After the divorce, he begged

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“You can say that because you've always lived in a comfortable, loving home,” Andrea said. She still sounded

cold, but there was a hint of weariness in her voice. “But for someone like me, who never even had a choice, how

am | supposed to save myself?”

Rebecca didn’t say anything yet.

Andrea went on, “You really think | haven't tried getting a good job and running away from my parents? It's

pointless.

“No matter where | go, they always find me. If they can’t, they'll cto my city and report to the police that

they got lost while visiting me, and then the cops have to contact me.

“I've tried everything, but I've never managed to break free.”

If she hadn't known there was no escape from her family, Andrea wouldn't have tried to cbetween Jeffrey

and Rebecca. She hated being the other woman, but what choice did she have? It just so happened that the

person Rebecca saved was Jeffrey.

“You had a choice,” Rebecca said, not letting her off the hook.

“Did I?” Andrea replied, her voice flat, as if nothing could interest her anymore.

“If you hadn't done those things, we could've been friends for life,” Rebecca said honestly. “I would've helped

you get away from that suffocating family and let you shine at what you're truly good at.”

Andrea let out a soft, bitter laugh.

Rebecca couldn't understand why she was laughing.

“That was never possible,” Andrea said, her honesty raw. “From the very first twe met, | hated you. | hated

your warm family, and | hated how you could just brush everything off like it was nothing.”

Rebecca found herself remembering all the things that happened between them.

Weren't they good friends before all the started?

“I just can’t be friends with you. Every second we're together, | feel like life's just way too unfair,” Andrea said,

letting everything spill out. “Every tyou'd share stuff with everyone, I'd ask myself, how cyou get stuff

so easily and the rest of us have to bust our asses just to get a taste?”

“All things considered, you really lucked out,” Andrea added, and you could hear the envy in her voice.

Rebecca didn’t deny it.

Her mom had made sure she’d have a worry-free, loving future from the very start, and as she grew up, both

she and Richard surrounded her with warmth. Honestly, she couldn't have asked for a happier childhood.

As for Jeffrey and everything that happened after, Rebecca just treated it as the usual ups and downs that life

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“That's also why I couldn't stand the thought of things going smoothly for you,” Andrea said, her voice now

steady and calm. “I wanted to watch you fall off that pedestal and see you flounder for once.”

Rebecca simply replied with a quiet “yeah,” not looking bothered at all.

Andrea saw that Rebecca's face barely shifted. “Aren’t you angry?”

“You've said this so many times, I'm honestly sick of hearing it,” Rebecca said bluntly.

If I let myself get worked up over all this, I'd probably have ended up in the hospital ages ago.

Andrea didn’t say anything else.

The two of them sat in silence.

After a bit, Andrea glanced at Rebecca-who looked way more grown-up and put-together than before-and just

cright out and said, “I'm sorry for what | did to you, but honestly, | still kinda hope things don’t go great for

you.”

“I get it,” Rebecca said, totally unfazed.

Andrea: “Huh?”

Rebecca met her eyes. “You know, in this world, only the people who truly lovecare if I'm happy.”

Andrea just stared at her, unable to help the storm of emotions churning inside.

For a moment, she wondered-if she'd really followed the path Rebecca had laid out, would she have ended up

better off than now? Trusting someone else to shape her life? No way. That thought got shut down as quickly as it

came.

Who could guarantee Rebecca wouldn't change down the line-even the nicest promises don’t hold much weight.

If you want real security, you hold your destiny in your own hands. That way, win or lose, at least it's on you, and

there’s no point blaming anyone else.

Just as Andrea was, wrestling with those thoughts, Rebecca’s phone suddenly buzzed.

She saw it was Eugene calling and answered without hesitation.

“I'm at the hospital,” Eugene said quickly, sounding genuinely worried. “Where are you?”

“Head to the sixth floor of the third inpatient building, I'll be waiting for you by the elevator,” Rebecca said,

getting up and walking out as she spoke-totally missing the conflicted look Jessica shot her.

Three minutes later.

Rebecca met Eugene at the elevator.

He was dressed in a suit, looking like he'd just cstraight from a business dinner.

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“Where's Jessica?” Eugene asked right away, his eyes full of worry and concern. “What happened to her?”

“Huh?” Rebecca blinked, totally confused.

Eugene's brows knitted together.

‘Is she seriously out of it?’ Eugene wondered.

‘Is Jessica’s condition really that serious?‘ he thought.

“Did Jessica tell you she was the one something happened to?” Rebecca asked, finally piecing it all together.

Eugene stopped in his tracks. “If it wasn’t her, then who else could it be?”

On the phone, the girl had sounded so frail, saying, “Mr. Scott, your precious daughter is at the hospital right

now-why don’t you csee her?”

“Just cwithand you'll see,” Rebecca said, not bothering to explain, and led him straight toward the

hospital room.

When Eugene saw that it was Andrea, a hint of confusion flashed across his face-then all the worry he’d carried

just vanished, clearly relieved that it wasn’t Jessica who'd gotten hurt.

After making sure Andrea was with Eugene, Rebecca left the hospital. Before getting into her car, she gave

Jessica a call.

“Did you hand her over to him?” Jessica asked, her fingers still tapping away on her game.

“Yeah,” Rebecca replied, glancing back at the hospital, her mind on the question Eugene had asked earlier. “Did

you tell your dad it was actually you who was in trouble?”

“Nope, | just told him his precious daughter was in trouble,” Jessica said, quick on the uptake. “If I'd told him it

was Andrea, he probably wouldn't have bothered rushing over-he might've shown up tomorrow morning at best.

| figured it was better for your freedom and peace of mind to keep him in the dark.”

Rebecca said sincerely, “Thanks.”

“Con, we don’t need to thank each other,” Jessica said, never missing a beat as she unleashed her moves in

the game. “Seriously, why would Andrea put you down as her emergency contact? Is she crazy or something?”

Rebecca filled her in on everything she and Andrea had talked about.

After hearing it all, Jessica just summed it up with a blunt, “Yeah, she’s definitely got a screw loose.”

Rebecca just hummed in agreement.

Everything that happened tonight was totally unexpected-none of them saw it coming.

Rebecca had no idea what Andrea and Eugene talked about at the hospital, and honestly, she didn’t care to find

out. As for where Andrea went after that, or what path she chose for herself, that was anyone’s guess.

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The next day, when Rebecca showed up at the hospital to see Jeffrey, he immediately brought up everything that

had happened. “Did Andrea mess with you?”

“Are you spying on me?” Rebecca shot back, surprised and a little defensive-her mind went straight to the

worst-case scenario.

‘If he’s watching my every move now, does that mean he’s about to break his promise? If he does, my life's

gonna go straight back to being one big mess, isn’t it?' Rebecca couldn't help but worry.

“Stanley was having dinner with his blind date at the srestaurant as you,” Jeffrey said, keeping a straight

face as he spun the story. “He just happened to see Andrea clooking for you.”

Rebecca let out a sigh of relief.

Jeffrey added, “I'll have Gregory take care of it. You won't have to deal with her anymore.”

“Good,” Rebecca said. “I'd rather not get dragged into anything with Andrea.”

No matter how messed up Andrea's family was, or how miserable her situation got, Rebecca felt like it wasn’t her

problem-not even by a little.

Sure, sometimes she might feel a tiny bit of sympathy just because they were both women-but it faded just as

quick, and honestly, down the road she'd barely even remember having felt anything for her at all.

AD

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