"You found her?" Grandma eximed. "Who is she? How did you find her? Why didn''t you tell me something so important sooner?"


    "Cheryl Temple," Hannah said, then exined how she had run into Peter at her firm, the DNA test, and moving into the Temple family home.


    Grandma listened, her expression thoughtful.


    "The Temple family," she mused. "So, it''s the Temples. I''ve heard about what happened to her. It was such a tragedy. She''s still missing, but I know the Temples are still searching desperately for her. I hope they find her soon, so you and your mother can finally be reunited."


    She then asked how Hannah was settling in at the Temple estate. Hannah didn''t mention Cherry''s bullying; telling Grandma about the divorce was distressing enough. Adding that she was being mistreated would have broken the old woman''s heart.


    They talked for a long time. Grandma, still worried, told Hannah that if she ever felt ufortable living with the Temples, she should move in with her.


    Hannah agreed.


    For the first time in a long time, she felt a sense of belonging, as if she finally had a home. The empty, rootless feeling that had haunted her for so long began to fade.


    As Hannah was driving away from Grandma''s house, she saw Lionel''s car parked by the side of the road.


    "Hannah, let''s find somewhere to sit down and talk."


    He stubbed out his cigarette, walked over to her car, and opened the passenger door, sliding in without an invitation. Seeing that there was no getting rid of him, Hannah didn''t bother arguing.


    She drove to a nearby coffee shop and chose a secluded table in the corner.


    "What do you want to talk about?" she asked, leaning back and pulling out her phone, her tone deliberately indifferent.


    Lionel looked at her, about to speak, but then hesitated. Cindy had told him that Hannah had found her


    he


    biological mother. In that instant, I understood why she had been at the they were


    5 with Peter


    hospital


    getting a DNA test.


    She used to tell him everything. Now, she hadn''t even mentioned finding her own family. The realization hit him hard: he had truly broken her heart.


    "About the divorce papers... I know what I did was wrong. I wasn''t thinking clearly. I panicked."


    Hannah didn''t respond, just nodded slightly.


    "Grandma knows now, and while she didn''t oppose the divorce, I know she doesn''t want it to happen. Hannah, please, just give me one more chance. Let''s start over. Please?"


    She remained silent, her eyes fixed on her phone.


    "Hannah!"


    "Is that all you wanted to say?" She finally looked up from her screen, her gazezy and detached. "I can''t magine a level of pants that would lead someone to use their own marriage as a bargaining chip to appease someone else."


    Lionel knew his actions were indefensible. Back then, he hadn''t seen Sandra for who she truly was. If he had, he never would have done something so foolish.


    ???)


    "You don''t need to exin. I don''t want to heart," Hannah said, cutting him off. "Lionel, I don''t want to be alone with you. The sight of you makes me sick Sorunless we are filing divorce papers or finalizing them after the cooling-off period, do note near me again


    With that, she stood up and walked out, driving back to the Temple estate.