Hannah stared at Quennel, stunned.


    Seeing her confusion, he gave a small, humorless smile.


    "As long as that engagement isn''t broken, it doesn''t matter if Sandra breaks her leg or ends up crippled for life."


    Quennel took off his sses, his eyes burning with a dark intensity as he looked at her. He thought yesterday''s lesson would have been enough to knock some sense into Lionel, but apparently, he had been too soft. He should have aimed for his existing injuries, put both him and Sandra in the hospital together. What a waste of time, calling just to spew empty promises he had no intention of keeping.


    The words died on Hannah''s lips. She let out a long sigh, her eyes downcast. "... Just leave it," she said softly. "If he finds out, he''ll just me me for calling them again."


    He was always like that, blindly ming her, using her, without ever bothering to get the facts straight.


    Quennel saw the utter disillusionment in her eyes. A spark of something lit up in his gaze before being just as quickly extinguished.


    "Fine. If that''s what you want, I''ll listen to you," he said, putting his sses back on. "Get some rest. Call me if you need anything."


    "Okay."


    Quennel walked back to his desk, opened a chat with his assistant, and told him to notify Kim''s parents and have them take their son to the hospital.


    He wasn''t about to let Lionel get away with hurting Hannah like this.


    In the VIP hospital room, Lionel sat on the sofa, his phone in his hand. He kept opening Hannah''s chat, staring at the nk screen, trying to figure out what to say.


    Sandra was awake and stable for now, but the doctor had rmended someone stay with her 24/7. Mr. and Mrs. Woods had offered to take turns, but just a little while ago when he''d stepped out to talk to the dogtor for less than five mínutes, a nurse hade running, saying Sandra was having another episode.


    Apparently, Mrs. Woods had said something that set her off, and


    Sandra had ripped out her IV and the other tubes, making a desperate lunge for the window. If the hospital hadn''t already installed safety measures that prevented the windows from opening more than a few inches, she would have jumped.


    Lionel had rushed back and managed to calm her down. She''d had to go back


    into surgery to have the tubes reinserted and was now resting quietly in bed.


    He rubbed his temples in frustration and stood up to leave the room.


    "Lionel, where are you going?"


    The moment he stood, a weak voice came from the bed.


    "I''m just stepping out for a smoke. I''ll be right back, I promise," he said, forcing a


    calm expression.


    Sandra nodded, her lips pale.


    The moment he was out the door, Cora followed him. She had been standing nearby and had seen him repeatedly opening Hannah''s chat t wasn''t hard to guess what he was about to do.


    "Sir!" she called out, catching up to him. "Are you going to message your wife?"


    "This has nothing to do with you. Didn''t you hear me when I told you to go home?" he warned, his voice a low hiss.


    "You saw what Ms. Woods is like right now. You and your wife just had a small misunderstanding. If she had any decency, she would trust you and understand the situation."


    She sighed dramatically. "If it weren''t for your wife, Ms. Woods never would have tried to kill herself in the first ce."


    "This has nothing to do with Hannah!" he snapped, his eyes darkening. He had misunderstood her before, but now he knew the truth. The real puppet master was Quennel.