After everything that had happened recently, Hannah now understood that Lionel waspletely lost in his own narrative, convinced that she still loved him.


    "Lionel, my falling out of love with you didn''t just happen in thest month or two. It was a slow umtion of hurts, one after another, over these past three years. My love for you was eroded by you, day by day."


    "Wake up. No one will forever love someone who is cruel to them. Not even a fool would do that."


    With that, Hannah turned and walked away.


    Samuel shot Lionel a look, tutted twice, and turned to follow Hannah inside.


    Cherry finally managed to stopughing. She walked up to Lionel and poked him in the chest.


    "Wake up, you fool. Hannah stopped loving you a long time ago. For every ounce of kindness you showed Sandra over these three years, Hannah''s hatred for you grew. Did you think she was a masochist? That the more you tortured her, the more she''d love you? She''s not sick in the head."


    After saying her piece, Cherry rolled her eyes at him and went inside.


    In an instant, Lionel was left standing alone at the gate.


    The paparazzi in the bushes, knowing there was nothing more to see, hesitated for a moment before leaving in twos and threes.


    After all, the most important thing now was to get today''s footage out, not to stand around watching Lionel stare mournfully at an iron gate.


    Lionel watched through the gate as Hannah''s figure receded, and only when she hadpletely vanished from sight did hisposure finally break. He let out a long, ragged breath and looked up at the sky, his eyes filled with unwilling defeat.


    A single tear slid down his cheek.


    A fierce wind blew as a dark mass of clouds rolled in, pressing down on the horizon.


    Before long, the sky had turnedpletely dark. A low rumble of thunder sounded, heralding an imminent downpour.


    Lionel remained standing there until the first drops of rain began to fall. Only then did he reluctantly walk through the rain toward his car.


    Once inside, he didn''t leave immediately. He just sat there, stunned, his bloodshot eyes staring nkly ahead as his heart spasmed violently.


    Pain, anguish, anxiety, and dread all swirled together, but what he felt most


    intensely was regret, a deep and agonizing remorse.


    Hannah, is this it... will we really only see each other in court?


    Half an hourter, Lionel arrived home.


    The housekeeper saw Lionel and immediately rushed over.


    "Sir, the madam called a little while ago asking if you were home. I told her you


    weren''t, that you were at the


    family estate. She didn''t say ex


    anything else and hung up.


    eln


    Seeing his terrible expression, the housekeeper.continued her report in a small, anxious voice. "I tried to call you th?n, but you didn''t answer was afraid you had important business at the estate, so I didnt dare to keep calling but I did send you a text message."


    Lionel stopped in his tracks and took out his phone.


    Sure enough, there was a message from the housekeeper.


    And the timestamp was from before Hannah had arrived.


    So, it was all his own delusion. It wasn''t that she had guessed, or that she understood him or that she still- loved him enough to know he was at the estate.


    She had simply asked.


    "Sir... are you... are you all right? Are you feeling unwell? Should I call a doctor for you?"


    Lionel said nothing. He just took a deep breath, his face ashen, and walked back to


    his room like a man whose soul had been torn from his body.


    Just as he entered the room, his phone chimed.


    It was Quennel.


    He hesitated for a moment before answering the call.