Chapter <b>197 </b>
Jeffrey’s eyes bore into her, dark and intense.
Reba met his stare, unwavering, calm in her eyes.
The air between them grew heavy with tension.
Neither spoke; the silence stretched longer.
After what felt like forever, Jeffrey finally spoke up. He reached out, gently tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear, his face calm as always. “I’ll do my best to win your mom over.”
Reba gave a half–hearted, “Mm.”
Jeffrey’s fingers slid from her ear to her cheek. “I’m heading out. Make sure to rest up while you’re at the hospital.”
Reba replied, “Mm.”
Jeffrey added, “Call me if you need anything.”
Reba answered in a dull monotone, “Okay.”
“So cold?” Jeffrey said, lightly pinching her cheek, his tone still doting. “I just got chewed out by your mom. Aren’t you even going tofort me a little?”
Reba replied without a hint of warmth, “I wouldn’t know how.” “When I don’t love someone, I can’t hide it. “Just go home and rest up.”
Jeffrey’s expression didn’t change. “Fine. Whatever you say, Becky.”
Reba couldn’t even be bothered to respond.
Jeffrey knew she really didn’t want to talk to him, so he let it go. “Go on, get going.”
“Okay.” Reba didn’t hesitate; she just turned and walked away.
Jeffrey watched as Reba walked farther and farther away, never once looking back, until she slippedpletely out of sight. For a brief moment, emotion churned in his usually calm, dark eyes–then it all faded, reced by a cold indifference.
The driver quickly got out and opened the car door for him.
Jeffrey slid into the seat, face unreadable. He hadn’t even sat upright before he noticed there was someone already in the car with him.
“Hey,” Stanley said, forcing a smile.
Jeffrey furrowed his brow. “Why are you here?”
<b>11:02 </b>Thu<b>, </b><b>Oct </b><b>2 </b>
??
Stanley replied offhandedly. “Heard your wife’s real dad is the Chairman of Guzman Group, so I came over to nose around a bit. Who would’ve thought I’dnd right in the middle of such an awkward situation?”
If I’d known things would get this awkward, I would’ve waited for the car to start moving before showing my face.
Jeffrey pressed his lips together, his gaze growing chilly.
The driver asked, “Mr. Hanson, do you want to go to the office or back to Becky’s ce?”
Jeffrey replied, “The office.”
“Going to the office at this hour? It’s already past five,” Stanley said, ncing toward the dashboard clock. “You’ll probably get there just in time to watch everyone leave.”
Jeffrey didn’t respond.
‘If I don’t put in a few extra hours now, how am I supposed to y along with her runaway drama? And how else am I going to teach her a lesson–so she’ll think twice before trying this stunt again?‘ Jeffrey thought, his mood turning colder.
“So, the Chairman of Guzman Group really is your wife’s real dad?” Stanley asked, not bothered by Jeffrey’s silence, just smoothly switching topics.
“Yeah,” Jeffrey answered, offhandedly.
He pulled out his phone and told Gregory to send the money back to Amelia.
‘If I actually took that money, I’d have no face left,‘ Jeffrey thought.
Stanley kept poking, “So, it’s going to be hard to keep her by your side now, isn’t it?”
Jeffrey didn’t look up from his phone. “Whether she’ll stay has got nothing to do with her family background -it’s all on her.”
‘As long as she can’t let go of friends like Jessica and Ian, even if she reconnects with Ryan, she’ll always end uping back to me, just because she’s worried I’ll mess with them too much,’ Jeffrey thought.
Stanley hesitated, wanting to say something but held back.
He considered telling Jeffrey to just admit he was wrong, say sorry, and let Reba go–but he knew better than anyone how stubborn Jeffrey could be.
“You can drop everything I told you to do before,” Jeffrey said as he put his phone away after Gregory responded, his tone calm and measured. “If she wants to leave, let her.”
Stanley stared, totally baffled.
He looked at Jeffrey like hell had frozen over. “Seriously? You finally changed your mind?”
Jeffrey shrugged,pletely unfazed. “If she wants out, it’s not like I can stop her. But the way I see it–she
<b>11:02 </b><b>Thu</b><b>, </b><b>Oct </b><b>2 </b>
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66 vouchers
walks out grinning now, she’ll be twice as anxious, twice as regretful when something happens to her friends. That’s just how it goes.”
Stanley fell silent.
‘Guess I was stupid to expect anything else from him,‘ Stanley thought.
“But what if she doesn’t regret it?” Stanley asked.
“She will,” Jeffrey said, absolutely sure of himself. He really thought he had her all figured out. ‘Reba only cares about a handful of people. If regret wasn’t in her nature, she wouldn’t have turned her back on Jessica and the others–all because of some threat, he thought. <fnc323> Newest update provided by Find★Novel</fnc323>
Stanley fixed him with a serious look. “Come on, man!”
Jeffrey just stared, saying nothing.
Stanley couldn’t help speaking up for Reba. “Reba’s never owed you anything. You keep putting her through all this crap–aren’t you worried you’ll end up wrecking her heartpletely?”
“Even if she’s dying, she’s not leaving me,” Jeffrey replied, disturbingly calm.
Stanley stared at Jeffrey, thinking this dude was really kind of nuts. “You…”
Ever since that incident, Jeffrey’s just never quite been the same.
He might look chill and polite on the outside, but deep down, he’s like a ticking time bomb–cross the wrong line and he could lose it any second.
It wasn’t until he started seeing Reba that Stanley finally saw that old fire and energy in Jeffrey again. Back then, he and Riley seriously thought he’d finally gotten over everything.
But looking at things now…
It doesn’t look like he’s moved on at all—if anything, he’s even crazier than before.
Stanley pressed, asking a rather blunt question, “What if she doesn’t care at all whether you’ll go after Jessica and the rest?”
“If she doesn’t care, it just means I haven’t taken things far enough,” Jeffrey replied, his voice just as t as ever. “Push anything to the extreme, and there’s always a reaction.”
“Jeffrey…” Stanley began, trying to get through to him, hoping he might finally listen for once.
But Jeffrey coolly instructed the driver, “Stop the car.”
Stanley blinked in confusion, caught off guard by the abruptmand.
Jeffrey nced at him, icy and detached. “Out. Now.”
Stanley stared at the long, straight stretch of road. “You kidding me? Out here–where the hell am I supposed
<b>11:02 </b>Thu, <b>Oct </b><b>2 </b>
to go?”
Jeffrey, deadpan, replied, “Not my problem.”
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“Just keep acting crazy, man,” Stanley muttered, getting out and grumbling to himself. “The day someone finally beats you into the ground, don’t call me toe deal with your corpse.”
“Better take a number if you wanna im my body,” Jeffrey retorted coldly, mming the car door shut and pulling away.
Stanley was so pissed he couldn’t evene up with aeback.
Fuming, Stanley rang up Riley. “Dude,e pick me up. I just dropped you my location–Jeffrey is a total prick, he’s not even human! I’m done with his drama. Next time he screws up, don’t expect me to clean mess<b>!</b>”
up
his
Riley justughed, totally chill. “Bro, you only have yourself to me.”
Stanley blinked, question marks basically popping out over his head. “What the hell do you mean by that?”
“Seriously, you always just do whatever he wants–aren’t you basically just spoiling the guy?” Riley said, swinging his car keys and heading out the door, so chill he couldn’t care less. “Honestly, sometimes I wonder if you’ve got a secret crush on him. Why else would you always let him have his way?”
Stanley sputtered, totally floored. “What the hell?!”
‘Where’s my knife? I swear, Riley’s just begging for it, Stanley grumbled to himself.
Time flew by.
Before she knew it, Friday had rolled around.
Reba nced at the reminder on her phone calendar, her eyes dark and conflicted. ording to her own n, she and Jeffrey would’ve already finalized the divorce by now–they’d be totally done with each other.
But every single n she’d made was trashed, just because he kept insisting on “going along with her drama.”
Amelia noticed Reba’s mood. “Thinking about the divorce?”
Reba nodded. “Mm.”
Amelia put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “Once I’m able to move around a bit more, I’ll introduce you to my friend–she’s an amazingwyer. She’ll help you get the divorce sorted.”
“Alright,” Reba said, her expression softening a little.
“Have you told Samuel about leaving yet?” Amelia asked.
“I’m nning to wait until his summer camp is over,” Reba said. “I don’t want to handle this over the phone
<b>11:02 </b><b>Thu</b><b>, </b><b>Oct 2 </b>
with him. He’ll be home in a few days.”
If Samuel wanted toe with her, she’d do everything in her power to give him the best life possible.
But if he didn’t…
She wouldn’t force her choice on him.
Still, in her heart, Reba wished Samuel would choose to leave with her. She vowed to work her tail off and make sure he lived just as well with her as he ever did by his father’s side.
“Mom,” Reba said, her mind made up.
Amelia looked at her. “Mm?”
Reba’s eyes shone brighter than ever. “I want to learn how to start my own business. Can you teach me?”
She wanted to be just like her mom–so one day, if Samuel ever hit a rough patch, she’d be able to hand him a nk check without blinking, instead of watching him go running back to his dad for help.
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