Ryan paused.


    He hadn’t expected her to ask about something even he was afraid to think about.


    Seeing him lost in thought, Reba asked again, “Do you love her?”


    “Yes,” he replied firmly, his expression moreposed and serious than ever. “It hasn’t changed all these years.”


    If it weren’t for love, he wouldn’t have withstood his family’s pressure and stayed single his whole life.


    Reba locked eyes with him. “Honestly, I don’t think you actually love her.”


    Ryan’s brow furrowed a little.


    ‘He couldn’t figure out why she’d say something like that,‘ he thought.


    “If you truly loved her, you wouldn’t have let Mom be weighed down by all those rumors,” Reba said, her voice calm but direct. “Amelia and Richard always treated me kindly growing up–so I see things for what they are. You wouldn’t just stand there and let others talk about her like that without doing anything.”


    “I’ll make them pay for it,” Ryan promised.


    “And then what?” Reba asked.


    Ryan looked confused for a moment.


    Reba didn’t mince words. “Next time you’re not there, they’ll still gossip. You know what? They might even double down just because you stood up to them.”


    “I can’t control what people say, but I’ll do everything within my power to keep it to a minimum,” Ryan said, knowing he couldn’t guarantee the rumors would vanish. “And I’ll make sure neither you nor Amelia has to hear any of it.”


    “That’s why I say you don’t really love her,” Reba cut in, dropping all the formal tone. Her words were cold, blunt–she wasn’t interested in being polite anymore.


    Ryan’s gaze grew intense, shadows flickering in his eyes.


    Reba gave the most straightforward example: “You know why, despite how different Jeffrey and I are in terms of family background, nobody has ever dared to gossip about us out there, not even once?”


    “Because he stood up in front of everyone and said he loves me.”


    “He dered I’m the only one that matters to him. Anyone who gives me trouble is basically picking a fight with him.”


    “It’splicated between me and your mom,” Ryan said, making sure Reba didn’t get the wrong idea.


    “Some things just can’t be talked about in public.”


    5:0


    “It might’ve beenplicated back then, but that’s no excuse for now,” Reba cut in, her voice clear and firm. “When everyone was gossiping, did you ever stand up and tell them you love Mom? When they used her of ruining things with your fiancée, did you ever speak up?”


    Ryan paused.


    “No… he admitted to himself.


    “You didn’t,” Reba said, biting out each word, making it crystal clear.


    “I didn’t think it through,” Ryan admitted, not even trying to defend himself–he just owned up to it.


    “It’s not that you didn’t think things through. It’s that you love yourself way more than you ever loved her,” Reba said, giving it to him straight–she only cared about Amelia. “If you actually cared, even just a little, you wouldn’t have let her go through having a child when you knew things would never work out.”


    Back in those days, getting pregnant before marriage meant facing way more gossip and judgment than it does now.


    Amelia paid for it, but you never had to face any consequences.


    You just walked away, got to leave scot–free. People never med the guy–it was always the woman who got the k.


    “I’ll take care of everything you mentioned,” Ryan said, remembering what Jessica had told him. He didn’t bother to defend himself. “I’ll make sure you and your mom get the answers you deserve.”


    Reba didn’t say another word.


    She just thought, ‘Not even close to the devoted dad he thinks he is.


    If he honestly loved her, how could he just stand by and watch all those rumors swirl for years and do absolutely nothing?


    A heavy silence hung in the air between them.


    After a long moment.


    Ryan looked at her cold, distant face and couldn’t help but ask, “When all this is over, can you call me Uncle David? Mr. Guzman just sounds too distant.”


    you


    made


    “I can,” Reba said, her attitude still frosty. She stared him down and finally asked the question she’d been holding onto for years, “But first, I want to know–what did Grandpa Sebastian mean when he said Mom abort the baby?”


    She’d never brought it up with Amelia–she didn’t want to reopen old wounds.


    But since they’de this far, Reba figured she had no choice but to confront this so–called devoted dad.


    11:44 Tue, <b>Oct </b>7


    1


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    65 vouchers.


    Ryan froze,pletely caught off guard.


    Memories from the past started to surface, one by one.


    Back then, trying to shield Amelia from his family’s wrath, he’d obeyed their orders–forced her into an abortion, and spat out some cold, heartless words.


    He’d thought, ‘If the baby was gone, she could always get pregnant again. If Amelia left him, he could always chase after her. But if she lost her life, then there’d be nothing left at all.


    “Is it that hard to answer?” Reba asked, her voice icy. Just from the look on his face, she already knew it was something she wouldn’t want to hear.


    “No,” Ryan said, struggling to exin. “It wasplicated back then…”


    Reba tuned him out.


    ‘Seriously, what situation is ever soplicated that you have to force your partner to get rid of a child?‘ she thought.


    If he really loved Amelia, he wouldn’t have forced her–he would’ve talked it out with her. Love isn’t just words; real love means you face everything together, side by side.


    “I was wrong about this. I’m sorry to you and your mom,” Ryan said, not bothering to make excuses. “I’ll do everything I can to make it up to you both.”


    After that, neither of them said another word.


    Reba walked out of the conference room and went looking for Jessica.


    Honestly, Reba never expected much from Ryan. She just couldn’t get over how someone as amazing as Amelia kept getting dragged through the mud–stories about her having a baby just to get ahead, wrecking other people’s rtionships… none of that was ever true.


    Those rumors were total nonsense, but the guys who couldn’t win Amelia over? They just couldn’t get enough of spreading them.


    “Didn’t go well, huh?” Jessica had been waiting for her all this time. As soon as Reba stepped out, she walked right up and asked.


    “It’s not really about being happy or not,” Reba said as the two of them walked upstairs. “I just feel like this circle is incredibly hostile toward women.”


    Just because my mom was a woman, everyone pressured her to give up her shares. When it came to her getting pregnant before marriage, she was the only one med–nobody ever said a single thing about the


    guy.


    Ryan was the one two–timing, but somehow everyone twisted it as if it was Mom who destroyed his rtionships.


    “It’s not just this circle–it’s the whole world that’s like this!” Jessica said, totally seeing through it. “Remember


    11:44 Tue, Oct <b>7 </b>


    that pink car I bought for over 100 thousand?”


    Reba nodded. “Yeah.”


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    Jessicained. “Every time I took that car out, people would deliberately cut me off–multiple times a day.”


    Hearing that, Reba realized she’d actually been through the same thing herself.


    It only ever happened when she drove something shy and bright. But with a car that looked neutral and professional? No issues at all.


    “Let’s forget all this negativity and go get something to cat,” Jessica said, looping her arm through Reba’s. “Since you’re the star of tonight’s drama, you gotta stay in the spotlight and keep people talking–so anybody from the Quinn family nning trouble will think twice before trying to face all that public scrutiny.”


    Reba set all the stuff about Ryan aside for now. “Sounds good.”


    Ryan watched Reba head downstairs.


    When he saw her perk up after meeting Jessica, his own heart felt a little lighter–finally, some of the pressure faded away.


    “Mr. Guzman,” his secretary called out as she walked up.


    “Give Jessica more support,” Ryan told him, figuring handling his daughter’s friends was the only move he had right now. “And if her family ever hits a rough patch, make sure to help them however you can.”


    “Understood,” the secretary answered.


    He got right on it.


    Before long, Old Mr. Lawrence, a spry, wrinkled–old man with surprising energy, showed up next to Ryan.


    Following Ryan’s gaze to Reba downstairs, Old Mr. Lawrence asked with a stern, almost domineering tone, “Has that kid epted you yet?”


    Ryan shook his head. “Nope.”


    Old Mr. Lawrence shot him a contemptuous look. “Completely useless.”


    Ryan kept his face impassive, countering coolly, “Isn’t this all on you?”


    “Don’t pin this on me,” Old Mr. Lawrence scoffed, a master at passing the buck. “Was I holding your hand and putting those words in your mouth when you went to talk to Amelia? Was I the one forcing you to do all those things?” <fnc1f6> ?? ??? ???? ?? ???? ???? ???????s, ????s? ??s?? FιndＮovel</fnc1f6>