The maid hesitated. "Mr. Rosenberg, aren''t youing over now? Miss Sandra... she''s not in a good state."


    "Lily, just tell her that I will not let her marry Kim. I give her my word. Tell her to rest and wait for my good news."


    Lionel hung up. He stared at his phone, his brow furrowed in thought, then dialed Hannah''s number.


    Hannah had left the house on foot. She had been walking for over half an hour before she realized where she was: the small creek.


    This had been their favorite spot before they were married. They would sit on the stone bench at dusk, holding each other, feeling the evening breeze, and watching the water glitter in the fading light. The sounds ofughter from people nearby would wash away the day''s fatigue as they dreamed about their future.


    Neither of them could have imagined their future would turn out like this.


    She drifted toward the bench, the familiar surroundings triggering a fresh wave of pain.


    The insistent ringing of her phone shattered the quiet. She ignored it again and again, and was about to block the number when she overheard a couple nearby. "So dramatic. The guy is calling to apologize and she''s not even picking up." "Right? My baby is so much better. She always answers when I call."


    “Hmph. If I didn''t answer, you''d just start a fight with me. I''m giving you an out, you big dummy. Don''t you get it?”


    An out.


    Hannah stared at her phone for a long time before finally answering.


    "Where are you?" The man''s voice on the other end was low and tight with a desperate anger.


    "If you have something to say, just say it."


    There was a pause. "You wanted to know about Sandra and me, right?"


    Hannah didn''t speak. At his words, her heart began to fracture, piece by piece. Her eyes burned. Unconsciously, her left hand clenched so tightly that her nails dug into her palm, but she felt no pain.


    Of course. There was a secret she never knew. And if not for today, he would have never told her.


    She opened her mouth, fighting the urge to make a sound, her body trembling uncontrobly.


    "I knew Sandra before I met you."


    Hannah''s breath caught in her throat. It took a long moment for her to inhale sharply, tilting her head back to keep the tears from falling. Her heart felt like it was bleeding, pierced by a thousand tiny needles.


    "She was the one who sponsored my education," Lionel said. He was sitting in his car, his eyes closed, the memories flooding back. "Sandra sponsored five students in total. I was one of them. When she beard from my teachers about my academic performance, she met with me and offered to cover all my expenses through high school and college."


    "Later, after I met you and started my own business, Sandra was the one who helped mework and find clients. Without her, things would not have gone so smoothly for me."


    That was why, when the Woods family ran into trouble, he had ignored Quennel''s warnings time and time again, even asking his


    friends to help: He was paying the girl who had helped him all those years ago.


    But in Hannah''s eyes, it meant something else entirely.


    "Hannah," he said, his voice t, "I met her before I met you. She helped me first."