After the divorce, he begged

Chapter 195

Seeing Rebecca's silence, Richard pressed, “She’s not here?”

Rebecca replied, “She is. Cwith me.”

Richard didn’t say much. He didn’t scold Rebecca or criticize her. He didn’t say anything harsh.

For an instant, it was like he was that gentle father from her childhood-the one who cared about her instead of

the sharp, profit-minded Richard he’d become.

When they arrived at the rehabilitation center, Amelia had just finished her daily workout. She could walk

normally for a while now, just not for too long at a stretch.

“Hey, you're here,” Amelia called out to Richard as soon as she spotted him.

Richard masked his true feelings well. He nodded and said, “Yeah.”

Amelia said, “Let’s discuss this back in my room.”

Richard nodded.

Watching Richard acting all meek and well-behaved, Rebecca couldnt help but think to herself, ‘Is this really the

sRichard who was losing his mind and going off the rails just not long ago?‘

Once inside the hospital room, Richard sat down quietly. He looked at Amelia and said, “You askedhere to

talk about the divorce, didn’t you?”

“Yeah,” Amelia replied with a nod.

“Alright,” Richard answered, accepting it without argument.

Amelia said, “Thank you for looking after Rebecca all these years, for always being there for her. You made sure

her childhood and her teens were full of warmth.”

Richard replied, “That's simply what | was supposed to do. You helpedbuild the Jensen Group, brought me

status and wealth. Giving my daughter sfatherly love was just part of the deal.”

They agreed to all of this before they ever got married. As Richard saw it, it wasn’t about gratitude-it was just

mutual benefit, nothing more.

“If I'd actually listened to you back then, instead of acting so stubborn, the Jensen Group wouldn't be in this

mess,” Richard said, regret thick in his voice. He was kicking himself now for his arrogance and all that pointless

pride.

He'd been worried people would say he only got where he was thanks to a woman, so he just had to do

everything his own way, shutting everyone else out.

Amelia tried to talk sense into him, but he straight-up snapped at her, saying it was none of her business and

she should keep out of his life for good.

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Chapter 195

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Amelia said calmly. “Everyone’s got their own bumps in the road. Just think of it as learning for next time.

Richard nodded.

Amelia asked, “Are you free this afternoon?”

Richard replied, “Yeah, | am.”

Amelia said, “So, wanna file for divorce today? Rebecca said you have to file first and then sit through a cooling-

off period before it’s final.

Richard said, “Yeah, that’s how it goes these days.” He then rested his gaze on Rebecca, who was quietly

standing beside Amelia. After a long pause, he finally managed to say, “I'm sorry,”

Over the past period, he’d been overwhelmed with anxiety. The pressure drove him to the edge, and his nerves

completely snapped. At rock bottom, he ended up doing sterrible things to Rebecca, almost making a

catastrophic mistake.

If Amelia hadn't called to tell him she had woken up, he might've kept spiraling in that madness for who knows

how much longer. Now, thinking back, even he couldn't understand what possessed him to act like that.

That afternoon, Amelia and Richard headed off together to file for divorce. On the ride back, it was just Amelia

and Rebecca in the car.

Rebecca was still puzzled by how Richard had behaved today. She called out, “Mom?”

Amelia replied, “Yeah?”

Rebecca asked, “Why did you ever choose to marry Richard?”

Amelia said, “It was just mutual benefit. He needed money to launch his business, and | needed to get married

so that those people would stop bothering me. So, after talking it out, we decided to go through with it.”

“You don’t think he'll back out of the divorce after the cooling-off period, do you?” Rebecca asked, still uneasy

about the whole waiting phase.

Amelia replied, “No, he won't. We split everything up before we even got married. There's nothing in it for him to

drag this out. Honestly, being straightforward just means we can both move on peacefully.”

Rebecca remained silent.

Amelia ruffled Rebecca's hair and said, “I know what he did to you. | should've protected you better.”

Rebecca said, “Let’s just leave all that behind. It’s over.” Right now, all she wanted was to be with Amelia and

Samuel, living the life she really wanted.

The next day, Rebecca went to PrimePlay Technologies to hand over her work to Jane. Just like she'd expected,

she overheard scomments she really didn’t want to hear.

Someone said, “I'm so jealous of Rebecca. She can just quit whenever she wants, no approval or anything.”

11:01 Thu, Oct 2

Chapter 195

Another chimed in, “Con, she is Mrs. Hanson. What do you expect?”

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1255 vouchers

One sneered, “She’d turned up her nose when we said she was just here to ‘experience life-and look how things

turned out.”

A girl said, “I wish | could marry someone loaded like that. Living the dream, seriously. Being rich must be nice.”

Jane caught the change in Rebecca’s mood and said gently, “Just tune out their rumors. They’re not living your

life-they have no idea what you're really up against.”

“Okay,” Rebecca answered quietly.

Meeting friends like Jane and Ella was probably the best thing that cout of Rebecca’s tat PrimePlay

Technologies.

Still, Rebecca knew in her heart that their friendship would only last for a part of the journey-speople were

just meant to walk alongside her for a while before heading off on their own paths.

Rebecca finally asked, “Jane, don’t you blme?”

Jane asked gently, “Blyou for what?”

Rebecca said, “You've really takenunder your wing, taughtso much, and yet I'm leaving you with all this

mess.” She felt guilty. But sometimes, she just couldn't have it both ways.

Jane said, “You're the kind of person who always takes responsibility-if you really had another option, | know you

wouldn't be leaving like this. Don’t let it bother you too much.”

Rebecca murmured a quiet “thanks” and hugged Jane.

Once she had taken care of everything, Rebecca went straight to Jeffrey's office and handed him the paperwork

to sign.

Jeffrey didn't hesitate at all. He signed it and gave it right back, acting like it was no big deal. He said, “Just wait

here for me. When | wrap things up, I'll go to the hospital with you.”

Rebecca asked, “What about the penalty for quitting?”

Jeffrey shrugged, “You don’t have to pay anything.”

Rebecca asked, “What do you mean?”

She could still remember when Jeffrey had started working here-she’d gotten a clear warning: if she ever wanted

to quit, she’d have to cough up the penalty.

Jeffrey said, “That clause is really just for show. The company calls the shots on whether to enforce it. | only used

it to make you think twice about leaving.”

Rebecca asked calmly, “If my mom hadn’t woken up, would I still have to pay?”

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Chapter 195

Jeffrey looked up, paused for a moment, and then answered honestly, “Yeah.”

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Rebecca took her signed resignation slip and turned to leave. Only now did she realize the penalty chard

been nothing more than a leash meant to keep her there.

She had once stayed because she couldn't afford to leave, she walked away now because that ssummas

pocket change to her mother. What had been a lock, she saw at last, was only a thread she hadn't beer enough

to break.

“Just giveten minutes and I'll be done. Wait forafter you're finished, jeffrey called out.

Rebecca went straight to HR to grab her exit paperwork, got all her stuff sorted, and walked right out of

PrimePlay Technologies. She didn’t wait for Jeffrey.

Suddenly, a horn sounded from nearby. A sleek black car pulled up right in front of her.

Jeffrey stepped out, shooting Rebecca an indulgent smile. “I knew you wouldn't just stand there waiting.” he

teased, then ushered her into the car before telling the driver, “To the hospital.”

During the drive, Rebecca didn’t say a word. She gazed out the window at the endless stream of cars and

pedestrians, lost in her own thoughts. It wasn’t until they reached the hospital that she finally cback to

herself.

Jeffrey got out of the car with her and naturally grabbed her hand. He said, “About that penalty thing—it was

totally my selfish move. Con, be merciful and forgivejust this once, okay?”

Rebecca totally ignored him, speeding up as she headed straight for the hospital room. But Jeffrey stuck close,

making sure not to fall a single step behind.

When they got to the room, Timothy was already there, explaining Amelia’s current condition. He greeted

Rebecca and Jeffrey when they walked in.

He then said, “Ms. Jensen's recovery is going better than expected. If everything continues this way, she'll be

discharged in about a week.”

“Really?” Rebecca asked, her surprise clear.

Timothy replied, “That's right. But once she is home, she’ll need to stick to her prescribed exercises. Right now,

she can walk pretty much like anyone else, but to reach full strength, she’ll need to keep doing rehab for a good

while longer.”

Hope flickered in Rebecca’s eyes as she nodded. She asked Timothy a few more questions about all the things

she'd need to pay special attention to.

Timothy patiently told her everything she needed to know, leaving nothing out.

Watching Rebecca rattle off questions at Timothy, Jeffrey couldn't help but think about how cool and distant

she'd been with him not long before. He knew she was gearing up to walk away.

Jeffrey thought, ‘Rebecca, you don’t get to just slip out of my life. You want to play? Fine, I'll play along. But once

you've had enough, you're coming home-because that’s where you belong.”

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