"It'll be fine. I do not need a bodyguard in the first place. I am just taking him because you want someone to keep an eye on me, right?"

Layla asked, and the secretary fell quiet. Even in her dream, the secretary was reasonable and sighed tiredly.

Her eyes asked Layla to back down, but they knew it was impossible.

"Let's go! I have a lot of places to be today."

Layla pretended not to have seen that look and quickly left where she had been resting.

Everyone deemed the man 'weird.' He looked like he had not heard anything and continued smiling at Layla the whole time.

Layla also ignored him but could not keep her calm for long, so she turned toward him with an awkward expression.

"..."

She tried to say something, but her instincts warned her against opening her mouth. So, Layla did not say anything and merely closed her mouth after this.

"Young Miss, do you want to ask me something? I can tell that you are curious. Are you wondering why everyone calls me weird? I don't know that as well. Perhaps I should ask around and-"

The man spoke independently, even when Layla had not permitted him.

Had she been in a stricter mood, she would have shown that man why this was not a good idea. But she was not in the mood to think about anything like that.

"Don't talk much. It's distracting, and I am not in the mood for it. Now, let's hurry up and get where we need to be. Is this your first debt collection task?"

Layla asked her subordinate, and the man turned his head questioningly toward the side before letting out a small laugh.

"Of course not, miss! I have been with this gang for years. Is this your first time seeing me? What a shock!"

The man asked mockingly, but it was more shocking for Layla than she could explain in words.

Her company and mafia were big. As such, she did not have the luxury of knowing every face in it. But all those who had been working for a long time with her had the pleasure of being known by face at least.

This man, however, she had never seen before.

"Young Miss, don't think much about it! Your mind is just trying to play tricks on you at the moment. If you give in, you will live your life in doubt."

The person asked, and his words made Layla jolt.

'Young Miss' was not something she had been called before she became her current self. She had been called 'Boss' most of the time in her previous life.

Layla's memory had faded enough that she could not recall her name now (it had not been used for the past few years), and hearing this title suddenly made her even more aware that she was dreaming.

"Do you know my name?"

Layla asked her subordinate without a single pause.

She had struck this conversation as casually as she could have, but it left the person following her stumped.

The man stopped walking for a minute before he turned his eyes away from her. Just as he was about to answer Layla, she heard the sound of fighting from around the corner, and someone rushed at her.

"Boss, get behind me right now!"

The man addressed Layla right this time as he pushed her back and took the force of that tackling man.

He also twisted the attacker in a way that made it easier for him to subdue.

But that first attacker was not the end of it. More and more people rushed toward Layla; he first instinct was to use her magic. Her body reflexively opened its hand and extended it forward.

Nothing happened before muscle memory kicked in, and Layla dealt with those people with her bare fists.

Once she had them all down, she looked at them with harsh eyes and a knowing look.

"So, would you mind telling me what is happening here? Where did you all suddenly come out from? And why are you attacking me like this?"

Layla asked as she looked at the people in front of her. She pressed harder against the man who had attacked her, but something about that did not sit right with her.

Her attacker looked at her and asked a disturbing question.

"Are you not going to wake up? How long are you going to stay asleep for?"

The man asked, and Layla stepped back all of a sudden. Just when she considered answering this man and asking him what he needed from her, he was shot dead and fell.

Layla looked up, only to see her subordinates arriving and shooting anyone who tried to move.

"What are you doing? Stop it! Hey, listen to me."

Layla yelled, but no one heard her. Or, if they did, they ignored her.

Before she knew it, everyone around her was lying dead except her subordinates. The man who had been assigned as her bodyguard had been shot dead as well.

"Boss! We have eliminated all the abnormalities. Please, don't worry about a thing and recover as you want to. We will take care of the rest here."

Her secretary assured Layla, but it only spooked Layla out even more.

"What does all that even mean? Just what is going on here? Can't you just tell me what is happening?"

Layla asked, but the secretary looked away from her when she asked these questions. No one wanted to answer Layla properly, and it made Layla quite angry.

In her anger, Layla did one of the stupidest things she could have done now.

She grabbed a gun and pointed it at her head. It made everyone turn toward her as one, and they all looked spooked.

"If you take a single step toward me, I will shoot myself and then everyone else here as well. If you still do not want to answer me, then go ahead and do that."

Layla threatened, and her secretary and others behaved like bots as they turned to stone without blinking or breathing.