<b>Chapter </b>189
Jeffrey just stared at her, and Reba met his stare without flinching. The tension between them was a thick wall of silence. Neither of them spoke.
Finally, he broke it, reaching out to smooth a stray piece of hair from her face. His face was a calm mask. “Then I’ll just have to work harder,” he said softly, “to win your mother over.”
“Okay,” Reba said, her voice t.
Jeffrey’s fingers lingered, sliding slowly from her car down to her check. “I’m going now. You stay and be a good daughter.”
“Okay,” she said.
“Call me if you need anything,” he added.
Her response was robotic. “Okay.”
“So cold,” Jeffrey said, giving her cheek a gentle squeeze. His voice was sickly sweet. “Your mother just tore me to shreds in there. Don’t you think I deserve a littlefort?”
When Reba was done with someone, she didn’t hide it. “I don’t know how tofort you,” she said tly.
“Go home. Get some rest.”
Jeffrey’s gaze stayed gentle. “Yes, ma’am. Whatever you say.”
Reba couldn’t even be bothered to react to his sarcasm. Jeffrey could feel the wall of her disgust and decided to back off for now. “Go on,” he said. “Go back inside.”
“Okay,” Reba said, turning and walking away without another word.
Jeffrey stood there and watched her. The hospital doors swallowed her up, and she never looked back. The calm mask on his face finally dissolved, leaving behind something cold and hard as stone.
The driver hurried to open the rear door. Jeffrey got in, his expression nk, and stopped short. Someone was already in his seat.
“Hey, man,” Stanley said, managing a weak smile. <fn83a2> This text is hosted at FιndＮovel</fn83a2>
Jeffrey frowned. “Why are you here?”
“I heard some rumors that Reba’s dad is the head of the Guzman Group, and I came to get the scoop,” Stanley said, trying to sound casual. “Didn’t expect to walk right into… that.”
‘Great timing, Stanley,’ he mentally kicked himself. ‘Should’ve just waited around the corner.
Jeffrey’s lips formed a thin, hard line. He said nothing, his eyes cold as ice.
“Mr. Hanson,” the driver asked, “should I take you to the office or back to the manor?”
<b>11:00 </b><b>Thu</b><b>, </b><b>Oct </b><b>2 </b>
Jeffrey said, “The office.”
Stanley nced at the clock. “It’s after five. What’s the point of going to the office now? The ce will be empty by the time you get there.”
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Jeffrey ignored him. He needed to put in some extra hours tonight. He had to be free to y Reba’s little game of “runaway wife.” He had to be free to teach her a lesson she’d never forget.
“So, is it true? Is the head of the Guzman Group really Reba’s father?” Stanley asked, unfazed by the silence as he smoothly changed the subject.
“Yeah,” Jeffrey grunted, his attention elsewhere.
He was already on his phone, firing off a text to Gregory to wire Amelia’s money right back to her ount. ‘If I keep it, I look pathetic,‘ he thought. ‘I lose any high ground I have left with her.
Stanley whistled softly. “Man, doesn’t that make things, you know, a million times harder? Trying to keep Reba?”
Jeffrey’s gaze remained fixed on his screen. “Whether or not I can keep her has nothing to do with who her father is. This is about her, and her alone.”
Jeffrey saw the endgame perfectly. As long as Reba cared about Jessica and Ian, she would alwayse back to him on her own, terrified of what he might do to them. It didn’t matter if she reconnected with Ryan
or not.
Stanley opened his mouth to say something, then shut it. He wanted to tell Jeffrey to just be a man, apologize, and let Reba go. But he knew Jeffrey would never listen.
A reply from Gregory came through. Jeffrey put his phone away. “You can call off those precautions I asked you to set up,” he said, his voice casual. “When Reba leaves, let her go.”
Stanley stared,pletely floored. “Seriously? You’re just letting her go<i>? </i>Did you hit your head and finallye to your senses?”
“I can’t chain her to the floor,” Jeffrey said, his voice t. “But the happier she is walking out that door, the more shattered she’ll be when she finds out her friends are paying the price for it.”
Stanley went quiet, the hope draining out of him. ‘I’m an idiot,‘ he thought. ‘You should have known better than to think he’d ever do the decent thing!‘
“What if you’re wrong?” Stanley challenged. “What if she just doesn’t care?”
“She will,” Jeffrey stated, his voice final.
He knew Reba’s pressure points. She only cared about a handful of people in the world, and that was her greatest weakness. It was the reason she’d caved to his threats and refused the help of Jessica and her other friends before.
Stanley’s face was grim. “Jeffrey, don’t be such a monster, please.”
<b>11:00 </b><b>Thu</b><b>, </b><b>Oct </b><b>2 </b>
Chapter 189.
Jeffrey didn’t reply. Stanley truly believed Reba was a good woman who didn’t deserve any of this
“She has done nothing to you,” Stanley said, his voice rising. “Nothing. And you just keep torturing her. Don’t you ever worry you’ll break herpletely?”
“Even if she breaks, she’s staying with me,” Jeffrey said, his voice terrifyingly quiet.
Stanley was honestly starting to wonder if Jeffrey was even sane at this point. “Dude…”
Jeffrey hadn’t been right since the incident. On the surface, he was the picture of calm control, but Stanley knew the truth. Underneath, he was a time bomb, waiting for someone to trip the wrong wire.
Reba had changed that. When Jeffrey got together with Reba, Stanley saw that old lighte back into Jeffrey’s eyes. Both Stanley and Riley had believed, had hoped, that he was finally healing.
But looking at Jeffrey now, Stanley knew he hadn’t healed. He’d just gotten sicker.
“What if she doesn’t give a damn about what you might do to Jessica and the others?” Stanley asked bluntly.
“If she doesn’t care, that just means I haven’t pushed far enough,” Jeffrey said, his voice devoid of all emotion. “Everything has a breaking point. One just has to find it.”
“Jeffrey, man-” Stanley started, trying to reason with him.
“Pull over,” Jeffrey ordered the driver.
Stanley raised an eyebrow, totally baffled. Jeffrey gave him a sideways look and said, “Get out.”
Stanley gaped at the endless stretch of highway in front of them. “You’re kicking me out here? In the middle of nowhere? Where the hell do you expect me to go?”
“You’re getting on my nerves,” Jeffrey said. “And it’s ruining my mood. Your problems are not my concern.”
“Fine. Keep acting like a damn psycho,” Stanley spat as he climbed out. “One of these days, you’re going to get beaten to a pulp. And when you do, don’t expect me toe scrape you off the pavement.”
“You’d have to get in line,” Jeffrey said tly. He mmed the door, and the car pulled away.
Stanley watched the car disappear, practically shaking with anger. He pulled out his phone and called Riley. “Can youe get me? I just sent you my location. Jeffrey is a damn jerk. I’m done. I’m so done with him.”
Riley’sugh crackled over the phone. “Isn’t this all your own fault, though?”
“What? What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Stanley sputtered.
“You baby him,” Riley said, the sound of her grabbing her keys audible. “You jump every time he says ‘jump.’ Honestly, Stanley, sometimes I think you’re secretly in love with him. Why else would you always help him clean up his mess<b>?</b><b>” </b>
Stanley’s face burned. “That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard,‘ he thought, fuming.
<b>11:00 </b>Thu, <b>Oct </b><b>2 </b>
*****
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It was Friday, Reba stared at a reminder on her phone’s calendar, and a shadow of frustration crossed her face. If things had gone to n, she and Jeffrey would have been officially divorced by now.
She was supposed to be free of him. But Jeffrey had called it all a game, imed he was just indulging her “tantrum,” and shattered her ns to pieces.
Amelia saw the look on her daughter’s face. “Thinking about the divorce?”
Reba nodded. “Yeah.”
Amelia put aforting hand on her shoulder. “Once I’m a little stronger on my feet, I’ll call up thatwyer friend of mine to talk about your divorce. She’s seriously one of the best. She’ll help you.”
A flicker of hope softened Reba’s expression. “Okay.”
“Have you told Samuel about the whole leaving thing?” Amelia asked.
Reba didn’t want to tell him something so important over the phone. “No. I’ll tell him when he gets back from his summer camp,” she replied. “It’s only a few more days.”
Her mind was made up: if Samuel chose toe with her, she would do whatever it took to give him a good life. But if he chose to stay, she would respect his decision.
Anyway, Reba hoped Samuel woulde with her. She would find a way to make enough money to give him a life just as good as the one he had with Jeffrey.
A new resolve settled in Reba’s heart. “Mom,” she said.
“Yes?” Amelia replied.
For the first time in a long time, a genuine fire lit Reba’s eyes. “I want to build something of my own,” she announced. “I want to start a business. Will you teach me?”
She wanted to be powerful, like her mother. If Samuel needed anything, she could be the one to slide a bank card across the table and tell him to go wild. In that way, Samuel would never have to go back to Jeffrey for help.