Chapter 323

Judy’s eyes were wide with fury as she watched the old woman slide the jade bangle onto Hannah’s wrist. It felt as though someone had reached into her chest and ripped out a piece of her heart.

Below, the guests burst into applause, cheering Hannah’s return to the family. Someone even asked if she would be changing her name now that she was officially a Temple.

“Before Hannah was born, her mother had already chosen a name for her,” her grandfather explained. “It was Hannah p>

The words struck Hannah with sudden force. She remembered asking Jason once why he had given her that name. He had simply told her that it was written on the blanket she was wrapped in when she was left at the orphanage, so he never bothered to change it.

All this time, it had been a gift from her mother.

Hannah descended from the stage as the master of ceremonies took her place, offering more words of blessing. The formal part of the evening concluded, and the banquet began, with elegant music filling the grand hall.

Samuel made his way over to her. “I just called him,” he said. “He’s here and wants to see you p>

Hannah shook her head, her eyes fixed on the large screen on the stage. “He saw enough of me when I was up there. There are too many people here. If we get too close, the precious secret he’s been hiding for three years might get out p>

“Hannah, if you licked your lips, would you poison yourself?” Samuel teased. “Your words are pure venom. I’ll text him right now and tell him to keep his distance and not cause a scene p>

Just as he finished speaking, the music abruptly cut out, replaced by a loud, crackling static that made everyone turn toward the stage in alarm. The large screen flickered with snow before a video feed suddenly snapped into focus.

Hannah recognized it instantly.

It was from her fifth birthday. A blizzard had raged all night, and Jason had ordered her outside to shovel the snow. After she had only cleared a small patch, he had started screaming at her, dragging her into a small, dark room to be beaten.

“You useless thing! You can’t do anything right! No wonder your parents didn’t want you! You’re a drain on our resources, and you have the nerve to wear clothes from this orphanage? Take them off p>

On screen, the small girl clutched her jacket desperately. Jason’s hand came down in a vicious slap. He grabbed the thin, worn-down coat and ripped it open with a loud tear. Then he picked up a thin bamboo cape from the corner and began Whipping it mercilessly against her small body.

Swish. Crack. Swish. Crack.

Each strike seemed to slice through the air, and with every lash, the skin on the little girl’s arms broke open.

Jason’s vile curses mixed with the sound of the cane, punctuated by faint, weak cries for help.

The entire hall fell silent. Even the sound of breathing seemed to fade away.

Lionel stood frozen in the center of

he

the room, his eyes locked on the screen. He’d gone to Sunflower Haven with Hannah. He’d known the director had mistreated her, that had been singled out and abused. She had told him herself that her childhood was filled with hardship, insults, and beatings.

But he had never, ever imagined it was this severe.

In the dead of winter, she had been stripped of her already inadequate clothing, her small arms covered in raw, bleeding welts. In the dark.

room her cries for help and pleas for mercy gradually faded into nothing but faint, exhausted sobs

“If you don’t finish shoveling that snow, you don’t get dinner tonight! You don’t deserve to eat anyway!” Jason’s voice, dripping with contempt, echoed through the silent hall.

“Who! Who is that man?” Hannah’s grandfather roared, pointing a trembling finger at the screen. “Where did this video come from p>