“Don’t bother, I’m not going to agree to this,” Samuel replied, his tone dead serious.


    “There was an ident at your mom’spany’s anniversary party tonight. She got seriously hurt,” Jeffrey said. “She came home and didn’t get any treatment.”


    Samuel’s heart clenched. “Wait, weren’t you there?”


    “A crystal chandelier fell from the ceiling, but I was too far away to do anything,” Jeffrey said, voice tense.


    Samuel fell silent. Normally, he would quickly spot the ws in the situation. But right now, his mind was filled with images of Reba being injured, making it hard for him to think as clearly as usual. “Really?”


    Jeffrey nodded seriously. “It is.”


    Samuel hung up on Jeffrey and immediately dialed Reba’s number. Her phone, left buzzing on the couch, wentpletely unheard by Reba, who was in the shower. But Jeffrey, standing right by the door, caught every single ring.


    His hand unconsciously tightened around the phone. He prayed that Reba was either in the middle of washing up or blow–drying her hair and hadn’t heard anything.


    This time, fate was on his side. The call rang a few times and then cut off. Just then, Samuel’s call popped up on his phone. “Alright, you cane in, but you better not be mean to Mom.”


    “Sure, your rules,” Jeffrey replied, keeping a straight face.


    “Don’t get handsy with Mom,” Samuel warned, tossing off his nket and hopping out of bed to pull on his shoes.


    “If your mom passes out, how am I supposed to get her to the hospital without touching her?” Jeffrey, sly as ever, shot back. “And who’s gonna take care of her wounds if I can’t even help?”


    Samuel froze on the stairs. Jeffrey kept going. “If you keep hesitating and something actually happens to your


    mom.”


    Samuel scrambled down the stairs, his little legs thumping with every step. “But once you go in, you have to keep me updated about Mom. Better yet, do a video call.”


    “Alright,” Jeffrey replied. “What’s the door code?” After Jeffrey had used a key to get inst time, Reba changed the lock to a keypad.


    Samuel really didn’t want to say it, but for Reba’s safety, he told him anyway. He could always change itter. “It’s my birthday plus thest four digits of Mom’s phone number.”


    Jeffrey just said “okay” and hung up. To make sure he wouldn’t be bothered when real business startedter, he switched his phone to silent mode on purpose.


    Samuel dashed downstairs, blurting out to Victor that he needed to head over to Maple Garden ASAP. Victor tried to call Jeffrey to ask what was going on, but Samuel just flipped open his call history for Victor to see.


    “Dad’s busy patching Mom up.’


    Victor paused, uncertain for a moment, but with Jeffrey ignoring the call, he ended up driving Samuel over


    anyway.


    After getting into the car, Samuel, sitting in the back seat, called his dad. He couldn’t believe him. But just to be safe, he could only temporarily let him in for now.


    Jeffrey entered the code on the keypad and slipped through the door. He shut it with a heavy thud, making sure it was locked behind him.


    While showering, Reba thought she heard some noise. When she strained to listen, she couldn’t detect anything. Just to be safe, she locked the bathroom door and quickly finished her shower.


    In the living room, Reba’s phone was lying all alone on the couch. Jeffrey sat right beside it, his gaze growing colder as he listened to the faint sounds drifting from the bathroom.


    Five minutester, the bathroom door swung open. Reba stepped out in her pajamas, totally on guard, clutching a ss bottle like she was ready to go full defense mode if anything happened.


    “Why are you creeping around like a burr in your own house?” Jeffrey couldn’t help teasing, raising an eyebrow at how cautious she looked.


    Reba’s wariness quickly turned to irritation as she snapped, “What are you doing here?” She couldn’t help but nce over at the door, just to check.


    She’d even asked thendlord to swap out the old lock for a smart one, all just so Jeffrey couldn’t stroll in with <i>a </i>key whenever he felt like it.


    “Hey, don’t give me that look. Samuel gave me the code himself,” Jeffrey said, handing over her phone. “Seriously, if you don’t believe me, just ask him.”


    Reba eyed him warily and took the phone. Sure enough, there was one missed call from Samuel. She dialed Samuel back, but her suspicion toward Jeffrey didn’t fade one bit.


    “Mom.” Samuel’s voice burst out, filled with worry. “Are you alright?”


    Reba really had no clue what Jeffrey had told Samuel. “Huh?” she asked, a frown settling on her face.


    “Dad said you were seriously hurt, and when you didn’t answer your phone, I got worried, so I gave him the code to let him in,” Samuel said,ying it all out. “Is it true? Are you okay?”


    “I’m really fine, not hurt at all,” Reba said, shooting Jeffrey a look full of annoyance. ‘He’s even lying to his own kid?‘ Reba thought, her irritation boiling over.


    “Isn’t that an injury?” Jeffrey’s gaze fell on the wound on her ankle where ss shards had cut her. Even from this angle, he could see the tender flesh beneath the skin. “Come here and let me apply some medicine.”


    Samuel, still on the call, overheard everything. “Mom, just treat the wound first. I’ming over right now.”


    Reba was about to say something more, but Samuel hung up the phone. To case her worries, he sent her a


    message saying that he hade with Victor.


    20 vouchers


    “Do you seriously find this entertaining?” Reba red at Jeffrey. “You’re even dragging our kid into this.”


    Jeffrey didn’t bother replying. Instead, he grabbed her wrist, pulled her down onto the couch, and before she could move, he ordered in a low voice, “Don’t move.”


    Reba opened her mouth to protest. But before Reba could get a word out, Jeffrey picked up a cotton swab and started disinfecting the cut, treating her like she was some rare gem or something, so careful, worried he might hurt her.


    Reba held back her feelings and snatched the cotton swab right out of his hand, cleaning the wound herself and hastily covering it with two Band–Aids.


    The whole thing seriously stung. The instant the alcohol hit, she almost cried out.


    But she was too mad to look weak in front of Jeffrey, so she kept a straight face and powered through, even snapping, “With how gentle you go, the wound would heal by itself before the medse on.”


    Jeffrey’s gazended on her face. Reba squirmed under his stare and said coldly, “You can go now.”


    “Turns out you can really grit your teeth!” Jeffrey called her out without hesitation.


    Reba could only pause, momentarily lost for words. ‘Is he physically incapable of keeping his mouth shut?‘ she thought, exasperated.


    Jeffrey shot a look at the messy Band–Aids she’d pped on. “If you wrap it up like that, it’ll get infected and start getting nasty. You might even need a doctor to cut out the bad partter.”


    Reba pictured that for a second, a whole nightmare movie ying in her head. She shivered, and weirdly, her ankle instantly started aching even more.


    “Come here,” Jeffrey ordered, his stare unyielding, voice leaving her no space to argue. “Let me fix that up for you.”


    Reba stayed right where she was. She had zero interest in any physical contact with him, and she wanted nothing <i>to </i>do with his pretend affection.


    “No,” she replied, icy and firm, then grabbed her phone to look up the proper way to clean and dress her wound online.