In just one day, he looked utterly exhausted. A dark stubble shadowed his jaw,


    and there were dark circles under his eyes.


    "Hannah,e home with me."


    Lionel stood up, reaching a hand out to her.


    Hannah instinctively took a step back, her voice like ice. "Until we have the


    divorce certificate in hand, I''m not going anywhere with you."


    Quennel stepped in front of her, shielding her.


    "You came from the hospital. Does Sandra know you''re here?" he said. "Should I give her a call? Let her know where to find you?”


    Lionel fell silent, the jab hitting its mark. He red at Quennel.


    "Ms. Woods needs you more than I do," Hannah said, her tone firm and resolute. "You should go back before she wakes up, doesn''t see you, and tries to kill herself again. Then you''ll just find a way to me me."


    Her words made it clear she was done. The way he had acted had pushed her past her breaking point. She waspletely, utterly disillusioned with him. Her heart felt like it had been shattered into a million pieces. All she could do now was count down the days until the cooling-off period ended so she could finalize the divorce and ask Yves Lancaster for a transfer.


    Hearing her words, a sh of pain crossed his eyes, but he ignored it. He lunged forward, grabbed her hand, and pulled her into the elevator.


    "Let me go! Lionel, I said let go of me! Didn''t you hear me?"


    Hannah struggled violently, a red mark already forming on her wrist, but Lionel refused to let go.


    "Lionel, are you insane? Can''t you see you''re hurting her? Let her go!"


    Quennel rushed forward to pull Lionel''s hand away, but Lionel met him with a sharp punch to the gut. Quennel doubled over, his face contorted in pain.


    As if that wasn''t enough, Lionel pushed Hannah behind him and swung again.


    "Quennel, you can have those


    projects back. I don''t care. But if you ever get close to Hannah again, to swear fit find a way to drag you


    closed


    down from your position at


    headquarters!"


    "Quennel!"


    Seeing him get hit, Hannah tried to rush out, but Lionel tightened his grip, pulling


    her back as he jabbed at the elevator buttons.


    "Lionel, let me go! Let go!"


    Hannah wrenched her arm free and reached for the control panel, but Lionel blocked her.


    "Why did you evene back? You don''t trust me anyway! What''s the point? Let go of me!"


    Lionel pulled her into his arms, holding her tight.


    "Alright, stop fighting. This was all Quennel''s doing. I was tricked. Don''t be angry. Juste home with me."


    His embrace was so strong she couldn''t move. Listening to the,


    steady beat of his heart, feet the


    warmth of his arms around her Hannah''s tears began to fall again.


    "I''m not going home with you! I won''t!"


    "If you don''te home, where will you go? Back to Quennel?" he asked, his voice softening as he gently wiped the tears from her cheeks.


    "How many times have I told you? Quennel isn''t who you think he i


    Why won''t you fister Everet


    time


    something goes wrong, you cun to him. How can you be so naive?"


    Hannah looked at him, her eyes red and swollen. "All you ever do is talk badly about him, but Quennel has never said a single negative thing about you to me!"