The Real Heiress Is Coming Back (Hannah Carter) novel Chapter 276

Chapter 276 Afraid You’ll Sentence Me

Chapter 276 Afraid You’ll Sentence Me

The air in the car suddenly grew heavy. Even Hedy sensed something was off, lying down in the back seat and watching the people up front with its big, dark eyes.

After a long silence, Barnaby broke the silence. “Aren’t you going to explain yourself?”

“Explain what?” Hannah shot back, turning to look at him.

“Why did you go home with him? Why did you cook for him? And you just let him push you around and didn’t even resist!” Barnaby demanded, his voice cold.

Hannah couldn’t help but laugh. “Why should I explain anything Barnaby, did you forget we’re already broken up? What right do you have to ask me for an explanation?”

Barnaby fell silent, regretting that he’d ever agreed to break up with her.

“But that night when you were drunk, you said something else,” Barnaby said, his voice softening, sounding a little hurt.

Sometimes Hannah thought it was a real shame Barnaby wasn’t an actor. He could change his face faster than anyone, slipping into a role in a split second. If he ever went into showbiz, even Oliver would have to bow down to him.

But then she remembered how Candy had teased her about her drunken mess the next morning, and she suddenly felt a bit embarrassed. She protested, “You said I was drunk!”

Barnaby replied, “Drunken words are sober thoughts.”

‘I’m not getting into this with him,’ Hannah thought, turning to stare out the window.

Just then, Barnaby’s work phone started ringing. He eased the car to the side, popped in his Bluetooth earpiece, and picked up.

“Barnaby, we tracked down the sniper. He was from a foreign merc group called ‘Reapers’. But as soon as we caught him, he swallowed poison and offed himself,” the guy reported.

Barnaby’s brows knitted. He knew the “Reapers” well, Scepter House had teamed up with them plenty of times before. The “Reapers” were dead serious about keeping their clients’ secrets. Every one of their mercs carried poison, ready to die before spilling anything. Their methods were even more brutal than Scepter House’s.

“Also, Ms. Carter’s already onto me,” the guy added.

Barnaby shot a look at Hannah, and it hit him why she was acting so cold.

‘That psycho Spencer must’ve said something to mess things up between us, Barnaby thought.

“Got it,” Barnaby said, hanging up. He steered the car onto the highway ramp ahead.

Hannah noticed they weren’t heading back to Kinswood, and her heart tightened. “Where are we going?” she asked.

Barnaby replied, “I’m taking you somewhere.”

An hour later, they rolled into the Scepter House villa district and headed straight for the Ursa Major underground garage. Hannah hopped out, clutching Hedy, and took a look around. The place was packed with all kinds of limited-edition

supercars.

Thinking back to the black Audi Barnaby always drove and the fancy Skycrest House he’d set her up in, Hannah realized she’d only ever seen the side of Barnaby he wanted her to see.

Barnaby caught her eyeing the cars and, thinking she was interested, grinned, “Just get your license. Pick whichever one you like, and it’s yours to drive.”

Hannah turned away, her voice cool. “So you brought me here just to show off your collection of luxury cars?”

“Not just that,” Barnaby replied.

He led her up to the living room, grabbed the tablet from the coffee table, pulled up a file, and handed it to Hannah.

It was a detailed dossier on Spencer, even down to which hotels he’d hooked up with different women in.

Hannah glanced at it. “Why are you showing me this?”

“So you can see what kind of person your mentor really is,” Barn by said.

Hannah pressed her lips together, keeping quiet. From how Barnaby called him, she could tell he already knew Spencer was Shadow.

“The Thole family and the Lynch family have a deal going on. Howard only asked you to join the chip project because Spencer put in a good word for you,” Barnaby said.

Hannah gave him a confused look. She’d never mentioned Howard and Dustin asking her to help with the chip project.

1/2

Chapter 276 Afraid You’ll Sentence Me

Barnaby saw the doubt in her eyes and quickly explained, “I only found out when I had someone dig into Spencer’s background. Plus, the chip project’s a huge deal for the Thole family, I’ve even glanced at the project plans myself Barnaby’s expression turned serious as he looked at Hannah, seeing she still wasn’t saying a word.

‘Baby, I know my credibility with you is pretty much shot right now, but there’s one thing you have to believe, I would never hurt you,” he said.

Hannah stared at him, her mind racing with flashes of that man black tailing her, the red sniper dot, and the messages Spencer had sent. For a moment, she couldn’t tell if she could really trust Barnaby.

She stayed quiet for a long time, but finally asked, unable to hold back, “Did you send someone to follow me?”

‘Figures, Hannah thought.

“It wasn’t stalking, it was protection,” Barnaby corrected her. Then he pulled out his phone and made a call. “Come to Scepter House.”

Twenty minutes later, a man dressed in black sportswear, with a hat and mask, walked in. He was the same guy Hannah had spotted in the park.

“Barnaby, Ms. Carter,” the man greeted, pulling off his mask and hat to reveal a shaved head and a scar slashing across his face.

“His name’s Sable. Ever since that attack by Cerulean Lake, I figured someone was trying to kill you, so I had him protect you in secret,” Barnaby explained.

Hannah shot him a skeptical look. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t want you to worry or be scared,” Barnaby replied.

Hannah went quiet, her heart stuttering unexpectedly at his words.

“Ms. Carter, here’s the latest file on the sniper who targeted you. He’s already dead,” Sable said, handing Hannah the folder. Inside were detailed investigation reports and photos, starting from Gemma’s murder, every trace from the sniper’s ambushes, bullet analysis.

All the evidence pointed to the same guy behind all three attacks, a mercenary from the “Reapers”. But as for who was pulling the strings, there wasn’t a single clue.

Hannah read through the report, her face expressionless. From the moment she started investigating her adoptive mother’ s death, someone had always been working against her in the shadows.

So when she found out Barnaby had been hiding who he really was from her, she’d even wondered if he was the one sabotaging her all along. That’s why she’d been so mad at him.

Now that she calmed down and thought about it, she realized Spencer had just set her up.

Barnaby waved Sable away, then turned to Hannah.

“I have no idea what Spencer’s been telling you, but you can’t just take his word and ignore mine. Even if I messed up, I don’ t think I deserve for you to sentence me to death, do I?” he said.

Hannah took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and teased, “Why are you so eager to clear your name? Is your conscience acting up or what?”

“With the way things are between us, my reputation’s in the gutter. I’m honestly scared you’ll give me the death penalty,” Barnaby said as he gently took her hand. “Come on, there’s something else I want you to see.”

Hannah felt the warmth in his palm. Ever since he recovered from his illness, his hands were no longer cold, even in the dead of winter, they were warmer than hers.

Seeing she didn’t let go, Barnaby’s lips curled into a smile. He led her by the hand and opened the door to a room.

Subscribed

1 Likes