Chapter 53

Ingrid felt unsettled and shook Hansel’s arm. “Dear, what’s wrong?”

He snapped out of his reverie, waving his hand. “It’s nothing. I’m fine now. You can focus on your classes.”

He continued, “You don’t need to come here every day anymore. I’ll be busy at the office these next few days and won’t have time to spend with you.”

Ingrid froze, then nodded with a smile. “Okay, I understand.”

Her smile vanished the moment she left the mansion. Disappointment weighed on her heart, and her eyes grew gloomy. Hansel had been preoccupied; he’d never acted like this before.

After hesitating, she called Zach. Among Hansel’s close friends, he was the only one she knew. She plastered on a smile as she answered. “Zach, good evening. Has anything happened at the hospital lately? I just left Hansel’s, and he seemed upset. Did Miranda upset him again?”

Zach, having just exchanged numbers with a woman he’d met at a bar, gave a curt reply to end the call quickly. “She didn’t visit him. She just made him soup twice.”

He hung up immediately.

Chapter 54

Ingrid gritted her teeth in anger. It was as she’d suspected. She put away her phone with a cold look.

Early the next morning, Ingrid went to the library and found Miranda studying.

Ingrid said assertively, “Hansel is my boyfriend. Since you two broke up, make a clean break. Don’t hang around him!”

Miranda, preoccupied with her studies, found Ingrid’s words amusing but replied seriously, “Don’t worry. I won’t, and I have no intention of competing with you.”

After Ingrid left, Miranda resumed her studies and left the library in the evening. She coincidentally ran into Solomon. They hadn't seen each other in a few days due to his classes.

Feeling bad about their last awkward dinner with Tina, Miranda invited him again. “Let me treat you to dinner. I’ll cook for you. Are you free?”

Solomon, surprised, readily agreed. “Of course! Your cooking is amazing!”

Not far away, Hansel watched them walk away, chatting happily. Rage burned in his eyes, turning them bloodshot. His grip tightened on the steering wheel, his knuckles white.

Evelyn had mentioned seeing Miranda at the library, and Winter refused to give Miranda’s address. Hansel had waited at the library all day. He saw Miranda laughing and talking with a man—not the one from the restaurant.

What was she doing? If she was trying to provoke him, she’d succeeded!

Fuming, Hansel followed them to a dilapidated alley. Moss covered the peeling paint; the narrow passage felt oppressive.

He remembered Calvin mentioning Miranda’s poor living conditions during his last hospitalization, but he hadn’t expected it to be this bad. He parked at the alley entrance and followed on foot.

Miranda remained unaware of his presence.