TimeNovelChapter 204
“Jeffrey, Amelia called out to him. She had noticed the way he looked at Rebecca.
Jeffrey turned his gaze toward her. “Mom.”
Amelia said, “Cover and let's talk.”
Jeffrey walked over and sat down.
Amelia kept a courteous tone, but her words were anything but gentle. “Have you given any more thought to
what we talked about before?”
“My answer hasn't changed,” Jeffrey replied, his voice firm. “Rebecca is my wife. I'm not ever going to divorce
her*
Amelia pressed, “Even if being with you doesn’t make her happy?”
Jeffrey said, “I'll do whatever it takes to make her happy.”
Amelia looked him straight in the eye. “And if she’s still not happy after all your efforts?”
“We'll deal with that if the tcomes,” Jeffrey replied, his tone calm and unchanging. Then, without missing a
beat, he changed the subject. “What really needs your attention now is whether or not you'll let Rebecca
recognize Mr. Guzman as her biological father. From what | hear, Mr. Guzman has been preparing for this ever
since he got back to Honnala.”
Amelia said, “What does that have to do with me?”
Jeffrey said, “Rebecca is his child.”
Amelia's gaze was cold. “Got any evidence?”
Jeffrey hesitated.
“A privately-conducted paternity test won't hold up in court. Even if Mr. Guzman tries to sue, he'd lose-he
doesn’t have any chance in this,” Amelia said, straightforward as ever.
Jeffrey said nothing.
He was just probing, trying to gauge whether Rebecca would ever acknowledge Mr. Guzman as her father, so he
could plan his next move.
Amelia saw right through his schbut didn’t call him out. Instead, she added, “If anyone tries to give Rebecca
a hard time, I'm not above using Mr. Guzman to stand in their way.”
Jeffrey looked up.
‘Is my mother-in-law almost too clever for her own good?‘ he wondered.
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Chapter 204
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“What do you mean by using him, Mom?” Rebecca said as she walked over, fresh from her chat with Timothy
She shot Amelia a searching look, a hint of confusion flickering in her eyes.
“It's nothing for you to worry about,” Amelia reassured her, determined to keep Rebecca out of all the .
“Just call a cleaning crew to spruce up our hlater. Once you're out of the hospital next week, you'll have a
nice, clean place to settle back into.”
Rebecca's heart lifted with joy. ‘Going home, finally. Things are looking up! “Alright.”
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt“Rebecca’s Manor has its own nutritionists and rehab specialists,” Jeffrey chimed in, trying to shift the
conversation. “Why don’t you just move back there?”
“No,” Amelia shot back, every bit of Rebecca’s past suffering fresh in her mind. “I'm not interested in a house
that’s always switching owners.”
Jeffrey was speechless.
He almost blurted out that she’d only said it in a moment of anger, but then it hit him-it wasn’t just about what
happened before. More than anything, Amelia and her daughter were planning ahead for when they'd leave.
If they went back to Rebecca’s Manor now, sneaking out later would draw way too much attention.
If we leave from Rebecca’s Manor, it'll be way too obvious.
“Then I'll send the nutritionist and rehab specialist over to your place,” Jeffrey said, smoothly changing the
subject. “You've only just woken up, so you need to pay extra attention to your diet.”
“I've got it all covered,” Rebecca said, having already thought of everything since Amelia woke up. “You don’t
have to worry about a thing.”
“Hey, I'm your husband-helping you with this stuff is part of my job,” Jeffrey continued, charming as ever. “Let
Rebecca stared him down.
For once, Jeffrey was totally lost-he had no idea why she suddenly seemed upset. “What's wrong?”
Rebecca parted her lips, but in the end, forced herself to swallow all her feelings and managed a casual, “It's
nothing.”
After everything she'd been through recently, she was wound so tightly that even one offhand comment from
Jeffrey could make her snap.
In that first moment, she couldn't help but assJeffrey didn’t believe in her, as if he saw her as someone who
couldn't do anything right.
‘But in reality,’ Rebecca realized, ‘he was just showing a little thoughtless care without even meaning to.
‘He didn’t mean anything by it—it was just his usual way of looking out for me,’ she reminded herself.
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Chapter 204
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Seeing she didn’t want to talk, Jeffrey didn’t pry. When dinner rolled around, he ordered stakeaway for
everyone. Once they'd eaten, he left for work.
After that, Jeffrey made tto visit every single day, no matter how packed his schedule was.
Even though Amelia never exactly welcomed him, he never missed a visit-rain or shine. And when the day came
for her to be discharged, he even sent someone to pick her up.
When Amelia was finally released from the hospital, no one was happier for her-except Rebecca herself- than
Timothy,
He was overjoyed to see Amelia healthy again, and relieved that all of Rebecca's effort and persistence had truly
paid off.
Before they knew it, the month was almost over.
That evening, after dinner, Amelia and Rebecca took a stroll through the villa’s garden.
Amelia watched her daughter, who always seemed cheerful but was clearly weighed down by something. “I'm
pretty much back to normal now. Do you want to leave soon, or wait a bit longer?”
Rebecca walked slowly, her steps heavy. “Are we really going to Honnala?”
Amelia nodded. “Yes.”
Rebecca's face was mixed with emotions. “Didn't you say you hated living there?”
“I used to hate it, but now I just feel indifferent,” Amelia replied, her tone honest. She had weighed it from every
angle before deciding on Honnala.
Whether it’s schools, hospitals, or chances to start over-Honnala really has it all, at least outside of Jelasburg.
It's honestly the best place around, except maybe for Jelasburg.
Rebecca couldn't help but ask, “Why?”
If Amelia was only planning on going to Honnala for her and Samuel, just forcing herself to get over her own
reluctance, Rebecca would much rather pick a different city. She didn’t want her mom to put herself through all
that again for her sake, and she sure didn’t want Amelia to have to reopen those old wounds before she was
ready.
“I used to be so stubborn. I thought, ‘Why should | go back to a place where the people | can’t stand still live?’
But now | see things differently. They're the ones who messed up, so why should | be the one to leave? If anyone
should feel guilty, it’s them,” Amelia said, her voice steady and honest.
She'd been so full of pride when she was young.
That stubbornness had stuck with her all the way into middle age.
But after seeing everything Rebecca had gone through, and how Ryan had crossed such a long distance just to
find her, Amelia finally understood: no matter where you live, the ones you care about will always stick with
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Chapter 204
you, and those you want to avoid will find their own way into your life no matter what.
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So she’d rather choose a good place, be with the people she loves, and tune out all the baggage-just start fresh
and live her life right.
“Once you and Richard sign those divorce papers, we'll head out,” Rebecca said, her voice firm. She hadn't
managed to get her own divorce done and she didn’t want her mom to have the sletdown.
Amelia nodded. “Alright.”
With everything settled, Rebecca just went through the motions, acting like life was perfectly normal.
Jeffrey cby every day, staying in her room, telling her he loved her over and over. Sometimes he’d bring
flowers, other times sinteresting little things he'd found.
He was as gentle to her as ever, just like in those five years of marriage.
But Rebecca just couldn’t love him anymore. With that wall between them, nothing he did could truly reach her-
she couldn't help but keep him at arm’s length, no matter what.
Tflew by, and before they knew it, August 16th had arrived.
Amelia and Richard's cooling-off period was almost up.
Rebecca had already booked their flights out of Jelasburg, and Amelia had made sure to keep everything under
wraps so Jeffrey wouldn't catch wind of it.
That evening, Jeffrey got off work early. After dinner, he took Rebecca for a quiet walk around the garden, the
atmosphere between them a little tense.
Watching her absent-minded expression, he realized with a heavy heart that he'd already lost her-her mind, and
her heart, were far away.
“Rebecca,” he called softly.
Lately, Rebecca had kept him at arm’s length, her attitude hovering somewhere between gentle and distant.
“Yes?” she replied quietly.
Jeffrey held her hand. “There's a dinner party Monday night. Can you go with me?”
Rebecca froze, suddenly realizing what that date meant.
‘Monday... she thought, her thoughts swirling.
“The 19th...
Rebecca’s mind spun. That was the day Amelia and Richard would finally sign their divorce papers-and after
that, she and her mom would leave Jelasburg with Samuel.
“You toldyou can’t deal with the whole lovey-dovey thing, but you'd still cto events with me,” Jeffrey
said, giving her hand a gentle little squeeze. “This one’s barely half an hour, just a quick show of face-we’ll
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Chapter 204
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Rebecca hesitated, a flicker of guilt crossing her mind. She really didn’t want to lie to him, but she couldn't tell
him the full story either. “Sorry, I've got something that day, so | can't go.”
Jeffrey wouldn't let it drop. “What kind of thing?”
Rebecca pulled out the first excuse that cto mind, trying to keep her expression casual. “Uh... we're
celebrating Mom and Richard finally getting divorced.”
“Dinner starts at five. We'll just swing by, do the rounds, and then head back for your mom's celebration—I've
already taken care of all the details,” Jeffrey said, calm as ever, like he'd had the whole thing mapped out from
the start.
Rebecca's brows knitted together.
Watching her closely, Jeffrey blurted out, “Wait-is this ‘celebration’ really just you leaving with your mom and
Samuel?”
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