"Mom, you wanted to see me?"


    "The board has suspended you. Do you n on doing nothing about it? Justzing around at home all day?"


    Mary demanded, her tone harsh.


    "I''ve been dealing with Hannah''s situation. Being suspended actually gives me plenty of time to investigate. I even have to go abroad tomorrow. As for thepany, I can''t go back until the board revokes the suspension."


    Lionel was used to his mother''s abrasive questions and responded calmly.


    He had never understood why his mother treated Quennel so well and him so poorly, even though they were both her sons.


    He had even wondered if he wasn''t her biological child, but a paternity test had confirmed he was. Yet, she seemed anything but happy to have her son back after he''d been missing for over twenty years.


    It used to bother him, but not anymore. He had learned to act as if he didn''t have a mother. Having grown up without one, he didn''t know what motherly love felt like, and now in his twenties, he no longer wanted to dwell on it.


    "So the board suspends you, and you just roll over and ept it? And now with this Hannah business, you have no desire to fight for your position back?"


    "Is this woman going to be the ruin of you? If she wants a divorce, then give her one! This mess she''s in is her problem. Why are you getting so involved?"


    Lionel waspletely stunned by his mother''s words.


    Partly because he never expected her to show any concern for his career, and partly because her attitude toward Hannah was so cold it chilled him to the bone.


    "Hannah and I are not divorced. She is my wife, and I will take full responsibility for this, especially since it''s all because of me."


    Mary stared at Lionel in disbelief.


    After all, the two of them had been at each other''s throats, their fights turning the house upside down. Hannah had even told off a whole crowd of rtives at the family estate.


    And now, here was Lionel, defending her and vowing to help her. It was truly astonishing to Mary.


    "Fine, handle her affairs, I won''t stop


    e''


    you. But the board has already issued an order. You''re being reassigned to manage the factory in the suburbs you have to leave and report there this afternoon.


    "But I have to go abroad right now. I can''t go to the factory."


    "The factory or your trip. It''s one or the other. You''re a grown man, Lionel. You should know the


    consequences of your choices


    you drag this family down, I wort hesitate to send your right back where you came from!"


    Mary scoffed, her eyes filled with disgust as she red at him. Utterly disappointed,


    she turned on her heel and left.


    She left Lionel standing there alone,pletely at a loss.


    He stood motionless for a good ten minutes before, as if having made a firm


    decision, he turned and walked out without a backward nce.


    Inside the study, Quennel watched his mother walk in and raised an eyebrow with a smile. "See? I told you He''s different now. He''ll choose Hannah over the factory i told you" to give him the ultimatum earlier, but you insisted on waiting."


    "What''s the use of saying that now? You need to find a way to get him out of the


    picture before he bes a threat to your position."