent people. I never expected you to humiliate Ms. Shaw like this!"

"This butler's putting on quite a show." Wendy crossed her arms with an arrogant expression. "Well then, why don't you tell us—how many properties does the Shaw family own? How many cars? What do you do in Emerald City?"

"These are the Shaw family's business secrets. I have no obligation to tell you!" James said coldly.

Wendy let out a shrill laugh, tears streaming down her face. "If you can't keep up the act, just say so! Business secrets? That's hilarious!"

Jasmine was now convinced that James was just an actor Elara had hired, and joined in the mockery. "Elara, I hate to say it, but this actor you hired is really unprofessional. What would some country bumpkin know about business secrets? He'd probably have better prospects studying how to sort trash."

"You—"

James was about to curse them out, but Elara stopped him. "Don't bother with them. Let's go."

James glared at them resentfully, thinking it was a good thing he hadn't handed over the two-hundred-million-dollar thank-you gift Elara's biological parents had prepared for the West family. With the way the Wests were acting, they didn't deserve a single penny!

Elara got into the car, and it began to move slowly.

James sat in the passenger seat, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye. "Ms. Shaw, this is my fault. I let you suffer."

"It's fine." Elara answered flatly, then looked out the window. "This seems to be heading toward downtown."

She remembered her biological parents lived in the countryside, so they shouldn't be taking this route.

James nodded. "Yes. For your safety, we need to switch vehicles downtown."

"Switch vehicles?" Elara frowned, wondering what kind of tricks the Shaw family was playing.

After about twenty more minutes, the car stopped in an open area.

As soon as Elara got out, she heard a tremendous roar overhead.

She looked up and saw a private jet descending.

The jet was sleek and silver, with smooth wing lines and a tail featuring an embedded propulsion system. The fuselage was equipped with an anti-detection module that hadn't been publicly released yet.

Elara froze.

Wasn't this technology something 'she' had invented?

And she hadn't officially released this technology yet—how did the Shaw family get their hands on it?

While Elara was puzzling over this, the jet's door opened, and an automatic stairway extended. A man in an impeccable suit slowly descended.

The man looked about twenty-five or twenty-six, tall and imposing, with sharp brows and striking eyes—eyes that looked exactly like Elara's, radiating an intimidating authority.

James immediately went to greet him, and over a dozen bodyguards bowed in unison. "Mr. Shaw!"

The man gave a slight nod and walked up to Elara, looking her up and down. "The resemblance... it's uncanny!"

He smiled at Elara. "I'm your brother, Ethan."

Elara nodded in acknowledgment.

"Let's get on the jet first." After speaking, Ethan went to the trunk to help with her luggage.

Over a dozen bodyguards rushed forward to help, but Ethan's glare drove them back. "Step aside! I'll carry my sister's luggage myself!"

The bodyguards retreated.

Ethan grabbed the suitcase handle and tried to lift it casually—but it didn't budge!

He paused, then applied more force. Still, the suitcase remained completely immovable.

What on earth was inside this thing? Why was it so heavy?

James came over and whispered in his ear, "Mr. Shaw, it takes two or three of us to lift that suitcase."

"You couldn't have mentioned that earlier?!" Ethan shot him a fierce glare.

He felt thoroughly embarrassed in front of Elara. Just as he was about to try again, Elara walked over and lifted the suitcase with ease.

Ethan stared in shock for a moment, then praised sincerely, "Truly a Shaw—you're exceptional from the start."

Elara smiled faintly, then carried the suitcase onto the jet.

The interior was much more spacious than she'd expected, with each seat equipped with a touchscreen—exactly matching her original design concept.

After sitting down, Elara suddenly asked, "So, how long have you been tracking me?"

If her guess was correct, the Shaw family members had known about her identity as an aerospace scientist for some time and had paid a fortune for the rights to use this technology.

Ethan was taken aback by her question. "We haven't been tracking you. Elara, your identity information has been in a protected state all this time. We only learned your whereabouts and confirmed your information yesterday by chance. We've been searching for you all these years. Elara, the real question is—why couldn't we find any information about you for so long?"

Elara studied him. He didn't seem to be lying. Had she been overthinking this?

After sitting down, Elara told a white lie. "I'm not entirely sure either. Perhaps my grandfather thought it was better to avoid complications, so he kept my information sealed from when I was young. That's why, when Grandfather passed away a few days ago, my information was finally made public."

She was still somewhat suspicious, so she asked with feigned curiosity, "The design logic of this jet is incredibly advanced. How did your technical team crack the power balance system in just six months?"

At this, Ethan rubbed his temples in frustration. "Don't even get me started. The Shaw family bought this 'one-of-a-kind blueprint' from an anonymous underground intelligence dealer overseas. It cost us three hundred million dollars."

Suddenly, the jet lurched violently.

Ethan instinctively shielded Elara and shouted toward the cockpit, "What's going on?!"

"Mr. Shaw, we have a problem!" James came running over in a panic. "The jet just encountered turbulence. The balance system is damaged—we're in a rapid descent!"