The Real Heiress Is Coming Back (Hannah Carter) novel Chapter 124

Chapter 124

Chapter 124

Hannah carried the velvet box and walked into one of the villas

The last time she’d been here was for the auction at the Scepter House, and it had been a while. But she had someone come by regularly to clean, so she could always move back in whenever she wanted.

She took off her mask and cloak, hugged a pillow, and flopped onto the couch, staring blankly at the crystal chandelier overhead.

As Hannah thought back on all the little moments she’d shared with Barnaby lately, she realized she’d gotten so used to how good he was to her, she almost forgot he was a Thole.

For all she knew, there was still a chance he was implicated in what happened all those years ago.

Even if it turned out Barnaby had nothing to do with her adoptive mother’s death or her adoptive father’s imprisonment, Hannah knew she couldn’t let herself get any closer to him. Because at the end of the day, he was still a Thole.

‘So why am I feeling so sad?’ Hannah wondered.

‘Isn’t this actually for the best?’ Hannah thought.

Wasn’t their reunion just a business deal from the start?

Once she’d helped him recover, and when she turned eighteen next year and moved to Kinswood, there’d be no reason for them to see each other again.

Who Barnaby liked, men or women, had nothing to do with her anymore.

After thinking it through, Hannah let out a long sigh, but her chest still felt tight, like something was stuck there.

Before she knew it, evening had arrived.

Hannah got up, turned on the lights, and grabbed her phone, only then did she realize Barnaby had tried calling her several times, but she’d missed them because her phone was on silent.

He’d also sent her a few messages on WhatsApp, asking where she was and why she wasn’t picking up.

Hannah sent him a message: [I’m busy.]

She kept her reply short and cold. ‘Guess it’s time to let things cool off, she told herself.

Barnaby called immediately, but Hannah ignored it and hung up.

He tried again, and she rejected the call once more.

The phone rang again. Annoyed, Hannah hit decline, then realized it was an unfamiliar number.

She ignored it, but the unknown number called again.

“Are you seriously that annoying?” Hannah snapped as she picked up.

There was a brief silence before the person replied, “Ms. Carter, this is a salesperson from Jacob & Co. Your custom cufflinks have arrived. Would you like to come pick them up at the store, or would you prefer we deliver them to you?”

That was when Hannah remembered, last time she was out buying cufflinks for Arthur, a promo photo of some canary diamond cufflinks had totally caught her eye.

Chapter 124

They were platinum, with a bright canary diamond right in the center, surrounded by trapezoid-cut white diamonds.

Shiny, cool, and seriously expensive-looking.

Back then, she figured they’d be just right for Barnaby, so she ordered a pair.

“I don’t want them anymore,” Hannah snapped, clearly annoyed.

The salesperson on the other end felt her heart skip a beat, nerves instantly frazzled.

She’d confirmed again and again with Hannah that these canary diamond cufflinks were the store’s crown jewel, going for 8.4 million dollars.

A 20% deposit had already been paid, and once custom-made, there were absolutely no returns.

The contract was signed, if she tried to back out now, she’d still owe the full balance, or it’d go straight to court.

“Ms. Carter, about your order,” the salesperson started nervously.

“Don’t worry, I’ll pay the rest,” Hannah interrupted, already knowing what she was about to hear.

Ordering those cufflinks was exactly why she’d been strapped for cash lately, even having to ask Van to pick up extra gigs for her.

Now that she’d decided to keep her distance from Barnaby, there was really no reason to give him the cufflinks anymore.

The salesperson breathed a sigh of relief when she realized Hannah wasn’t going to back out. “Great, since you’re ready to pay, would you like me to arrange delivery for the cufflinks?”

“No need,” Hannah said, then hung up.

The salesperson was left holding the phone, still reeling from Hannah’s icy tone. ‘Did she have a fight with her boyfriend or something? Is that why she suddenly doesn’t want them anymore?’ she wondered.

‘Is this what being rich is like? Just doing whatever you want?’ the salesperson thought, still in disbelief.

‘We’re talking about 8.4 million dollars!’ she added, her mind spinning.

****

Meanwhile, over at Ascent Ventures, in the CEO’s office, Barnaby had just been hung up on twice, and when he tried calling a third time, he got rejected again.

He was starting to get a little pissed, but that mood didn’t last long, because right then, Dustin barged in, ready to cause trouble as usual.

Since the afternoon, Dustin had been nitpicking through the accounts, bombarding Barnaby with one pointed question after another.

Barnaby knew Dustin was just out to make his life hell. The guy was relentless, burning his weekend just to hassle Barnaby at the office.

But with the Thole family in the mix, Barnaby wasn’t about to back down. He was ready to go toe-to-toe and drag this out as long as Dustin wanted.

If Dustin wanted overtime, Barnaby would make sure he didn’t get a wink of sleep. One all-nighter? Barnaby was ready to keep him grinding for a whole week.

By the third day, Kyson was the first to give up. ‘I can’t take this anymore, I’m totally wiped out,’ he thought, feeling utterly

11:11 Mon, Dec 22 GU

Chapter 124

defeated.

“Uncle, I can’t do this anymore I’m so tired. Kyson groaned

With Barnaby out of the room, it was just him and Dustin left in the conference room. Kyson slumped over the table, barely keeping his eyes open, his whole body screaming for sleep.

Dustin wasn’t faring much better. He’d lost track of how many cups of coffee he’d chugged, but he was still exhausted, yawning nonstop, looking like he was about to pass out any second now.

Dustin knew he couldn’t beat Barnaby with brute force, so he tried to trip him up at work, digging for mistakes in the company accounts, hoping to take him down a notch.

But in the end, he just shot himself in the foot.

That night, he asked Barnaby to pull up all the documents for one particular investment in the ledger, thinking it would keep Barnaby working all night.

But just as he checked into his hotel, about to enjoy some nightlife, he got a call from Ascent Ventures’s VP, John, saying the files were ready, but there were a few issues he wanted to discuss face-to-face.

Dustin really didn’t want to go. “Can we talk tomorrow? I need some sleep,” he said.

“Boss said he’ll be waiting for you in his office,” John replied.

Dustin was speechless.

Dustin just knew Barnaby was messing with him on purpose.

“It’s so late. Why don’t you let Uncle Barnaby get some rest? We can talk about it tomorrow,” Dustin said, trying to sound polite.

“Boss says, ‘wow, so you actually know it’s the weekend,” John shot back, relaying Barnaby’s words with a hint of sarcasm.

“You’re the one rushing these audits, aren’t you? If it’s that urgent, then everyone should be working overtime, no sleep, no breaks,” John added, not bothering to hide the irony.

‘Honestly, this is just a routine year-end audit, nothing urgent at all. I was just trying to mess with Barnaby and make him work overtime. Can I even say that out loud?’ Dustin thought, feeling totally stuck.

‘Of course not,’ Dustin thought, rolling his eyes internally.

So, just to make sure Barnaby couldn’t use this against him, Dustin had no choice but to drag himself back to the office.

And once he was back, he ended up stuck there for three days and nights straight.

All day long, people kept showing up with piles of paperwork, asking about the tiniest, most pointless details. Some of their questions were so dumb, Dustin honestly wanted to chuck the files at their heads and yell, ‘Are you messing with me on purpose?’

But with Barnaby lounging at the front of the conference room, cool as ever, all he’d say was, “They’re new. For the sake of the company, give them a little guidance.”

Barnaby had this whole ‘settling personal scores at work’ thing down to an art, he was way more ruthless than Dustin ever

was.

“That’s it for now. Go get some sleep!” Dustin barked, suddenly springing to his feet with his fists balled up in frustration.

Three days and nights without sleep had Dustin practically hallucinating, but Barnaby, of course, looked fresh as ever, just

Chapter 124

strolling out to take a phone call like he hadn’t lost a single hour of rest.

87

At Vouchete

Just as Dustin and Kyson were about to leave the conference room, the door swung open and John walked in, arms loaded with documents.

Spotting them heading out, he called, “Dustin, Kyson, you guys heading out already? I still have a few things I need your help

with…”

Dustin felt a vein throb on his forehead, but his upbringing kept him from snapping. He forced himself to stay calm. “Kyson’s not feeling well. I’m taking him home to rest. We’ll handle it tomorrow,” he replied.

And with that, the two of them shuffled out of the office, looking like they’d just barely survived a battlefield.

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11:11 Mon, Dec 22