A dead silence fell after he spoke.


    After a long moment, Quennel let out a deep sigh. He tilted his head back, looking down his nose at Lionel. "I understand how you''re feeling right now. You just want to shift all the me onto me to salvage your image in Hannah''s eyes."


    "But what never happened — never happened! Even if you forced me to confess, I could take the me. I could say I did it all—that I had her brought back from Kiron and tortured her in that basement, all to get revenge for Hannah."


    Quennel''s tone shifted, and a sly smile yed on his lips. "But I didn''t hurt Hannah. In fact, I avenged her. So what reason would Hannah have to me me?"


    Quennel''s words struck Lionel like a bolt of lightning.


    His mind went nk for a second.


    His eyes trembled as he stared at Quennel, who continued, "Hannah would think I was helping her get revenge. She''d be too busy being grateful to hate me."


    "Besides, even if Hannah believed I did it, would that magically fix your rtionship? Would you two just get back together? You need to be clear about one thing: Hannah despises you because of all the terrible things you did to her."


    "I haven''t done anything to Hannah. Even if I was the kidnapper, she wouldn''t forgive you just because of something I did. The two arepletely, utterly, unrted!"


    Mary, who had been eating quietly, had a sudden realization.


    She finally understood why her son could act so brazenly, without any fear of Hannah finding out. So that was it!


    Lionel also snapped back to reality.


    A violent tremor ran through him. He hated to admit it, but the thought had crossed his mind before, a fleeting idea he hadn''t bothered to explore.


    He had been so focused on investigating the incident and telling Hannah the truth, hoping to destroy Quennel''s image as a ''good family member'' in her eyes.


    But as Quennel said, so what if he destroyed it?


    Hannah wouldn''t get back with him just because her opinion of Quennel soured The chasm in their marriage would still exist, the divorce papers would still be sitting there unmoved by the actions of any third party.


    "Alright, alright, let''s eat first. We can talk about this after dinner. Whatever you need me to do, I''ll cooperate. After all, the family lost you for so many years. We''ve tried topensate you with money and status, but perhaps it still isn''t enough?"


    Quennel yed the part of the magnanimous peacemaker, looking at Lionel with a broad-minded, forgiving expression.


    "I''ll take the fall for you, y the


    viin. From now on, I''ll be the bad guy in Hannah''s eyes. I just don''t know if after all that, Hannah would all be willing to stay with you. And if


    she''s not willing..." ''


    "Quennel, shut your mouth!"


    Lionel suddenly shot to his feet, his voice a furious roar.