After the divorce, he begged

Chapter 273

After they parted ways, Rebecca and Charlotte got into their own cars.

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Rebecca had full faith in Charlotte's abilities. Starlight Media was the top dog in the industry, and they could

handle all sorts of problems without anyone even noticing.

On her way back, Rebecca called Jessica and filled her in on what she'd discussed with Charlotte.

She didn’t want to involve Kate's company because she didn’t want to drag them into the Quinn family’s

mess.

The Pierce family was one of the Big Four Families in Honnala, so if they stepped in, nobody would dare mess

with them. But if Jessica and Kate tried to get involved, they'd probably get caught up in all the .

“There's barely any news about you online right now. At most, it’s worth three million,” Jessica said, echoing

Charlotte's thoughts. “Why did you pay so much?”

As long as the story hadn't hit the inteyet, Starlight Media could make it disappear whenever they wanted -

no problem at all.

For them, it was a piece of cake.

Jessica couldn't help but think, ‘Rebecca must've totally gotten scammed paying that much.

“Charlotte's the kind of person you want on your side. Paying extra is just my way of winning her over and

building a connection,” Rebecca said, totally unfazed. “It’s not like I'm short on cash anyway.”

Jessica paused.

After a while, Jessica blinked, genuinely surprised. “Wow, | wouldn't have pegged you for someone that

strategic.”

“What?” Rebecca asked.

“I didn’t expect you to be such a big player,” Jessica admitted after a pause. “No guts, no glory, right? But are

you sure the Pierce heiress is worth befriending?”

“Definitely,” Rebecca nodded.

If the files had her seventy percent convinced, that face-to-face talk sealed the deal-Rebecca had zero doubts

now.

After thinking it over, Jessica finally said, “Do you remember Edward Leighton from that last party? The guy who

tried to flirt with you right after we walked in?”

“Yeah, | remember,” Rebecca replied. She usually had a terrible memory, but everything from that night stuck

with her. “What's up?”

“When you were talking to Max, | saw Edward and Charlotte together, laughing and chatting with a group of

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Chapter 273

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people,” Jessica said, her voice full of concern. “I'm just worried she might be mixed up with that crowd.”

“Sfriendships are just for appearances, Rebecca said, her tone casual but meaningful.

Jessica instantly caught on-no further explanation needed.

She nodded, fully backing Rebecca’s decision without a second thought.

Meanwhile, on Charlotte's end...

“Charlotte, are we heading home?” the driver asked.

Charlotte idly played with her phone, found a contact, and called them. “Driveto the office.”

Not long after, the call connected.

“What do you want?” William's voice cthrough, sounding seriously annoyed.

“Just giving you a heads up: Rebecca's my partner now,” Charlotte said, direct as ever. “If anyone comes to you

looking to make trouble for her, don’t get involved.”

William, as usual, just had to push back. “I'll do it anyway. What are you gonna do about it?”

“Nothing much,” Charlotte replied, her voice sweet as honey but her words pure threat. “I just might get so mad

I'll sneak into your room in the middle of the night and turn you into my sister.”

William was stunned.

‘Seriously? Is that something a girl is supposed to say?’ William thought, totally floored.

‘Is this how a lady is supposed to talk?’

‘Where's her ladylike restraint?”

“If you actually do that, I'll go tattling to Mom and Dad to get you hitched to Eric Shea!” William shot back,

completely losing his cool.

“Doesn't bother me,” Charlotte replied without missing a beat. “By then you’d be my sister instead of my

brother, so if they want a marriage alliance, they'd have to make Eric be the one to marry into our family!”

William was speechless.

‘Can’t argue with that,’ William had to admit, completely blocked.

He couldn’t even argue back.

“Are you serious?” William blurted out, still reeling.

“You can treat it like a joke if you want,” Charlotte answered, her voice gentle and almost teasing.

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Chapter 273

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“It’s not like you and Rebecca even run in the scircles-how did you two end up as partners?” William

questioned, sounding genuinely suspicious. “What kind of secrets are you keeping from me?”

Charlotte shrugged, “She's just adorable.”

William just stared in silence.

Charlotte continued, “And she’s actually pretty funny,”

William blinked, totally lost.

Without thinking, William shot back, “I swear, you've lost it.”

Charlotte hung up, not interested in dragging out the conversation. She'd already said her piece-if William kept

acting up, she'd just end up with an extra sister in the family. No big deal.

A notification dinged on her phone.

A new message popped up on her screen.

It was William: [Wait, you really want to be friends with her?]

Charlotte couldn’t help but smile to herself, thinking about Rebecca’s quirky, almost nerdy charm-adorable in

her own weird way. For a moment, she actually considered what it'd be like to bring her into her own circle.

But that thought didn’t get any further than just that-an idea.

Charlote was never one for the whole friendship thing. That stuff was best left untouched.

Honestly, she liked her life just the way it was.

[Doesn't matter why you're teaming up with Rebecca, but don’t go forgetting the pain just because the scars are

healed.] William, for once, was being dead serious. [You know how this gworks better than | do- don’t make

the sstupid move twice.]

Charlotte glanced at the message, totally unfazed, and texted back three words: [You're nuts.]

William: [You're out of your mind!]

Charlotte didn’t even bother to answer. ‘For real? This guy’s supposed to be the CEO of a public company, and

he’s still so freaking childish,’ she thought, shaking her head.

Rebecca wasn’t messing around-if she'd dragged her feet even for a day, it would've been a mess. That night,

Charlotte sent her a voice message, teasing, “If you'd clooking forjust one day later, I'd have jacked up

the price-double, no joke.”

Attached to the message were three screenshots.

Each one showing news that Starlight Media had already squashed out of sight.

Rebecca replied back, all business and zero emotion, like a human typing machine: [Charlotte always

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Chapter 273

delivers.]

Charlotte: “Didn't expect you to be so cheeky with your words.”

Rebecca: [Not cheeky, just being honest.]

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Lounging on her couch with a mischievous grin, Charlotte sent a voice message: “Call‘sis, and your big sis

will spill who ordered those articles.”

Rebecca: [Don’t we have a confidentiality agreement?]

Charlotte: “Confidentiality agreements? Please, like those ever matter when it comes to my baby sis.”

Rebecca: “...” She seriously had no idea how to respond.

‘Ugh, | just know she’s messing with me... but | can’t prove it, Rebecca thought, feeling a little flustered.

“Aw, not gonna call‘sis‘?” Charlotte’s voice cthrough again, teasing and sweet.

After mulling it over, Rebecca finally typed out just one word. ‘It’s just text. No way she'll see how awkward | look

right now,‘ she thought, and sent: [Sis.]

“Seriously, that’s how you call‘sis‘?” Charlotte's voice cthrough, all playful and teasing, pitch rising like

she was egging Rebecca on. “Nope, gotta be a voice message. Text doesn’t count!”

Rebecca just stared at the screen, completely speechless.

Rebecca didn’t waste a second-phone in hand, she dashed off to hunt down Samuel for backup.

Samuel's large, round eyes were full of curiosity as he watched his mom struggling with something. “What's up,

Mommy?”

“When | hit record, just say ‘sis’ into the phone for me, okay?” Rebecca said, feeling totally awkward about the

whole thing. It was just too weird for her to do herself-especially since Charlotte was actually younger than her.

Samuel grinned and nodded. “Okay!”

Rebecca pressed the record button, and Samuel chirped directly into the phone, his voice bright and sweet:

“Sis!”

Charlotte tapped play, thoroughly intrigued by what she was about to hear.

She imagined Rebecca's face as she sent the message-was she wincing like she was in physical pain, or just

dying of embarrassment?

“Sis!”

The voice that played was pure, sweet, and so childlike it practically melted Charlotte on the spot.

Charlotte was hit right in the feels for a solid two seconds-completely blindsided by cuteness.

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Chapter 273

0:

She played it again, just to double-check it really was a kid's voice.

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“Wow, didn’t think you'd stoop this low, Ms. Jensen,” Charlotte sent back, still using voice. “Is this your way of

trying to level up and becmy aunt?”

Rebecca cleared her throat, replying in the most innocent, earnest tone: [Honestly, that’s my real voice- thought

you'd like it better, so I just tweaked it a bit.]

Charlotte: “77?”

‘Does she really think I'm that gullible?” Charlotte thought, rolling her eyes.