At Lionel''s thunderous roar, David swallowed again, his breathing heavy with fear. He couldn''t bring himself to speak.


    Edith, seeing his cowardice, pointed an using finger at him. "It was him! He asked if Quennel could arrange a meeting for them! He knew exactly what kind of person Kim is, and he... he still did it!"


    The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. She lunged at David, pounding her fists against his chest.


    "It''s all your fault! If you hadn''t asked, would Quennel have helped? Would Sandra have been targeted? Would she be lying here like this?"


    "It''s you, it''s all you! You''ve ruined my daughter! You''re not human! David, I''m telling you, if anything happens to Sandra, I will never forgive you! Never!"


    David closed his eyes in anguish, letting her hit him without fighting back.


    "So you''re saying you initiated this? Quennel didn''t approach you first?" Lionel asked, his voice dangerously low.


    Edith nodded, taking a deep breath. She had no energy left to hit her husband. She just walked back to the bed and gazed at her poor, broken daughter.


    "I''m asking you one more time. Are you sure Quennel didn''t approach you?"


    "No, no! A man like Mr. Quennel Rosenberg, would he evere to us? I just... I must have been out of my mind that day, so desperate to save the Woods family that I wasn''t thinking straight!"


    The color drained from Lionel''s face, his eyes wide with shock and regret.


    He had assumed... he had assumed that Hannah had run to Quennel, crying about her problems, and that Quennel, in a twisted act of revenge, had targeted the Woods family.


    But now, they were telling him it was all in his head. It wasn''t Quennel''s scheme at all; the Woods had approached him.


    Which meant he had wrongly used her.


    Lionel shot up from his chair and stormed out of the room.


    David immediately ran after him, grabbing his arm. "Mr. Rosenberg, where are you going? The doctor said, Sandra could wake up in the next couple of hours. She hates us right now, so she probably won''t want to see us. She might even cause another scene."


    "Yes, Mr. Rosenberg!" Edith rushed


    over, clutching his other arm.


    "Please just help us this one time.


    Stay with her, I think you''re the


    person Sandra


    will want to see most


    When she wakes up."


    Lionel desperately wanted to go to Hannah, but the situation here was just as critical.


    He turned back to look at Sandra and, with a heavy heart, chose to stay.


    Mr. and Mrs. Woods left, using the excuse that their daughter wouldn''t want to see them. It wasn''t until they were in their car in the garage, certai no one was around, that they finally let out a collective sign of relief.


    "We didn''t mess any of that up, did we? You don''t think Mr. Rosenberg suspects anything, do you?" Edith asked worriedly.


    David took a deep breath, his eyes darting to the rearview mirror. "He''s not a mind reader. How could he know? Just be quiet. I have to make a call."


    He took out his phone and dialed a number from memory.


    “Hello, sir,” he said when the call connected. “We did what you asked. Lionel is staying in Sandra''s room and won''t be leaving."


    "We also made it clear that we approached Quennel, not the other way around. He fully believes we did it out of desperation to save our family. I guarantee you, he won''t suspect a thing."