After the divorce, he begged

Chapter 16

“If you’re done recovering, we continue.” Jeffrey ignored Rebecca’s anger. His skilled fingers made quick work of his suit buttons before he shrugged off the jacket and tossed it aside.

Rebecca instinctively pulled back, her eyes wide with alarm. “What are you going to do?”

“What do you think a man and woman do in bed together?” Jeffrey moved closer, his large frame dominating her space.

She thought about running, but Jeffrey had locked every door in the suite, leaving her trapped.

“Aren’t you with Andrea?” Rebecca demanded as he backed her from the bed into a corner. “Why can’t you just leave me alone?”

“You’re mistaken about one thing,” Jeffrey said calmly, noting the flash of anger in Rebecca’s eyes.

“I’m not pursuing you–you’re the one who keeps appearing wherever I am,” he continued, advancing with unwavering determination. “You should have known what might happen when you came to a hotel to sell jewelry.”

“If I had known you were here,” Rebecca said, her voice steady and clear, “nothing could have made me come.”

The reason she dared to meet Stanley at the hotel was precisely because she had been here before with Jeffrey for work. Those occasions had been entirely professional–just straightforward business discussions followed occasionally by a meal downstairs, so she didn’t think much of it.

Besides, the meeting wasn’t in a private room but a conference room, which made the setting feel familiar and safe.

Jeffrey’s expression turned frosty. “Is that right?”

“Yes,” Rebecca retorted.

“Too bad we don’t get any ‘ifs‘,” Jeffrey said, grabbing her chin and forcing her to look at him. “Today, you’re stuck with just me.”

His mouth found hers in a harsh kiss. She raised a hand to hit him, but he caught both her wrists and pinned them above her head. When she tried to kick out, he easily subdued her.

In a matter of seconds, he had her cornered against the wall, completely at his mercy.

Humiliation burned through Rebecca.

“Tears won’t get you anywhere,” he told her flatly, watching the angry tears well up in her eyes. “You should be glad it’s me. Anyone else would have been far less gentle.”

prefer it be anyone else,” Rebecca fired back,

turned cold as he asked,

to swallow the words she had been about to say. This version of Jeffrey was nothing like the man who had once doted on her, and she knew that if he actually called other

and tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear, his finger tracing

it a soft squeeze, she couldn’t suppress a

of options, Rebecca,” he said, his other hand settling on her hip. His voice was a low, rough whisper that felt

for a damn thing,” Rebecca snapped, knowing she could never compromise

her newfound nerve. “So that’s your strategy for survival?” he asked

1/3

Chapter 15

no escaping him. The difference in their size and strength made it hopeless she

challenged him, “All this talk just means you want

showed genuine surprise; he hadn’t expected her to be so brutally

said, her whole demeanor shifting as

Jeffrey released his

made a call right

doing?” Rebecca asked, a sense

instead of me?” Jeffrey put his phone away and looked at her, his eyes now completely cold and

Rebecca’s heart sank instantly.

glimmer of fear returned to her eyes, and only then did the icy coldness in Jeffrey’s gaze begin to

Rebecca as she frantically scanned the room for anything she could use

sounded outside the suite. The

her pale

out a low breath, thinking, ‘He doesn’t

about this?” he asked, his tone carefully neutral as he played his

a housecat that forgot its place and bit its owner,” Jeffrey said, his voice devoid of any warmth as he looked at

hesitation,” Stanley said with a faint

one final icy glance before turning and walking away without another word. The sound of his dress shoes echoed through the room

this precious moment,” Stanley recited the corny line, though what he really wanted was to punch Jeffrey for putting him in this

back. She took a steadying breath before adding, “I’d like to freshen

imperceptibly as he paused

recovering