The Real Heiress Is Coming Back (Hannah Carter) novel Chapter 279

Chapter 279 Why Are You With Him?

Chapter 279 Why Are You With Him?

Chloe’s heart gave a jolt. She stopped walking and asked uncertainly, “What did you see?”

“I saw you getting out of Barnaby Reese’s car,” Joe said honestly then pressed, “How did you end up with him?”

Just the fact that Daisy Reese had been running around pretending to be the Nameless Healer and treating people left and right was enough for Joe to be totally at odds with the Reese family.

And after Hannah Carter exposed Daisy for who she really was, the Reese family started trying to mess with Ms. Carter’s Clinic, both in the open and behind closed doors. Luckily, Hannah and Evelyn Carter were so good at what they did that the clinic barely felt a thing.

And then Mrs. Reese even showed up at the clinic, throwing shade at Evelyn Carter with her snarky comments. That just made Joe hate the Reese family even more. He thought, ‘They call themselves one of the four big families, but they’re just a bunch of lowlifes.’

So when Joe saw Chloe with Barnaby Reese, he really couldn’t wrap his head around it, and his voice got a lot harsher.

“I…” Chloe bit her lip, feeling guilty and couldn’t meet Joe’s eyes “He just came to me for some advice on herbal recipes.”

“After the way the Reese family treated Hannah and Evelyn, you’re still helping them out? How could you turn your back on Hannah and Evelyn like that?” Joe snapped.

Chloe instantly grabbed his arm, begging, “Joe, please, don’t tell Hannah about this, okay? If she finds out, she’ll totally kick me out. I don’t want to lose you and Evelyn. I can’t stand being apart from you two.”

Seeing her eyes go red and watery, looking like she was about to burst into tears, Joe’s heart softened. ‘How could I stay mad at her when she looks like she’s about to cry?’ he thought.

But he still couldn’t accept Chloe letting Hannah down. He said Have you forgotten what Mom and Dad taught us growing up? We have to stay loyal and honest, especially to those who’ve been there for us.”

Chloe lowered her head, feeling guilty. “I’m sorry. I know I was wrong.”

Seeing how quick she was to admit her mistake, Joe couldn’t stay mad at her. “Promise me you’ll never talk to them again, just stick to helping Hannah out and keep your head down. Tonight, I won’t tell her about this.”

Chloe felt a wave of resistance and was honestly kind of annoyed. She thought, ‘I’m his actual sister, but half the time it feels like Joe’s always got Hannah’s back instead of mine.’

Still, what the Reese family wanted her to do was actually pretty appealing. She’d already told them what she wanted in return, but they were still on the fence. If Hannah found out now the whole deal would be dead in the water.

To calm Joe down and keep him from snitching to Hannah, Chloe quickly raised her hand like she was swearing an oath. “1 promise.”

Joe finally let out a sigh of relief. “Alright, let’s head back. Evelyn’s probably already asleep.”

*****

Over the next few days, Hannah spent her days helping Evelyn Carter treat patients at the clinic, and her nights trying to figure out who the third voice in the recordings belonged to. But there was nothing promising. Voices aren’t as easy to match as DNA.

Before she knew it, Sunday had rolled around.

After finishing up with her morning patients and grabbing lunch Hannah let Evelyn know she’d be stepping out for a while that afternoon.

She didn’t ask Joe to drive her. She just ordered a car herself and got to Thole Manor by 1:50 in the afternoon.

This was only her second time coming back as an adult. The last time was for something to do with Iris Thole, and it was all pretty rushed. This time, she was here for an appointment with Howard Thole.

The red walls, tiled roofs, and majestic, antique gate overlapped with her childhood memories. It was all so familiar, but now that she was back, nothing was the same anymore.

“Who are you? Who are you here for?” asked the guard at the gate.

“Hannah Carter, here to see Howard Thole,” Hannah replied.

Howard had already given the guard a heads-u

glocked!

Successfully unlocked! name, he opened the gate and let her in.

“Ms. Carter, please wait here for a moment. I’ll go icich the car,

yuaru said.

Thole Manor was massive. Walking from the gate to Howard Thole’s residence would take at least forty minutes, so most people just drove straight in. For guests like Hannah who arrived by cab, the security booth always kept a guest car on standby for situations like this.

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Chapter 279 Why Are You With Him?

But today, it looked like all the guest cars were out. Hannah waited at the gate for a while, but the guard was nowhere to be

seen.

The mid-June sun was beating down, so Hannah wandered into the yard, remembering there was a gazebo in the garden by the entrance.

“Allen, oh my, why are you hiding out here playing in the mud again? Come on, let go of that and come back with me. It’s way too hot out. You’ll get heatstroke.”

Just then, a woman’s voice caught Hannah’s attention. She looked over and saw a thin guy squatting by some fake rocks near the gazebo, messing around in the mud, his white shirt and face smeared with dirt.

Maria, her hair already turning white, rushed over and snatched the mud away just as he was about to shove it in his mouth. She carefully wiped the dirt off his face and hands with a wet wipe, patiently coaxing, “Allen, this is mud, you can’t eat that.” The man gave a silly grin. “I’m an earthworm! I love mud!”

Maria sighed, “You’re not an earthworm, you’re Allen. No eating hud, you eat real food.”

“No, no, Kyson said I’m an earthworm, so I have to eat mud!” the man insisted, grabbing for another handful.

Hannah stood there, a little stunned. She recognized these two, the third master’s son, Allen, and his old nanny, Maria. Maria had been with the Thole family for ages. She used to work for Alastair. After he died, his wife passed away soon after, and Allen took it really hard. He got seriously ill, and a raging fever messed up his mind. The once lively, cheerful kid turned into a simple-minded young man.

Back when Hannah was still living at Thole Manor, Allen was the cousin who played with her the most, second only to Barnaby.

Even when everyone started saying Hannah’s adoptive father had killed Allen’s dad, and the third branch’s staff avoided the sixth branch’s people like the plague, Allen would still come visit her whenever she was sick.

Seeing her once sunny and outgoing cousin like this, Hannah couldn’t help but feel a pang of sadness in her heart. Dustin caught Hannah staring at him and turned his head. Their eyes locked for a few seconds, and the way he looked at her, so calm, just didn’t feel right to Hannah.

Maria spotted Hannah too. Ever since Susie Scott came back to the Thole family, and with all the stuff Susie got the media talking about, pretty much everyone at Thole Manor now knew the Nameless Healer was actually the switched fake heiress from the sixth branch.

Still, Maria instinctively called out, “Calista?”

Hannah snapped out of it. “Maria, Allen…”

“Wow, your bag is so pretty! Let me have it!” Out of nowhere, Allen rushed over and swiped the bag right off Hannah’s shoulder.

Hannah was totally caught off guard. Before she could react, Allen had already bolted far down the path.

Her bag had the gold needle kit Barnaby gave her, no way she was letting that out of her sight. She immediately sprinted after him.

“Hey, Allen, give that back!” Maria called out, hurrying after them but she was getting on in years and just couldn’t keep up. In the blink of an eye, the two of them had disappeared from sight.

Hannah chased after Allen, but even though he acted all out of, he was surprisingly fast and had plenty of stamina. He knew Thole Manor like the back of his hand, darting off into the quiet corners where there was no one around to help her catch him.

As Hannah kept chasing after Allen, she suddenly realized he was actually leading her somewhere. When she accidentally stumbled over a root and slowed down, he slowed down too, almost like he was waiting for her to catch up.

Noticing this, Hannah decided to stop on purpose.

Just as she expected, Allen, who’d been running ahead, also came to a halt and watched her from a distance.

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