After the divorce, he begged

Chapter 10

Of all the people who might have done this, Rebecca could think of only one person with both the means and the

motive-jeffrey

without thinking twice, she grabbed her phone and dialed his number, her anger toward him boiling over.

“Who may | say is calling?” a secretary’s professional voice answered.

Rebecca stared at the phone in confusion, verifying she had indeed dialed Jeffrey’s private number, it made no

sense that his secretary would be answering his personal line.

“This is Rebecca,” she said, pushing her confusion aside. “I need to speak, with Jeffrey

The secretary glanced at Jeffrey, who sat watching from his leather chair. Taking his subtle cue, she replied

smoothly, “Mr. Hanson is in a meeting for the next two hours. Can | take a message?”

“He’s right there with you,” Rebecca said, her voice firm. She knew he never let anyone else handle his personal

phone, not even his secretary.

The secretary instinctively looked to Jeffrey for instruction

Jeffrey took the phone from her and gestured for her to leave before speaking. “When my secretary said | was

unavailable, thought that would be enough to make you understand I'm not taking your calls.”

“If you hadn't deliberately sabotaged my job prospects, | wouldn't be calling, Rebecca stated bluntly. “Why did

you tell them to reject me!”

Jeffrey feigned ignorance. “What job?””

Rebecca shot back, “Don’t play dumb with me.”

“If you got rejected, maybe you should look at your own qualifications instead of blaming me,” Jeffrey said coldly.

“After five years out of the workforce, what did you expect?”

Rebecca wasn’t buying it. “You're seriously going to pretend you didn’t have someone block my hiring?”

“I didn’t,” Jeffrey answered quickly, “I just made it clear they shouldn't lower their standards for you because of

me. You're not my wife anymore, and you don’t get special treatment.”

He never actually said it, but the message cthrough loud and clear. Everyone in their circle knew how to

read between the lines.

“What's the point of this?” Rebecca couldn't figure out why he was so set on making her life miserable. ‘He's

agreed to the divorce, and he’s the one who cheated, so why is he still coming after me?” she thought to hersell.

“Say that again?” Jeffrey hadn't quite caught what she said.

Rebecca hung up, knowing there was no point in arguing further. She realized finding a decent job would be

nearly impossible now.

Just then, her phone buzzed with an incoming text.

It was from Jeffrey. If you're really looking for work, | could make an exception for old times sake. There's a

position for you at the Hanson Group]

Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt

Rebecca didn’t reply. She knew his job offer was just another way to mess

with her.

With her job prospects looking dim, she had to start her company search from scratch

She blacklisted every company connected to Jeffrey-former partners, business associates, even competitors-

until only small and mid-sized firms remained..

After sending out another round of resumes, she turned to apartment hunting

1/3

Chapter 10

One afternoon, as she returned from apartment viewings, she found Andrea waiting by her doorstep.

Andres stepped forward to block her path. “We need to talk,” she said.

don’t speak with homewreckers,” Rebecca retorted, pushing past her toward the door,

“I know Jeffrey left you penniless after the divorce,” Andrea said, closing the distance in her designer heels. “And

| know you're desperate for money right now.” She stood confidently in head-to-toe limited edition fashion.

“Take your child and leave Jelasburg, and this card with 300 thousand dollars is yours,” she added, extending the

card toward Rebecca.

Rebecca's eyes turned cold as she glanced at the card.

“Beyond that, I'll make sure Jeffrey covers your mother’s medical treatments,” Andrea continued. “If you have

other conditions, we

we can negotiate.”

Rebecca didn’t understand her motives. “Why are you doing this?”

“What do you mean, why?” Andrea replied, distracted by her own thoughts.

“Jeffrey loves you completely,” Rebecca said, looking directly into her eyes with the familiarity of their past

friendship. “Why would you still wantto

leave?”

*No woman wants to share the man she loves,” Andrea said, pulling back the card while steadying her emotions.

“I can see he still has feelings for you. If you stay, he'll never be able to move on.”

Rebecca did not believe a single word she was hearing.

If that’s truly the only reason, she could have easily framedand destroyed my reputation just like she did

back in our college days, rather than simply trying to makeleave town, she mused.

“if the money's not enough, just tellhow much you want,” Andrea said, growing uneasy under her stare. “I'll

make it happen.”

“I'm not going anywhere,” Rebecca said firmly. She had deep roots in this city and saw no reason to be driven

from her hwhen the fault lay entirely

elsewhere.

“My child attends school here, and | need to stay to care for my mother,” she added.

Andrea’s composure snapped. “Rebeccal”

Rebecca stays, Jeffrey will eventually find out everything. What if one day he just cracks and tells her the real

reason he’s with me? Then I'm finished, she thought to herself, her anxiety growing.

She'd never allow such a thing to happen under any circumstances.

“Andrea, what are you so afraid of? Rebecca watched Her closely. “You look exactly like you did after framing me,

when you were terrified your secrets would be exposed.

Andrea’s heart tightened.

“You're keeping something from me,” Rebecca sald, sooing right through her. “Or was it Jeffrey you lied to?”

“You're imagining things, Andrea said, trying to keep her voice even, “I just don’t want you in Jelasburg, As long

as you're here, Jeffrey will never be fully

mine.”

“I'm sure he'd told you aboutwhen you started seeing him, Rebecca said, pointing out the obvious flaw in

Andrea’s words.

Jeffrey was not a man who operated with secrets, so Rebecca was sure he had told Andrea he was married.

2/3

Chapter 10

The difference was, she had refused his proposal to share him with another woman, while Andrea had accepted

i)

“He did mention you,” Andrea admitted without any shame. “But people are selfish. | don’t want to share him. |

wanted him for myself.”

Rebecca pulled out her phone and started tapping the screen.

-Andrea made a quick grab for it. “What are you doing?”

“I'll make sure Jeffrey hears exactly

what you said,” Rebecca replied. She

pulled up the security fepdialipped

theif cohvérstion, and sent it to

Jeffrey. “You don't want him to read

into this, and | definitely don't want

him to cafter me.” The content

is on novelenglish.net! Read the latest

chapter there!

Rebecca knew she had to control the

narrative. Being upfront with Jeffrey

was way better theh{étling Aridrea

iSRthINGS later behind her back.

She really wasn't up for any

right now. The content is on

novelenglish.net! Read the latest

chapter there!

“Don’t you dare!” Andrea made a frantic grab for the phone.

Jeffrey had repeatedly told her to

bring any y concerns directly to fim

and not to try apy piidérhafided

1a5tios. Rh knew he would be

furious if he discovered she had tried

to pay Rebecca to leave town. The

content is on novelenglish.net! Read

the latest chapter there!

“Already sent,” Rebecca said, tucking her phone away as she headed inside.

Andrea stared after her, fists clenched at her sides. This was supposed to be between the two of them, and she

was furious that Rebecca had to involve Jeffrey.

Wh