After the divorce, he begged

Rebecca looked away, unable to stop herself from wondering if Jeffrey would pick up the phone.

Before she could even finish that thought, Jeffrey had already swiped to answer. “What's up?”

“My mom's here,” Andrea sounded desperate and anxious. “She's trying to forceto go back hand marry

someone, and she’s been hittingand screaming at me. Can you cover to helpout?”

Jeffrey's grip on the phone tightened, and his lips pressed into a thin line.

After a long pause, he finally replied, “I'll send someone over right away...”

“You said you'd look after me, so stop handingoff to other people,” Andrea shot back, her voice full of

bitterness. “If they screw it up, that’s on you for not keeping your word. You promised, so don’t try to dodge your

responsibility.”

That single sentence made Jeffrey’s gaze turn colder and even more stormy.

Judging by his expression, Rebecca could tell Jeffrey was definitely going to deal with Andrea’s himself.

She opened the car door, saying, “Just have someone escortto the gate of Rebecca’s Manor. | can take a cab

from there.”

Jeffrey fixed Rebecca with a long, deep stare. He didn’t explain himself, nor did he try to argue.

He turned to Victor and said, “Make sure Rebecca gets to the Reed residence safely.”

“Yes, sir,” Victor replied.

Rebecca shut the car door for him and walked straight to Victor's car without looking back.

Jeffrey watched her get into the car and leave. Then he said to Andrea, “Where are you right now?”

“Harmony Estate,” Andrea replied. She’d overheard everything on this end, too, knew full well she'd just ruined

something between Jeffrey and Rebecca-and she wasn’t the least bit sorry.

All she felt was the rush of having pulled off just the revenge she wanted.

“Got it,” Jeffrey said flatly.

He ordered the chauffeur to head to Harmony Estate. On the way, he called Gregory.

The call was picked up almost instantly. Gregory said, “Mr. Hanson.”

“Dig into Andrea’s connections-everyone, Family, friends, classmates, even people who taught her before,”

Jeffrey ordered in a clipped tone. “Sendthe list once it’s done.”

“Yes, sir,” Gregory replied.

Jeffrey hung up.

Andrea reaching out when she’d got trouble-that was just what he’d promised her. But letting her mess up his

plans with Rebecca was on him. He should've made sure nothing could go wrong.

That kind of screw-up wasn’t happening twice.

Thinking about it, he shot Rebecca a message: [I'll cget you on Monday morning. Let's take Samuel to camp

together.]

Rebecca had just arrived at the Reed residence when she saw the message.

She gazed at her phone for ages, just lost in thought, until the screen finally faded to black. Only then did she

type: [Okay.]

She spent the whole morning teaching Emily.

During a break, Emily looked up at her with a hint of concern and asked, “Ms. Jensen, are you in a bad mood

today?”

“Why do you say that?” Rebecca replied, keeping her tone breezy.

Emily's eyes twinkled thoughtfully. “You didn’t seem as carefree as usual while dancing. It was like you were

carrying something heavy on your mind.”

Rebecca was stunned. She thought, ‘Are kids all so sharp these days? How did she sense that?"

“Is there something bothering you?” Emily asked, genuine concern in her voice.

“Just worried about a work trip next week. | might not make it back in tfor your dance class on Saturday,”

Rebecca said, making up an excuse as she warmly took Emily's little hand.

“It's fine!” Emily piped up, sounding both adorable and playfully bossy. “I'll move you to the end of the list. Just

teachwhenever you get a chance.”

Rebecca raised her palm. “So it's a promise?”

Emily said, “Promise!”

They slapped their hands together in a high-five, sealing the

pact.

Lucas watched all of this play out, and even his usually relaxed gaze was filled with fatherly affection for a

moment.

If Rebecca wasn't Jeffrey’s wife-if she had no ties to him-Lucas wouldn't hesitate to keep her around as Emily’s

teacher, even if she never taught dance again.

Later that day, after Rebecca finished Emily's lesson and was about to leave, Lucas walked over and stopped her.

This time, he even changed the way he addressed her.

Lucas said, “Ms. Jensen.”

Chapter 144

“Yes?” Rebecca responded.

“I'd like to ask you something, if it's fine for you,” Lucas said, his demeanor composed and his eyes unusually

deep.

Rebecca's face remained calm. “Sure.”

Lucas asked plainly, “In all the years you've been married to Jeffrey, have you ever met a woman about your age

whose nis Joanna?”

Rebecca replied, “No, | haven't.”

“Could you helpfind out where she is?” Lucas asked, his voice tentative, guarded longing flickering in his

eyes. “She’s really important to me, and I've never been able to reach her.”

Stephen had managed to uncover that Joanna was operating under Jeffrey's wing, but he still couldn't make

contact with her.

“If you're truly determined to get in touch with someone, you'd exhaust any channel until it worked,” Rebecca

replied, calm and unwavering. “And with your identity, it should be even easier for you.”

Lucas was caught off guard by her directness. “But-"

Rebecca jumped in before he could finish. “Sorry, | really can’t help with this one. | gotta go.”

“Alright, take care, then,” Lucas said, letting her leave without fuss.

any

He'd thought he could use Rebecca as a bridge to get Joanna to show up, but he hadn’t counted on Rebecca

being way too sharp for any of these little schemes.

“Ever stop to think why you can’t reach Mommy?” Emily piped up out of nowhere, sounding way too grown- up

for her age. “Seriously, did you ever figure out what you did wrong back then?”

Lucas didn’t know what to say. He thought, ‘Why's she getting more and more unruly recently?”

Emily couldn’t care less about his look. “You won't even let Mommy csee me. No wonder you can’t get a

hold of her. Serves you right.”

“You little rascal,” Lucas called out, his tone soft and full of fatherly affection.

Emily huffed, spun around, and stomped off-totally ignoring him and making it crystal clear she was pissed.

After leaving the Reed residence, Rebecca made her usual Saturday trip to the hospital. But this weekend,

something just felt a bit off.

Just as she was about to reach the hospital, her phone rang. It was Timothy. “What's up, Dr. Johnson?”

“That guy who cto see your mom last tis here again,” Timothy said, glancing at the security footage of

the man still checking in. “How soon can you get here?”

Rebecca checked theand said, “Almost there, about ten minutes.”

“Okay,” Timothy replied.

As soon as the call ended, Rebecca leaned forward and asked the driver, “Sir, could you speed up a bit? I'm

running late.”

She had to find out who this guy really was. At first, she figured maybe he was her mom’s brother or something.

After all, people always said nieces looked like their uncles, and honestly, she kind of did.

And yet, May insisted he was an enemy.

Rebecca thought, ‘But seriously, what kind of enemy shows up at a hospital to visit my mom not just once?’

Just as that thought hit, Rebecca stopped short-her mind suddenly jumping to something else.

Rebecca thought, ‘Enemy? Car accident? Could he have something to do with Mom's car accident?’

But that suspicion vanished even faster than it came. The car accident-maybe it really was just her imagination

running wild, just a guess in the dark.

There hadn't been any weird vibes or odd behavior from Camille. Maybe it really was just an accident.

With a jumble of nerves and complicated feelings in her chest, Rebecca soon arrived at the hospital.

As she got out of the car, she shot a quick voice message to Timothy: [Dr. Johnson, is that guy still there?]

Timothy replied almost right away: [Yes.]

AD

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