The Real Heiress Is Coming Back (Hannah Carter) novel Chapter 144

Chapter 144

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Chapter 144

Hannah nuzzled into Barnaby’s neck, the faint tobacco scent on him giving her a sense of security she hadn’t felt in a long time.

She stayed like that for a while, waiting for the rush of emotion to fade, and only then did she realize just how

vulnerable she’d been.

She pulled away from Barnaby and noticed a damp spot on his shirt collar, her cheeks flushing with

embarrassment.

“I missed your steak. I thought I’d never get to taste it again,” Hannah said, coughing to cover her embarrassment.

Barnaby caught her trying to play it cool and smirked. “So, you only missed my steak, huh?”

As he spoke, he noticed a few stray hairs clinging to her cheek and casually tucked them behind her ear.

The gesture was so natural it left Hannah flustered, her thoughts in a jumble. The spot where his fingers had brushed her cheek seemed to hold a lingering warmth.

She avoided Barnaby’s eyes and answered softly, “Mm-hmm.”

“Not even the guy who cooks your steak?” Barnaby asked, looking at her hopefully.

When she didn’t reply, Barnaby thought she might be getting upset again, but then Hannah just mouthed a word.

“I do,” she murmured.

Barnaby’s heart soared, and he grinned, teasing, “Who do you miss?”

She was pretty sure Barnaby was doing this on purpose. Her expression turned cool again as she looked him in the eye and replied, “I miss you…r steak. I’m starving.”

Barnaby let out a low chuckle. Just hearing her say “I miss you”, never mind one steak, he’d happily cook for her every day if she asked.

“When you’re out of the hospital and back home, I’ll make you all the steak you want. For now, you’ve got to stick to something light,” he said.

Hannah found herself staring at his smile, totally dazed. Barnaby was so ridiculously handsome it was almost illegal, and when he smiled, he outshone any angel, seriously, who could possibly resist that? It was just unfair. Who was he even trying to seduce here?

She quickly turned her head away, refusing to get swept up in it. No way was she letting herself fall for him.

Just then, someone knocked on the hospital room door. Barnaby called out, “Come in!” Magnus and Percival came in, each carrying a takeout container.

Chapter 144

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Seeing Hannah awake, they both greeted her. Percival noticed her IV was finished and carefully removed the

needle for her.

Magnus spotted the wet patch on Barnaby’s collar and teased, “Dude, why’s your shirt all wet?”

‘Wait, did he sneak in a cry or something?’ Magnus thought to himself.

He kept glancing between the two of them. Something about this just felt off, no matter who it was.

Percival looked up at Barnaby and asked, “Did you cry?”

Hannah could only stare, lost for words.

Barnaby shot Hannah a look and, keeping a straight face, said, “It’s just really warm in here.”

Hannah was speechless.

“Magnus, you too? What are you doing here?” she asked, quickly changing the subject.

As she turned her head, she felt a dull soreness in her neck, like the lingering ache after being hit by something heavy. She rubbed it, trying to work out the stiffness.

“Barnaby got word you were kidnapped and called me in for backup,” Magnus explained.

“Thanks,” Hannah said, still rubbing her neck. She turned to Percival and asked, “Why does my neck hurt so much?”

She couldn’t remember hurting her neck at all.

Percival frowned. He hadn’t been part of the rescue, but he’d heard from Magnus about that serious face-off between Barnaby and Hannah. Barnaby had even told him to keep an eye on any weird symptoms Hannah might show.

“You really don’t remember what happened that night?” Magnus asked, looking a bit surprised. He shot Barnaby a glance, thinking back to that epic comeback. ‘Boss is Boss, when he gets serious, not even his own girl is safe, Magnus thought.

‘Did he really hit her so hard she forgot everything?’ Magnus wondered.

“What happened?” Hannah asked, following Magnus’s gaze to Barnaby. That’s when she noticed his left arm looked kind of bulky under his shirt, like it was wrapped in a bandage. She frowned in concern.

Percival caught the blank look on Hannah’s face and realized she truly didn’t remember anything from that night. Her symptoms were even more severe than what Barnaby had experienced before.

Even after Barnaby’s episodes, once the meds brought him back, he’d at least know he’d had an episode and remember bits and pieces. But Hannah didn’t remember a single thing.

“Let’s get you something to eat. You said you were hungry, right?” Barnaby said, popping open the container Magnus had brought. Inside was a bowl of plain, nourishing soup.

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Chapter 144

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Hannah caught the weird looks on everyone’s faces. Her instincts screamed that something else had gone down while she was out, but clearly, none of them wanted to spill.

She let it go for now, food came first. She hadn’t eaten in days and was absolutely starving.

Hannah reached out to take the bowl from Barnaby, but he pulled it back. “You’re not feeling well. Let me take care of you,” he said.

Barnaby scooped up a spoonful of soup, blew on it gently, and held it up to Hannah’s lips. “Come on, say ‘ah.”

Hannah was at a loss for words.

When she didn’t move, Barnaby’s eyes flicked between her lips and the spoon. “Is the spoon too big for you? Or should I feed you another way?”

‘Uh-oh!’ Hannah was shocked.

Her gut told her that whatever “another way” Barnaby was thinking of, he was definitely up to no good. So she hurried up and ate the soup before he could get any ideas.

Barnaby’s lips curled into a smile. “Good girl.”

Magnus and Percival watched from the sidelines, eyes wide. ‘Damn, you can actually pull that off? Gotta remember this trick for later!’ they thought.

After finally getting some food in her, Hannah felt a lot better all over.

Barnaby finished off the rest of the soup, and Percival was changing the bandage on his arm over at the next bed. Hannah glanced over and noticed the wound looked like it had been made by a sharp blade, maybe a dagger.

She remembered the dagger she’d picked up in the cave, and then thought back to the bite mark she’d seen on Barnaby’s collarbone after their trip to Deer City.

Her gaze grew serious. She was even more certain now that something had happened while she was out cold both times, but Barnaby just wouldn’t say a word about it.

Once she got through all this, she knew she had to take a good look at herself and figure out what was really going on.

She turned to Magnus and asked, “Is Ethan and Vincent okay? And what about the kidnappers?”

“They’re both fine. The kidnappers already spilled everything, Lauren was the mastermind behind it. Police are actively searching for her now. Ethan’s handling the case, so he’s got all the details,” Magnus replied.

Hannah squinted suspiciously. ‘Lauren? She’s the culprit? Seriously?’

‘No freaking way!’ she thought.

She hadn’t spent much time around Lauren, but that day in the woodshed, she’d purposely tried to set her off.

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The look of pure shock on Lauren’s face told Hannah she was totally in the dark. When Hannah pressed her, Lauren got all flustered, like she needed to go double-check something, and bolted.

Compared to Lauren, Gemma was way shadier. She’d been dodging the investigation from the start, and whenever someone mentioned Yvette and her family, Gemma’s reaction was way more intense than Lauren’s clueless surprise.

“Where’s my phone?” Hannah asked, only then remembering she hadn’t had it since she was locked up in the woodshed.

She had no idea if it got left in the car or if the kidnappers took it. She was just about to ask Magnus if she could borrow his phone.

“Here you go,” Magnus said, handing her the phone from the table.

Hannah spotted her laptop and acupuncture kit sitting on the table too, exactly what she’d lost. She let out a sigh of relief.

Losing her phone and laptop was no big deal, but the set of gold needles Barnaby had given her? She would’ve been heartbroken if those were gone.

She turned on her phone and saw 10 missed calls and a flood of unread WhatsApp messages, so many that the number just said “99+.” She didn’t even bother checking them; she went straight to call Ethan.

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