After the divorce, he begged

Chapter 91

Chapter 91

Rebecca didn’t seem bothered by what he said at all. She shot back, “Isnt this already a mess?”

Jeffrey's gaze grew darker. He knew Rebecca was talking about his situation with Andrea.

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lan chimed in, “Mr. Hanson, don’t tellyou can’t cough up 30 bucks. Wantto talk to Becky for you? Maybe

she'll let you slide.”

“Sure thing,” Jeffrey blurted out without missing a beat.

lan’s smile froze on his face.

Rebecca was stunned.

Jeffrey put down his fork, stood up, grabbed his suit jacket, and the bag with Samuel's clothes. He turned to lan

and said, “Alright then, Mr. Yeats, I'll count on you to work that magic for me.”

After that, he didn’t bother to see how they reacted, just walked out without a second glance.

The door slammed shut with a bang.

lan and Rebecca looked at each other in disbelief, both wearing expressions of incredulity.

lan said, “When did Jeffrey becsuch a shameless character?” He didn’t know much about Jeffrey, relying

only on past interactions and rumors. He thought, ‘He wantsto intercede for him? Does he really not care

about saving face?’

“He's always been that way,” Rebecca replied.

lan exclaimed, “Wait, really?”

Rebecca nodded.

To outsiders, Jeffrey coff as calm and impossible to read, but anyone who'd either pissed him off or spent

real twith him knew-deep down, the guy could be a total menace when he wanted to be.

Jeffrey headed downstairs and slid into his car, his eyes deeper than the midnight sky outside.

Gregory, behind the wheel, felt the atmosphere so suffocating it was like wet cement. But with Jeffrey staying

silent, he didn’t even dare to twitch.

An hour later, lan cdownstairs. He spun his car keys around his finger as he strolled along, looking

completely at ease-clearly in a great mood.

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Jeffrey's gaze stayed locked onto him. He thought, ‘Really? An entire hour just to eat?’ He rolled down the

window.

Gregory, catching on, switched on the headlights and gave a quick honk on the horn.

14:56 Mon, Sep 22

Chapter 91

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lan paused mid-step, turning to spot Jeffrey sitting by the car window-his face unreadable in the darkness.

Acting like nothing was out of the ordinary, lan asked, “Still here, Mr. Hanson?”

“Quite a bit of extra ton your hands, Mr. Yeats,” Jeffrey remarked, his words edged with irony.

“You keep givingso much trouble, do you honestly think I've got any free tleft?” lan replied, straight to

the point.

Jeffrey cast a brief look at the apartment tower nearby.

lan added, “But no matter how busy | am, | always have tfor Becky.”

Jeffrey's eyes,

dark and fathomless, locked onto lan, reading every twitch and shift in his expression. At last, Jeffrey tossed out,

“I know exactly what's going on in that head of yours, even if you never admit it.”

lan frowned, not sure what Jeffrey was getting at.

Jeffrey added, “Right now, I'll lay it out for you. Whatever you're wishing for? You can forget it. You'll never get it,

not in this lifetime.”

lan shot back, “Really?”

Jeffrey said, “Absolutely.”

lan shot back, “Who knows how things will really go until they actually happen?”

Jeffrey replied, “No matter how hard you try, it's all down to whether Rebecca and | call it quits. But what if |

never do?”

lan frowned and asked, “What do you mean by that?”

Instead of an answer, Gregory rolled up the window, slowly hiding Jeffrey’s face from sight.

lan was about to knock for answers when the car quietly pulled away.

Jeffrey glanced in the rearview mirror.

lan was still standing there, staring after the car, his face looking pretty grim.

lan hesitated a long while before finally sliding into his own car, his mind tangled up as he considered whether

he should go back upstairs and tell Rebecca everything or just leave things be.

lan thought, Jeffrey basically said he wasn’t splitting up, but things between him and Rebecca are already a

mess. How could they possibly stay together now?

‘Rebecca doesn’t put up with nonsense. No way she'd just let this go. But then again, what if? Jeffrey has always

been impossible to read.”

After mulling it over for a while, lan pulled out his phone and texted Rebecca: [You busy?]

Rebecca replied: [What's up?]

14:56 Mon, Sep 22

Chapter 91

lan texted: [This just popped into my head. What if Jeffrey flat-out refuses to divorce you?]

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Even after the cooling-off period, if one side didn’t want out, there was no way for the other to force it.

The only move left was to take it to court-but Jeffrey had got a killer legal team, and trying to beat him in front of

a judge was like showing up at Everest in flip-flops.

Rebecca shot back a voice message. She said, “No way. Not a chance.”

She thought, ‘If he doesn’t divorce me, how is Andrea ever supposed to show her face in public? And if she can’t

even go public, how could she ever officially becMrs. Hanson?"

lan texted: [But what if Jeffrey really means it?] He couldn't shake the memory of Jeffrey’s expression-it didn’t

look like he was kidding.

Rebecca replied, “There's nothing for him to gain by staying married. He's not stupid.”

lan went silent for a moment. Seeing how firm Rebecca was about the divorce, he changed the subject.

They tossed around a few more lines and ended the chat.

After finishing her chat with lan, Rebecca called Samuel, then fired up her laptop, ready to get painting until the

early hours-maybe 4 or 5 AM.

She thought, ‘By the t| am done, it'll be midday for May, and | can give her a call to feel things out.

Tomorrow is the anniversary celebration, so | can sleep in without worrying about being tired for work.

Rebecca noticed a message in the group chat letting performers know they had to show up by 1 PM tomorrow,

so she could just head over a bit before noon.

With all that sorted out, Rebecca immersed herself in her work, totally locked in on raking in smoney.

It was around 4 or 5 in the morning-Rebecca had already knocked out two new sketches. Figuring it was about

time, she shot a quick message to May.

May's video call popped up almost instantly. She said, “Wait, it’s like 4 or 5 AM over there, right? Are you pulling

an all-nighter or did you just get up crazy early?”

“Pulled an all-nighter,” Rebecca answered honestly.

May asked, “Pulling an all-nighter again?”

“Yeah,” Rebecca replied.

May put her phone down and rest her chin in her hand. She asked, “So you totally ignoredlast time, huh?”

Since May brought it up, Rebecca just went along with it. She said, “Speaking of that, | actually wanted to ask

you something.”

May tapped her nails and said, “Shoot.”

14:56 Mon, Sep 22

Chapter 91

“Who's my real dad?” Rebecca asked.

May froze.

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Seeing her reaction, Rebecca's suspicions jumped from mild doubt to almost sure. Her mind raced through every

clue she could think of, and she decided to press a little harder. She asked, “Is it the man | showed you last

time?”

“No,” May replied without thinking.

“So, who is it then?” Rebecca pressed.

May said, “Who else would it be? Richard, obviously.”

Whenever Rebecca wanted something, her brain worked overtime. She said firmly, “He's not.”

May, sticking to her story, replied seriously, “Of course he is. You're his and Amelia's kid.”

Rebecca said with a straight face, “I did a DNA test with Richard. | showed him the results, and he admitted it.”

May's eyes widened in disbelief.

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