After the divorce, he begged

Chapter 307

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Ryan couldn't care less. He'd seen Michael give him that exact look countless times back in their younger days -

every time, Michael would end up totally defeated, leaving in utter embarrassment.

“Uncle David, isn’t this a bit much?” Max said, his voice steady but icy. “No matter what, my dad's still the

patriarch of the Quinn family.”

“If he wasn’t the Quinn family’s patriarch, he wouldn't have been the one walking out on his own just now,” Ryan

replied.

Max's eyes, cold and unfathomable, fixed on Ryan, silently sizing him up.

The two men stood there, sizing each other up, neither giving an inch.

Only when Rebecca suddenly walked in did the standoff end.

She walked right up to Max, not beating around the bush. “I want to talk to you.”

Max glanced away, trying to keep cool. “Sure.”

With Ryan watching them, his gaze complicated and impossible to read, they left the villa together.

Seeing how troubled Rebecca looked, Max didn’t take out his frustration with Ryan on her. He kept his tone cool

and asked, “What do you want to talk about?”

“Did you have anything to do with my mom's accident back then?” Rebecca asked, not bothering with any small

talk. She dropped the question right when he was least expecting it.

On the way back, Rebecca kept debating with herself, wondering if she should just lay it all out and confront

Max.

After weighing her options and thinking over their recent interactions, she finally made up her mind-she was

going to ask him directly, no beating around the bush.

If Max really was involved in her mom's accident,

she'd have to rethink who her enemies really were.

If he actually took part in something like that but could still show up acting like sperfect gentleman, then

she had to watch her back around him, and she couldn't trust a single word he said from now on.

She had way too much on her plate to waste ton this.

Max froze for a moment, clearly thrown off by the unexpected question.

Rebecca didn’t push him; she simply waited for his response.

After a brief pause, Max's mask slipped back into place. “What did Jack tell you?” he asked, his expression

unreadable.

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Chapter 307

Rebecca didn’t answer.

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Jack can be pretty annoying sometimes, but so far, he hasn't done anything truly out of line, Rebecca thought.

Meanwhile, even though Jeffrey wasn’t there, the thought crossed his mind: ‘She still has no idea what happened

with Samuel.

“I'm sorry about what happened to your mom,” Max said, finally giving a direct answer, though his voice stayed

cold. “Go ahead, just countas guilty, and treatlike the villain in front of everyone.”

Rebecca stared at him, not knowing what to say.

‘Seriously, what kind of answer was that? Just pretend he’s the bad guy?‘ Rebecca thought, completely lost.

Max looked at Rebecca and advised, “I'd suggest you don’t bring up questions like that in front of Liam or my

dad.”

“I know,” Rebecca replied.

She decided to ask Max because, honestly, she was pretty sure-maybe sixty percent sure-he was one of the

good guys.

Yeah, he coff as cold and distant. But throughout everything, he always treated her with respect. No real

bad guy could nail all those subtle details and still keep it up.

“Alright,” Max replied coolly, then turned and walked away.

Rebecca didn’t ask further. She just watched him slip into his car.

The very next second,

Mark materialized at her side.

Rebecca: 777"

Mark watched the car disappear down the road, keeping a straight face. “Honestly, looks like Stephen’s not the

problem here.”

“Yeah, he’s definitely clear,” Rebecca said, her suspicions confirmed after that little chat. “But maybe the real

problem here is you.”

Mark stood there with that classic deadpan ‘system error’ look on his face, genuinely confused.

Rebecca teased him, raising an eyebrow, “Hey, listening in on your boss's private chats? Shon you.”

Mark just shrugged, sticking to his script. “Hey, I'm your assistant, bodyguard, and driver all rolled into one. That

means I'm glued to your side 24/7, unless you say otherwise. No exceptions.”

“As a bodyguard and driver, you talk way too much,” Rebecca shot back, her tone playful. “And as my assistant,

you're way too nosy about my business.”

K

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Chapter 307

Mark just grinned. “Taking care of my boss’s problems is just part of the job,

820

Rebecca stopped teasing and shifted to the real issue. “You really believe Max didn’t do anything wrong?

“No, | don’t think he’s at fault,” Mark said he was rarely wrong about people. “Judging from his words and

expression just now, he had nothing to do with what happened to your mom. He probably just got caught up in it

for sother reason.”

Rebecca felt the sway.

But since Jack couldn't recall the whole story from back then, Rebecca honestly couldn't say for sure.

After sending the outsiders away, Rebecca walked back into the villa. That's when she remembered-she still had

an uninvited guest in her house.

“Want sfruit?” Ryan asked, holding out a plate of freshly sliced fruit.

Rebecca shook her head. “No, thanks.”

Ryan didn’t seem disappointed at all. He just shrugged it off, totally unfazed. “Alright, I'll go take this to your

mom. She’s probably hungry after working all afternoon.”

Rebecca just nodded.

If Mr. Guzman had never hurt her mom in the past, Rebecca honestly would've supported them being together.

But sthings are just a pity-there’s nothing to do but accept it with regret.

Half an hour later,

Rebecca sat down to eat with Amelia and Samuel.

She thought for sure Ryan would stick around and join them for dinner, but as soon as the food hit the table, he

got up and left-like he seriously saw himself as nothing more than her mom’s employee or something.

“What's wrong?” Amelia asked, noticing Rebecca looked a bit distracted.

Rebecca shook her head. “It’s nothing.”

Amelia looked at her and guessed, “Is it because of Ryan?”

Rebecca bit her lip, trying to figure out how to put her thoughts into words.

“You don’t need to tiptoe around me,” Amelia said warmly. “If there's anything you want to ask, or something

you want to say, just go ahead. And if there's ever something | really don’t want to answer, Ill let you know.”

“There's something I've been wondering about for a really long time,” Rebecca said, seeing how close Ryan and

Amelia were-it brought back sold memories she couldn't shake.

“What is it?” Amelia asked.

“Back when you hadn’t woken up yet, May toldabout Uncle David,” Rebecca said. “She basically said he let

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Chapter 307

A

you down by marrying someone else, and now he feels guilty because the woman he ended up with isn’t even.

close to you-he totally regrets it.”

Amelia listened carefully.

“But then | heard he’s never been married and doesn’t have any children,” Rebecca went on, voicing all the

confusion she’d been keeping to herself. “Doesn’t that totally contradict what May said?”

She'd always been afraid to bring this up before, worried it'd hurt her mom's feelings. But now, with Ryan

wandering around like skind of free help and Amelia allowing it, Rebecca couldn’t hold back her curiosity

anymore-she had to get sanswers.

“It’s not a contradiction,” Amelia replied, looking completely calm.

Rebecca: *..?"

Amelia went on, “May only told you that because she was worried you might get involved with Ryan without

knowing what really happened back then. She just made something up-lied to you, basically-so you wouldn't get

too close.”

“So he really never got married or had any kids?” Rebecca asked, still trying to process it.

“If you don’t accept him, then for you, he has no wife and no kids,” Amelia replied simply. “That's the truth.”

Rebecca felt the tension in her chest ease up a bit.

‘If Ryan really was like what May said, I'd seriously feel so awkward around him,’ Rebecca thought. ‘But from the

stuff he pulled with Mom back then... yeah, he was just a deadbeat with zero backbone or sense of

responsibility.”

“Don’t stress yourself out,” Amelia said gently, knowing Rebecca always thinks everything through way too

much. “Most stuff just works itself out. For now, your only job is to rest up and recharge.”

Rebecca nodded.

Samuel, who'd been quietly eating his dinner, suddenly looked up and asked, “What should I call Mr. Guzman

when | see him?”

Amelia paused and thought about it. “Just go with whatever feels right—Mr. Guzman or Grandpa Ryan, either

one works.”

“And what about Mr. Sebastian?” Samuel asked.

Amelia replied, “Grandpa Sebastian.”

Samuel nodded.

While things were all cozy and harmonious over here, Michael was absolutely losing it. The moment he got

home, he totally snapped-he was so furious that he grabbed a porcelain vase worth over 100 thousand dollars

off the caband smashed it to pieces on the floor!

14:00 Sat, Oct 11.

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