# Chapter 30: The Truth at Torrio’s and the Favor That Won’t Die
Hello everyone, it’s me again! How are you all doing? Today I will continue to walk with you and review Chapter 30 of "Seduced By My Ex's Divorce Attorney audiobook free." And wow, what a chapter this is. It is raw, heartbreaking, and full of that agonizing kind of truth that arrives just a little too late. So grab a cup of coffee, get comfortable, and let’s dive into every emotional twist together.
The chapter opens with Hannah setting her phone down, her mood slightly lighter after texting Gwen, but there is still a shadow hanging over her. That shadow is Roarke. She cannot stop thinking about the fact that when she stood right in front of him, he refused to explain what was going on with the other woman. To Hannah, that silence means one thing: if the situation was innocent, why wouldn’t he say so in front of his side piece? Her answer is bitter and simple. Because he didn’t want to hurt her feelings. Jackass.
Then her phone dings again. She smiles, expecting Gwen, but instead she sees a text from Roarke. “You owe me two more favors.” Just like that, the warmth drains out of her. She seethes. She sees red. She had believed the favors were finished once he had gotten her under him in bed. And even now, against her will, the memory of his lips and hands makes her body tingle. She hates that. She hates how much power he still has over her.
She asks, “Seriously?” He replies, “Would you like to see the contract?” She takes a deep breath and asks if he would really cancel the venue. He throws it back at her: “Do YOU think I would? You seem to think you know me so well...” So Hannah asks the only question that matters: “What do you want?” If he wants a favor, fine. She will do it. But when he says, “My condo at noon today,” she refuses immediately. No. She will not meet him there. If they meet, it has to be in public. He tells her he cannot have people overhearing what he has to tell her. She does not reply. This is non-negotiable for her because she cannot risk falling back into his bed. Finally, he offers a secluded table at Torrio’s. Final offer. She agrees. Then she asks, “Are you bringing your girlfriend?” He does not answer that question. The three dots appear, and then he simply sends: “Noon.”
Hannah tosses her phone onto the desk and stares at the time. She has three hours before she has to face him. After this, there will be one more favor left. She knows she should tell him to go to hell, but she has seen Roarke’s persistence. He would absolutely cancel the venue just to force her to hear him out, and the contract says he would be within his rights. Bastard.
Three hours later, Hannah walks into Torrio’s and finds Roarke already sitting at her table. The nerve of this guy. The place is empty, which surprises her, though she has never come here mid-day before. He stands when she approaches. She asks, “I thought we needed to be secluded?” He explains that since the restaurant does not open for four more hours, this is what they are using. A waiter brings over a Vesper. Hannah, not familiar with the waiter, asks him to bring her a gin and tonic instead. Roarke tells her, “You’re angry at me, not at him.” She says she thinks she was polite. He disagrees. She quips, “Thank you, Mr. Etiquette, I’ll remember that,” and sits back with her hands in her lap.
Roarke tells her that after the waiter brings her new drink, he will explain how what she saw is not what she thinks. They wait in silence. Then Hannah says, “Funny how you think I’m the one at fault.” His eyes dig into hers. He asks her to look back over the last month. He wants her to remember how he was with her. He never lied. He was upfront about everything, including his past. No one in the city knows his past except her, because she came to Woods Parlor and saw it firsthand. Hannah crosses her arms and says he probably hired them all. He huffs and rolls his eyes, sarcastically saying yes, he hired an entire town to act like his family, put pictures in the glass case for her to find, and made sure Liv waited on them. Then his voice turns serious. He understands she has trust issues. He has them too. But he would at least hear her out.
The waiter returns with her gin and tonic and a lime. She thanks him sweetly, overly pleasant, and Roarke looks even more pissed off. Hannah admits to herself that she kind of enjoys that look because it makes him appear even sexier. Funny how the tables have turned.
Once the waiter is far away, Roarke pulls a business card from his suit and slides it across the table. One Million Degrees. A non-profit. He tells her he is on the board. Hannah says, “Good for you. Do you want a pat on the back?” He blows out an exhausted breath and says, “I’m really trying here, Firecracker, but you’re not.” The hurt in his voice, and the pet name, cut her as deep as the moment she saw that woman holding a bra and panty set she was going to model for him later that night.
Hannah takes a sip of her drink and says, “Fine. Carry on.”
Roarke explains that the woman is receiving services from One Million Degrees. She left an abusive relationship and has been working and going to school at night. The program helps people like her get a fresh start so they can do something positive with their lives. He had taken her to Bloomingdale’s to get a suit for an upcoming interview. He says he is not really supposed to go that above and beyond, but he knows what it is like to walk into an interview room and not be dressed the part, to feel like you are going to fail before you have even begun.
Hannah asks, “And that includes bra and panties?” He holds his hands up and admits he knows that looked horrible. He was keeping Reese busy so she could shop. Hannah asks if he was buying her the intimates too. He says, “I was.” No apology in his tone. She says, “Nice,” and narrows her eyes. He asks her how she feels when she puts on a new bra and panty set before a date. Does it make her feel sexier, bolder? He leans forward, and Hannah hates that he can somehow make a point with this. The fact is he was buying another woman lingerie.
He says he is going to go out on a limb and say yes. Maybe she does not know what it is like to wear years-old cotton underwear or a bra with one underwire missing. It does not exactly help you feel like you are the best out there. He says he is not going to defend his actions. He did not have Reese model them for him, and he would never cross that line with someone from the charity, whether Hannah was in the picture or not. In fact, he had already given the sales lady his credit card. If Hannah had not stormed in there with her girl squad, he never would have seen the undergarments in the first place.
Hannah points to her chest. “You’re blaming me?” He says through clenched teeth that he is not blaming her. The only thing he will apologize for is not telling her what he was doing. He left that night because Reese’s ex-husband showed up drunk and pounding on her door. She ended up calling the police. Reese was so scared that he stayed over there until she fell asleep. He should have told Hannah that day, but she was taking him to meet her parents, and he did not want her having any doubts that he was the right man for her. He takes a healthy sip of his drink.
Hannah then asks why his shirt from that night smelled like perfume. She expects surprise or anger, but she gets neither. Only a calm facade. He explains that Reese had been playing in her mom’s things, spraying perfume. Then he tells her something he says he should not be telling her, but he is because he desperately wants this behind them. Sonya is another woman he has helped. Jett as well. There are many others spread all over the city, and if he has to bring each one here to convince her he is telling the truth, he will.
Tears prick Hannah’s eyes. She inspects the business card again. She has heard of programs similar to this. How can she honestly be mad at him for helping those less fortunate?
Then she says, “I have to go.” She slides out of the booth, all her emotions from the past few weeks suddenly too overwhelming, too convoluted to decipher. Roarke stands to follow her. She turns around sharply, her hand landing on his suit vest. She takes in his appearance one more time. He is the dressed-for-success Roarke, the one she likes the least. Maybe because it reminds her of her failed marriage or the way she despised him when she did not even know him.
Feeling the softness of the vest with the buttons, she wants nothing more than to step into him and let him convince her that she is not crazy. That she will not always think the worst of any man in her life. That one day she will trust someone when they say they only want her. That a year is not long enough for anyone to push away all the fear her marriage’s dissolution brought on.
She apologizes for drawing the wrong conclusions. She should have asked when she first started to suspect something, but she was so sure, and she wanted to burn him at the stake. She wanted to have the upper hand when she confronted him. She sees now how demented that sounds. She thought she was ready for a relationship, but she sees now that she is not.
Roarke says, “No.” His forehead creases. “Hannah,” he pleads, his voice cracking. She shakes her head, stepping closer just to feel his lips on hers one last time. She says, “I never intended to fall for you, but I did.” She rises on her tiptoes and presses her lips to his. He stands there looking stunned at how this has played out.
She tells him, “Always remember my feelings for you were real, but you deserve someone who won’t be assuming the worst from you at every turn. Someone you don’t have to argue your case to over and over again. I hope you find her.” She steps back, her hand falling from his vest. As she walks away this time, he does not follow her, and she is glad, because she does not think she would have the strength to keep walking away if he tried to stop her. But it is what is best for him.
When she opens the door to step outside, he calls out behind her, “You still owe me one favor, Firecracker, and I will cash it in.”
One entire week passes with no word from Roarke. Hannah keeps telling herself that is a good thing. She has spent her time preparing for the gala to keep her mind far away from her broken heart and how she singlehandedly ruined everything. Chelsea comes into her office looking like her old self. No one can tell she is pregnant. She has yet to get a baby bump, or if she has it, she is hiding it well. Gone is the sweets addiction and the crying jags, which confirms that when one of them is down, the other two rise up to take the reins. Hannah had hoped she would be more of a help in these final stages of planning, but without Chelsea and Victoria, the gala would have been a write-off.
Chelsea sets a manila folder on Hannah’s desk. It contains everything they need tomorrow, just in case. Copies for both of them, all the contacts for everyone involved: Jett, the bakery, the florist. There is a list of the times everyone is set to speak. Then Chelsea says there is one thing missing. A certain silver fox did not retract his invitation. She raises her eyebrows, and Hannah’s gut churns.
Hannah asks if Chelsea really thinks Roarke would come and make a scene. It is a stupid question because this is Roarke Baldwin. Of course he would. Chelsea says, “Yeah, I do.” That is why she hired two bodyguards to stand guard at the entrance. She has given them Roarke’s photograph so they are to stop him if he tries anything. And just like that, the chapter leaves us dangling over the edge of the gala, with Hannah’s heart still in pieces and Roarke’s last favor still hanging over her head.
## Reader's Impressions & Star Rating
This chapter hurt in the best way. The truth about Reese, One Million Degrees, and Roarke’s quiet charity work makes Hannah’s assumptions feel painfully realistic, not cartoonish. She is not a villain here. She is a wounded woman who has been taught by her past to expect betrayal. Roarke is not perfect either, but his patience and honesty in this chapter made my heart ache for him. The goodbye kiss was devastating, and his final line—“I will cash it in”—gave me chills. The pacing was emotional, tense, and deeply human. I also loved the small shift to Chelsea and the gala, which sets up the next storm perfectly.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Rating: 4.8 / 5 Stars
## Next Chapter Prediction
Roarke is absolutely going to show up at the gala. Chelsea’s bodyguards may try to stop him, but he has an invitation and one last favor to cash in. I predict he will use that favor to force Hannah into a private conversation, a dance, or some public moment where she cannot run from him. The gala will become a battlefield of unresolved feelings, and Hannah’s carefully rebuilt walls will start cracking again. There may also be drama with the ex-husband, the charity, or someone from Roarke’s past. But one thing feels certain: Roarke Baldwin is not done fighting for her, and the next chapter is going to be explosive.
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