After the divorce, he begged

Chapter 259

Jeffrey was momentarily stunned.

Gregory and Barry shared a secret thumbs–up for Samuel.

‘Samuel really is something else!‘ they thought.

“Am I that embarrassing?” Jeffrey shot Samuel a sideways glance, his usual calm expression back in place. “Do you have to think about me in secret?”

“Isn’t that obvious?” Samuel replied seriously, sending Rebecca a quick message on his kids‘ smartwatch to let her know he was safe. “If you were someone I could talk about openly, I wouldn’t have to think about you in

secret.”

“What do you think about me for?” Jeffrey asked.

“I just want you to have a better life,” Samuel said, not hiding his feelings one bit.

Jeffrey’s lips curved into a faint smile.

For the rest of the ride, Samuel surprised Jeffrey by being totally honest for once. It kind of threw Jeffrey off, since he was used to sparring with quick comebacks, but Samuel’s real talk actually gave all his bottled–up worries a chance to breathe.

The tension he’d been carrying finally let up a bit.

As the scenery outside grew more unfamiliar, Samuel glanced over and asked, “Where are we going?”

“Home,” Jeffrey replied.

“This isn’t the way to Rebecca’s Manor,” Samuel pointed out.

Jeffrey pressed his lips together. No way he’d admit Rebecca booted him out.

Just as Jeffrey was lost in thought, his phone buzzed out of nowhere with a message.

It was a message from Rebecca: [Samuel’s used to staying at Rebecca’s Manor. If it works for you, take him there–he’s got stuff he needs to pick up. But if it’s awkward for you, don’t worry about it.]

She’d turned Gregory down because she wanted to keep her distance from Jeffrey, but Samuel was their son. No way she’d let adult drama ruin things for him.

Jeffrey replied instantly: [Okay.]

Rebecca didn’t reply.

She put her phone away and headed off with Amelia to handle the asset transfer. Amelia had so many assets that transferring everything would take months, so in the end, they only dealt with enough cash and investment funds to buy back the shares at the original price. The rest was left untouched.

14:17 Wed, Oct 8

Chapter 259

The cash transfer was wrapped up in a day, but the investment funds took another two or three days to clear.

While she had some free time, Rebecca decided to meet up with Jessica and Ian.

both Jessica and lan were taken aback. Rebecca was never the type for bars or nightclubs—both of them knew that so they

this?‘

private room, Jessica grinned and teased, “Seriously, Rebecca, of all places- what made you

just want to see what my actual drinking limit is,” Rebecca said, making preparations for everything that was about to happen. “If you two are here,

always the lightweight–one drink and you’re tipsy, three and you’re done for? Jessica

thought, reflecting on herself. When I’ve got someone I trust with me, I

that dinner, Jeffrey made

matter how bad things got between them, Rebecca never really worried he’d let anything happen to her- she knew he’d never take advantage, even if she

her in other ways, but when it came

she tried to tough it out, that still wasn’t her

looking totally bewildered–her

“Hold up, aren’t Ian

different, okay? Hard to explain–just a vibe thing. Anyway, just think of this as us hanging out at a bar. No pressure, drink whatever you

anything like this before, but

the next hour, they just hung out together–chatting, gossiping, sharing stories, the usual

drink from

a bunch of business dinners coming up, she mostly stuck to the kind of

her hard- her limbs felt a little fuzzy, and her

Rebecca couldn’t hold her liquor, but watching her get tipsy this

14:17 Wed, Oct 8

Chapter 259

30vouchers

and carefully opened an app, double–checking that she could still dial a number without messing up.

more minutes

her fourth, then

but lost the battle–swaying on her feet before plopping right back into

was genuinely

the party’s even started,” Jessica said, helping Rebecca

“Then I just gotta

just chuckled, a

awake, forcing herself not to let the alcohol get the best of her. But as soon as she

and Jessica both felt a strange sourness in

glancing

like this?” Ian said,

blanket, her touch full of

uneasy. “Then why didn’t you try to

was I supposed

to help her get those shares?” Ian said, clearly not wanting Rebecca to suffer. “Or maybe we should

about Rebecca?” Jessica

without missing a beat.

struggle,” Jessica said, understanding her perfectly. “All

only really trust what you get with your own

in life comes with

in a

Rebecca was honestly terrified of getting hurt again. She didn’t