Lionel slumped back into his car, pinching the bridge of his nose.


    He even found himself wondering if Hannah would have treated him differently if he had managed to bring Sandra back. Would she have seen it as a sess and changed her attitude?


    But now, he didn''t even know where Sandra was, let alone how to bring her back.


    And judging by the way Hannah was ignoring him, even if he did drag Sandra back and reim everything he''d given the Woods family, she probably wouldn''t give him a second nce.


    In that moment, a wave of agony washed over him, like an invisible hand was tightening around his neck, choking him, making it impossible to struggle free.


    Just as he felt his breath being stolen away, his phone buzzed, snapping him back to reality.


    Quennel''s name was on the screen. They rarely contacted each other privately; it was only recently, due to the situation with Hannah, that Quennel would asionally reach out.


    But even that had be infrequent. A sudden call now could only mean he was plotting something.


    He hesitated for a moment before answering.


    "What do you want?"


    "I heard you failed to bring Sandra home. In fact, you let her get away. Would you be interested in knowing where she is now?"


    Lionel paused at those words, his expression turning serious. “You know where she is?" he asked, his tone heavy. "Don''t tell me you kidnapped her. Quennel, you''re despicable. You knew I needed to find her, and you took her."


    Quennel listened to Lionel''s tirade without saying a word.


    When he finally fell silent, Quennel chuckled. “Are you done? If not, feel free to continue. If you are, then it''s my turn to speak."


    His mocking tone made the veins on Lionel''s forehead throb.


    "Cut the crap and tell me, did you take Sandra? Where is she? Let her go, now! Do you hear me?"


    "So, you''re still worried about her after all. You want to save her, is that it?"


    For some reason, Lionel felt there was a hidden meaning in his words, something unsettling.


    "What are you talking about? I just need to hand her over to Hannah.”


    "Hand her over to Hannah for what? So Hannah can beat her to death? Are you trying to make Hannah a criminal? You don''t want a divorce, you just want to be a widower? Your mind is truly twisted."


    Lionel felt that his words were venomous, that he was deliberately misinterpreting his intentions.


    "What I do with her is none of your business, and what Hannah does is her decision. Just tell me where she is."


    "I didn''t call to tell you where Sandra


    is. I called to tell you to stop


    following Hannah around.


    Otherwise, you never find Sandra. If


    you want to find someone, ther


    actually look for them instead of ying stalker."


    With that, Quennel hung up.


    "He says he''s looking for you, but he''s been tailing Hannah the whote time. He hasn''t put any real effort into riding you see? He doesn''t love you at all."