The Real Heiress Is Coming Back (Hannah Carter) novel Chapter 281

Chapter 281 Are You Satisfied?

Chapter 281 Are You Satisfied?

When Marilyn saw Howard Thole step out, she instantly felt relieved. No more worrying about whether Hannah Carter would go in or not.

Her job was to wait for Hannah and bring her to Howard. If Hannah bailed, it’d be on her. But now that Howard had come out and seen Hannah, her job was officially done. Whether Hannah left or not was no longer her problem

If she had her way, Marilyn secretly wished Hannah would just leave already. In her mind, Hannah wasn’t worth the fat paycheck from the Thole family anyway.

Thinking that, she quickly said, “Mr. Thole, sorry to keep you waiting. Ms. Carter just arrived.”

She made sure to stress the “just arrived” part.

Howard’s eyes flashed with a hint of disgust. He’d only come out because he’d been kept waiting for far too long.

If it were anyone else coming in with such a lazy attitude about a deal, he wouldn’t have bothered meeting them again. But Edmund Thole had made it clear. This was the one he had to sign.

“Come in,” Howard said, his expression cold.

“Mr. Thole’s secretary already shot down the partnership for him I guess there’s nothing left for us to talk about,” Hannah said coolly.

Howard shot a glance at Marilyn. He hadn’t promoted her just for her skills. What really mattered was her sharp sense for sizing people up and knowing exactly when to play her cards.

As the CEO of the Thole Group, he always had to maintain his image in public. There were things he couldn’t do himself, so he always had his secretary handle those for him.

Marilyn was especially good at picking up on his moods and always knew how to keep him satisfied. So even though he knew she was deliberately making things tough for Hannah, he’d just let it slide.

But from the way Hannah spoke, it was obvious she wasn’t going to drop it that easily.

“Ms. Carter, don’t twist my words. I’m just a secretary. There’s no way I could make decisions for the CEO. Don’t go blaming me,” Marilyn cut in before Howard could even open his mouth.

“Blaming you?” Hannah scoffed, her laugh icy. “The Thole Group’s staff are out here spouting nonsense. If your company culture is anything like this, the work environment must be terrible. Count me out.”

Howard’s brows knitted together, while Marilyn was inwardly delighted. ‘Perfect, let her walk away. I really don’t want to see Hannah hanging around the Thole Group ever again,’ she thought.

“Don’t you want to know about her?” Howard said.

By “her,” he meant Rosalie Thole.

Hannah paused mid-step. That was exactly why she’d come here in the first place.

But she couldn’t let her eagerness show. Every time she’d gotten too excited over a new clue before, she’d ended up walking right into a trap.

Now, facing the Thole family, she had to be even more careful. I she showed too much interest, they’d have her right where they wanted her.

She had to play hard to get.

“If you want me to stay and hear you out, then fire her. Simple as that,” Hannah said, tossing Marilyn a cold, indifferent look over her shoulder.

Marilyn didn’t get mad at all. She almost wanted to laugh.

‘How arrogant do you have to be to say something like that?’ Marilyn sneered to herself.

She’d been Howard’s right hand for a decade, his most trusted assistant. Hannah was seriously overestimating herself, acting like she was some kind of unicorn the Thole Group desperately needed. Did she really think she could just stroll in and cut off the CEO’s right hand?

‘No way in hell Howard would fire me just because Hannah said so,’ Marilyn thought, rolling her eyes.

‘Dream on, she scoffed inwardly.

emeli vor paycheck with finance. Don’t bother coming

Successfully unlocked!

But Howard’s tone was flat, without a hint of ent in tomorrow.”

Stunned, Marilyn could only stare in disbelief.

“Are you satisfied now?” Howard asked Hannah, his eyes icy and eerily calm.

He’d stop at nothing to carry out Edmund Thole’s orders.

1/3

Chapter 281 Are You Satisfied?

Not that he was afraid, once Hannah fell into his hands, she’d have no say in her fate

Marilyn couldn’t believe her ears. ‘Howard…

“Get out!” Howard snapped, cold as ice.

That’s when Marilyn knew he meant it for real. She glared at Hannah like she wanted to poison her with her eyes

Hannah didn’t care one bit. She just turned around and followed Howard into his study, cool as ever

“Here’s the deal contract. Cutting to the chase, Howard said, pulling out three identical copies from his drawer and handing them to Hannah.

Hannah didn’t spare them a second look, just tossed them aside “Talk first. What do you know?”

Howard watched her with that arrogant attitude, and for a moment, he had half a mind to take her out on the spot. But he held himself back. Losing his temper now would only jeopardize the bigger picture.

He took a sip of his tea, tamping down those thoughts, and spoke in a calm, even voice.

“In the Thole family, the boss laid down the law. Nobody’s allowed to bring up what happened with Edmund and Rosalie But since you used to be Rosalie’s daughter, and we were family once, I’ll break the rule just this once and let you in on it. But you’d better keep it to yourself.”

Hannah looked at him with icy disdain, seeing right through his lake sincerity. “Go on.”

A vein pulsed in Howard’s forehead, but he bit back his anger and kept his cool.

“Rosalie’s death wasn’t just an ordinary accident. She was murdered by a group who staged it to look like a car crash.” Hannah was caught off guard by how straightforward he was. Up until now, both the Thole family and the police had stuck to the story that Rosalie died in a car accident. She shot Howard a sharp, suspicious look, her eyes narrowing as she tried to read him.

“Which organization?” she asked, voice cool but alert.

Howard replied, “The Scepter House.”

Hannah was speechless.

“Not sure how much you know about the Scepter House, but from what I’ve heard, they’re insanely strict and downright brutal. If any member steps out of line, they don’t hesitate. They’ll stage an accident and erase you, just like that,” Howard said.

He lit a cigar, took a slow drag, and continued.

“All I know is, Rosalie used to work for the Scepter House back in the day. What she actually did for them, I have no clue. If she hadn’t had that accident, none of us would’ve ever known she was mixed up with them.”

“The night after Rosalie’s crash, people from the Scepter House came to search the old villa you lived in back then. They said they were looking for something, and things got pretty tense. In the end, though, they left empty-handed.”

“So if you ask me, Rosalie’s accident was no accident at all. It was a hit job by the Scepter House,” Howard said.

He put on a show of sorrow, sighing deeply as he exhaled a thick cloud of smoke, his face hidden behind the haze.

‘Edmund and I were as close as brothers could be. After he was gone, Rosalie followed soon after. I did push the boss to go after the Scepter House, but those people have power to burn and don’t flinch at getting their hands dirty

“Even the Thole family has to watch their step around them. The boss didn’t want to make enemies, so he ordered everyone to drop it. No one’s allowed to mention it ever again.”

He was laying it on thick, acting like he really cared. If Hannah hadn’t heard that recording of him hiring a killer, she might’ve actually fallen for it.

Howard’s old man had two wives in his lifetime. After his first we passed, he didn’t waste a second before marrying the biggest actress in the country, Esther Thole. Looks like Howard got her acting chops too, because he was just as dramatic, a real natural at faking it.

Hannah let out a cold laugh. “That’s it?”

Howard shrugged. “That’s all I’ve got. Just don’t let it get out that I was the one who told you, okay?”

Hannah slid the contract back to him. “Your info’s not enough to get me on board”

Howard had clearly seen that coming. He reached into his drawer again and pulled out two more things, laying them out in front of Hannah one by one.

“Don’t be so quick to turn me down. Just take a look at these fit,” he said.

2/3