Lionel rubbed the back of his neck, abashed, and wisely kept his mouth shut.


    They stayed for lunch and left under Grandma''s watchful eye, getting into the car together. Hannah sat in the passenger seat, staring silently out the window.


    "About the hospital," Lionel began, breaking the tense silence. "I didn''t go there to see Sandra. She called me and said you were there with Peter. I was worried something had happened to you, so I rushed over. By the time I got there, she said she had lost track of you. I was about to leave when I saw youing out."


    Hannah didn''t respond. Her expression remained nk, as if she hadn''t heard a word he said. Seeing herplete indifference, Lionel''s frustration grew, and his grip on the steering wheel tightened.


    "Believe it or not, that''s what happened. You can check the security footage if you don''t believe me."


    At that, Hannah turned her head slowly, a single eyebrow raised. "I don''t believe you. And I have no desire to check any security footage. I saw what I saw."


    "Hannah, can''t you be reasonable for once? I''m telling you the truth!"


    "Hah!" A sharp, humorlessugh escaped her lips. "So now you know what it feels like to be called unreasonable?"


    The car stopped at a red light. He turned to look at her, a confused expression on his face.


    "What''s wrong?" she asked, her eyes wide and mocking. "Does it feel unfair? Do you feel wronged?"


    "When Sandra was putting on her little shows, told you again and again that it wasn''t me. But you never believed me. Even when I had. proof when thad the security footage right in my hand, you wouldn''t even look at it. You only believed what you wanted to see!"


    As she spoke, her voice grew colder, her eyes filling with unshed tears. She red at him, her gaze unwavering.


    Lionel was stunned into silence.


    "What, are you going to say you don''t remember?" she pressed, seeing the look on his face. "I suppose you would forget. It wasn''t important to you. But it was to me, Every time you refused to believe. me, you turned me into the viin and her into the victim. I was the one being bullied, the one being framed, but the truth didn''t matter."


    "So now you feel wronged? You feel like I''m being stubborn and irrational? Just this once? How do you think I felt was the one whic should have felt wrongedcontento


    She took a deep, shuddering breath and turned to look out the window again.


    "You can''t even handle it once. I had to endure it for three years."


    As thest words left her lips, the anger drained away, reced by a strange


    sense of calm. It didn''t matter anymore. None of it did.


    Lionel stared at her profile, his heart heavy with a guilt he couldn''t articte. The light turned green, and he drove on in silence.