After the divorce, he begged

Chapter 205

Rebecca felt a sudden ache in her chest, but kept her cool. “You keep bringing this up. Do you wantto

leave?”

“No,” Jeffrey replied, his dark eyes full of sincerity. “I'm just... scared.”

“I'm not sure if I'll be free that day,” Rebecca said, avoiding his eyes. “I have to go with my mom to get her

divorce finalized, and then I've got a few things to take care of. I'll let you know when I'm done.”

“Okay,” Jeffrey responded.

Rebecca gave a soft hum and turned to leave.

“Rebecca,” Jeffrey called out, wrapping his arms around her from behind and resting his chin in the crook of her

neck. “Don’t lie to me, and don’t leave me.”

Rebecca pressed her lips together.

‘Does he know?’ she wondered.

“When | get angry, even | don’t know what I'll do,” Jeffrey murmured, his warm breath brushing against her ear

and making her shiver. “You wouldn't want Jessica or lan to get dragged into something bad because of you,

would you?”

“What do you mean by that?” Rebecca turned to face him.

“Last night | dreamed you just up and left without even saying goodbye,” Jeffrey said, half-joking but also clearly

hurt. “Honestly, | was mad about it.”

Rebecca felt her nerves, tighten, so she snapped back to hide her swirling emotions. “It's just a dream-why

blme for something like that? What if | dream about you marrying Andrea and having a bunch of kids-

should | cafter you about that too?”

“Ill never marry her, and I'll never have feelings for her,” Jeffrey said, looking straight into her eyes. “What

about you? Can you promise you'll never leave me?”

Rebecca’s hands, hanging at her sides, grew cold and clammy with sweat.

‘Should | lie to him?’ Rebecca fretted.

‘If I don’t, he’s bound to start doubting me.’

‘But if I do, who knows how he'll get back atlater?’

“Why aren’t you saying anything?” Jeffrey's voice was tinged with hurt. “Are you really planning to leave me?”

“No,” Rebecca lied, thinking she couldn’t even make it past the first hurdle-so why worry about everything else?

“I just feel like we're going in circles here. What | told you before still stands.”

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Chapter 205

Jeffrey wasn’t having any of her evasion. “I want a straight answer from you.”

Rebecca frowned at him.

“After your mom divorces Richard, are you going to leave me?” Jeffrey asked, dead serious.

For the first time, Rebecca lied to him. “I'm not going anywhere.”

“Really?” Jeffrey pressed, not letting it go.

Rebecca brushed past him, already heading for the door. “Believe whatever you want.”

“I believe you,” Jeffrey answered.

And he really did.

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That very night, Jeffrey called Tommy and told him to call off all the surveillance. He said that on the nineteenth,

Tommy didn’t need to shadow Rebecca-just keep watch from a distance to make sure she was safe.

The next day, when Stanley caught wind of it, he called Jeffrey. “Did you seriously call off all your people?”

Jeffrey was in his study, working. “Yeah.”

Stanley pressed, “Aren't you freaking out she’ll bail?”

“She promised she wouldn't,” Jeffrey said, never missing a beat as he handled the Hanson Group's business.

Stanley scoffed, “And you're just gonna trust she’s not playing you?”

“She won't,” Jeffrey replied without missing a beat.

Stanley glanced over at Riley, who was just chilling on the couch, totally not interested and barely listening to

any of it.

Jeffrey tossed out a quick “Busy, gotta go,” and hung up.

“Why don’t you help him out and check?” Stanley nudged Riley. “See if Rebecca or her family have booked any

flights in the next few days.”

“He didn’t even ask for it, so why bother?” Riley replied, totally unfazed.

“I'm just worried Rebecca might be lying to him, and he'll totally lose it if he finds out,” Stanley said, rubbing his

temples. “He even toldto keep an eye out and let him know the second Rebecca tried to leave.”

Later, though, Jeffrey said he didn’t need to keep watch anymore.

Everyone knew Rebecca was planning to leave-they just didn’t know when.

“You don’t want to be stuck dealing with his cold vibes if things go south, do you?” Stanley said, just trying to get

Riley on his side.

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Chapter 205

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“If you really don’t want to deal with him, you could always cup with an excuse to go overseas for work,

Riley said, cutting straight to the point. “Like, there's tons going on at the international office anyway.

Stanley just stared at him.

“But if | leave, what happens to him?” Stanley asked, genuinely concerned.

Riley smirked, “And you say you're not into him.”

“Con, it’s just pure brotherhood!” Stanley protested, not wanting anyone to think he was into Jeffrey like

that. “But seriously, if something actually happens while I'm gone, | can’t just leave him to deal with everything

alone.”

Back then, he only felt comfortable heading overseas after seeing Jeffrey and Rebecca finally settle down.

Now, if things really blew up between those two, Stanley couldn't help but worry-would Jeffrey’s whole world just

fall apart again?

“You really think the guy can’t make it without you?” Riley pointed out, seeing right through it all. “He’s tougher

than you give him credit for. He's not just himself anymore-he’s a husband and a father now, too.”

Stanley just gave him a look. “?”

“And then what?”

Riley raised an eyebrow. “Are you?”

Stanley shot back, “Of course not!”

Riley just hummed.

Stanley was even more confused.

Just as he was about to ask what Riley meant, she waved him off and told him to leave.

But Stanley wasn’t about to leave. He was planning to crash at Riley's place for the next few days, just in case

things went south-he could always use her as a human shield against Jeffrey’s icy moods.

Riley couldn't be bothered with him, so she just headed back to her room for sserious sleep.

On the nineteenth, Rebecca headed out with Samuel and Amelia to pick up the divorce certificate for her

mom.

Richard didn't make any trouble at all-barely ten minutes later, it was all done and they walked out, paperwork

in hand. Rebecca honestly didn’t expect things to go so smoothly.

Richard stared down at that little booklet in his hand, a bitter smile playing at his lips. He looked over at Amelia

and said, “Can | ask you something?”

Amelia, holding Samuel's hand, said, “Ask.”

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Chapter 205

Richard glanced at Rebecca, hesitated, and finally asked, “Who's Rebecca's father?”

“At least until ten minutes ago, she only ever had you for a dad,” Amelia replied calmly-she always kept things

clear. As for what comes next, | can handle being both her mom and dad myself.

Richard paused, a flood of emotions rushing through him. “If I'd listened to you back then, maybe the Jensen

Group wouldn't have crashed. Do you think we could've made it as a happy family?”

“Nope,” Amelia said flatly. She’s just not the type to dwell on ‘what could've been!

Richard's eyes flickered, feeling the sting.

Amelia was honest, crystal clear: “Even if you did everything my way, sooner or later, folks would whisper you

only made it because of me. With your ego, you'd feel insulted and eventually blow up atand the kids.”

Richard said nothing. He didn’t deny it.

He knew Amelia was right.

Back then, he really did love Amelia. He thought she was smart, capable, independent, strong-nothing seemed

to faze her, she could handle anything. Every tsomeone told him how lucky he was to have such an amazing

wife, he felt genuinely proud.

But as twent on and he becthe CEO of the Jensen Group, those scompliments started to rub him

the wrong way.

The longer it went on, the more it got under his skin.

Eventually, he just stopped listening to her advice, convinced he could make it on his own without her.

“We've got a plane to catch, so we're leaving,” Amelia said, glancing at the time. “I'm letting you off the hook for

what happened before-only because you used to treat Rebecca right. But if you ever go after her again, trust

me, | don’t forgive or forget.”

Richard went rigid, then managed, “Alright.”

Amelia nodded, then left with Rebecca and Samuel by her side.

They headed straight for the airport without stopping.

Rebecca glanced in the rearview mirror. Richard seemed to stoop all of a sudden, as if he'd aged several years in

an instant.

She felt no sympathy and no pity-in this moment, her mind was set on one thing: leaving.

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Chapter 206

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