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“It’s not about being stubborn,” Jeffrey said, fully aware of everything he had done. “Some things just have to be done. I have to prove to them that I could actually keep the promises I made.”
“And then what?” Riley asked. “You may wreck your whole family just for that promise.”
Jeffrey’s eyes darkened slowly. He didn’t say another word. “You don’t have to prove anything to anyone. Someone who doesn’t care about promises won’t think it’s impressive, even if you keep it,” Riley said, seeing right through him. “They’ll just think you’re stupid and inflexible.”
“I think you handled it wrong, too,” Stanley said, taking a risk and speaking what he usually kept inside. “Your family shoulde first.”
Jeffrey scanned their faces. “If you love preaching that much, why not get a new job?”
Stanley was speechless. Riley clicked his tongue. Jeffrey picked up the untouched ss of wine on the table and downed it in one go. He set the ss down, stood up, and said, “I’ve got things to do. I’ll leave first. Charge
it to me.”
He grabbed his phone and suit jacket and left the private room. Watching him go, Stanley rubbed his ss and looked at Riley. “Aren’t you gonna say anything more?”
“No use,” Riley said. “What happened back then hurt him too much. He has an obsession with promises <i>that </i>no one else can understand. You could say a thousand things, and he still wouldn’t listen.”
Stanley’s expression darkened withplicated thoughts. “Are you sure Andrea is really his lifesaver from childhood?” Riley asked. Something about it didn’t feel right.
“I’m sure,” Stanley said. “When he found out, he had it checked multiple times. Andrea has the scar from saving him, and she really was at the scene back then.”
Riley thought for a moment, her handsome face impossibly striking. “Can someone’s personality really change that much?”
As a child, she could risk herself for others. As an adult, she became selfish. No matter how much the environment influenced her, it shouldn’t have changed her that drastically.
“Jeffrey had thought about it, <i>too</i>,” Stanley said as he leaned back on the sofa. “He had even looked into Andrea’s childhood. The neighbors all said she had been sensible and obedient when she was little, a truly good child.”
“Did he check her whole background?” Riley asked again.
“They weren’t nning to marry, so why check her life?” Stanley said, knowing Jeffrey’s ways. “He just confirmed the details about her saving him.”
Riley stood up. Stanley looked puzzled. “What are you doing?”
“Going back to check something.” Riley clinked thest of her drink against his ss, finished it in one gulp, and then finally spoke. “Remember to pay the billter.”
<b>12:27 </b><b>Fri</b><b>, </b><b>Sep </b><b>26 </b>
Stanley was speechless. He was still hung up on it. “Didn’t Jeffrey say it would <b>go </b>on his <b>tab</b>?”
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Riley didn’t answer. She went back to her own ce. She turned on theputer and started digging in detail. She didn’t believe that someone capable of doing such a thing would have the courage as a child to rescue someone from the river.
Half an hourter, she looked through all of Andrea’s records and couldn’t help but furrow her brows. <b>Based </b>on the information, aside from Andrea’s questionable character, there didn’t seem to be any real problems.
In the end, her attention locked onto the fact that Andrea and Reba had gone to the same university. After some thought, she shut down theputer and stood up to find <b>Reba</b>.
At that moment, Reba was dealing with an uninvited guest. Seeing Richard sitting in her living room<b>, </b>she grew impatient. “What are you doing here?”
She had not expected to see Richard outside her door when she came home, and she was even more surprised that he shamelessly refused to leave. Even when she said she would call the police, he didn’t <b>care </b>at all.
And she knew she couldn’t really call the police. Richard was her father. When the police arrived, she could not say much against him.
“I came to have a heart–to–heart with you,” Richard said, trying to look fatherly. “You’ve been working, taking care of your mom, and watching Samuel all this time. It’s been rough on you.”
Reba didn’t believe a word of it. Richard pressed on. “Don’t you want to know why I left you and your mom back then?<b>” </b>
Reba stared at him, waiting for him to give an exnation. Of course, he wasn’t going to spill it that easily
“I can tell you,” he said calmly, though there was a barely hidden ambition in his eyes. “But before I do, you need toe with me somewhere and get something.”
Reba shook her head immediately. “I’m not going.”
“It was your mom’s ce before she got married. Some of her things are still there,” Richard said.
Reba frowned, pushing down her emotions. “Then why didn’t I ever know about it?”
“Because all you ever did was goof off. What would you know?” Richard said bluntly. “That ce only opens if you go yourself.”
“I don’t have a key,” Reba said,
Richard’s tone softened just a bit. “Your mom set it up with facial recognition and an iris scan. You have to press once, and the door opens automatically.”
Reba felt genuinely confused. Logic said it sounded unlikely, but what May had told her made it seem at least a little usible. She felt torn.
“If you don’t believe me, ask May. She knows, too,” Richard added.
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Right in front of him, Reba pulled out her phone and sent May a message, keeping an eye on her dad the whole time. He had no reaction and no flinch. Could this really be true? the wondered.
As the thought crossed her mind, the message went out: [May, do you know if my mom had a property before marriage set up with my facial recognition?]
May saw it and called her immediately. She answered all of Reba’s questions without hesitation. Of course I know. Why are you asking all of a sudden?”
“Where is it?” Reba asked carefully.
“Next to Section 3 of Jsburg Avenue, about three to four miles from Reba’s Manor, May replied. Then she asked in surprise, “Wait… you didn’t know?”
“No,” Reba said.
“Amelia never told you?” May asked, surprised.
Reba shook her head<i>, </i>even though May couldn’t see it. “No.”
“Maybe she figured that run–down ce didn’t matterpared to Reba’s Manor, so she never mentioned it, May said. She could understand Amelia’s reasoning. Reba’s Manor was extravagant, practically a real
manor.
Walking through it, one probably couldn’t see everything in half an hour. Reba felt conflicted. She had no idea how much her mom had kept hidden.
“Why the sudden interest?” May asked again.
“My dad came to me and told me to go with him-” Reba started, ncing at Richard, but he snatched the phone out of her hand before she could finish and ended the call.
His face showed clear impatience. “Now that it’s confirmed,e with me to get the stuff,” he said.
Reba reached for her phone, but Richard held it tight, refusing to give it back. “Get the stuff first,” he said, putting her phone behind his back, making his intentions clear. “I’ll give it back when we’re done.”
“You just said it’s my mom’s property from before she married. How could your things possibly be inside?” Reba ignored his demand, her tone sharp and challenging.
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