She Was the Treasure All Along novel Chapter 920

Chloe returned to the inn carrying two boxes of local osmanthus cakes. Walking past Giselle's room, she practically tiptoed to avoid waking her. But a few steps down the hall, she stopped and doubled back. The door was cracked open, and the lights were still on.

Peeking inside, she saw Giselle sitting on the edge of the bed, gripping her phone with a tight frown.

"Hey, Giselle. I brought you some osmanthus cakes," Chloe said softly, pushing the door open and setting the boxes on the table. "Is Mr. Lonsdale still not back?"

Giselle shook her head and set her phone down. The screen still displayed the text message she had sent him two hours ago. It remained completely unread.

"It's pouring outside," Chloe noted. "If there's a storm up in the mountains, those roads turn to absolute mud. You don't think he got stuck out there, do you?"

"He wouldn't be doing this himself," Giselle reasoned out loud, but as she watched the heavy rain lash against the window, her expression darkened.

Sensing her anxiety, Chloe wisely decided not to press the issue and quietly slipped away to her own room.

Giselle waited another hour. The rain outside seemed to be falling even harder. She checked her phone again. It was almost 11:00 PM, and still nothing.

Pressing her lips together, she finally dialed his number.

*The number you have dialed is out of the service area.*

A knot formed in her stomach. Did he really drive up into those mountains himself?

By midnight, Giselle couldn't take it anymore. She was just about to call Loyce and beg her to deploy a search team. If he had genuinely gotten trapped in a mudslide up there doing her errands, she would never forgive herself.

Just as she tapped the call button, the door swung open.

She jerked her head up. Hank stood in the doorway, looking like absolute hell. He was drenched to the bone. His boots were so caked in thick yellow mud you couldn't even see the leather, leaving massive, filthy footprints on the rug with every step.

Clutched tightly in his hand was her manila folder. Only the very edges were damp.

"What happened to you?" Giselle sat up straighter, her voice tight with panic.

"I went to inspect your factories. Getting caught in a torrential downpour in the mountains tends to ruin the suit. It's not a mystery."

He tossed the folder onto the table next to her. "The photos of the fabric samples are on my phone. Add me on the messaging app and I'll drop them all in a folder for you."

Giselle opened the physical file first. It was the same dossier she had given him, but it was now covered in detailed, handwritten annotations. In his handwriting.

She was genuinely stunned. She fought to keep her voice steady. "You went to every single one yourself?"

"Who else?" Hank replied flatly.

"Why didn't you just send your team?"

Hank's lips curved into a wry smirk. "If I sent my guys and they messed up the negotiations, you'd just blame me anyway. Figured it was safer to handle it personally."

Giselle truly hadn't expected him to go to such extremes for her. She pulled out her phone, scanned his QR code to add him, and said softly, "Thank you."

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