After the divorce, he begged

Chapter 115

With that in mind, Stephen did just so.

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He looked straight at Rebecca, met her eyes, and spoke calmly, “You knew | had my own reasons, yet you still

toldeverything. Does that mean you want to use this against Jeffrey?”

Rebecca replied, “Yes.”

Stephen was surprised.

He hadn't expected her to be so straightforward.

He'd seen all kinds of people in his circles. Swere far more open than Rebecca.

But after five years with Jeffrey, she still had that innocence. Either she was incredibly strong, or Jeffrey had

protected her well. Either way, Stephen was impressed.

“I did have a reason for saving you,” Stephen admitted. “I wanted to use you to mess with Jeffrey and get what |

wanted.”

Rebecca paused, raising an eyebrow. ‘Is that all?‘ she thought skeptically.

Stephen folded his arms over the blanket. “You don’t believe me?”

“Please. You're a businessman,” Rebecca said, a bit sarcastically. “Businessmen always weigh the risks and

rewards. Risking your life just to upset Jeffrey? That's not you.”

She'd never pull a stunt like that. And certainly not Stephen, who was in opposition to Jeffrey. It was just plain

stupid.

“I had someone rig the chandelier beforehand,” Stephen explained. “I knew I'd just get sminor cuts.”

“But you were bleeding heavily!” Rebecca protested. That wasn’t fake blood. It was real.

“If I hadn't bled like that, would you have believed | was really trying to save you?” Stephen shrugged. “If you

didn’t believe me, how could | drive a wedge between you and Jeffrey?”

The more Stephen spoke, the more Rebecca felt like she was wandering in the dark.

Is his plan just too clever for me, or has he turned something simple into a mess?‘ she wondered, feeling

increasingly confused.

“Still don’t get it?” Stephen caught the puzzled look on her face,

Rebecca shook her head. ‘It’s like trying to solve a riddle with half the clues missing,‘ she thought.

“Even if you were suspicious of my motives when | saved you, without any real evidence, you'd still seeas

your savior,” Stephen explained. “And over time, any doubts you had would fade as | showed concern for you

and Jeffrey.”

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Rebecca looked up, ready to argue.

But Stephen continued, “As for Jeffrey, he'd be sure | set everything up and tried to keep you away from me.

Because | saved you, you'd defend me. Maybe you'd say things that upset him...”

“You're wrong,” Rebecca cut in. She already knew what he was about to say.

Stephen raised an eyebrow. “Wrong?”

Rebecca stayed calm. “You're assuming that in this situation, Jeffrey will think I don’t trust him, while I'll see him

as unreasonable, like he'd trade his humanity for power and profit. And that'll cause a big fallout between

net

Stephen pressed his lips together, silent. ‘Isn't that how it's supposed to go?‘ he thought, confident his plan

would work just like that.

But he didn’t say it. Rebecca's expression made it clear she'd seen through his scheme.

“You got it all wrong from the start,” Rebecca said, genuinely surprised that Stephen, always so clever, had come

up with such a flawed plan. “No matter how long you wait, I'll never stop doubting you.”

“Why?” Stephen asked, genuinely puzzled.

He'd saved her, and every tthey met, he’d shown no hidden agenda. He'd always acted like he had their

best interests at heart. There was no real reason for her to still doubt him.

Rebecca said bluntly, “Jeffrey toldnot to trust you.”

Stephen asked, “That's all?”

Rebecca replied, “Yeah.”

Stephen scanned Rebecca's face, searching for any hint of a lie, but all he saw was honesty. That only made him

more suspicious. “He’s with someone else, and you still trust him?”

Rebecca kept her tone light. “My trust in him has nothing to do with who he’s seeing.”

Stephen raised an eyebrow, half-mocking. “So, you're just thinking about divorcing him for fun?”

“No,” Rebecca answered firmly.

Stephen was confused.

For the first time, Stephen was completely stumped. He always thought he understood people's feelings, but

everything Rebecca said today turned his whole view upside down.

“Fine, I'll go along with your plan,” Rebecca said before Stephen could even process what was happening. “But |

don’t guarantee if you'll make it or not. For all | know, Jeffrey might see right through us.”

Between them, it was just cooperation. Each got what they wanted.

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Chapter 115

Stephen froze for a second, and then pieced it together. “Why?”

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“Because | want a divorce,” Rebecca said, not hiding it. “If I act like I don’t trust him, he'll be so disappointed

that breaking up won't be so hard.”

On the other side, Jeffrey and the other two heard every word loud and clear.

Stanley felt like running away again. ‘This is way too intense. I'm not sure my heart can handle it," he

thought.

With her chin propped up, Riley clicked her tongue. “Wow, she'd rather play along with Stephen than be with

you. You're not much of a husband.”

Stanley shot her a look, silently begging her to tone it down.

Jeffrey's coldness really gave him the creeps.

Jeffrey kept his lips tightly pressed. His dark eyes were glued to the computer screen. Beneath his calm exterior,

a storm of emotions brewed quietly.

Just then, Stephen's voice cthrough the computer again, directed at Rebecca. “If you really want to make

him lose faith in you, you could hit him where it hurts, his childhood. That'd be way easier.”

“I'm not crossing that line.” Rebecca tossed over her shoulder as she headed out.

‘I've got plenty of ways to deal with Jeffrey, but digging up his old scars isn’t one of them, she thought. She'd

never use his past pain against him.

Stephen called out, “Wait.”

Rebecca froze and glanced back at him.

Stephen had never encountered anyone so straightforward about their feelings as Rebecca. It really piqued his

interest. “You seriously don’t trustjust because Jeffrey told you not to?”

“Pretty much,” Rebecca replied honestly. She knew she couldn’t outsmart the schemers in their circle, so she

decided long ago that her safest bet was to trust Jeffrey. After all, he was the closest person she had.

Rebecca thought to herself, “There are plenty of people out there who might hurt me, but when it comes to this,

Jeffrey just wouldn't.”

Stephen pressed on, “And the other reason?”

Rebecca's eyes were fixed on him.

Feeling a little uneasy under her stare, Stephen adjusted his silver-rimmed glasses.

“You don’t see Jeffrey as your brother,” Rebecca said, her tone unwavering. “Every tyou look at him, all | see

is your determination to utterly defeat him. Nothing else matters to you.”

“Jeffrey is lucky to have you,” Stephen said, his voice settling back into that calm, gentlemanly ease.

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Rebecca kept walking, casually saying over her shoulder, “If you've got a plan, just lay it out next time. No need

to complicate things with all these twists and turns.”

She didn’t care how Stephen reacted. She just turned on her heels and walked out.

As Stephen watched Rebecca walk away, his usual warmth turned cold. For a moment, his feelings he hadn't felt

for ages.

He thought, ‘Jeffrey has someone like Rebecca, who trusts him without a second thought.

‘But what about me? That person never truly believed in me.”

eyes showed

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Chapter 116

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