After the divorce, he begged

Chapter 189

Jeffrey just stared at her, and Rebecca met his stare without flinching. The tension between them was a thick

wall of silence. Neither of them spoke.

Finally, he broke it, reaching out to smooth a stray piece of hair from her face. His face was a calm mask. “Then

I'll just have to work harder,” he said softly, “to win your mother over.”

“Okay,” Rebecca said, her voice flat.

Jeffrey's fingers lingered, sliding slowly from her car down to her check. “I'm going now. You stay and be a good

daughter.”

“Okay,” she said.

“Callif you need anything,” he added.

Her response was robotic. “Okay.”

“So cold,” Jeffrey said, giving her cheek a gentle squeeze. His voice was sickly sweet. “Your mother just tore me

to shreds in there. Don’t you think | deserve a little comfort?”

When Rebecca was done with someone, she didn’t hide it. “I don’t know how to comfort you,” she said flatly.

“Go home. Get srest.”

Jeffrey's gaze stayed gentle. “Yes, ma’am. Whatever you say.”

Rebecca couldn't even be bothered to react to his sarcasm. Jeffrey could feel the wall of her disgust and decided

to back off for now. “Go on,” he said. “Go back inside.”

“Okay,” Rebecca said, turning and walking away without another word.

Jeffrey stood there and watched her. The hospital doors swallowed her up, and she never looked back. The calm

mask on his face finally dissolved, leaving behind something cold and hard as stone.

The driver hurried to open the rear door. Jeffrey got in, his expression blank, and stopped short. Someone was

already in his seat.

“Hey, man,” Stanley said, managing a weak smile.

Jeffrey frowned. “Why are you here?”

“I heard srumors that Rebecca's dad is the head of the Guzman Group, and | cto get the scoop,”

Stanley said, trying to sound casual. “Didn't expect to walk right into... that.”

‘Great timing, Stanley,” he mentally kicked himself. ‘Should've just waited around the corner.

Jeffrey's lips formed a thin, hard line. He said nothing, his eyes cold as ice.

“Mr. Hanson,” the driver asked, “should | take you to the office or back to the manor?”

11:00 Thu, Oct 2

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Chapter 189

Jeffrey said, “The office.”

Stanley glanced at the clock. “It’s after five. What's the point of going to the office now? The place will be empty

by the tyou get there.”

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Jeffrey ignored him. He needed to put in sextra hours tonight. He had to be free to play Rebecca’s little

gof “runaway wife.” He had to be free to teach her a lesson she'd never forget.

“So, is it true? Is the head of the Guzman Group really Rebecca's father?” Stanley asked, unfazed by the silence

as he smoothly changed the subject.

“Yeah,” Jeffrey grunted, his attention elsewhere.

He was already on his phone, firing off a text to Gregory to wire Amelia’s money right back to her account. ‘If |

keep it, | look pathetic,’ he thought. ‘I lose any high ground I have left with her.

Stanley whistled softly. “Man, doesn’t that make things, you know, a million times harder? Trying to keep

Rebecca?”

Jeffrey's gaze remained fixed on his screen. “Whether or not | can keep her has nothing to do with who her father

is. This is about her, and her alone.”

Jeffrey saw the endgperfectly. As long as Rebecca cared about Jessica and lan, she would always cback

to him on her own, terrified of what he might do to them. It didn’t matter if she reconnected with Ryan

or not.

Stanley opened his mouth to say something, then shut it. He wanted to tell Jeffrey to just be a man, apologize,

and let Rebecca go. But he knew Jeffrey would never listen.

A reply from Gregory cthrough. Jeffrey put his phone away. “You can call off those precautions | asked you to

set up,” he said, his voice casual. “When Rebecca leaves, let her go.”

Stanley stared, completely floored. “Seriously? You're just letting her go? Did you hit your head and finally come

to your senses?”

“I can’t chain her to the floor,” Jeffrey said, his voice flat. “But the happier she is walking out that door, the more

shattered she’ll be when she finds out her friends are paying the price for it.”

Stanley went quiet, the hope draining out of him. ‘I'm an idiot," he thought. ‘You should have known better than

to think he’d ever do the decent thing!”

“What if you're wrong?” Stanley challenged. “What if she just doesn’t care?”

“She will,” Jeffrey stated, his voice final.

He knew Rebecca's pressure points. She only cared about a handful of people in the world, and that was her

greatest weakness. It was the reason she’d caved to his threats and refused the help of Jessica and her other

friends before.

Stanley's face was grim. “Jeffrey, don’t be such a monster, please.”

11:00 Thu, Oct 2

Chapter 189.

Jeffrey didn’t reply. Stanley truly believed Rebecca was a good woman who didn’t deserve any of this

“She has done nothing to you,” Stanley said, his voice rising. “Nothing. And you just keep torturing her. Don’t

you ever worry you'll break her completely?”

“Even if she breaks, she’s staying with me,” Jeffrey said, his voice terrifyingly quiet.

Stanley was honestly starting to wonder if Jeffrey was even sane at this point. “Dude...”

Jeffrey hadn’t been right since the incident. On the surface, he was the picture of calm control, but Stanley knew

the truth. Underneath, he was a tbomb, waiting for someone to trip the wrong wire.

Rebecca had changed that. When Jeffrey got together with Rebecca, Stanley saw that old light cback into

Jeffrey's eyes. Both Stanley and Riley had believed, had hoped, that he was finally healing.

But looking at Jeffrey now, Stanley knew he hadn't healed. He'd just gotten sicker.

“What if she doesn’t give a damn about what you might do to Jessica and the others?” Stanley asked bluntly.

“If she doesn’t care, that just means | haven't pushed far enough,” Jeffrey said, his voice devoid of all emotion.

“Everything has a breaking point. One just has to find it.”

“Jeffrey, man-" Stanley started, trying to reason with him.

“Pull over,” Jeffrey ordered the driver.

Stanley raised an eyebrow, totally baffled. Jeffrey gave him a sideways look and said, “Get out.”

Stanley gaped at the endless stretch of highway in front of them. “You're kickingout here? In the middle of

nowhere? Where the hell do you expectto go?”

“You're getting on my nerves,” Jeffrey said. “And it’s ruining my mood. Your problems are not my concern.”

“Fine. Keep acting like a damn psycho,” Stanley spat as he climbed out. “One of these days, you're going to get

beaten to a pulp. And when you do, don’t expectto cscrape you off the pavement.”

“You'd have to get in line,” Jeffrey said flatly. He slammed the door, and the car pulled away.

Stanley watched the car disappear, practically shaking with anger. He pulled out his phone and called Riley. “Can

you cget me? | just sent you my location. Jeffrey is a damn jerk. I'm done. I'm so done with him.”

Riley’s laugh crackled over the phone. “Isn't this all your own fault, though?”

“What? What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Stanley sputtered.

“You baby him,” Riley said, the sound of her grabbing her keys audible. “You jump every the says ‘jump.’

Honestly, Stanley, sometimes | think you're secretly in love with him. Why else would you always help him clean

up his mess?”

Stanley's face burned. “That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard,’ he thought, fuming.

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Chapter 189

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It was Friday, Rebecca stared at a reminder on her phone's calendar, and a shadow of frustration crossed her

face. If things had gone to plan, she and Jeffrey would have been officially divorced by now.

She was supposed to be free of him. But Jeffrey had called it all a game, claimed he was just indulging her

“tantrum,” and shattered her plans to pieces.

Amelia saw the look on her daughter's face. “Thinking about the divorce?”

Rebecca nodded. “Yeah.”

Amelia put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Once I'm a little stronger on my feet, I'll call up that lawyer

friend of mine to talk about your divorce. She's seriously one of the best. She’ll help you.”

A flicker of hope softened Rebecca’s expression. “Okay.”

“Have you told Samuel about the whole leaving thing?” Amelia asked.

Rebecca didn’t want to tell him something so important over the phone. “No. I'll tell him when he gets back from

his summer camp,” she replied. “It's only a few more days.”

Her mind was made up: if Samuel chose to cwith her, she would do whatever it took to give him a good life.

But if he chose to stay, she would respect his decision.

Anyway, Rebecca hoped Samuel would cwith her. She would find a way to make enough money to give him

a life just as good as the one he had with Jeffrey.

A new resolve settled in Rebecca's heart. “Mom,” she said.

“Yes?” Amelia replied.

For the first tin a long time, a genuine fire lit Rebecca's eyes. “I want to build something of my own,” she

announced. “I want to start a business. Will you teach me?”

She wanted to be powerful, like her mother. If Samuel needed anything, she could be the one to slide a bank

card across the table and tell him to go wild. In that way, Samuel would never have to go back to Jeffrey for help.

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