After the divorce, he begged

After saying goodbye to Amelia, Rebecca hopped into her car and headed out

Meanwhile, Amelis pulled out her phone and chot Ryan a message: [Rebecca’s here. If the suffers even a tiny bit

at the Curman family, | won't mind hacking into your company and blowing up ssecrets.

Since they'd added each other as contacts, this was actually the first tAmelia had ever messaged him

Ryan replied almost instantly: [Don’t worry.)

Amelia put her phone away and didn’t bother checking it again.

Ryan turned to Old Mr. Lawrence and asked, “Did you give those folks a heads-up?”

Old Mr. Lawrence replied, “No.”

Ryan’s brows furrowed in frustration.

Anyone could tell Ryan was clearly annoyed by that answer.

He was the one who had invited Rebecca and promised to make sure everyone treated her right. Now he was

hearing that Old Mr. Lawrence hadn't prepared anything at all-it seriously ticked him off.

“I had them show up an hour early,” Old Mr. Lawrence said, old but still sharp. “Everyone should've arrived by

now. If you need to say something, now's your chance.”

Ryan fixed his eyes on Old Mr. Lawrence-he couldn’t shake the feeling the old man was setting him up.

Old Mr. Lawrence pressed, “Why are you just standing there? Rebecca’s gonna show up any minute. Do you want

her walking in and overhearing stuff she'd hate to hear?”

“What exactly are you trying to pull?” Ryan snapped, the usual respect gone from his voice.

Old Mr. Lawrence just replied calmly, “I just want Becky to chfor a meal, meet her uncles and grandpas

in the family. That's all-what else did you expect?”

Ryan just sat there, not moving an inch.

Old Mr. Lawrence was starting to get anxious.

“What's he doing just sitting there? It’s almost time-he should be out there talking to those people already, Old

Mr. Lawrence fretted.

“Aren’t you going?” he pressed again.

“I'm not going over there until you tellwhat you're really after,” Ryan said, his tone icy. He'd grown up in a

world full of schemes, from the Guzman Group's shares down to the smallest details of daily life.

He'd kept his cool through more than twenty years of family scheming.

11:19 Wed, Oct 15

Chapter 335

During that time, he and Old Mr Lawrence hardly ever exchanged more than a few words.

Now, with Old Mr. 1 serence pulling all this out of the bloe, it was hard not to get suspicious

20

“Don’t always think the worst of you dad, Old Mr. Lawrence finally spoke up. Sure, | was harsh with you and

Amelia before, but Becky's your daughter, part of the Guzman family There's no way I'd go that low when it

comes to bey”

Ryan just ignored him, not even bothering to respond.

There's no way he’d go that low?

He pulled out every dirty trick in the book, Ryan scoffed to himself.

“I just told them Becky’s coming over for dinner tonight, Old Mr. Lawrence said, realizing he couldn't win this

standoff. He was worried that if they kept arguing, it would ruin everything he'd planned. “That's all | said -

nothing else.”

Ryan gave him a look with a skeptical edge. “You sure about that?”

Old Mr. Lawrence replied, “What's there to be unsure about? Just go see for yourself.”

Ryan didn’t bother saying anything else. He just stood up and headed out. He knew he'd get his answers face to

face-no way the old man could bluff his way through at this point.

When Ryan stepped into the main hall, he saw the place was already packed with Guzman family members.

As soon as he walked in, everyone turned to look at him. Since he was the CEO of the Guzman Group, most

people started buttering him up, but of course, Miles’s crew couldn't resist throwing in ssnide remarks.

Ryan didn’t pay them any mind. He just laid out what he needed to say, then gave them a warning: “Rebecca is

my only child, and I'm fiercely protective of her. | don’t want to hear anything inappropriate at the dinner table

tonight. Otherwise...”

“Or what?” someone from Miles’s faction stepped up, challenging him.

“Nothing Ryan drawled, his voice cool while his eyes bore down on them like a warning shot. “Just saying- most

of you aren’t getting any younger. I'm sure you'd all prefer your golden years to be -free.”

That landed hard. The vibe in the room instantly grew tense.

On Miles’s side, faces darkened and shifted; even the clueless ones caught on-Ryan was laying down a threat.

The rest of the Guzman family didn’t bat an eye.

Ryan was the Guzman Group's CEO, and him having his own kid actually worked out in their favor. From a

practical angle, nobody wanted to see the family shares end up in Miles’s kids‘ hands once the old folks were out

of the picture.

If the Guzman family’s shares ended up in Rebecca's hands, they wouldn't have to worry about the family’s

future. With how much Ryan and Amelia cared about their daughter, they'd make sure to marry her off to

11:19 Wed, Oct 15

Chapter 335

someone who could help her manage the Guzman family in the future

Ryan saw exactly what they were thinking

But that wasn’t important

He planned to use both their expectations and Jeffrey's influence once he arrived to make the share transfer go

even smoother.

About forty minutes later, Rebecca arrived.

Rebecca Jensen pulled up at the Guzman family home.

By then, the Guzman family’s dinner was ready, and nearly all the elders had gathered.

The seating at the family banquet was all about seniority and status-at the head table sat Old Mr. Lawrence,

Ryan, the other key Guzman shareholders, and, sneaking in late, Miles.

Rebecca took the seat to Old Mr. Lawrence's left, with the spot right next to her left empty.

Someone noticed and looked around, asking, “Who's that seat saved for?”

By the looks of it, based on seniority and rank, there really wasn’t anyone else in the family who qualified to sit

there.

The vibe was clear-no other family member seemed worthy of that spot.

“Don’t tellthat’s for Jeffrey?” someone else at the table tossed out.

“Jeffrey? Why would he be coming?” one person asked, sounding genuinely puzzled.

| heard Mr. Quinn mention that aside from the family dinner, there's an important guest from Jelasburg showing

up tonight,” another added.

“We've got nothing to do with the Hanson family, so why are they even coming?” someone muttered, confused.

“Oh, please, you can’t say there's no connection,” Old Mr. Lawrence's younger brother said, dropping his voice

just in case Rebecca was listening. “Officially, he’s Ryan's ex-son-in-law.”

Rebecca heard everything.

But after hearing these kinds of rumors so many times since she moved to Honnala, Rebecca barely even cared

anymore.

Stil [9

‘Nobody toldJeffrey was coming!”

11:19 Wed, Oct 15

Chapter 335

Did Uncle David or Mr. Guzman invite him, or did he just decide to crash the party? Rebecca wondered

Just as Rebecca was lost in thought, the entrance suddenly filled with a group of people Leading them was

Jeffrey, dressed in a perfectly tailored black suit, his expression cool and imposing, his entourage trailing in

strict formation

He made his way over at an unhurried pace and exchanged a quick greeting with Old Mr. Lawrence: “Sorry my

arrival was delayed-a last-minute matter heldup.”

“You cat just the right moment, Old Mr. Lawrence said, treating him with far more courtesy than Ryan ever

did. Come, take a seat.”

Jeffrey didn’t say much else, just gave a small nod and settled into the chair right beside Rebecca.

Even though this was the Guzman family’s hturf, when Jeffrey walked in, he somehow gave off the vibe that

he owned the place.

Rebecca kept quiet for a while, and once dinner finally got going, she lowered her voice and casually asked, “So,

what brings you here?”

“Old Mr. Lawrence and Ryan said they needed to discuss sbusiness,” Jeffrey answered smoothly, like he was

just here for work.

Rebecca took a small sip of her coffee and didn’t respond.

She could tell he was lying.

Everyone at the table was watching the whole scene-and honestly, they were floored. The famously ruthless

CEO of the Hanson Group, who ran the business world like a shark, just seemed to melt when he was with

Rebecca. All that cold reputation totally flipped the script here; you'd never guess he was the sguy from

those rumors.

“Relax, you're with family,” Old Mr. Lawrence said, finally letting out the breath he'd been holding, his voice

especially gentle as he turned to Rebecca. “Everyone here is one of your elders. Your dad will introduce you to

each of them soon.”

Rebecca didn’t say a word, just kept her cool as her eyes flickered slightly.

She could tell Old Mr. Lawrence really knew how to choose his timing.

By publicly calling Ryan her dad right in front of all the Guzmans, Old Mr. Lawrence hadn't left her any room to

object. If she tried to set the record straight, she’d just end up looking petty. Anyway, it was just what others

said-not really about Ryan himself.

11:19 Wed, Oct 15

Chapter 336

Chapter 336

word

word

mmMwWLIII0fiflo&1

mmMwWLIII0fiflo&1

mmMwWLHI0RAO&1

mmMwWLIII0fiflo&1

mmMwWL1i10f1ifl0&1

mmMwWLIII0fiflo&1

word

word

mmMwWLIII0fiflo&1

mmMwWLIII0fiflo&1

mmMwWLHI0RAO&1

mmMwWLIII0fiflo&1

mmMwWL1i10f1ifl0&1

mmMwWLIiI0fiflO&1