After the divorce, he begged

Chapter 159

“Hold on,” Samuel called out.

355 Vouchers

Jeffrey didn’t hang up. He sounded way more relaxed now that Samuel was healthy again. “Let's talk about it

when we get back tomorrow, Your mom and | have an early flight.”

He hung up right after he finished, not waiting for any reply.

Instead of knocking on Rebecca's door right away, he waited a minute, watching his screen. When Samuel didn’t

text back, he figured Samuel had bought his story.

He stuffed his phone in his pocket and made his way to Rebecca’s room.

He knocked twice on the door. Rebecca didn’t answer.

Rebecca stood before the floor-to-ceiling window, her gaze lost in the cityscape and the relentless flow of traffic

below. A heavy, suffocating cloud of despair pressed down on her. Her mind drifted into a sea of uncertainty

about what cnext.

The lock clicked, and Jeffrey pushed the door open. “Why didn’t you answer?” his low voice rumbled.

Rebecca didn’t even turn from the window, her voice flat. “It's not like a locked door ever stops you.”

Jeffrey cup behind her. He slid his arms around her waist, pulling her back firmly against his chest. “Don’t

punish yourself for someone else’s mistakes. Anger only hurts you.”*

Rebecca just kept gazing out the window, her expression cynical. He always has to have the last word, she

thought.

“Once we're back in Jelasburg, you can punishany way you see fit. I'll accept it all. Jeffrey murmured, his

large hand enveloping hers. “But for now, let's just get washed up and go to sleep, alright?”

Rebecca didn’t trust a single word coming out of his mouth.

He had promised anything now, but if she told him to sleep in another room or leave her alone, he would

suddenly have a thousand reasons why that punishment was bad for their marriage.

He was all talk. When it cdown to it, he was full of excuses, always finding a way to weasel out of what she

wanted.

TI take your silence as a yes, Jeffrey said, gently turning her to face him.

Rebecca said, instinctively taking a slight step forward. But his hold was firm yet gentle, an inescapable anchor.

“You go ahead if you need to.”

“Alright,” Jeffrey replied, letting her go. He turned and headed for the bathroom, not worrying that Rebecca

might try to leave.

As the sound of running water filled the room, Rebecca stayed by the window, her mind racing through

10:30 Mon, Sep 29

Chapter 159

everything that had happened that night.

Knowing Samuel was safe finally helped Rebecca calm down, but the more she replayed everything in her mind,

the more she sensed something was off. Tonight's whole mess just wasn’t Jeffrey's style at all.

A man like him never needed to leverage his son. If he truly wanted to keep her from leaving, he had a dozen

other, more effective ways to do it without ever crossing that line.

She was nostalgic by nature, he knew there were countless pressure points he could exploit. But the footage in

that video looked undeniably real.

As she mulled it over a doubt clicked into place. Hearing the shower still running, she walked to the bedside

table, picked up Jeffrey's phone, and typed in the password. It was still her birthday, He hadn't changed it.

She scrolled through his Whatmessages and call logs, but nothing seemed out of place.

Knowing how meticulous Jeffrey was, Rebecca suspected he might have deleted something. She opened

Timothy's chat and sent a message: [If Rebecca asks about what happened tonight, just tell her the truth. No

need to hide anything.)

Once she was sure everything was as it should be, she hit send.

Rebecca knew she was being foolish. Even after all that had happened, she still trusted him.

But a voice in the back of her head insisted that Jeffrey just wasn’t that type of guy. No matter what he wanted,

no matter how desperate he was, he would never play games with Samuel's life.

Finally, the water in the bathroom cto a stop. In a flash, Rebecca deleted the message she’d just sent to

Timothy and slipped Jeffrey’s phone back to its original spot.

The notification sound echoed through the room. Jeffrey’s phone screen lit up with a new message.

Rebecca shot a glance at the still-closed bathroom door. Fighting down a surge of panic, she snatched the phone

back up, her fingers flying across the screen to unlock it and read the new message.

Creak. The bathroom door swung open.

Rebecca opened WhatsApp, ready to delete any texts from Timothy in case he saw them. But if Jeffrey caught

her using his phone, she would deal with it.

But instead, what popped up at the top of the screen was a message from Andrea: Jeffrey, are you still awake?

I'm feeling a bit unwell.]

Rebecca's fingers tightened unconsciously around the phone as her eyes locked onto the message. She was just

about to put the phone back when it was suddenly snatched from her hand.

Jeffrey snatched the phone from her. “So, you're checking through my messages. Should | take that as you kinda

want to get back together?”

“In

your dreams,” Rebecca shot back, striding straight to the couch and flopping down. She whipped out her own

phone and immediately texted Timothy herself, demanding to know what had happened tonight.

10:31 Mon, Sep 29

Chapter 159

220

She just wanted Timothy to reply to her first. As long as Timothy answered her first, she didn’t care if Jeffrey

found out afterward.

Jeffrey was drying his still-dripping hair with one hand, scrolling through his phone with the other. His thumb

paused when he saw Andrea’s message, and his eyes flicked instinctively toward Rebecca, who curled up on the

couch

He typed back a reply: [I'll have the family doctor ccheck on you.]

Andrea: [Okay.]

He wasted no tmaking the arrangements.

Just as he was about to lock his phone and go talk to Rebecca, a thought occurred to him.

Someone like Rebecca wouldn't be rifling through his phone just because she was angry with him. She must

have been looking for something connected to the reason she was upset-something to do with Samuel.

His gaze lingered on her, his mind racing.

Buzz, buzz. Rebecca's phone vibrated.

She snatched it up, thumb flying to unlock it as if desperately searching for confirmation.

“Don’t mess with your phone so much at night, Jeffrey said, grabbing it out of her hand. “It’s bad for your

eyes.

“Give it back.” Rebecca instantly reached out to snatch it from him.

Jeffrey's eyes scanned the screen. Right at the top was a message from Timothy, and the first line read: [Tonight

was all an act-Jeffrey set the whole thing up just for you.]

Rebecca didn’t know who it was. She made a frantic grab for his arm, trying to wrestle the phone back.

But Jeffrey, towering over her, just smirked and raised it high above his head. She stretched onto her tiptoes, her

fingers straining, but she could barely brush against its edge.

While Rebecca was stretching up on her tiptoes, struggling to snatch the phone away, Jeffrey quickly sent

Timothy a message from his own phone: [Retract the message you sent to Rebecca.]

Timothy paused for a second, completely baffled. He then followed Jeffrey’s instructions without further

questions.

At that moment, Rebecca snatched her phone back and hung onto it, shooting Jeffrey a look that was all ice and

defiance. “My eyes are none of your concern. | don’t need you pretending to care.”

Not trusting him to keep his hands off her phone, she put sdistance between them before checking her

messages,

All that was left in Timothy's chat window was a single, grayed-out line: [This message was deleted.]

10:31 Mon, Sep 29

Chapter 159

Rebecca glanced over at Jeffrey, who was still rubbing his hair dry.

“What's wrong?” Jeffrey asked.

oo

“Hand over your phone. Rebecca demanded, her glare sharp and accusing, certain he was behind this.

“Want it? Fine, Jeffrey said, tossing his towel aside and closing the distance between them. It's yours. On one

condition: you get in bed first.”

Rebecca stared him down, her eyes blazing with defiance, Jeffrey didn’t back down.

“Until you're willing to be my wife again of your own free will, every little thing between us is a transaction.” he

reminded her. “You play by my rules and go to sleep, and then you get your prize. You can check my phone.”

AD

word

word

mmMwWLIII0fiflo&1

mmMwWLIII0fiflo&1

mmMwWLIII0fiflo&1

mmMwWLIII0fiflo&1

mmMwWL1i10f1ifl0&1

mmMwWLIiI0fiflO&1