After the divorce, he begged

Chapter 217

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Ryan’s mature, composed expression went silent for a moment. After thinking it over, he finally stood up and set

a business card on the table. “If anything comes up, you can always call me. That line will always go through.”

Rebecca stayed quiet, saying nothing.

Ryan walked out.

Rebecca watched him leave through the villa gate before walking over to sit beside Amelia.

Seeing the look of anger on her face, Amelia couldn't help but laugh. “I'm not even upset. Why are you so

worked up?”

“I hate how they act like tjust wipes away everything they did,” Rebecca muttered, standing up for her.

Amelia caught the word. “They?”

Rebecca pressed her lips together.

She wasn’t sure if she should say anything.

Ryan's appearance had already reopened Amelia’s old wounds. If she brought up the Quinn family now, would it

just make her feel even worse?

“Did you run into anyone from the Quinn family?” Amelia asked, her tone flat, like they were just srandom

people she didn’t care about.

Rebecca hesitated, wanting to say something but holding back.

Amelia ruffled her hair, her eyes soft with a tenderness reserved only for her. “Since | made the choice to let you

cto Honnala, it means I’m past everything that happened. At most, | just don’t want anything to do

with them.”

“Can you tellwhat happened in the past?” Rebecca wanted to know.

“There's really nothing worth talking about, just a bunch of meaningless little things,” Amelia said, sounding

bored. “If they're genuinely good to you, it's your choice whether or not to accept it.”

Rebecca hesitated.

Amelia added, “Seriously.”

Rebecca's tone was defiant. “I just can’t.”

“You're even more stubborn than me,” Amelia said, sounding half amused and half exasperated. “Honestly, if

you want to start your own business, that attitude won't get you far.”

“How come?” Rebecca piped up.

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Chapter 217

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“When you're just starting out, you have to learn to bend a little, talk the right way, and keep your cool,” Amelia

explained. “If someone rips your project to shreds and totally goes off on you, can you handle it?”

Rebecca paused, thinking it over. “Depends. If they have a point, | can deal. But if what they say doesn't make

sense, then | can't.”

Amelia went on, “Thing is, sometimes it's not even about being right or wrong.”

Rebecca mulled it over.

She'd never seriously tried to start a business before. Her entire circle growing up was just her dad and mom,

Jeffrey's crowd, plus Jessica and lan.

“Don’t stress about it right now. First, let's get your divorce settled,” Amelia said, keeping her from spiraling.

“The rest-I'll help you work through it, one step at a time.”

“Okay,” Rebecca agreed.

“Next Monday is August 26th,” Amelia said, never forgetting her kids’ birthdays. “Do you want to celebrate at

home, or should we go out?”

Rebecca paused.

On August 26th.

Jeffrey’s birthday was the day after hers.

It was tradition for them to celebrate together on the night of the 26th-her birthday first, then his just after

midnight.

“At home,” Rebecca answered.

“Alright,” Amelia agreed.

With that settled, they switched topics and started chatting about other things.

Rebecca gradually put the unpleasant meetings with Liam and Ryan behind her. As for Jeffrey, she didn’t spare

him a single thought-totally erased him from her mind.

Meanwhile, Andrea kept reaching out, calling Rebecca several times over the past few days.

But after Rebecca kept hanging up and blocking her calls, Andrea finally left her alone.

A few days flashed by.

Since their last talk, Jeffrey hadn't run into Rebecca once. With her birthday coming up fast, he instructed

Gregory, “Get a fireworks show set up near where Rebecca lives for two nights from now.”

“On it,” Gregory replied.

Jeffrey went on, “Make sure her favorite sports car gets sent straight to her garage.”

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Chapter 217

“No problem, Gregory answered,

Su voucherd

Jeffrey was about to say something when his phone buzzed loudly on the cabinet. He glanced at the screen-

Andrea. He picked up without a second thought, his voice cold and detached as always. “Yeah, what do you

want?”

‘Letguess. She's only calling because she can’t stand the thought ofspending the 26th with Rebecca,

Jeffrey thought, rolling his eyes.

“Where are you? | need to talk to you. It's important,” Andrea said, her voice clipped and tense-clearly, after

Rebecca blew her off, she was forcing herself to call him.

“Honnala,” Jeffrey replied.

“Cback,” Andrea insisted.

Jeffrey's expression stayed stone cold. “Can't cback for now-whatever it is, just say it over the phone.”

“Jeffrey, don’t forget your promise...” Andrea tried to use that against him again.

“No need to keep waving that promise around,” Jeffrey said, as cold and distant as ever. “I'm still stuck at the

hospital-the doctor won't letleave.”

Hearing that, Andrea had no other options. She asked him to book her a flight, determined to cand talk face

to face.

Jeffrey told Gregory to take care of it.

And that was that.

Gregory kept his eyes on Jeffrey, clearly wanting to say something but holding back. “Mr. Hanson?”

Jeffrey’s voice was flat. “What is it?”

“Did you stab yourself just so Andrea couldn’t call you back when it’s Ms. Jensen's birthday?” Gregory blurted

out, sounding almost tongue-tied.

Jeffrey's eyes stayed cold. “You're overthinking it.”

Gregory pressed, “Really?”

Jeffrey didn’t answer, just shot back, “Don’t you have anything better to do?”

The more Jeffrey avoided the question, the more certain Gregory becin his mind.

‘Mr. Hanson must've factored all this in," Gregory thought, sure now that he was right.

He never missed celebrating Rebecca's birthday with her, but with Andrea causing trouble this year, he figured

out a way to handle both at once.

‘Letguess all | want, Gregory mused, ‘but I'll never really know for sure.

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Even if | spent my whole life trying, the truth’s probably always gonna be out of reach, Gregory thought, a little

resigned.

That snight, Andrea showed up at the hospital, following the address Gregory had texted her. She went

straight up to the hospital wing.

When Gregory saw her message asking him to cout and lead her to the room, he couldn't help but feel a

little uneasy. “Mr. Hanson, is it really a good idea to let Andrea know you're injured?”

“No big deal,” Jeffrey said, sitting up in bed, looking a bit more alive than before. “Besides, I'll be out of here

soon.”

Gregory just stared, totally confused.

‘Does he even know what “getting discharged” means?’ Gregory wondered, feeling a little exasperated.

“There are still two weeks left until he’s discharged!" Gregory thought, inwardly rolling his eyes.

| can grumble all I want, but | still have to go and bring Andrea upstairs.

When Andrea walked in, she saw Jeffrey sitting up in bed, looking way healthier than she'd expected. ‘Is he

actually sick, or is he just pretending?‘ she couldn’t help but wonder.

Jeffrey didn’t bother with pleasantries, just gave her a pointed stare. “So, what do you want?”

Andrea felt rattled beneath his intense gaze.

Just thinking about what she was here to say made cold sweat break out on Andrea’s palms.

“Andrea, if you've got something to say, better make it quick,” Gregory chimed in seriously. “Mr. Hanson’s got a

check-up soon.”

Andrea stared at Jeffrey, took a shaky breath, and steeled herself. “You've always wanted to settle that life-debt

with cash, haven't you?”

Jeffrey's expression stayed indifferent. “Yeah.”

He didn’t get why she was suddenly bringing this up, but that was definitely the case.

“I accept,” Andrea blurted out.

Gregory blinked, confused.

Jeffrey raised an eyebrow.

Jeffrey gave her a piercing stare, studying her for a long moment. “You sure?”

“I'm sure, but | have a few conditions.” Andrea steeled herself, afraid Jeffrey would see right through her. “If you

agree, I'll take the money and walk away.”

Jeffrey stayed cool, his voice steady. “Go ahead.”

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Chapter 217

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Andrea’s heart was pounding so loud she could hardly think, nerves shot. “First, you givetwo hundred

million.”

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