The Real Heiress Is Coming Back (Hannah Carter) novel Chapter 58

Chapter 58

“Ms. Carter, wait!” Ronin finally caught up with Hannah as she reached her car in the parking lot.

Without so much as a glance in his direction, she pulled open the rear passenger door and slid inside, her face unreadable.

“Are you really okay with leaving Mr. Thole alone with her?” he pressed.

The only answer was the solid thud of the car door shutting firmly in his face.

Ronin scratched his head, bewildered. ‘Did I put my foot in my mouth again?’ he wondered.

He’d made things worse earlier outside the private room when he spotted Hannah leaving alone. “Ms. Carter? Just you?” he’d asked without thinking.

The moment the words left his mouth, he saw her delicate features tighten with visible irritation.

When the elevator doors closed without Barnaby appearing, it finally dawned on him that something was wrong. He rushed to catch the next elevator down.

Now settling into the driver’s seat, he tried to smooth things over. “Ms. Carter, you don’t need to worry about Mr. Thole. He’s not the type to fall for some honey trap. That woman with him? Ms. Reese? She was actually arranged by Mr. Edmund Thole. Mr. Thole would never…”

“Just drive.” Hannah’s voice was cool and dismissive.

Ronin instantly snapped his mouth shut, finding her quiet authority more intimidating than Barnaby’s direct commands.

Hesitating for a beat, he ventured carefully, “Should we… wait for Mr. Thole?”

A single glance from Hannah made him mimic zipping his lips, though he kept the engine off.

The image of Barnaby alone with Daisy in the lounge clung to Hannah’s mind, fueling her growing agitation.

She wondered what madness had possessed her to accompany him tonight.

“Fine, you wait then.” Hannah reached for the door handle, only to find it opening from the outside.

Barnaby’s tall frame filled the doorway, casting her in shadow.

Though backlit, his eyes held a distinct gleam in the dim light as they fixed intently on her.

“Leaving without me?” His low voice cut through the silence.

Hannah recovered quickly from her surprise, her expression settling into practiced composure.

“You’ll be seeing Ms. Reese home. We’re not headed the same way.” She deliberately avoided his gaze.

A faint smile touched Barnaby’s lips at her pointed tone. So his performance tonight hadn’t been entirely wasted. She was bothered.

“Come on, she’s not a little girl who needs chaperoning,” Barnaby said, gesturing for Hannah to scoot over.

Being the only minor present, Hannah couldn’t help feeling personally targeted by his remark.

‘So in his eyes, I’m still just a child?’ she wondered. ‘All those provocative comments, even that flirting under the table… was he just amusing himself?’

The thought made her unusually irritated.

“Jealous, are we?” Barnaby leaned into the carriage, his deep eyes studying her motionless form.

His intense gaze only fueled her annoyance. She reluctantly shifted inward with visible displeasure, making just enough space for him to settle in.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” she retorted, her voice tight with suppressed emotion.

“Then what’s got you so worked up?” Barnaby’s low chuckle held a teasing note. Her flustered expression struck him as unexpectedly charming, stirring an impulse to draw her into his embrace.

He offered an explanation. “It’s not like I’m interested in her. The only reason I met with her was strictly professional, her medical expertise…”

“Some medical expert,” Hannah cut him off, her tone dripping with sarcasm. “A real professional would’ve scheduled at the clinic, not some candlelit bistro. Her intentions were pretty transparent.”

“Right, not what I’d call professional,” Barnaby agreed.

Ronin nearly choked from the driver’s seat.

He thought, ‘Unprofessional? Daisy came from four generations of surgeons, was shortlisted for the Nobel, and Ms. Carter dismisses her like some quack? How good must she be?’

‘And yet you followed her to the private lounge, Hannah thought coldly. ‘Hypocrite!’

Sensing the tension thickening, Ronin quickly activated the soundproof partition.

Sensing the escalating tension, Ronin discreetly activated the soundproof partition. Some conversations weren’t worth the risk of overhearing.

“I only went because Edmund forced my hand,” Barnaby’s voice softened, taking on a coaxing quality. “I was counting on you to bail me out, but you were too absorbed in your game to even glance my way.”

He gave her a wounded look that seemed utterly incongruous with his sharp, aristocratic features.

The combination was downright unfair, that perfectly sculpted face paired with pleading vulnerability.

Yet instead of softening her, it only tightened the knot of frustration in her chest.

He kept dancing along this invisible line between them, teasing a possibility everyone knew was impossible.

“You don’t have to explain. We’re business partners, Barnaby. Nothing more,” she said, her voice cutting through the charged atmosphere. “Once we find the Obsidian Pearl and cure you, this ends.”

Before he could respond, she hit the partition switch. “Pull over, Ronin.”

Ronin hesitated, his eyes meeting Barnaby’s stormy expression in the rearview mirror.

“Now.” Her voice left no room for argument.

The car hadn’t fully stopped when she opened the door, disappearing into the night without a backward glance.

The sharp slam of the car door seemed to freeze the very air in the vehicle. Ronin hesitated, his hand hovering near the climate controls as an unnatural chill settled over the cabin.

He watched Hannah’s figure retreat into the darkness, then caught Barnaby’s stony reflection in the rearview mirror.

“Shouldn’t we go after her, Mr. Thole?” he ventured.

Barnaby watched from the car window as Hannah’s figure receded into the distance, his eyes gradually reddening with unspoken emotion. His hands, resting on his knees, tightened into white-knuckled fists, as if he were fighting to hold back something desperate to break free.

“You alright, sir?” Ronin asked, turning at the noticeable shift in his demeanor. His phone was already open to Percival’s contact, thumb hovering over the call button.

But Barnaby didn’t answer. He simply leaned back against the seat and closed his eyes.

Behind them, a memory surfaced, a little girl with rosy cheeks and a smile sweet enough to melt the hardest of hearts.

Her laughter had been his anchor, her gentle voice the balm that pulled him back from the brink of madness.

At a time when hatred had nearly consumed him, her light had guided him home, carving a softness into a heart frozen shut by rage.

That moment stayed with him, etched into his soul.

“Uncle Barnaby, do you like me?”

“I do.”

“I like you too! And Mommy and Daddy!”

“My ‘like’ isn’t quite the same as yours.”

“How?”

Young Barnaby gently held Hannah’s small hand, his thumb tracing circles over her knuckles. The silence between them felt comfortable.

What he felt for her was more than childish affection. It was a fierce longing to take her away from the Thole household, to someplace where she’d look at no one but him.

He wanted every part of her, dreamed of marrying her someday, of building a home where they’d belong only to each other.

It was a devotion too intense to confess, one he feared would scare her away.

But before he could watch her grow up, she vanished from his life.

The Tholes claimed she had died. He never believed it, searching for her with desperate obsession.

Eleven years later, he finally found her, but the woman he discovered was nothing like the innocent girl he remembered.

She was different now.

田

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