Lionel stared at the ck text on his phone screen. He recognized every word, but somehow, when put together, they felt alien. He couldn''t quite process the meaning, having to read the message over and over again to understand what she was


    saying.


    Sandra had used someone else''s ount to send the message, and when he tried to call back, he found he had already been blocked.


    He had only these few pictures and her words to go on, with no way to question her further.


    If what Sandra said was true, then Hannah wasn''t the one who drugged him. He had misunderstood her for three long years.


    And just a few days ago, Sandra had told him that Quennel was behind the drugging, but he hadn''t been able to believe something so outrageous.


    But if, as she imed, Quennel desired Hannah and had Sandra drug her to get her, then it all made sense.


    After he and Hannah were married, Quennel never kept his distance. In fact, he was exceptionally kind to Hannah—so kind that it sometimes made Lionel suspicious, wondering if his brother was up to something.


    Now, everything finally clicked into ce. It was almost certain that Quennel was responsible for the drugging.


    Since he now had a clear lead, bringing Sandra back was pointless, especially since he had no idea where she had run off to.


    Staying in Roxa would just be a waste of time. The most important thing now was to return home immediately, exin everything to Hannah, and beg for her forgiveness.


    With this thought, Lionel immediately booked a flight and flew back home that very night.


    At the crack of dawn the next morning.


    Hannah was still sound asleep when a frantic knocking at her bedroom door jolted her awake.


    "Ma''am, it''s an emergency! Your ex-husband is here. We tried to get him to leave, but he refuses. He says


    He says


    he has something extremely important to tell you and forced his way in. He''s in the living room i right now."


    Hannah''s brow furrowed in irritation.


    "Lionel?"


    The maid nodded. "Yes, that''s him. He''s downstairs. We tried to escort him out, but


    he threatened to kill himself right here in the house if we made him leave today."


    Hannah''s face fell, her patiencepletely gone.


    "Go tell him to get on with it then. Tell him to do it quickly and stop bothering me. And tell him I''m not seeing him. What time is it? Even if I were going to see him, it would be after I''ve woken up not whenb he decides to barge in at the break of dawn."


    Hannah mmed the door shut, her face a mask of anger.


    She had no idea why he was suddenly back, but his selfish, inconsiderate behavior was utterly disgusting. He was still the same self-centered man he had always been. She had hoped that after everything that had happened, he might have learned to consider her feelings, but clearly, nothing had changed. The sight of him was just sickening.


    When the maid ryed Hannah''s message to Lionel downstairs, he finally realized how badly he had acted.


    He had been so shocked by the news and so desperate to tell Hannah that he hadn''t thought about anything else.


    “Please, tell Hannah I''m truly sorry. It''s just that I have something incredibly important to discuss with her. Since she''s still sleeping, I''ll just wait here for her.”