After the divorce, he begged

Chapter 26.

Chapter 26

“I cto check on Samuel,” Jeffrey said, his voice low. He rose to his feet, his presence filling the room. His

gaze lingered briefly on Rebecca before adding, “Lock the doors and windows. I'll be there soon.”

“Please hurr-” Andrea began, but a sudden clap of thunder cut her off. She let out a sharp cry.

Rebecca was scared, too. Jeffrey noticed but said nothing. Instead, he gentled his voice, talking Andrea through

her fake panic until she finally calmed down.

Before leaving, he saw how tense Rebecca looked and said offhandedly, “If you're scared, put on some

headphones.”

“Not your concern,” Rebecca shot back, suppressing a shiver. “Go back to her. Stop wasting your there.”

No sooner had she spoken than another roar of thunder shook the room. But this time, she didn’t even blink.

Jeffrey didn’t stay. Toying with his phone, he walked out of the modest apartment-a space that hardly matched

his status. As he slid into his car downstairs, a sharp lightning bolt sliced through the darkness...

Almost instinctively, Jeffrey glanced up toward Rebecca's floor. “Call Jessica. Make up a reason-get her to stay

with Rebecca tonight,” he ordered.

“After you passed that message to the Scotts, Jessica was tricked by her parents into going overseas,” replied

Gregory soberly from the driver's seat. “She can’t be back tonight.”

he

Jeffrey fell silent. He ran his fingers over the phone, weighing his words. Then he sent a message: [Your mom is

scared of thunder. Go sleep with her tonight.]

Samuel read the message but didn’t reply. He could tolerate his father being harsh with him, but abandoning his

mom was unforgivable, no matter how “important” that other woman was supposed to be.

“Harmony Estate,” Jeffrey said. He didn’t bother sending another text-he knew Samuel would go stay with

Rebecca.

Gregory nodded. “Okay.”

The car sped through the storm. Thunder growled overhead, sometimes so loud it felt like the sky might split

open.

Jeffrey's perfect eyebrows knitted together. His fingertip unconsciously traced the phone screen, eyes fixed on

the chat. labeled “Rebecca.” But even as the car pulled into Harmony Estate, not a single text had left his

screen.

Gregory swung the door open. Jeffrey tucked his phone away and stepped out, his earlier concern for Rebecca

left behind- in the car like a passing thought.

The moment Andrea saw Jeffrey, she leapt from the bed and threw her arms around his waist, holding him

tightly. “You're back. That thunder was so loud earlier,.. | was really scared.”

“Get srest. I'll stay here with you,” Jeffrey said, gently loosening her grip.

Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt

Andrea nodded and climbed back into bed. After a moment, she bit her lip shyly and whispered, “Jeffrey.”

“Yeah?” Jeffrey looked at her, his striking features betraying no emotion.

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Chapter 26

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“Can you holdwhile | sleep?” Andrea reached for his hand, her eyes hopeful. “I won't be as scared if you're

close.”

She was certain that if he got into bed with her, she could seduce him.

Jeffrey didn’t reply. He tucked her in and sat down beside the bed, keeping her company.

“You don’t want to be close to me?” Andrea noticed he was pulling away. “You didn’t want to touchearlier,

and now you won't even share the bed.”

“Just focus on getting better. We'll handle the rest later,” Jeffrey said calmly. “Be good, okay?”

Realizing he didn’t want to discuss this further, Andrea buried her emotions and turned to sleep. ‘Rebecca is out

of the picture now, anyway. Sooner or later, I'll take her place,” she thought.

Thunder was still rumbling, and yet Andrea had drifted off. Watching her breathe steadily in bed, Jeffrey sat in

the chair and remembered how Rebecca used to burrow under the blankets during storms.

Even though it got stuffy and didn’t actually block the sound, Rebecca always hid underneath. Even when he

held her and covered her ears, she needed that blanket over her head to feel safe.

With that thought, he pulled out his phone and texted Samuel: [How's your mom?]

Meanwhile, Samuel and Rebecca were on a video call with Jessica.

Jessica hadn't answered any of Rebecca's messages since last night. At first, Rebecca thought she was just

sleeping after pulling an all-nighter-it wasn’t the first time.

But a full day had passed now, and Rebecca was getting worried. Luckily, the video call finally went through.

“Talk about good timing,” Jessica chuckled. “My dad just had someone return my phone to me.”

“Return?” Rebecca asked, her voice tight with confusion and worry.

“Yeah, he teamed up with my mom to trickinto this country. The second | got off the plane, he took my

passport and phone,” Jessica complained, still annoyed. “After years of nothing, suddenly they joined forces just

to deal with me.”

Rebecca went quiet. She knew in a split second that Jeffrey was probably behind this.

“Anyway, I've got something to tell you,” Jessica said, switching topics. Since Samuel was on the call, she didn’t

bring up Jeffrey.

Rebecca took the cue. “What is it?”

“I saw someone at the airport who kinda looks like you,” Jessica said, sending over the photo. “See for yourself.”

Rebecca opened it. The man in the picture was dressed in

really handsome.

an

expensive tailored suit, looked to be in his fifties, and was

“Check out his vibe-totally sharp and classy. Definitely not saverage guy,” Jessica remarked as she looked

at the

mEpL

33.47%

Chapter 26

photo again.

Rebecca nodded. “There's a bit of a resemblance. But you know, lots of people look alike out there.”

“True,” Jessica said, dropping it. It

was just force of habit—whenever

she saw something,ineyesfinig, Hed

sfrarg ithWith Nebecca. Little did she

know that the man in the photo was

the sperson Jeffrey had asked

Stanley to look into. The content is on

novelenglish.net! Read the latest

chapter there!

After they finished talking, it was past ten. Since the next day was Saturday and Samuel had martial arts class,

Jessica didn’t keep the conversation going.

By the tthe call ended, the thunder had stopped. Rebecca hugged Samuel, who had cinto her room

earlier, and they both fell asleep.

Early the next morning, Rebecca got up to make breakfast for Samuel. After he ate, she dropped him off at his

martial arts class and then took a car to the Reed residence.

Besides teaching that day, she also wanted to find out whether the Reeds really needed a dance instructor-or if,

as Jeffrey had said, Stephen had created the position just for her.

She arrived at the Reed residence a

little after 8:40. As Stephen had

mentioned, usually gnigthesehants

apd Emily @eteHat that hour.

Rebecca spent about ten minutes

warming up and connecting with

Emily. The content is on

novelenglish.net! Read the latest

chapter there!

Emily burst into applause after Rebecca's dance. “Ms. Jensen, you're awesome!”

Rebecca knelt to her level. “Thanks, little lady. You're pretty amazing yourself, winning so many awards so

young.”

Emily smiled shyly.

Seizing the moment, Rebecca asked gently, “Can | ask you a question?”

Emily, who absolutely adored her new teacher, replied eagerly, “Of course!”

“| see all your ballet trophies,”

Rebecca said softly, her question

flowing naturally. hued clearly very

dlefted What made you want to

learn classical dance all of a

sudden?” The content is on

novelenglish.net! Read the latest

chapter there!

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