After the divorce, he begged

Chapter 241

Ryan paused.

He hadn't expected her to ask about something even he was afraid to think about.

Seeing him lost in thought, Rebecca asked again, “Do you love her?”

“Yes,” he replied firmly, his expression more composed and serious than ever. “It hasn't changed all these

years.”

If it weren't for love, he wouldn't have withstood his family’s pressure and stayed single his whole life.

Rebecca locked eyes with him. “Honestly, | don’t think you actually love her.”

Ryan’s brow furrowed a little.

‘He couldn't figure out why she’d say something like that,’ he thought.

“If you truly loved her, you wouldn't have let Mom be weighed down by all those rumors,” Rebecca said, her

voice calm but direct. “Amelia and Richard always treatedkindly growing up-so | see things for what they

are. You wouldn't just stand there and let others talk about her like that without doing anything.”

“I'll make them pay for it,” Ryan promised.

“And then what?” Rebecca asked.

Ryan looked confused for a moment.

Rebecca didn’t mince words. “Next tyou're not there, they'll still gossip. You know what? They might even

double down just because you stood up to them.”

“I can’t control what people say, but I'll do everything within my power to keep it to a minimum,” Ryan said,

knowing he couldn’t guarantee the rumors would vanish. “And I'll make sure neither you nor Amelia has to hear

any of it.”

“That's why | say you don’t really love her,” Rebecca cut in, dropping all the formal tone. Her words were cold,

blunt-she wasn’t interested in being polite anymore.

Ryan’s gaze grew intense, shadows flickering in his eyes.

Rebecca gave the most straightforward example: “You know why, despite how different Jeffrey and | are in terms

of family background, nobody has ever dared to gossip about us out there, not even once?”

“Because he stood up in front of everyone and said he loves me.”

“He declared I'm the only one that matters to him. Anyone who givestrouble is basically picking a fight with

him.”

“It’s complicated betweenand your mom,” Ryan said, making sure Rebecca didn’t get the wrong idea.

11:43 Tue, Oct 7

Chapter 241

“Sthings just can’t be talked about in public.”

5:0

“It might've been complicated back then, but that’s no excuse for now,” Rebecca cut in, her voice clear and firm.

“When everyone was gossiping, did you ever stand up and tell them you love Mom? When they accused her of

ruining things with your fiancée, did you ever speak up?”

Ryan paused.

“No... he admitted to himself.

“You didn’t,” Rebecca said, biting out each word, making it crystal clear.

“I didn’t think it through,” Ryan admitted, not even trying to defend himself-he just owned up to it.

“It’s not that you didn’t think things through. It's that you love yourself way more than you ever loved her,”

Rebecca said, giving it to him straight-she only cared about Amelia. “If you actually cared, even just a little, you

wouldn't have let her go through having a child when you knew things would never work out.”

Back in those days, getting pregnant before marriage meant facing way more gossip and judgment than it does

now.

Amelia paid for it, but you never had to face any consequences.

You just walked away, got to leave scot-free. People never blamed the guy-it was always the woman who got the

flak.

“I'll take care of everything you mentioned,” Ryan said, remembering what Jessica had told him. He didn’t bother

to defend himself. “I'll make sure you and your mom get the answers you deserve.”

Rebecca didn’t say another word.

She just thought, ‘Not even close to the devoted dad he thinks he is.

If he honestly loved her, how could he just stand by and watch all those rumors swirl for years and do absolutely

nothing?

A heavy silence hung in the air between them.

After a long moment.

Ryan looked at her cold, distant face and couldn’t help but ask, “When all this is over, can you callUncle

David? Mr. Guzman just sounds too distant.”

you

made

“I can,” Rebecca said, her attitude still frosty. She stared him down and finally asked the question she'd been

holding onto for years, “But first, | want to know-what did Grandpa Sebastian mean when he said Mom abort the

baby?”

She'd never brought it up with Amelia-she didn’t want to reopen old wounds.

But since they’d cthis far, Rebecca figured she had no choice but to confront this so-called devoted dad.

11:44 Tue, Oct 7

Chapter 241

1

(

65 vouchers.

Ryan froze, completely caught off guard.

Memories from the past started to surface, one by one.

Back then, trying to shield Amelia from his family’s wrath, he'd obeyed their orders-forced her into an abortion,

and spat out scold, heartless words.

He'd thought, ‘If the baby was gone, she could always get pregnant again. If Amelia left him, he could always

chase after her. But if she lost her life, then there'd be nothing left at all.

“Is it that hard to answer?” Rebecca asked, her voice icy. Just from the look on his face, she already knew it was

something she wouldn’t want to hear.

“No,” Ryan said, struggling to explain. “It was complicated back then...”

Rebecca tuned him out.

‘Seriously, what situation is ever so complicated that you have to force your partner to get rid of a child?‘ she

thought.

If he really loved Amelia, he wouldn't have forced her-he would've talked it out with her. Love isn’t just words;

real love means you face everything together, side by side.

“I was wrong about this. I'm sorry to you and your mom,” Ryan said, not bothering to make excuses. “I'll do

everything | can to make it up to you both.”

After that, neither of them said another word.

Rebecca walked out of the conference room and went looking for Jessica.

Honestly, Rebecca never expected much from Ryan. She just couldn't get over how someone as amazing as

Amelia kept getting dragged through the mud-stories about her having a baby just to get ahead, wrecking other

people’s relationships... none of that was ever true.

Those rumors were total nonsense, but the guys who couldn’t win Amelia over? They just couldn't get enough of

spreading them.

“Didn’t go well, huh?” Jessica had been waiting for her all this time. As soon as Rebecca stepped out, she walked

right up and asked.

“It's not really about being happy or not,” Rebecca said as the two of them walked upstairs. “I just feel like this

circle is incredibly hostile toward women.”

Just because my mom was a woman, everyone pressured her to give up her shares. When it cto her getting

pregnant before marriage, she was the only one blamed-nobody ever said a single thing about the

guy.

Ryan was the one two-timing, but somehow everyone twisted it as if it was Mom who destroyed his relationships.

“It’s not just this circle-it’s the whole world that’s like this!” Jessica said, totally seeing through it. “Remember

11:44 Tue, Oct 7

Chapter 241

that pink car | bought for over 100 thousand?”

Rebecca nodded. “Yeah.”

4410

Jessica complained. “Every t| took that car out, people would deliberately cutoff-multiple times a day.”

Hearing that, Rebecca realized she’d actually been through the sthing herself.

It only ever happened when she drove something flashy and bright. But with a car that looked neutral and

professional? No issues at all.

“Let's forget all this negativity and go get something to cat,” Jessica said, looping her arm through Rebecca's.

“Since you're the star of tonight's , you gotta stay in the spotlight and keep people talking-so anybody

from the Quinn family planning trouble will think twice before trying to face all that public scrutiny.”

Rebecca set all the stuff about Ryan aside for now. “Sounds good.”

Ryan watched Rebecca head downstairs.

When he saw her perk up after meeting Jessica, his own heart felt a little lighter-finally, sof the pressure

faded away.

“Mr. Guzman,” his secretary called out as she walked up.

“Give Jessica more support,” Ryan told him, figuring handling his daughter's friends was the only move he had

right now. “And if her family ever hits a rough patch, make sure to help them however you can.”

“Understood,” the secretary answered.

He got right on it.

Before long, Old Mr. Lawrence, a spry, wrinkled-old man with surprising energy, showed up next to Ryan.

Following Ryan's gaze to Rebecca downstairs, Old Mr. Lawrence asked with a stern, almost domineering tone,

“Has that kid accepted you yet?”

Ryan shook his head. “Nope.”

Old Mr. Lawrence shot him a contemptuous look. “Completely useless.”

Ryan kept his face impassive, countering coolly, “Isn't this all on you?”

“Don’t pin this on me,” Old Mr. Lawrence scoffed, a master at passing the buck. “Was I holding your hand and

putting those words in your mouth when you went to talk to Amelia? Was | the one forcing you to do all those

things?”

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