The Real Heiress Is Coming Back (Hannah Carter) novel Chapter 38

Chapter 38

At Skycrest House, in the study, Hannah scrolled through the news about Murel’s downfall, her eyes narrowing slightly.

She had just finished gathering all the information and hadn’t even sent it out yet when Murel suddenly fell from power. ‘Who’s working that fast?’ she wondered.

“You’ve been stuck on the first question for half an hour,” a slender, well-defined hand tapped on the workbook in front of her.

Hannah looked up. Barnaby’s flawless, striking face came into view.

He was leaning over the desk, right elbow resting on the surface, his palm supporting his chin, eyes locked onto her.

‘I thought he had gone out. When did he get back?’ Hannah thought.

Outside, the sky was clear and bright. The two sat across from each other at the table, the moment frozen as if time itself had stopped, like half a century had passed in that instant.

Barnaby’s left hand moved slowly across the table, reaching her wrist. “I’m about to confiscate your phone.”

His palm was large, easily grasping her wrist.

Hannah’s eyelashes fluttered. She immediately put away her phone, pulling her hand away.

She grabbed the pen on the desk and casually filled in B in the blank for the first multiple-choice question.

“When did you start writing with your right hand?” Barnaby squinted, watching her use her right hand to hold the pen.

He remembered clearly that she was naturally left-handed. He had even practiced with his left hand on purpose because of it.

Hannah glanced at her right hand and realized she had been deliberately using it lately.

“My grandma said my left-handed writing is ugly and told me to practice with my right,” she said, her thick lashes half-closed.

Barnaby looked at her and smirked. ‘She still can’t meet someone’s eyes when she’s nervous or lying. She’s just as adorable as ever,’ he wondered.

Unaware of his thoughts, Hannah pretended to focus and continued working on the problems.

She worked seriously and quickly, showing the air of a top student.

In less than two minutes, she finished all the multiple-choice questions on the first page.

Barnaby moved behind her and looked at her answers. ‘Nice. Perfectly avoided all the correct options,’ he

thought.

He sighed helplessly.

Just as Hannah was about to turn the page, Barnaby’s charming voice, warm and close, whispered in her ear, “You got it wrong.”

His broad palm held her right hand firmly.

The gesture felt almost like an intimate hug from behind, way too suggestive.

Hannah stiffened all over; her heart skipped a beat without her noticing, and her nose filled with the faint scent of tobacco from Barnaby.

“For the first question, try plugging into this formula and recalculate,” he said.

Still holding her hand, Barnaby wrote out a math formula.

He acted as naturally as if teaching this way was perfectly normal.

“Mr. Thole, is this how you teach people to do homework?” Hannah asked.

“How so?” Barnaby looked down at her, his sharp brows teasing, lips curved in a smile.

The thought of him teaching some other woman like this popped into Hannah’s mind, making her uncomfortable.

She grew irritated.

“Nothing. I don’t know how to do these anyway. I’m done,” Hannah said, pulling her hand away abruptly and standing up to leave.

Watching her walk away, Barnaby thought, ‘Is Hannah mad again?’

What Hannah didn’t know was that, after she left the study, Barnaby pulled two exam papers from the desk drawer.

One was her entrance exam paper; the other was the mysterious genius’s paper submitted by Owen.

“A genius?” Barnaby murmured, touching the two papers, his eyes shining with undisguised excitement.

“Useless as always,” Susie sneered at the online news in the Scott residence.

Luke had become the next mayor, Murel was out for bribery, and Lily’s family was under investigation.

‘I thought I could use Lily to teach Hannah a lesson, but the Ashfall family just fell apart. Hannah’s been so lucky. Every time, she manages to slip away by a thread,’ Susie thought bitterly.

“Ms. Scott, dinner’s ready,” the maid announced as she knocked on the door.

“Coming,” Susie replied, being the last to take her seat at the dining table. She noticed there were only four people, but five sets of cutlery were laid out.

The extra set was placed exactly where Hannah used to sit.

Felicity stared absentmindedly at that spot, but Dorian didn’t notice.

A wave of resentment rose in Susie’s chest. ‘Hannah’s clearly moved out. So why does Mom still miss her so much?’ she thought.

“Cici, don’t you remember Grandma’s still not out of the hospital?” Susie said with a smile.

“It wasn’t me who set the table; Mrs. Scott did,” Cici muttered quietly before quickly removing the extra set of utensils.

This caught Dorian’s attention.

He glanced at the empty seat where Hannah once sat and did a quick mental calculation.

“Dad, didn’t you say Hannah would come back to admit her mistake within a week?” Lucian asked, sounding like he was just waiting for the show to unfold.

Yes, it had already been half a month.

Hannah had no intention of returning.

Dorian’s face immediately darkened. His first reaction was to look at Felicity. “Have you been secretly contacting her and even sending her money behind my back?”

Felicity was taken aback and hurriedly denied, “No, I haven’t.”

The truth was, she had quietly transferred money to Hannah before, but Hannah had returned it all.

Hannah said she had money.

But she had just come out of the slums not long ago. Even if Evelyn gave her some money, Brynlock’s expenses were high; it wouldn’t last long.

“I don’t believe it,” Lucian said.

Mom had previously given Hannah 30 thousand as pocket money.

No, after the money ended up in his hands, Hannah should be out of money now.

He looked up and saw the other three at the table staring at him, waiting for him to reveal some hidden

secret.

Lucian said, “Just kidding.”

“Did she starve to death at school?” Dorian almost couldn’t get the words out.

“Dad, don’t be angry. Hannah’s actually doing okay at school. One time after class, I even saw her with-” Susie paused deliberately, hesitating, making everyone more curious.

“With who?” Dorian asked sharply.

Susie seemed to struggle to find the words. Finally, she pulled out her phone and handed it to him to see for

himself.

The more she acted this way, the more everyone wondered what Hannah had actually done.

Felicity put down her utensils and got up to take a look, but Dorian angrily slammed the phone onto the

floor.

“She actually did something so disgraceful. As if sullying the Scott family’s reputation wasn’t enough,” he snapped.

Felicity hurried to pick up the phone. On the screen was a photo of Hannah walking with a group of thugs, her back facing the camera.

“How could this be?” she gasped in disbelief, covering her mouth.

Seeing Dorian flare up again, Susie’s lips curled into a barely perceptible smile.

“Dad, don’t be angry,” Susie got up to comfort Dorian and whispered something in his ear. Slowly, his anger began to subside.

“All right. When the time comes, you bring her back,” Dorian nodded.

“Okay, Dad,” Susie said, a sly glint flashing in her eyes.

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