The Real Heiress Is Coming Back (Hannah Carter) novel Chapter 28

Chapter 28

At Cavalor School, the cheating scandal had finally come to light.

Hannah had just stepped out of Wolfram Croft’s office when a black Audi pulled up right in front of her.

The window rolled down, revealing Barnaby’s unmistakable sharp profile.

Hannah glanced at her phone. It was Wednesday.

She had promised to help him with his health over the weekend, but, distracted, she asked, “Why are you here now? Didn’t I say the weekend?”

Barnaby saw her cold, indifferent expression and assumed she was upset about the grades. “Get in. I’ll take somewhere good to cat.”

you

Puzzled, Hannah didn’t refuse and walked to the back seat. Just as she reached for the door handle, Barnaby said, “Sit in the front.”

Still doubtful, she tugged on the door handle but found it locked. Reluctantly, she slid into the front seat.

Barnaby drove her to a fine restaurant.

The spacious dining room held only one long table in the center.

Piano music filled the air, surrounded by fresh flowers, fine wine, and candlelit place settings. Rows of waiters stood ready to attend.

Hannah had never been in a relationship, but she knew this kind of romantic atmosphere was meant for couples.

Her steps faltered. “Uncle Barnaby, did you bring me here to show off dates with your girlfriend?”

“I’m still single,” Barnaby replied. “Just the two of us, eat up. No bad mood can be cured by food.” He made a gesture as the waiters began bringing out dishes.

Hannah gave him a puzzled look.

‘Do I look that upset?’ she thought.

The mess the Scott family had stirred up at school was indeed frustrating, and cleaning it up would take time.

“I heard about the grades. Don’t let it get to you. Test scores don’t mean much,” Barnaby said, cutting his steak.

Hannah thought, ‘So he’s taking me out to comfort me?’

“If you don’t want to study, don’t. I’ll support you.” Barnaby placed a piece of steak in front of her.

“Uncle Barnaby, with your situation in the Thole family, I think I’ll keep studying. Don’t worry about me,” Hannah said.

Her meaning was clear. ‘You’d better take care of yourself instead of wasting energy on me, she wondered,

She had gone through Barnaby’s background, and not just his, but every Thole family member’s dossier. She knew it all by heart.

To outsiders, Barnaby was the proud seventh son of the Thole family. In reality, he was Leopold’s illegitimate son from his later years.

After being brought back into the family, Barnaby unsurprisingly faced cold rejection from the other Thole members.

Before he died, Leopold had given most of his shares to Barnaby, making him the second-largest shareholder after the new head of the family.

However, Barnaby could only inherit these shares if he got married; otherwise, they would all be donated to charity. Leopold aimed to have the family accept Barnaby.

But it backfired; Barnaby’s exclusion grew worse.

At fourteen, the new family head sent Barnaby to the military under the pretext of toughening him up, leaving him to fend for himself.

Two years ago, after leaving the army, Barnaby returned to the Thole residence only to be assigned as the general manager of a small subsidiary under Thole Group, again “for his own growth.”

As long as Barnaby remained unmarried, he couldn’t claim the shares, and the Thole family members could boss him around freely.

This situation was easy to fix. If he wanted to fight back, all he had to do was marry as soon as he reached legal age, inherit the shares, and disgrace those who bullied him.

He was twenty-four now, well past the legal age, and still single.

‘It’s baffling. Could there be some private issue?’ she wondered. Hannah’s eyes filled with sudden pity.

Barnaby caught the pity in her gaze. “Actually-”

Though his public profile was mostly true, it wasn’t the whole story.

But Barnaby quickly thought, ‘Hannah grew up in the slums since she was six. She doesn’t need to know everything. I can’t scare her.’

As he thought this, the words on the tip of his tongue took a detour. “You caught me.”

Hannah said nothing.

They ate in silence. After the meal, Barnaby drove her back to Cavalor.

Hannah thanked him and unbuckled her seatbelt. As she was about to get out, Barnaby called after her. “Wait

a moment.”

She turned back as he pulled a workbook from the back seat.

“Since you want to study seriously, take this practice book home and work through it. I’ll assess your level first, then create a tutoring plan for you,” Barnaby said.

Hannah thought, ‘He must have prepared this workbook from the start. I finally forced myself to finish the college courses Shadow gave me, and now he’s bringing more.

“I appreciate it,” she said, forcing a stiff smile, took the workbook, then decisively closed the car door and headed inside the school gates.

At the academy, the Scott Party incident had fermented all morning and become the laughingstock of Cavalor School.

As a member of the Scott family, Susie used her superior acting skills to completely distance herself from the scandal.

On the surface, she appeared fragile and told the mocking students, “I’m sorry. Please stop saying this, okay? My father didn’t expect my sister to go so far. He’s already very upset.”

Privately, she anonymously flooded the school forums with posts.

[The Scott family’s outrageous drama this year is the biggest joke ever.]

[Hannah cheated, but the parents are clueless. I hope Wolfram Croft just expels students like her.]

After posting, she checked back and saw Owen had replied under his real name.

Owen: [This was a misunderstanding and is already behind us. Please don’t post things like this anymore.]

Once the top student spoke, the thread died down.

Susie looked puzzled. ‘Owen’s test papers were exposed; why is he defending Hannah?’ he wondered.

Just then, Hannah, who had been absent all morning, returned to Class 1.

E

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