Jaffrey said, “Fine. I’m not short on money anyway.” With that, he was about to hang up.
Just then, Stephen called out, “Wait.”
Jeffrey asked, “What?”
<b>6808 </b>
36 vouchers
Stephen couldn’t tell if Jeffrey was serious earlier, but didn’t want to take any chances. He said, “I won’t contact Andrea anymore. In return, you keep out of my affairs.”
Jeffrey didn’t even bother replying. He hung up right away. He couldn’t care less about anybody else’s drama; he’d only said that to give Stephen a heads–up.
He thought, ‘Seriously, Stephen is hung up on Karen, yet he still lets Dad and Mom make him choose a fiancée. What a scumbag.’
Half an hourter, Jeffrey arrived at Harmony Estate.
Andrea sat on the living room couch, arms crossed, face stormy. She red at the two bodyguards Jaffrey had assigned to her.
As soon as Jeffrey showed up, Andrea shot to her feet and started venting, “I asked them to help me move some stuff, they refused, and then started mouthing off with nasty words. So, what are you nning to do about it?”
Jeffrey’s gaze swept over the bodyguards, icy and sharp.
At that, both men’s knees nearly buckled from fear.
“How do you want me to handle it?” Jeffrey asked.
“Make them p themselves and bow to apologize,” Andrea demanded, not bothering to hide her true colors
anymore.
Jeffrey replied, “I’m just their employer. I don’t have the right to make them do stuff like that.”
Andrea retorted, “If you tell them to, they’ll listen.”
Jeffrey looked at her with an intimidating gaze.
Andrea felt a little rattled inside, but her mouth didn’t quit. She said, “So, was all that talk about taking care of me just lip service? You won’t even do the bare minimum to back me up.”
Jeffrey shot back, “You seriously don’t know why they said that?”
Andrea felt a sudden wave of panic. She thought, ‘What does he mean by that–what exactly does he know?‘
Jeffrey stepped closer and said, “I haven’t brought up certain things–just letting you keep your dignity. Don’t imagine for a second that I’m in the dark.”
<b>11:01 </b><b>Thu</b><b>, </b><b>Oct </b><b>2 </b>
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J BOJ
55 voucher
Andrea stammered, “W–What do you mean?” She wasn’t about to admit anything yet, her mind stubbornly. resisting.
Jeffrey warned, “Just focus on living your own life–whatever you have right now, you get to keep. But if you try to reach beyond your grasp and start stirring up trouble, don’t be surprised when things go sideways.”
Andrea asked, “Are you breaking your promise?” <fnf03d> Readplete version only at find~novel</fnf03d>
Jeffrey didn’t answer her directly–instead, he fired the question back at her. He asked, “Do you even know what kind of person Stephen really is?”
Andrea’s face went pale. She thought, ‘So he really does know.’
Jaffrey continued, “Anyone who tries to get something out of Stephen always ends up paying a heavy price. So, take a guess–why do you think he’s helping you?”
She wanted to say, ‘Because he just wants to make things harder for you, but she kept quiet. The look on Jeffrey’s face told her it wasn’t nearly that simple.
Jeffrey said, “One of his buddies is really sick, needs a heart transnt. He was out there hunting for a heart donor, then suddenly stopped out of nowhere.”
Andrea flinched at his words. She said, “You mean…”
Jeffrey replied coolly, “Just letting you know something about him. No other reason.”
Andrea forced herself to swallow her fear. She thought, ‘If Stephen’s only helping me because my heart is a match for his friend, what do I do after this?‘
The two bodyguards couldn’t believe what they’d just heard. They screamed inwardly, ‘Since when did our boss want this woman’s heart? Seriously, Mr. Jeffrey Hanson, quit making things up!’
Andrea clung to Jeffrey’s arm, her fear and panic overwhelming her. She said, “You can’t let him take my heart. I’m the one who saved you. It’s your duty to protect me.”
Jeffrey slipped his arm free and said, “Normally, I could. But if you end up agreeing to give him your heart in your conversations, even if I wanted to help, I couldn’t do anything.”
Andrea tried to remember everything she’d talked about with Stephen. Everything they talked about seemed ordinary enough. But thinking about how cunning Stephen was, she now worried she might’ve fallen right into his trap.
Jeffrey asked, “So, have you figured out how you want to deal with the bodyguards?”
“Just switch them out,” Andrea replied, her tone much softer, not daring to stir up trouble anymore.
Jeffrey nced at the two bodyguards and asked, “You heard her, didn’t you?”
One bodyguard protested, “We didn’t do anything. Why are you recing us?”
Jeffrey shot back, “Should I just call Stephen toe get you guys?”
<b>11:01 </b>Thu<b>, </b><b>Oct </b><b>2 </b>
The bodyguards froze, eyes wide with disbelief. They thought, ‘Wait, how did Mr. Jeffrey Hanson know we’re working for Mr. Stephen Hanson?‘
Baffled but way too scared to speak up, they just made themselves scarce and slipped out the door.
Jeffrey turned to Andrea and said, “That’s settled now. Get some rest. I’m heading back.”
Andrea asked, “Aren’t you staying?”
Jeffrey just pressed his lips together, keeping quiet.
Andrea said, “I’m just a little nervous. What if Stephen’s people show up in the middle of the night and take my heart?”
Jeffrey said, “This is aw–abiding society–Stephen isn’t some criminal above thew. Just cut off contact with him, and nothing like that will ever happen.”
Andrea tried to say something more. But Jeffrey just passed a couple of instructions to the servants and left without another look.
As his car pulled farther and farther away, Andrea’s hands clenched tightly at her sides, a storm of tangled emotions pressing hard against her chest.
Jeffrey’s care had be a checklist ticked and tossed aside; once, he would have indulged her every whim, yet tonight—even with real fear in her eyes–he simply drove off.
She thought, ‘He promised to take care of me. But in the end, he hasn’t done a thing!’
The more Andrea dwelt on it, the more resentment piled up in her eyes. Her phone started buzzing out of nowhere. She was in no mood to answer, but the caller ID made her frown.
She retreated to her bedroom to take the call. She said, “Dr. Cole?”
Ben said, “Ms. Scott, it’s been a while.”
Andrea asked, “Did you need something?” After the surgery, she and Ben pretty much had nothing to do with each other anymore–so when his call suddenly came through tonight, a knot of dread tightened in her chest.
Ben replied, “Yesterday, someone came asking if I’d ever treated a woman named Andrea Scott. I told them I couldn’t recall offhand and said I’d need to think about it. So, what do you say–should I remember, or just forget?”
“Just say exactly what you said before,” Andrea replied, her tone crisp and unwavering.
Ben said, “They offered me 150 thousand. If I can cough up proof I really treated you, they’re willing to go even higher.”
Andrea asked, “Who was it?”
Ben replied, “No names, sorry. All I can tell you is, it’s some young guy.”
<b>11:01 </b>Thu, <b>Oct </b><b>2 </b>
Andrea snapped, “Don’t forget what you promised me back then.”
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Ben said. “It’s not like before. Back when I gave you that scar, I never thought it’d blow up into all this mess. Honestly, maybe I should just keep myself out of it.”
Andrea took a deep breath to steady herself before she said, “Just name your price.”
Ben said. “1 million.”
Andrea nearly screamed, “Where the hell am I supposed to get 1 million for you?”
Ben said, “That’s your issue, not mine. If you can’t pay up, don’t me me when I tell them exactly what happened.”
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