Reba hung on every word,pletely focused.
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Amelia ushered her back into the study and cut straight to the chase: “That twenty percent of the shares belongs to you, fair and square. Whatever anyone else has to say–don’t let it get to you.”
“Okay,” Reba nodded.
At first, Reba thought, ‘Is it really okay to buy back those stocks at their old price after they’ve shot up a hundred times in value over the years?‘ But she quickly brushed that off–if they bothered to stick that use in the sale agreement way back then, there had to be a reason behind it.
‘No way they did it out of the kindness of their hearts.
If they actually had any conscience, they wouldn’t have made Mom sell them in the first ce!
Over the next half hour, Amelia gave Reba a rundown of what happened with the Quinn Group in the past. She only gave a brief mention of how the Quinn family and Liam had treated her–she didn’t go into detail, keeping things strictly business.
Even so, Reba couldn’t shake off the heaviness in her heart for a long time after hearing it all.
“That’s pretty much the gist of it,” Amelia said, pausing to think. “If I remember anything else, I’ll let you know.”
“Mom…” Reba whispered, suddenly realizing just how much her kind–hearted mother had been through. I never knew it was all this hard for her,‘ she thought.
Amelia nced over, responding gently, “Hmm?”
Reba clenched her fists, determination burning in her eyes. “I promise, I’ll take back what’s yours.”
It was Mom who saved the Quinn Group.
Mom was the one who brought in all those crucial partners.
She fought for those shares all by herself, through grit and skill.
But in the end, just for being a woman–over nothing but petty gossip and nasty talk–the Quinn family did everything <i>to </i>squeeze those shares from her. Honestly, they’re heartless and rotten to the core.
“Of course I do,” Amelia replied with a gentle smile, her eyes warm and full of trust–she meant every word.
Meanwhile, downstairs, Jeffrey nced over at Ryan, who was still hanging around looking like he had nowhere else to be.
He asked offhandedly, “Mr. Guzman, haven’t left yet? Hoping Reba will invite you to stick around for ate–night bite?”
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“I’m waiting for you,” Ryan said.
Jeffrey blinked, confused.
Ryan nced upstairs and smirked. “With the way you and Reba get along, I seriously doubt they’ll let you crash here overnight.”
“Yeah, I’m not staying the night,” Jeffrey replied, totally unfazed. “But bet I’ll still hang around longer than you.”
Ryan fixed his gaze on Jeffrey, watching him closely.
‘How did this little punk manage to get Reba to fall for him?‘ Ryan thought sourly.
Jeffrey couldn’t care less about Ryan’s stare; he just kicked back, shooting the breeze with Samuel–asking if he was getting used to things around here, or how Reba was settling in.
Time flew by, and before anyone realized, it was past eight o’clock. <fn2ede> Content originallyes from findnovel</fn2ede>
Reba and Amelia came downstairs together.
Reba spotted Ryan still hanging around and cut straight to the point: “Why are you still here?”
“I’m waiting for him,” Ryan said, tossing a nce at Jeffrey, who looked like he could pass out any minute. Knowing he was about to get the boot, Ryan figured maybe he could rope Jeffrey into this mess too. “It’s always safer to have somepany on a dark night.”
Jeffrey opened his mouth to respond.
Reba looked right at him and said, “You should go home.”
‘Reba thought, Seriously, he’s not even healed up yet and he’s out here messing around? Does he even care about himself at all?<b>‘ </b>
“Come on, Jeffrey,” Ryan said, getting to his feet.
“Alright, I’m heading out,” Jeffrey replied, not bothering to argue. He ruffled Samuel’s hair, his gaze never leaving Reba. “Happy birthday.”
Reba replied, “Happy birthday.”
Jeffrey paused, a softness flickering in his eyes.
He gave Samuel a quick hug, said goodbye to Amelia, and finally headed out.
Ryan walked out with Jeffrey, but the difference was clear–Amelia gave him the cold shoulder the whole time, and Reba acted like he wasn’t even there.
Outside the vi.*
Jeffrey got into his car.*
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When the door shut, his already pale face drew tight in pain, brows furrowing ever so slightly. If you looked closer, you’d see he’d been toughing it out the whole time, pain from his barely healed wound gnawing away at him–his lips ghostly pale.*
“Mr. Hanson,” Gregory said, his voice tinged with worry as he set the first aid kit in the back seat.
Jeffrey took off his dark casual shirt, revealing a lean, toned torso. The bandage around his wound was already showing spots of blood.
“Changing the dressing might sting a bit,” Gregory warned, popping open the kit. The car was already disinfected. “Try to bear with it.”
Beforeing over, Gregory had been worried things might go sideways, so he’d even picked up some first aid skills from the doctor, just in case.
‘Lucky I did,‘ Gregory thought to himself.
‘Otherwise, Jeffrey would’ve ended up in way worse shape by the time we got home!
“It’s nothing, just go ahead,” Jeffrey said, his voiceing out hoarse. He’d toughed it out all afternoon so Reba and Samuel wouldn’t notice anything was off. This kind of pain was nothing he couldn’t handle.
Gregory carefully began to unwrap the bandages.
Gregory had just started unwrapping the bandages when someone knocked on the window. Jeffrey nced over and saw Ryan standing outside.
He reached to roll down the window, but Gregory’s worried voice stopped him. “Mr. Hanson, the fewer people know about your injury, the better.”
“This is Honn. The Big Four Families don’t let much slip past them,” Jeffrey replied, unfazed. “He already knows.”
That dinner tonight said it all.
Ryan had purposely made sure he ate food likely to aggravate his wound–it was obvious he knew exactly what was going on.
And when Ryan called him out in front of Reba, Jeffrey figured it was only fair–tit for tat.
The window rolled down.
Gregory was still tending to his wound.
When Ryan saw the blood on the bandage, he looked genuinely surprised. “Why didn’t you y the injury card earlier? If Reba had seen it, maybe she’d have let her guard down and actually cared about you for
once.”
Jeffrey had been so calm all afternoon that Ryan had thought the whole injury thing was just exaggerated gossip.
Turns out he’d just been toughing it out the whole time.
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“Come on, Mr. Guzman, if you’ve really got feelings for someone, would you actually want her worrying about you?” Jeffrey teased.
“Usually, I can’t bring myself to do it,” Ryan replied with a crooked grin. “But hey, sometimes you gotta pull the sympathy card to get ahead. Just don’t think I’ll let you get away with it–if you ever try that trick, I’ll bust you right in front of them.”
Jeffrey let Gregory tend to his wound, not even flinching. “No wonder Amelia doesn’t care about you one bit.”
Ryan’s eyes darkened.
Jeffrey didn’t hold back, his words sharp as knives. “Honestly, I don’t see a single ounce of responsibility in you–a real man should know how to step up.”
Jeffrey would never purposely make Reba worry about him, and he’d never try to win her sympathy by putting on an act.
If she ever did end up worrying about him, it’d only mean things were already spinning way out of his control.
Like that argument at the hotelst time.
Or when he took that knife wound.
“Pretty sure your brother still has no clue you got hurt,” Ryan said, his expression darkening, threat clear in his tone. “So, should I drop him a little hint?”
Jeffrey barely reacted. “Go ahead–see if I care.”
Ryan scrutinized him, eyes narrowed, trying to gauge every reaction.
Jeffrey locked eyes with him, steady and unyielding.
Gregory barely made a sound as he carefully disinfected and changed the bandages for Jeffrey. When he saw that it was only a little bleeding and none of the stitches hade loose, he breathed out in relief.
“So you think I wouldn’t go that far?” Ryan tried to get a read on Jeffrey, but came up empty.
“You’re the head of one of the Big Four Families here in Honn, and Chairman of Guzman Group,” Jeffrey said, his tone perfectly calm. “There’s nothing you’d ever shy away from, right?”
Ryan just went quiet, staring at him, speechless.
‘This little punk’s got a real talent for snark, Ryan grumbled to himself, feeling a bit ticked off.
If it weren’t for the fact that giving him a hard time now would drag himself into trouble too, Ryan would’ve put Jeffrey in his ce–no second thoughts.
On the surface, it looked like Jeffrey and Reba didn’t really get along. But judging from what went down at
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dinner tonight, Ryan could tell–if Reba ever found out he used Stephen to set Jeffrey up, she’d definitely hold it against him.
Getting himself tangled up just to mess with Jeffrey a single time? So not worth it.
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<b>13:37 </b><b>Mon</b><b>, </b><b>Oct </b><b>6 </b>