But just as he resigned himself to waiting, another, even bolder idea struck him.


    The letter was originally addressed to Quennel. If he hadn''t made the unnecessary move of giving it to Hannah and had instead gone directly to Quennel, none of this would have happened.


    In fact, the whole issue might have been resolved by now.


    Most importantly, if he went to Quennel now and confirmed that Quennel had arranged for those men with the intentions described in the letter, he could go back and clear his name with Hannah!


    So, the crucial step wasn''t obsessing over the letter, but going to Quennel to get to the bottom of it.


    After all that, it still came down to confronting Quennel. The realization filled Lionel with even more regret for his earlier actions.


    But what was done was done. There was no point in regret now.


    He mulled it over for a long time, wrestling with the decision, but ultimately resolved to go see Quennel.


    To that end, he formally requested a temporary discharge from the nurse.


    Since he was still supposed to be hospitalized for a while, leaving without permission would cause unnecessary trouble for the staff.


    The nurse gave Lionel a quick check-up and, seeing that he was stable, permitted him to leave for half a day.


    The Temple Estate.


    “I have a bombshell for you guys. You want to hear it?" Cherry called out, running excitedly down the stairs after taking a call.


    "What is it?" Samuel asked, looking up from the video game he was ying on the couch. He watched her practically bouncing with energy. "Is it about Lionel again?"


    "You bet!" she said, arriving in the living room. She nced around but didn''t see Hannah. "Where''s Hannah?"


    "In her study. I''ll call her down."


    Samuel picked up his phone and gave Hannah a quick call.


    Hannah had just finished dealing ? with some matters for the Lancaster Group when her phone rang. After hearing what Samuel had to say, she quickly tidied up and headed downstairs.


    "What''s got you so happy? Did Lionel call to confess he read the letter beforehand?" Hannah asked as she descended the stairs.


    Cherry clicked her tongue, raising her index finger and wagging it in the air. "That


    news wouldn''t make me this happy. Guess again."


    Samuel and Hannah couldn''t imagine what could possibly be more exciting than that.


    Samuel threw out several guesses, but Cherry shot them all down.


    Exasperated, Samuel finally gave up.


    "If you don''t tell us now, I''m done guessing Let''s see if you can hold it in!" Samuel tossed his game controller aside, crossing his arms and looking at Cherry with mock annoyance.


    He thought his guesses had been pretty good, so being rejected stung. But he was also dying to know what had Cherry so thrilled.


    "Hehehe, I knew you''d never guess it!"


    Seeing that they were done trying, Cherry Temple decided to stop dragging it out.


    She plopped down on a nearby armchair, raising her eyebrows smugly and letting out a triumphant littleugh.


    "Thest time I was at the hospital,


    bribed one of the nurses. I told her to keep an eye on Lionel for me and to let me know immediately the dig anything strange."  fo


    Hannah and Samuel both blinked, stunned for a moment.


    Neither of them had thought of that.


    Still, whenpared to the idea of ''Lionel admitting he read the letter,'' it didn''t seem


    quite as thrilling. There was a definite difference in scale.