Find me in your labyrinth (Stella and Jonathan) novel Chapter 3288

Hannah froze the moment she recognized Norah.

"Oh my god, I am so sorry!" Norah grabbed a handful of napkins and began aggressively scrubbing Hannah's face. "I honestly had no idea it was you! I heard someone completely slandering Gonzalez, and I thought it was just some malicious gossip trying to ruin his reputation. I never expected it to be you!"

Between the splashed tea and Norah's aggressive scrubbing, Hannah's meticulously applied makeup smeared into a chaotic, multicolored disaster. She looked absolutely ridiculous.

Hannah stumbled backward in a panic. "Stop! That's enough!"

Norah dropped her hands. Her pretty face morphed into a picture of sweet, innocent politeness as she flashed a bright smile. "You still remember me, right, Mrs. Hanson?"

"Of course I do, Ms. Norah," Hannah forced a stiff, agonizing smile onto her ruined face.

Norah's smile slowly faded into a look of sharp accusation. "But wait, that doesn't make sense. You're family. Why would you spread such awful lies about Gonzalez? When my grandfather and I visited Grandpa Hanson, you told us someone was spreading rumors about Gonzalez, and you acted so furious about it. Who would have guessed you were the one starting those rumors all along!"

"That is," Norah paused, delivering every word with biting precision, "incredibly sick and twisted."

The other socialites exchanged uneasy glances. Suddenly, the pieces were falling into place.

Hannah had always played the role of the loving, long-suffering stepmother. Whenever she spoke poorly of Gonzalez, everyone assumed she was just a worried mother frustrated by her wayward son. Now, the truth was glaringly obvious.

The doting mother act was a complete sham. The malicious slander was the only real thing about her.

It really was incredibly vicious.

Hannah paled drastically and scrambled to defend herself. "I—I just heard it from someone else! I didn't want to see Mrs. Reeves's niece get caught up in a bad situation."

"You sounded so certain, I assumed you witnessed it all firsthand. But you just heard it from someone else?" Norah gave a mocking half-smile before turning to the other women. "Have any of you ever met Gonzalez? Have any of you ever gossiped about him behind his back?"

The women furiously shook their heads.

Thinking back, every single negative rumor about Gonzalez had originated straight from Hannah's mouth.

Norah scoffed. "You always act so kind and loving, but you're actually incredibly two-faced. That maternal warmth is nothing but a cheap disguise. If Gonzalez treats you poorly, it's only because he sees right through you and knows exactly what kind of person you are!"

*

Norah took the elevator up to the roof, but instead of immediately looking for Henson, she walked over to the railing. Staring out at the glittering skyline of J City, a suffocating wave of frustration crashed over her.

This was only the conversation she'd managed to overhear. She couldn't even imagine how many people Hannah had poisoned against Gonzalez behind his back.

Her heart ached for him. It was so incredibly unfair.

And right now, she found herself missing him.

Norah took a sharp breath, realizing how dangerous that line of thought was. She quickly forced herself to snap out of it.

Henson walked over. "What are you doing up here?"

Norah quickly composed herself and turned to face him. "Looking for you, obviously. It's time to eat."