After the divorce, he begged

Chapter 136

61

10 vouchers

“It’s not about being stubborn,” Jeffrey said, fully aware of everything he had done. “Some things just have to be done. I have to prove to them that I could actually keep the promises I made.”

“And then what?” Riley asked. “You may wreck your whole family just for that promise.”

Jeffrey’s eyes darkened slowly. He didn’t say another word. “You don’t have to prove anything to anyone. Someone who doesn’t care about promises won’t think it’s impressive, even if you keep it,” Riley said, seeing right through him. “They’ll just think you’re stupid and inflexible.”

“I think you handled it wrong, too,” Stanley said, taking a risk and speaking what he usually kept inside. “Your family should come first.”

Jeffrey scanned their faces. “If you love preaching that much, why not get a new job?”

Stanley was speechless. Riley clicked his tongue. Jeffrey picked up the untouched glass of wine on the table and downed it in one go. He set the glass down, stood up, and said, “I’ve got things to do. I’ll leave first. Charge

it to me.”

He grabbed his phone and suit jacket and left the private room. Watching him go, Stanley rubbed his glass and looked at Riley. “Aren’t you gonna say anything more?”

“No use,” Riley said. “What happened back then hurt him too much. He has an obsession with promises that no one else can understand. You could say a thousand things, and he still wouldn’t listen.”

Stanley’s expression darkened with complicated thoughts. “Are you sure Andrea is really his lifesaver from childhood?” Riley asked. Something about it didn’t feel right.

“I’m sure,” Stanley said. “When he found out, he had it checked multiple times. Andrea has the scar from saving him, and she really was at the scene back then.”

Riley thought for a moment, her handsome face impossibly striking. “Can someone’s personality really change that much?”

As a child, she could risk herself for others. As an adult, she became selfish. No matter how much the environment influenced her, it shouldn’t have changed her that drastically.

“Jeffrey had thought about it, too,” Stanley said as he leaned back on the sofa. “He had even looked into Andrea’s childhood. The neighbors all said she had been sensible and obedient when she was little, a truly good child.”

whole background?” Riley

planning to marry, so why check her life?” Stanley said, knowing Jeffrey’s ways. “He just confirmed

up. Stanley looked puzzled. “What are you

last of her drink against his glass, finished it in one gulp, and

12:27 Fri, Sep 26

Chapter 136

was still hung up on it. “Didn’t Jeffrey say it

20 vouchall

on the computer and started digging in detail. She didn’t believe that someone capable of doing such a thing would have the courage as a child to

records and couldn’t help but furrow her brows. Based on the information, aside from Andrea’s questionable character, there didn’t seem to

Andrea and Rebecca had gone to the same university. After some thought,

Rebecca was dealing with an uninvited guest. Seeing Richard sitting in

her door when she came home, and she was even more surprised that he shamelessly refused to leave. Even when she said she would call the

couldn’t really call the police. Richard was her father. When the police arrived,

you,” Richard said, trying to look fatherly. “You’ve been working, taking care of your mom, and watching Samuel all this time. It’s been rough on

word of it. Richard pressed on. “Don’t you want to know

him to give an explanation. Of course, he

barely hidden ambition in his eyes. “But before

shook her head

mom’s place before she got married. Some of her things are still there,” Richard

emotions. “Then why

ever did was goof off. What would you know?” Richard said bluntly. “That place only opens if

a key,”

mom set it up with facial recognition and an iris scan.

Logic said it sounded unlikely, but what May had told her made it seem at least a little plausible. She felt

don’t believe me, ask May. She knows, too,”

12:27 Fri, Sep 26

Chapter 136

2900

May a message, keeping an eye on her dad the whole time. He had no reaction and