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“Jeffrey’s not like us,” Michael said, having interacted with him and seen it firsthand. He disagreed with Miles.

“He truly treats Rebecca as if she’s a part of his very existence.”

Miles let out a soft laugh. “You mean love?”

Michael didn’t respond.

He knew Miles would just laugh at him if he said it out loud.

In their world, it was all about profit. Most families drilled into their kids that money cfirst, and feelings were

just a distant second.

“You saw, as her brother, just how much Amelia and Ryan were in love back then,” Miles said, never buying into

the idea that someone like Jeffrey, with his background, could ever truly love someone for a lifetime. “They were

in love, sure. But in the end?”

Michael pressed his lips together, saying nothing.

They went their separate ways.

One never married, and the other left for distant shores.

“Feelings are the most fragile thing in the world,” Miles said, giving his coffee a lazy stir. “Jeffrey's only into

Rebecca because he’s not done playing around yet. Con, you know how guys can be.”

Michael was still lost in thought.

Miles went on, “And anyway, didn’t Rebecca file for the divorce? He's probably just sticking up for her now

because he wants to chase her down, reel her in, and then drop her the second he gets bored.”

“I heard Rebecca was brought back to the Hanson residence for a heart-to-heart with Old Mr. Lawrence,” Michael

said, switching the topic.

Miles just nodded.

Michael pressed, “You only changed the meeting spot to see her, didn’t you?”

“Ryan and my dear brother are both planning to hand their shares to her. Had to meet my rival, right?” Miles

replied, sounding totally unconcerned, like Rebecca barely even registered to him. “Guess | was just worried for

nothing.”

By the end, their conversation didn’t really go anywhere.

Michael had wanted to team up with Miles against Rebecca and the others, but Miles just thought he was

overthinking it.

As he was leaving, Miles tossed out, “I can handle Rebecca myself. Since you're such a chicken, Michael, | won't

force you to do anything you don’t want.”

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For once, Michael kept his cool and didn’t let Miles’ jab get to him. Instead, he went back to talk to Liam abest

Jeffrey and Rebecca’s relationship. He just had to figure out who was right-him or Miles.

As soon as Miles got into his car, Tom spotted him from the corner of his eye.

After Rebecca finished her talk at the hospital, Tom filled her in on what he'd seen.

Rebecca just nodded.

‘Looks like | need to be more careful after what happened today, Rebecca thought to herself, feeling a fresh

wave of caution rise in her chest.

After all that , Rebecca finally got a breather. The next week was pretty chill, and when Samuel's birthday

rolled around, she handed him the gifts she'd picked out and even whipped up a birthday cake just

for him.

That night, she accompanied Samuel to his birthday banquet.

The hotel lawn was decked out exactly the way Rebecca had imagined, dreamy enough to make you feel like you

were partying under a blanket of stars.

Aside from their close family, Zoey, lan, and May cby too. Ryan, Old Mr. Lawrence, Sebastian, Jack, and

several others joined the festivities-it was a warm, lively celebration, with everyone coming together for

Samuel.

But what really caught Rebecca off guard was seeing Miles show up too.

The moment Miles walked in with his assistant, Ryan and Old Mr. Lawrence, who had been chatting with

Rebecca, suddenly went quiet. The whole vibe in the room shifted, and things got awkward real fast.

“Go hang out with Samuel,” Ryan said to Rebecca. “I'll go deal with that.”

Before Rebecca could even say a word,

Ryan was already striding over to Miles.

He looked at Miles, the guy who'd been butting heads with him since they were kids, and asked, “What brings

you here, Miles?”

“I'm just here to celebrate your grandson's birthday,” Miles said, sounding all polite and distant. “With everyone

passing shares to Rebecca, | guess that kinda makes us family too, huh?”

Ryan glanced up, his eyes darker than ever. “Don’t get any funny ideas.”

Miles just replied lightly, “Hmm?”

Ryan warned coolly, “You really want to lose it all again like you did twenty years ago?”

His smile disappeared.

“Don’t risk having all that power and those connections you've worked so hard to rebuild vanish overnight,”

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Ryan continued with a calm that looked friendly from a distance, but his words were razor-sharp. “Trust me,

resetting someone's fortune to zero? That's kind of my specialty.”

Miles’ expression steadied, his voice edging with skepticism. “Is that so?”

Ryan's presence was commanding. “That's right-you’ve experienced it yourself, haven't you?”

“Getting old, you know. Memory’s not what it used to be,” Miles replied, his tone casual but edged with

provocation. “All I know is, you can’t go around doing what you want anymore.”

Ryan remained impossibly calm. “Is that what you think?”

“Back then, you and Amelia made an unbeatable team. No matter what | did, you two always figured a way out,”

Miles remarked, shooting a glance at Rebecca and Amelia. “But now, it's a whole different game. You've finally

got a weakness.”

Ryan knew exactly what he was getting at. “You're talking about Rebecca.”

“Not just Rebecca-Amelia too,” Miles said openly. “I heard she spent years in a coma. Is she still as tough as she

used to be?”

Ryan was unfazed. “No.”

Miles raised a brow. “So what's left-"

Ryan shot back, “But they're still more than enough to put you in your place.”

Miles gave him a sidelong glance. “Still running that mouth, huh? Let's not even talk about Amelia-just Rebecca

and Samuel alone. Think you can really keep them all safe, doing everything solo?”

Ryan was just about to get serious, ready to make it real clear just how wide the gap between them really was.

But then, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted someone lumbering across the lawn in a giant mascot costume,

with Gregory from the Hanson Group and Stanley from the Garcia Group following right behind.

In an instant,

Ryan had no doubt-it had to be Jeffrey hiding inside that huge mascot getup.

No one else but Jeffrey could command both Gregory and Stanley to follow him around like that.

Ryan caught a sly idea and nodded toward Jeffrey. “Honestly, they don’t needplaying bodyguard-and

something tellsthat guy over there wouldn't likestepping on his turf, anyway.”

Miles followed Ryan's gaze, trying to piece it together.

But when he didn’t see anyone who looked important, his brow furrowed, puzzled.

‘Who the hell is Ryan talking about?‘ Miles wondered.

“Con, letintroduce you,” Ryan said, as shameless as ever. “Wouldn't want you getting blindsided and

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not even knowing who was behind it.”

Miles didn’t look too pleased.

He'd always known Ryan was a pain, but he never expected the guy to still be this much of a jerk even now.

“Let’s talk,” Ryan said, striding right up to Jeffrey-with that signature, unreadable gaze settling on the oversized

black eyes of the mascot suit, trying to see through the disguise.

Gregory blinked, confused.

Stanley's eyes widened, clearly lost.

Stanley leaned in, curious, “You can tell who's inside?”

Ryan barely glanced over. “Who else? My ex-son-in-law.”

“Even with that coston, you still recognized him? No wonder everyone's calling you Mr. Guzman,” Stanley

said, flashing him a thumbs-up.

“Letintroduce you-this is my uncle Miles. Since I'm giving my shares to Rebecca, he’s been a bit salty and is

plotting to stir up trouble for both Rebecca and Samuel,” Ryan said, totally throwing him under the bus. “So, how

about you keep an eye on them and make sure he doesn’t cause any ?”

Stanley, Gregory, and Miles were all left speechless.

They just stood there, dumbfounded, with question marks practically popping out of their heads.

Ryan smirked, “Suit yourself. If you're not up for it, I'm more than happy to step in as her dad.”

His plan was simple-just let Jeffrey and Miles tear into each other like two mongrels fighting over scraps. One’s a

sleazy lowlife, the other's a piece of work, and if they start feuding, he'll be rid of two pains in the ass all at once,

not to mention wiping out a big headache for his daughter.

“Finally admitting you're not all that, Mr. Guzman?” Jeffrey’s voice was muffled and a bit distorted by the mascot

suit, but the taunt cthrough loud and clear.

Ryan shot him a look that could cut glass.

Jeffrey didn’t hesitate. “Don’t worry about it. My wife and son are under my protection.”

Ryan fired back, “Try not to embarrass yourself as the Hanson Group’s CEO. My daughter's single-divorced, no

husband at all.”

“That's odd. | don’t recall Rebecca ever saying her dad was someone named Guzman,” Jeffrey responded, cool

and unbothered.

Everyone there could tell these two were verbally sparring-the sharp edge in their words was impossible to

miss.

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Chapter 323

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