After the divorce, he begged

hapter 283

Chapter 283

“Can we talk?” Stanley finally asked, the decision weighing heavy in his voice–this took a lot more courage than he usually showed.

“Sure,” Rebecca replied.

They slipped into the lounge next to the hospital room.

Stanley shot a quick glance at Jeffrey, who lay motionless in bed, then turned away–his heart twisted with guilt and anxiety. “Before we get into this, I owe you an apology for the things I said about you yesterday behind your back. I’m really sorry.”

Rebecca didn’t bother replying. She clearly didn’t care about any of that.

“I didn’t ask you to come here so you two could get back together, or to patch things up,” Stanley said, his voice steady and calm now. “I just want you to help him let go of whatever’s eating him up inside. If he keeps going like this, he really might not make it.”

‘Rebecca could tell Stanley was being honest this time.‘ she thought, her expression unchanged.

On the surface, Jeffrey always seemed like the perfect gentleman–gentle, strong, and put–together.

But when he turned that intensity on himself, he could get pretty reckless. Rebecca had seen it firsthand when he stabbed himself with a knife.

“If you can, I’d really appreciate it if you could stay here for a couple of days and talk to him when he wakes up,” Stanley said, his voice sincere. “But if you don’t want to, I won’t force you. Like you said, you two are already divorced.”

“You talk first,” Rebecca said, not agreeing yet–she kept her expression unreadable, unwilling to commit.

Stanley paused, emotions churning inside. He finally managed, “What I need to talk to you about… it’s Jeffrey’s past.”

‘I wouldn’t spill this unless there was no other option,‘ Stanley thought, remembering how Jeffrey had made him promise five years ago never to bring up the old days in front of Rebecca. But now, hiding it was no longer an option.

‘If I keep quiet,‘ Stanley worried, ‘Rebecca’s probably just going to glance around and bail.

‘But if I tell her, maybe she’ll stick around. At least give Jeffrey a chance,‘ he hoped.

Rebecca hesitated, then said, “Okay.”

“Everything goes back to when he was a kid…” Stanley said, his voice weighed down by memories, eyes growing distant as he got lost in the past.

Jeffrey’s birth was a cause for celebration throughout the Hanson family.

16:17 Fri, Oct 10 B.

Chapter 283

…

were thrilled, and his grandfather absolutely

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years, he was the family’s little prince.

sun–even when he was too young to even spell his own name. If he ever took it easy or tried to mess around, his parents and grandpa would never let up on him. He

barely even got to catch his breath, let alone play like

Stanley, Riley, and Andrew during those extracurricular classes, and once they became friends, Jeffrey finally felt some real relief from

on, he could take whatever his family threw at him and keep his cool,

got.

Jeffrey was around five

the Hanson family and

cut Andrew out of his life for good, even made him swear he wouldn’t ever see him again. Jeffrey refused, so Marcus really

he was being defiant, refusing to do what they

Jeffrey finally caved. He turned inwards, barely spoke, and when

If Jeffrey went silent, Andrew would mess around and crack jokes just to loosen him up. If Jeffrey wouldn’t smile, Andrew

back. “His parents had people watching him twenty–four seven. If he so much as showed a hint of friendliness towards any of us, he’d get scolded the moment he walked through

stop there–his mom would threaten her own life, asking if he wanted

done to your mom. Can’t you just act a little

a word. ‘Was the family

said, recalling what happened. “It was just one deal–Andrew’s dad landed

that happened all

Fri, Oct

Chapter 283

Marcus just couldn’t take losing–he hated

49

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quietly. “At first, he made it obvious, but as Jeffrey got older, he realized how much potential the kid had–and how stubborn he was–so he kept it hidden. Eventually, he finally got the chance to take out Andrew’s

all went down when Jeffrey

moved on, but deep down, he was still holding

Marcus couldn’t get over losing to Andrew’s dad. He kept trying to smooth things over, hoping

it if Jeffrey could pull off two

what were those two things?” Rebecca

day,” Stanley said, remembering it all clear as day. “Second, he had to go study abroad, enter international competitions,

her thoughts swirling as she took it all

winning an international gold

pulling off a super hard project at just sixteen? That

study overseas, Marcus even promised him: as long as he brought home that gold medal, he’d finally let go of his hatred for the Dane

his move against the Danes, didn’t he?” Rebecca guessed,

said