Chapter 510
Chapter 510:
Hannah looked at him with new understanding. “Is that why you’ve never tried to win her back? Even after saving her life?”
“I tried to win her back through grand gestures and dramatic sacrifices. But real love isn’t about winning someone back. It’s about wanting them to be happy, even if that happiness doesn’t include you.”
Hannah was quiet for a moment, studying Stefan’s face. “For what it’s worth, I think you’ve become a better man than the one who hurt her.”
“I hope so. I’m trying to be.”
As they gathered their materials and prepared to leave, Stefan found himself looking forward to tomorrow’s work session with anticipation that had nothing to do with corporate investigations.
Hannah paused at the door. “Stefan? Tomorrow, when we’re tracing those offshore accounts… would you like to get dinner afterward? To discuss our findings, I mean.”
Stefan smiled, feeling something hopeful stir in his chest for the first time in months. “I’d like that very much.”
As they walked toward the elevators together, both carrying the weight of their investigation and the lighter burden of new possibilities, neither noticed the figure watching them from across the street.
The Guardian had been tracking all of Kane Industries’ key personnel, and now he had identified two more obstacles to his twenty-year plan for revenge.
Stefan Rodriguez and Hannah Zhao were getting too close to the truth. Soon, he would have to decide whether to eliminate them or find another way to complete his mission.
But tonight, Stefan and Hannah walked away unaware of the danger, focused instead on the financial trail that might finally expose the puppet master who had been manipulating them all.
The Kane Industries conference room felt warm and comfortable for the first time in weeks. Chinese takeout containers sat open on the polished table, mixed with financial documents and laptop computers. The overhead lights had been dimmed, replaced by the softer glow of desk lamps that made the evening feel less like work and more like friends sharing a meal.
Camille sat at the head of the table, picking at her lo mein while reviewing the latest evidence Hannah and Stefan had uncovered. After days of intense investigation, they had finally allowed themselves to relax slightly, to eat real food instead of surviving on coffee and energy drinks.
“This connection to the Cayman Islands account is brilliant,” Camille said, gesturing with her chopsticks toward Hannah’s laptop screen. “How did you think to look there?”
Hannah smiled, her face flushed with quiet pride. “Stefan suggested it. He said shell companies always use certain banking patterns in international shipping, and those same patterns might apply to financial fraud.”
Stefan felt warmth spread through his chest at Hannah’s praise. Over the past three days, their professional partnership had evolved into something deeper. They worked together with an ease that surprised both of them, their different expertise combining to create insights neither could have reached alone.
.
.
.
Message from Noah: Wishing all my dear readers a wonderful weekend! A new novel will be out in just a few hours. God loves you, and Noah wishes you all the best. ૮ ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶ ა
P.S. I’ll be running a poll in the galnøvels WhatsApp group to see what you’d like to read next. Hope I can bring something you’re wishing for ★
.