After the divorce, he begged

Chapter 155

Jeffrey was sitting on the sofa, the picture of calm. His eyes landed on the frantic Rebecca as he said flatly, “He's

not out of the woods.”

Rebecca tried to steady her racing mind. This was the Hanson Group's hospital, one of the best in the world.

They could fix this. “What did the doctors say? What did he react to? What are his symptoms?”

“I haven't authorized them to treat him,” Jeffrey said, locking eyes with her.

The words seemed to hang in the air, making no sense. “What?”

“Letbe clearer,” Jeffrey said. “Samuel's survival depends on you. On whether or not you cback home.”

For a heartbeat, she just stared. Then the horror crashed over her. “Are

you insane?”

This was pure fury, unlike anything she'd felt before. She never dreamed he would use their son's life as a

bargaining chip. “He is your son, too,” she shrieked. “Don’t you even care if he dies?”

“That's why I left the door open for you,” Jeffrey said with that schilling calm. “I've been waiting for your

answer.”

Rebecca froze as the pieces clicked into place with horrifying clarity. Lena must have called Jeffrey first. He knew

she’d come, and he’d been waiting to bargain with her.

“The choice is simple. You agree to be Mrs. Hanson again, and I'll make one phone call to save Samuel's life,”

Jeffrey stated. His calm, even tone was a form of torture, pressing down on her. “Otherwise, he’s on his own.”

“You wouldn't do this to him,” Rebecca said, trying to stay calm.

Jeffrey was cruel, but he'd always been a good father. He was Samuel's dad. She couldn't believe he would risk

Samuel's life like this.

“Wanna bet?” Every word was a threat. “Go ahead and gamble. Just be sure you can live with the consequences

of losing.”

Rebecca stared, searching his face for any sign of a bluff. But there was nothing.

Fumbling for her phone, she placed a video call to Timothy. “Dr. Johnson, how is Samuel?”

“He’s in the ER,” Timothy said, turning the camera so Rebecca could see. “Mr. Hanson gave a direct order. No

one touches Samuel without his say-so.”

“Can | just see him?” Panic was rising in her throat like bile. Her gut screamed that this was all stwisted

game, but the tiny, terrifying “what if” was choking her.

Timothy didn’t say anything.

Jeffrey glanced at her phone. “You can,” he said, his voice flat.

Rebecca's eyes shot back to Jeffrey, and the last pillar of her hope-the stubborn belief that there was a line he

would never cross-began to crumble.

The view on her phone shifted as Timothy pushed through the swinging doors of the ER. Then she saw Samuel,

lying still on a hospital gurney.

The boy was covered in angry red welts. His lips were bloodless, and his forehead was gleaming with sweat. A

team of doctors and nurses surrounded him, standing by uselessly, waiting for the word.

The image sent a spike of pain through Rebecca's heart. Her head snapped up, her eyes locking on Jeffrey. “What

the hell do you want?”

“Cback and be my wife, Mrs. Hanson. | don’t want to hear another word about divorce,” Jeffrey said, lifting

his eyelids lazily as if nothing bothered him. His voice was so slow and steady. “And you don’t leave my side.

Ever.”

Rebecca's hands slowly balled into fists at her sides, knuckles whitening.

“Every second you waste debating,” Jeffrey added, his tone unchanged, “is another second he suffers.”

Rebecca bit down on her lip, fighting for control. “And what if | say no?”

“You won't,” he said, as if stating a law of physics. He held her gaze. “Your heart is soft for everyone in the world

but me. And Samuel is your weakest point.”

Rebecca’s nails dug into her palms, but the physical pain was nothing compared to the agony ripping through

her chest. She wanted to fight, to scream, but her fear for Samuel was a chain, pulling her back. She had to give

in.

“Save him,” she choked out. “Now.”

“So,” Jeffrey said, “is that a yes?”

“Yes,” she spat. She couldn’t gamble with Samuel's life. If Samuel died because she was too proud to break, she

would spend the rest of her life in a hell of her own making.

Jeffrey calmly slid a document across the coffee table toward her. “Then sign this.”

“Jeffrey!” she screamed, her voice cracking with disbelief. “Are you kidding me? Samuel is fighting for his life,

and you're just thinking about the damn agreement? Is he even your son?”

Ignoring her completely, Jeffrey spoke to the phone in her hand. “You can begin treatment. Callthe second

he is stable.”

“Right away,” Timothy replied.

The video call ended. Jeffrey stood, walked to the door, and locked it. He picked up the agreement and held it in

front of her face. “Now you can sign.”

Rebecca looked at Jeffrey, and it was like seeing a stranger. ‘How can anyone be this heartless?’ she thought.

‘Our son is in the ER, and this is what's on his mind?"

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Chapter 155

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“I will sign it,” she said coldly, every word laced with hatred. “But | will never, ever forgive you

“Your forgiveness doesn’t matter to me,” Jeffrey said, holding out a pen. “I just want you to stay. Willingly.”

“This isn’t willing,” she spat.

“You sign this,” he replied simply. “And that makes it willing”

She looked at him. A storm of emotions raged behind her eyes. The man in front of her was someone she didn’t

know at all.

Jeffrey held the pen out. “You have ten seconds,” he said, his voice low. “Or I'll text the doctor to stop

treatment.”

Rebecca ripped the pen from his grasp and scrawled her non the agreement. She pressed down with so

much force that the nib of the pen tore a gash in the paper on the final stroke.

She slammed the pen down on the table with a loud crack. Her eyes were blazing with a pure, white-hot hatred

when she looked up at him. “There. Are you happy now?”

Jeffrey picked up the document. When he saw her signature, the knot of anxiety he’d been carrying for a while

finally began to unwind in his chest.

He watched as she immediately started texting Timothy, not giving the paper a second glance. “You think this is

meaningless, don’t you?” he said. “Just a piece of paper with no legal power.”

Rebecca froze, her fingers suspended over the screen. That was exactly what she thought. In her panic over

Samuel, she hadn't been thinking clearly enough to sign anything.

But as her head cleared, she realized an agreement like this was legally meaningless. It only mattered for those

with a conscience. And Jeffrey had killed hers when he put their son’s life on the line.

“To me, your signature is a promise,” Jeffrey said, his thumb stroking the paper. “Break it, and | will enforce the

penalties. The consequences will be yours, and yours alone.”

Rebecca stared at him, disbelief written all over her face. Jeffrey grabbed her hand and pulled her straight into

his arms. She instinctively tried to pull away.

“Rule number one: You are Mrs. Hanson, my good wife,” he said, holding her firmly. His voice was terrifyingly

calm, his words like ice. “Do | need to remind you that Samuel's doctors still answer to me?”

“Do you enjoy this?” Rebecca asked, searching his flat, empty eyes for any sign of emotions.

He said nothing, simply holding her gaze. The air grew thick, suffocating her. ‘If I live by these rules,’ she thought

with a crushing sense of despair, ‘what am | but a bird in his gilded cage?

Jeffrey ignored her question, instead laying out the terms of her surrender. “When this trip is over, you will move

back to the manor. You will share my bed. You will be on my arm at every public function.”

He added before she could speak, “You can, of course, refuse any of these things. If you're willing to pay the

price.”

Chapter 155

He tried to press the signed agreement back into her hand. She wouldn't take it, but she couldn’t from scanning

the clauses.

55 vouchers

stop

her eyes

A silent laugh bubbled in her chest. ‘So that’s the fine print,’ she thought. ‘If | step out of line, he’ll cfor my

mother. My son. Jessica. lan.

And it’s all my fault for not being a good little captive. He's just the one pulling the strings. How convenient.

“You should have just written one sentence,” she said, her voice hollow as her heart turned to stone. “Like, | will

live the rest of my life in the cage you built for me. It would've saved you sink.”

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