Chapter <b>73 </b>
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“Don’t you already know?” Jeffrey answered with infuriating calm.
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He draped an arm over the chairback, and his eyes locked with hers unflinchingly. Neither would yield.
Ultimately, Reba broke first.
“Save yourself the trouble right now.” She hated his righteous nonchnce. Why should she be the only one affected? “Even if you’re not with Andrea anymore, we’re through.”
She’d remember every poisonous word he said forever.
“As long as she doesn’t ask me to leave, I’ll take care of her for the rest of my life,” Jeffrey said slowly.
Reba genuinely wanted to smack him. She wasn’t stupid. Thisment was clearly meant for her ears.
“Are you tired?” Jeffrey asked her.
Since thest incident, he’d rarely opened up like this. He knew exactly how her days went: daytime job, noon hospital visits, evenings spent cooking, nights burning the midnight oil with frence art projects–a never- ending whirlwind.
Even the Hanson family’s housekeeper didn’t work half as hard as she did.
Reba froze and thought, ‘Tired? Oh yes, bone–deep exhaustion.’
Every <i>day </i>looked the same: up at dawn to cook, squeezing in frence work until 3 AM after Samuel was asleep, juggling endless chores between shifts.
She’d never experienced this kind of relentless grind in her entire privileged life.
Jeffrey had watched her fraying nerves and hollow eyes. Seeing his carefully nurtured “flower” wilt like this pained him. “Answer me properly. Are you tired?”
“Yeah,” Reba admitted. “But that’s adult life. No one gets through it unscathed.”
“You have options,” Jeffrey reminded her. This level of leniency was something he’d never granted anyone else -not even Samuel.
Reba looked at him<b>, </b>her expression momentarily nk. “You want me to be Mrs. Hanson again?”
Though anticipating her rejection, he answered, “Yes.”
“Jeffrey, do you have no self–respect?” Reba understood this was his concession, but she couldn’t ept his entanglement with Andrea or forget his recent words and actions.
She needed to sever his hopes and her own expectations for his preferential treatment.
“After countless rejections, anyone else would’ve stopped asking,” Reba kept her voice low to avoid Samuel
<b>11:28 </b><b>Sun</b><b>, </b><b>Sep 21 </b>
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overhearing. “Are you truly shameless, or do you actually believe being Mrs. Hanson is some coveted prize?”
Her words carried deliberate cruelty, burning every bridge. She knew this provocation would anger Jeffrey.
But desperation drove her. With her mother still unconscious, Reba feared prolonged stress might break her resolve, knowing emotional copse often breeds poor decisions. She decided to end things.
Jeffrey’s eyes chilled as he watched her lips form these heart–piercing words.
“Reba,” Jeffrey spoke her name with uncharacteristic gravity, his voice roughened, “you’re lucky <b>I </b>understand you enough to stay calm.”
Reba stubbornly met his gaze, her expression openly challenging him to act.
Jeffrey’s lips pressed into a thin line before relenting. He stood abruptly, seizing her wrist and pulling her into
an embrace.
Reba struggled fiercely against him.
“Stop squirming,” Jeffrey hissed, mping his arms tighter around her.
Her resistance only intensified.
Though tempted to scold her, thoughts of her recent turmoil softened his tone. “I know you’re exhausted. You’ve been suffering from stress and emotional strain these past weeks.”
Reba froze in his arms.
Jeffrey exhaled heavily. “Hush now. Stop fighting.”
The unexpected tenderness shattered herposure.
She pummeled his chest<b>, </b>unleashing weeks of pent–up fury. When mere blows proved insufficient, she sank her teeth into his arm with vicious satisfaction.
Jeffrey didn’t even flinch.
Staring at her shattered state, for a fleeting moment, he wondered if destroying his bond with Reba for a promise had been a mistake.
But if even he abandoned his conviction, that’d prove his parents had been right all along.
Time blurred. Reba finally stopped her outburst.
Still holding her<b>, </b>Jeffrey spoke in his usual warm tone. “You forgot to bite the right side. Want symmetry?”
Reba’s eyes burned, her nose prickling with suppressed tears.
Jeffrey was a paradox<b>–</b>a betrayer she despised, yet the man who knew her soul. Two irreconcble halves fused into the arms holding her now.
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Jeffrey released her, gently wiping her cheeks with his thumb. His touch held the reverence of polishing <b>a </b>
gem.
The familiar warmth in his eyes made her chest tighten. But their path had shattered the day he’d chosen Andrea. It was a fracture no glue could mend.
“Jeffrey,” Reba called out.
Jeffrey’s voice softened, warm and gentle. “Yes?”
“Could you stop making things difficult for me?” Reba felt utterly exhausted. The cheerful facade she maintained daily was just a survival mechanism. “I’m scared I might break down someday.”
Jeffrey’s hand paused while wiping her tears. “I haven’t caused you trouble these past few days.”
Reba pressed, “What about the future?”
After a weighted silence, Jeffrey finally spoke. “You know how I operate.”
His answer sank Reba’s heart like cold stone. She understood this meant her peace hinged entirely on his whims until she returned. “Got it,” she said.
“Reba.” Jeffrey immediately noticed her withdrawn tone.
She didn’t respond, taking a deliberate step back.
That simple step from her felt like a tiny dagger pricking Jeffrey’s heart. His handsome features tightened almost imperceptibly.
“My apologies, Mr. Hanson.” Reba gestured stiffly at his dampened shirt, rebuilding emotional walls. “I’ve soiled your clothes.”
Jeffrey let out a bitterugh. ‘She used me and tossed me aside? What does she take me for? Who spoiled her into developing such an annoying habit?‘ he thought.
The thought barely formed when the realization hit. It was his own fault for spoiling her. His eyes lost their warmth as his piercing gaze locked onto her. “Who taught you to apologize like this?”
The flood of emotions receded from Reba’s face, her usual detachment returning. “What do you want, sir?”
“Sir?” The word ignited a fire in Jeffrey’s chest.
Just moments ago, she’d been clinging to him in tears, begging him not to make things difficult, but now her attitude turned cold.
He took a step closer, gaze dropping to her defiant mouth. “I want it like this,” he enunciated each word sharply.
Before <b>Reba </b>could react, he cupped the back of her head and captured her lips. The moment their mouths met<b>, </b>some primal part of him settled.
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He imed her mouth systematically, that kiss equal parts tenderness and domination.
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The air vanished from Reba’s lungs as consciousness slipped away, reced by his overwhelming
presence.
When she bit down, coppery blood filled their mouths. Instead of retreating, Jeffrey only deepened the kiss with renewed intensity.
“Breathe.” Jeffrey rasped, noticing she was growing increasingly limp.
Reba gasped.
She tried to push him away, but before she could utter a word, his lips sealed hers again.
As their bodies grew feverish, Jeffrey lifted Reba onto the dining table, pressing her down beneath him.