No wonder Hannah had initially turned down her offer to stay at her ce, only to show upter. It was because this idiot had been stalking her.


    "I really didn''t investigate which hotel she was staying at. It was all..."


    "Destiny? You want to say it was destiny? That you and Hannah are so in sync you booked rooms in the same hotel, on the same floor?"


    Tess stood her ground, giving him another tant eye-roll.


    “Let me tell you something. Even if you were in sync, even if it was a coincidence, you should know that Hannah hates you right now. The moment you saw her on the same floor, you should have been the one to pack your bags and get lost, not her."


    The more Tess spoke, the angrier she became, thinking of all the suffering Hannah had endured over the years. She jabbed a finger at his chest. "Hannah did nothing wrong. You''re the one at fault, but you still don''t see it. And because of you, Hannah had to drag her luggage to my ce in the middle of the night. You are a selfish, self-absorbed person."


    With that, Tess shot him a furious re, turned, and started walking toward the police station again. Then, a thought struck her, and she spun back around to face Lionel with a smirk.


    "By the way, someone at her newpany started a rumor that she was sleeping with the boss, and she handled it perfectly, all by herself. She doesn''t need your help. She never has. She has the skills to solve her own problems. You''re the one who can''t live without her."


    After delivering that final blow, Tess immediately called Hannah.


    Lionel was left frozen in ce.


    He had been agonizing over the hotel room incident since yesterday, but he hadn''t gone to her office because he knew she was busy.


    Seeing Tess on the street was a coincidence, and he''d only wanted to ask her to pass on a message. He never expected to hear about this.


    In that instant, he felt like he was the only one stuck in the past while everyone else had moved forward.


    And she really didn''t need him. Hannah could handle everything on her own.


    Before she met the Temple family, she had always managed by herself. After meeting them, she had their support as well.


    So, all along, he was the one who couldn''t let go, not Hannah. He was the one who was truly needed, not Hannah.


    A sharp pain seized Lionel''s chest, making it hard to breathe. It felt as if his heart was being ripped out, tearing his insides apart.


    "You won''t believe who I ran into on my way here Lionel. The idiot was still going on about yesterday, trying to im he didn''t intentionally book the hotel and that it was some cosmic connection be two."


    "So I told him how you got ndered today and handled the whole thing yourself. He just froze when he heard it. He probably thought your guide, solvest


    out him that


    you needed him. That jerk really thinks highly of himself."


    ser


    Hannah paused for a moment. She hadn''t expected Tess to run into him on her way to the station, nor that he''d still be hung up on the hotel incident.


    "What was his reaction after you told him that?" Hannah asked, genuinely curious.


    Tess described Lionel''s shocked expression.