Chapter 8

Joseph had to head to the company in the afternoon to attend to something. He wanted to bring Hannah along, but she didn't want to go. She wanted to stay at home. Ultimately, Joseph gave in to her and left the manor alone. Before leaving, he told her everything he could think of, including where her scrunchies were. Hannah had to push him out of the house. If she didn't, he would continue like that for another half an hour! She couldn't help muttering to herself about how long-winded he still was. Hannah had plans, which was why she didn't want to head to the company with Joseph. Once he was gone, she summoned Ned to the study. "You were employed by the Quill family ten years ago, right?" "Yes, ma'am," Ned said respectfully. At noon, Joseph told him that Hannah would be calling the shots at home from then on. That was an official announcement of Hannah's identity—she was the lady of the Quill household. "How have Joseph and the children gotten along over the years?" Hannah asked. The fact that Alexander and Joseph hadn't interacted at all when the former had dropped by made her heart sink. What could've happened to make them so distant and cold with each other? Joseph had brushed her off, saying they had a misunderstanding, but she felt there was more to the story. "Mr. Alexander, Ms. Penelope, and Mr. Nicholas were no longer living at home when I arrived, Mrs. Quill. Mr. Joseph rarely returns, too…" Ned wasn't lying. These past two days were the liveliest Quill Manor had ever been, and that was because Hannah was back. Whenever Joseph returned in the past, he would head straight up to the third-floor master bedroom, spending a whole day cooped up there. Then, he would leave for several days before returning. The cycle had continued for years. Alexander never spent the night when he returned, while Penelope and Nicholas would only return occasionally. They usually stayed in their apartments closer to their schools or college. Quill Manor was their family home, but it didn't feel like it. Hannah pressed a hand to her forehead. This family was a mess! She wasn't too upset now that she'd already accepted reality. Anyway, she was back now. Everything would be fine! She wanted to dismiss Ned when she realized she couldn't get anything useful from him. Just then, he said in a relieved tone, "I've only seen Mr. Joseph smile after your arrival here, Mrs. Quill. It's my first time seeing him so happy in the decade I've been here." His words were typical of what butlers said of their employers in those romance novels she read. Her lips twitched as she listened to him—she didn't want to become a character in a story like that! Generally speaking, the male lead's wife didn't end up well. … A stretch limousine sped along the road. Inside, Joseph read through some documents, his expressionless face making his two special assistants nervous. Joseph didn't need to fly off the handle or raise his voice at work when reprimanding his subordinates. All he did was calmly point out the problem with a slightly darkened gaze. That was enough to make his subordinates break into cold sweats and promise they wouldn't repeat their mistakes. Some people didn't need to make themselves seem daunting. They only needed to sit there to make others fear him. Ned hadn't been blindly complimenting Joseph with his words—they came from the heart. The way Joseph acted when he was with Hannah was something none of his subordinates, including Ned and the household staff, had ever seen. The pleasant, tender side that Joseph now showed belonged solely to Hannah. No one else had the privilege of seeing it, including his children. He called Alexander. "Don't disturb her for the next few days." Alexander scoffed. "What are you afraid of?" He wanted to continue mocking Joseph when the latter said coolly, "Kick up a fuss if you want her to disappear again." Alexander abruptly stopped and blanched. Joseph continued, "No one can be sure what will happen before we get to the bottom of this whole thing." Alexander didn't say anything, but his silence was answer enough. Joseph got that and hung up, ending the conversation. He rubbed his nose bridge before saying, "Inform the managers of all departments that I want to have a meeting at 2:00 pm." "Yes, sir." Just then, Joseph's phone pinged with a text. He immediately checked it. "Mrs. Quill returned to her room for a nap after asking Ned whatever she wanted to know." He slowly exhaled, his gaze dark as he stared out the window. Whether this was a trap or an unexplainable trick, he wouldn't let Hannah disappear again. It didn't matter whether Alexander accepted the Hannah they had as his mother—Joseph accepted it. He'd already believed she was back when he'd seen her crying in the bathroom. Still, he had to get to the bottom of this. He wouldn't be able to survive losing her a second time! Joseph's special assistants exchanged a look. They didn't know what had changed, but Joseph had suddenly become very scary in their eyes. … Hannah didn't take a nap after returning to the room. Instead, she logged on to her social media accounts. First was her WhatsApp account. Then, she checked her emails… She started sorting through her life after reuniting with Alexander. She'd been missing for 15 years—from a legal perspective, she'd probably already been declared dead. If she wanted to appear in public again, she couldn't just show up with a bang. It had to be gradual. She could tell her family about transmigrating and time-traveling 15 years into the future, but outsiders couldn't know about that. They would likely think she was insane. Joseph maintained Hannah's social media accounts well. She could log on to them without issues—they hadn't been deleted or frozen. Even her phone number was the same as the one she'd used 15 years ago. After signing in to her WhatsApp, she saw an unread message sent a week ago. It was from Beatrice Flint and read, "I miss you." Beatrice was Hannah's college dormmate. They had established a cosmetics company after graduation. Hannah wondered how the company was doing. She quit WhatsApp and signed in to her Twitter. Then, she searched for Beatrice's profile. The latter had gone from having only a hundred thousand followers to over five million now. In her bio, she'd written that she was the chairwoman of Novastar Cosmetics. It looked like the company was doing well. In principle, Hannah and Beatrice were business partners. To be accurate, Hannah was more of an investor. It looked like she'd had quite the eye for business in the past! Soon, however, Hannah couldn't smile anymore. She checked one of Beatrice's latest tweets to see a string of criticism under it. Only after scouring the Internet based on one of the key points in the comments did she find out why. One of the products under Novastar Cosmetics had been called out for having various problems and ingredients that exceeded regulations. Hannah wasn't concerned about the product's quality. The point was that she, someone who'd been missing for 15 years, had been dragged into the fray. Amidst the flood of tweets about the product that had been called out, one stood out in particular. It was on Novastar Cosmetics' history. The tweet had a link to an article that indicated the product that had been called out was produced based on a formulation provided by the company's other founder. Although the founder had passed away in an accident many years ago, Beatrice continued manufacturing the product in her memory. She refused to shut it down despite its lack of revenue, and she didn't expect a problem with the formulation. The article emphasized that the formulation hadn't been adjusted despite being in production for over a decade. It also insinuated that the other founder had caused many problems for Beatrice. Hannah read everything in silence. This article was trying too hard to rid Beatrice and Novastar Cosmetics of the blame, wasn't it? She'd already been missing for 15 years, yet they could still drag her name through the mud. Coincidentally, almost as soon as Hannah finished reading the article, Beatrice tweeted an apology. She sincerely admitted her mistake and released a transcript of her interview with a media outlet. She didn't explicitly say it, but her meaning was clear—she was innocent, and Hannah was the bad guy. Hannah was baffled. She couldn't believe she'd been forced to take the blame for something like this just after returning. She hadn't provided any sort of formulation!