Reba was fuming. “Can you stop being so shameless?” asked Reba.
“It’s my legal right,” Jeffrey replied coolly, his eyes dark and unreadable. “Since when is that considered
shameless?”
Reba opened her mouth, but the words caught in her throat.
‘No matter what I said, Jeffrey always managed to counter me with wless logic, leaving mepletely at a loss for words. Reba thought.
“I hope we can resolve this amicably, but if not,” Jeffrey said and paused for a while, “You might just see what you call shameless.<b>” </b>
Jeffrey thought, I’d stop at nothing to keep her by my side. Even if, in the end, you despised me.’
“You’ve always hated your parents, but don’t you think you’re acting just like them now?” Reba said with
what switched tactics, trying to persuade him. “You both stop at nothing to get
<i>you </i>want.”
Jeffrey’s hands stiffened at his sides, a small hesitation betraying hisposure. For a long moment, he answered, “Maybe I am.”
“I’m only asking for a divorce,” Reba said, “I’ll never stop you from seeing Samuel, and I swear I’ll never speak badly of you in front of him.” Reba knew she couldn’t defeat Jeffrey by force; this was her only way to reason with him.
“Not divorcing you never had anything to do with him,” Jeffrey answered.
Reba’s brow furrowed.
Jeffrey’s gaze lingered over her, studying every tiny detail. In her face, he saw confusion, distance, and even disgust, except for love for him. The more Jeffrey recognized this, the more fiercely he wanted to keep her with him.
“Just you,” Jeffrey said, echoing the words he’d told her before.
Reba’s lips trembled. A whirlwind of emotions swept through her heart; there wasplexity and a warm glow from being his unwavering choice, but more than anything else, there was fear of never being able to escape this marriage.
If Andrea hadn’t been part of this, <i>or </i>if he’d never said those things that shattered her self–esteem, if he’d told her this in the middle of one of their arguments, Reba might’ve just let it all slide. But now…
“I’m just so tired,” Reba said, and her emotions gradually settled. “I can’t pretend none of that ever happened, and there’s no way I can ept you taking care of Andrea for the rest of your life.”
A sharp pain stabbed through Jeffrey’s heart, and his dark eyes filled with loneliness,
“I’m not backing down from the divorce,” Reba said, “If you really won’t sign the divorce papers, I’ll have no choice but to prove my determination another way.” Reba also felt the ache in her chest.
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Jeffrey just stared at her, saying nothing, his eyes loaded with too many feelings to name.
“It’s gettingte. I’m heading back to sleep,” Reba said as she slipped into her own clothes and walked out, leaving Jeffrey sitting there.
Out in the empty corridor, Reba moved at a snail’s pace. She felt no better than Jeffrey; her chest ached with a sour tightness, and her mind was awash in a chaotic swirl of emotions.
“Bang” Reba mmed right into the wall. Only then did she realize she’d wandered all the way to the end of the hallway
Reba just stood there in a daze for a moment, then finally turned and headed back to her room with E in
a down mood.
“Reba?” Her roommate blinked in surprise when she saw her walk in. “I thought E said your friend was picking you up, so you won’t being back tonight?”
“Something came up, so I came back,” Reba said quietly.
“Huh?” Her roommate blinked, a look of confusion on her face.
Noticing Reba’s downcast mood, she asked, “Did you get into a fight with your friend or something?”
Reba froze, only now realizing she’d somehow ended up back home.
“No, we didn’t fight.” Reba said, flopping onto the couch. Out of nowhere, her mind unountably reyed the times Jeffrey made herugh. She tried to rece those memories with things that had happenedtely, but her alcohol–fogged brain wouldn’t obey her.
Then why do you look so down?” her roommate asked, whether out of true concern or just the urge to gossip, it was hard to tell.
Reba just stared at a random spot in the air, and before her brain could catch up, she blurted out, “He’s got some incurable disease. Probably dead soon.”
E was speechless.
As for Jeffrey, who wasn’t even present, if he heard that, he’d be floored too.
Her roommate let out a surprised sound and immediately started grilling Reba about what kind of terminal illness it was. Reba didn’t answer; she made an excuse about being exhausted and went back to her room to sleep. Unsurprisingly, she couldn’t fall asleep.
All night long, Reba’s mind reyed happy moments she’d shared with Jeffrey. She tried to distract herself, but just like before, it didn’t work. She even started wondering if Jeffrey had somehow bribed the
alcohol.
Finally, when sunrise was almost here and the alcohol buzz had worn off, E managed to get a little sleep.
“Reba, we need to get to the Hanson Group!” E called out over and over, trying to rouse her. “Come on. Get up.”
<b>7:55 </b>Sat<b>, </b><b>Sep </b>
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Reba groggily opened her eyes, her head pounding from a sleepless night and her whole body feeling off. Still, she dragged herself out of bed to wash up.
Half an hourter, Reba and E hopped in a cab, heading straight for the Hanson Group. Their other roommate, not wanting to risk beingte waiting for Reba, had already left ahead of them.
“Thanks forst night. Reba said, staring at E. She hadn’t totally cked out; she could still recall the whole mess. “When we’re back in Jsburg, dinner’s on me.”
E said, not bothering with any fake modesty. “Then I want meat. Lots of it.”
All the meat you can handle,” Reba promised.
After their brief chat, the two of thempsed into silence.
Seeing E acting totally normal, Reba pressed her lips together and asked cautiously, “You’re not mad that 1 kept my identity secret from you all this time, are you?”
“Why would I be?” Ste replied, “Everyone’s got stuff they wanna keep private. Identity is personal; whether you tell or not, that’s totally your choice.” Ste was pretty open–minded when it came to things like this.
Reba finally felt some of the weight lifting off her chest.
Ste went on saying, “Guess you kept quiet because you didn’t want them thinking you onlynded this job thanks to connections?<b>” </b>
“Yeah.” Reba said honestly.
“Actually, I’ve got a secret, too,” Ste said, not wanting Reba to feel so burdened. “Yannie’s actually my half–sister.”
Reba was genuinely surprised.
Ste said with a grin, “Bet you never expected someone as average as me to be tied to the Barton family, huh?”
“You’re anything but ordinary,” Reba said earnestly, deep admiration in her voice. “People like you, fearless, always ready to stand up and speak out for what’s right, are really rare.”
“If you keep hyping me up like that, I might just get a big head,” Ste teased, her eyes twinkling mischievously.
I’m serious,” Reba replied.
Ste just smiled.
After a brief pause, E said seriously, “Don’t worry, I’ll take it to the grave. My lips are sealed, no matter who
asks.”
“Thanks,” Reba said. Actually, she never had to worry about E bbing.
7:55 <b>Sat</b><b>, </b>Sep 27
About twenty minutester, they finally made it to the Hanson Group’s Honn branch.
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When they got off the elevator on the floor where Game Team One was located, there were still ten minutes left before work started. ncing around, they noticed only about half of the staff had arrived, and none of the tech gurus had shown up.
While Reba was still zoning out, she suddenly heard footsteps behind her. She turned and saw Jeffreying her way, his face unreadable and cold as ever.
Before Reba even had a chance to speak, Jeffrey was already right in front of her. In front of the whole Primey crew, he held something out and said, “Your keys. Left at my cest night.