Hearing his question, the color drained from both Hannah''s and Samuel''s faces.


    But just as quickly, they schooled their expressions back to normal, as if nothing had happened.


    "Lionel, this was your idea, and yesterday I agreed to go along with it. Are you telling me you''ve changed your mind now? That you think it''s a bad idea and you''re going to back out?"


    Hannah looked at him with a scornful smile. "Lionel, do you ever think before you act? Can''t youe up with a solid n instead of changing your mind every five minutes? Your time is valuable, but so is mine. I don''t have all day to y your games!"


    "If you don''t want to do this, then let''s just go home. But I''m warning you, if you dare give her thatpensation money, I will raise hell with the Woods family. We''ll all end up trending online, and since I''ve already been through that so many times, I couldn''t care less."


    Hannah worried that a night of thinking had made him see through her n and that he intended to drag this out instead of getting a divorce.


    If that was the case, her only option was to proceed with thewsuit as she''d originally nned.


    What a waste of a perfectly good night of anticipation. Still, to avoid raising his suspicions, Hannah had forced a furious expression, her voice sharp and biting.


    Themotion drew the attention of other people at City Hall. Couples who were arguing or taking pictures paused what they were doing and turned to stare.


    "It suddenly urred to me that if we really get divorced, you''ll leave me for good and nevere back. I''m worried about that, so I had to ask you directly."


    Lionel looked at Hannah, his voice filled with anxiety. "Just tell me, after this divorce, will you get back together with me? If you won''t, then we should just go home."


    On the drive over, Quennel had


    suddenly called him. He''dughed, saying Lionel had finally taken his


    advice and decided to divorce. Hannah. He insisted that sin


    Lionel was using his idea, he owed him for his help with thepany.


    Lionel thought he was shameless, because his n waspletely different from Quennel''s suggestion.


    But Quennel had insisted they were the same. When Lionel tried to argue, exining that it was just a fake divorce and Hannah would remarry him after thepensation was paid, Quennels response hit, him like a ton of bricks.


    He had told him there''s no such thing as a fake divorce in the real world. The only time people faked divorces was for things like housing demolitions or government subsidies-schemes to get more money.


    In a situation like theirs, a divorce was a real divorce. There was no way she would agree to it just to help him paypensation and then remarry him.


    Quennel''s words had been a brutal wake-up call.


    Horrified, Lionel had hung up without another word and floored it to City Hall.


    The sight of Hannah and Samuel looking so excited,bined with what Quennel had said, made him realize the truth. Hannah had agreed so quickly yesterday because she wanted a real divorce, not a fake one.


    Once they were officially divorced and thepensation was paid, she would never marry him again.


    "Hannah, can you promise me that after the thirty days are up and we get the divorce decree, you''lle back to me after I settle things? If you can promise me that, we can go inside and file the papers right now.