Hannah hesitated for a moment before answering.


    "Hello."


    "Where are you?!"


    A man''s furious roar erupted from the other end of the line. It was Lionel.


    Hannah''s expression turned to ice.


    "What is it?"


    "Do you have any idea what happened to Sandra?"


    Hannah took a slow, deliberate breath. "I just saw the news. And?"


    There was a tense silence, followed by a growl of pure rage. "And? And she was nearly killed because of you!"


    Hannah let out a humorlessugh, rising from the sofa. "How, exactly, did I almost get her killed? Did I stop you from saving her? Did I hire the man who attacked her? Lionel, I know you''re upset that your precious mistress got hurt, but what does that have to do with me?"


    Sometimes she wondered if Lionel had some kind of rage disorder. Every time something happened to Sandra, he turned into a brainless, irrational monster,shing out at her with wild usations and baseless me. He had insulted and degraded her, stopping just short of physical violence.


    "You dare say this has nothing to do with you?" he demanded, his voice a low, threatening snarl. "I gave you that case in the first ce. If you had handled it properly, none of this would have happened to Sandra!"


    "This is all because you were being petty and selfish. You deliberately refused to help her, and now she''s being targeted for revenge."


    His words were so absurd she couldn''t help butugh again, pushing her hair back from her face in exasperation. Right now, she wanted nothing more than to drive a car straight into both of them, then back up and run them over again and again until they were nothing but a smear on the pavement.


    "Why aren''t you saying anything? Feeling guilty? Regretful?" he sneered into the silence. "I''m telling you, you are to get over here right now and apologize to Sandra."


    Hannah took several deep, calming breaths before sitting back down, remaining silent.


    "Hannah, I''m talking to you! Did you hear me?"


    "I heard you," she replied, her voice t and devoid of emotion.


    "I told you toe and apologize!"


    She calmly poured herself a ss of water, took a sip, and let out a long, slow exhale: Finally, she spoke. "Let me make myself clear, Lionel. Even Sanda were backed to pieces and left for dead, I wouldn''t lift a finger to see her, let alone apologize."


    "She was attacked because she deserved it. It''s because she''s ipetent,


    useless, and aplete failure. Do you understand?"


    "That case was mine from the


    beginning. She stole it from me


    because she thought the client was handsome and wanted to get her ws into him. This isn''t revenge; it''s karma."


    Sandra had snatched the case, then gotten into an ident and tried to dump the


    mess back on her. The sheer nerve of it was astounding.


    Lionel was stunned into silence by her verbal onught. He hadn''t known the


    case was originally Hannah''s.


    "I hate you, Lionel," Hannah said, a


    calm, chilling smile spreading


    across her face as she leaned back eas


    against the sofa. "truly, deeply hate you."


    "When I was kidnapped, where was all this righteous fury? Why didn''t you drag my kidnappers in front of me and demand they apologize?"


    "When I copsed in the rain yesterday, did you even bother to ask if I was okay?"


    "Lionel, if you really want me to apologize to Sandra, fine. I''ll do it right after I kill her with my own two hands."


    Hannah hung up and immediately blocked Sandra''s number.