After the divorce, he begged

Chapter 159

“Hold on,” Samuel called out.

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Jeffrey didn’t hang up. He sounded way more relaxed now that Samuel was healthy again. “Let’s talk about it when we get back tomorrow, Your mom and I have an early flight.”

He hung up right after he finished, not waiting for any reply.

Instead of knocking on Rebecca’s door right away, he waited a minute, watching his screen. When Samuel didn’t text back, he figured Samuel had bought his story.

He stuffed his phone in his pocket and made his way to Rebecca’s room.

He knocked twice on the door. Rebecca didn’t answer.

Rebecca stood before the floor–to–ceiling window, her gaze lost in the cityscape and the relentless flow of traffic below. A heavy, suffocating cloud of despair pressed down on her. Her mind drifted into a sea of uncertainty about what came next.

The lock clicked, and Jeffrey pushed the door open. “Why didn’t you answer?” his low voice rumbled.

Rebecca didn’t even turn from the window, her voice flat. “It’s not like a locked door ever stops you.”

Jeffrey came up behind her. He slid his arms around her waist, pulling her back firmly against his chest. “Don’t punish yourself for someone else’s mistakes. Anger only hurts you.”“

Rebecca just kept gazing out the window, her expression cynical. He always has to have the last word, she thought.

“Once we’re back in Jelasburg, you can punish me any way you see fit. I’ll accept it all. Jeffrey murmured, his large hand enveloping hers. “But for now, let’s just get washed up and go to sleep, alright?”

Rebecca didn’t trust a single word coming out of his mouth.

He had promised anything now, but if she told him to sleep in another room or leave her alone, he would suddenly have a thousand reasons why that punishment was bad for their marriage.

He was all talk. When it came down to it, he was full of excuses, always finding a way to weasel out of what she

wanted.

Tll take your silence as a yes, Jeffrey said, gently turning her to face him.

Rebecca said, instinctively taking a slight step forward. But his hold was firm yet gentle, an inescapable anchor. “You go ahead if you need to.”

“Alright,” Jeffrey replied, letting her go. He turned and headed for the bathroom, not worrying that Rebecca might try to leave.

room, Rebecca stayed by the window, her

10:30 Mon, Sep 29

Chapter 159

that had happened that

but the more she replayed everything in her mind, the more she sensed something was off. Tonight’s whole mess just wasn’t

to leverage his son. If he truly wanted to keep her from leaving, he had a dozen other, more effective

nostalgic by nature, he knew there were countless pressure points

she mulled it over a doubt clicked into place. Hearing the shower still running, she walked to the bedside table, picked up Jeffrey’s phone, and typed in the password. It was still her birthday, He

call logs, but nothing seemed

suspected he might have deleted something. She opened Timothy’s chat and sent a message: [If Rebecca asks about what happened tonight, just tell her the truth.

was sure everything was as it should be, she

after all that had happened, she still

her head insisted that Jeffrey just wasn’t that type of guy. No matter what he wanted, no matter how desperate he was, he would

the message she’d just sent to Timothy and slipped Jeffrey’s phone back to its original

room. Jeffrey’s phone screen lit up with

at the still–closed bathroom door. Fighting down a surge of panic, she snatched the phone back up, her fingers flying across the screen to unlock it and

bathroom

texts from Timothy in case he saw them. But if Jeffrey caught her using his phone, she would deal

screen was a message from Andrea:

the message. She was just about to

you’re checking through my messages.

“In

back, striding straight to the couch and flopping down. She whipped out her own

10:31 Mon, Sep 29

Chapter 159

220

first. As long as Timothy

found out afterward.

the other. His thumb paused

back a reply: [I’ll have the family doctor

Andrea: [Okay.]

time making

his phone and go

like Rebecca wouldn’t be rifling through his phone just because she was angry with him. She must have been looking for something connected to the reason

lingered on

buzz. Rebecca’s