After the divorce, he begged

Chapter 276

Chapter 276

Buzz, buzz, buzz...

Rebecca's phone started ringing.

When she saw it was Jessica calling, Rebecca pushed all her questions aside and made up an excuse. “Jessica’s

calling. I'll go take this.”

“Okay,” lan replied, his tone as relaxed as ever.

Rebecca grabbed her phone and hurried out.

The moment the door shut behind her, lan, barely keeping his cool, whipped out his phone and started angrily

spamming Jessica with messages.

[Are you out of your freaking mind?!]

[Did you seriously have to ruin my big moment right now?]

[Just because | forgot to tell you once, you pull this crap on me?!]

lan was so furious that he was practically pounding the screen with his thumbs, wishing he could smash right

through it, find Jessica, and give her a good beating.

Jessica didn’t even bother to check his messages. She was watching a movie, her phone beside her as she

chatted with Rebecca. “How have you been lately?”

“It's been pretty fulfilling,” Rebecca replied.

“Are

you not really free to talk right now?” Jessica asked, noticing Rebecca's voice sounded a bit quiet.

Rebecca was sitting in her master bedroom. “Yeah, I'm free. | can talk.”

Jessica teased, “Then why do you sound like you're sneaking around with someone?”

Rebecca gave her a deadpan look. “Have you ever snuck around behind someone's back?”

“Ms. Jensen, just so you know, normal people would be too guilty to even respond to that,” Jessica teased, easily

seeing through her. “But you're turning it back on me, which always means you’re hiding something.”

Rebecca was at a loss for words.

She awkwardly cleared her throat. “Is it really that obvious?”

Jessica munched on a piece of fruit. “Trust me, it’s written all over your face.”

Rebecca fell silent.

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Chapter 276

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Before today, Rebecca had always assumed lan had a thing for Jessica. The way those two were constantly

teasing and bickering-it was classic bickering couple energy.

Yeah, lan had told her ages ago that he was into guys, but Rebecca had just chalked it up to him trying to throw

Jessica off the scent. ‘No way that’s true,’ she'd always thought. ‘I've never seen him even remotely close with

any guy after all these years.

Well, except for that so-called “rumored boyfriend” he had back in high school.

“What's taking you so long to spill? Jessica totally forgot about her movie-her gossipy side was on fire.”

Rebecca said, straight up, “lan toldhe likes me.”

Jessica just asked, “And then?”

Rebecca raised an eyebrow. “Seriously, you're not even a little surprised?”

Jessica was cool as ever. “What's so surprising about that?”

Rebecca hesitated, a sudden suspicion forming in her mind. ‘Hold on... wait, you actually knew about this?‘

Jessica just shrugged. “Of course | did.”

“Seriously, when did you figure it out?” Rebecca pressed her.

Jessica replied, “It wasn’t that long ago-honestly, | only found out after you got married. lan really knew how to

keep a secret!”

‘Before that, there wasn’t a single doubt in Rebecca’s mind—Ilan was definitely gay,” she thought.

‘And what happened?‘ Rebecca mused to herself.

‘Damn, he really had everyone fooled,” Rebecca couldn't help but laugh inwardly.

Rebecca felt a swirl of complicated emotions she couldn't even name. She’d honestly considered every

possibility out there, but it never once occurred to her that lan actually had feelings for her-everyone always

shipped him with Jessica way harder than with her.

“Seriously, don’t let it weigh on you,” Jessica told her. “lan’s got a thick skin, you know how he is—he’s not the

type to take these things to heart. Even if you turn him down, he'll bounce right back. Just follow your heart and

do what feels right.”

At lunchtime, the vibe at the table was seriously off.

The vibe at the table was seriously off.

Rebecca sat next to Samuel, with lan right across from her.

Amelia could sense something weird going on between Rebecca and lan, but she just shrugged it off, chalking

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Chapter 276

it up to typical between the younger folks.

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After lunch, Rebecca had finally made up her mind. She followed lan into the study, lips pressed tight as she

hesitated before speaking. “lan...”

“Hold up-not yet!” lan jumped in, cutting her off before she could finish.

Rebecca froze, a little stunned by his interruption.

lan leaned back, his face as chill as ever. “Lettake a wild guess. You're about to reject me, right?”

“Yeah,” Rebecca admitted with a nod.

“Looking this good, you never even felt a spark?” lan leaned in, cocky grin and all.

Rebecca was honest. “I've always just seen you as a friend.”

lan just shrugged it off, totally unfazed. “Guess my charm just wasn’t enough for you.”

“It's not you, really,” Rebecca said, wanting to soften the blow. “It’s just how | am—once | label someone in my

mind, that’s kind of set for life.”

Rebecca just wasn’t the kind of person who caught feelings easily.

The only one who ever managed to break through was Jeffrey. He crashed into her life, throwing all his feelings

right at her-admiring her, loving her, saying it straight out and never holding back.

Little by little, his passion melted her heart-a heart that had never really budged before. Eventually, she

accepted him, liked him, loved him, and let him into her world for good.

But something like that is a once-in-a-lifetthing.

Even after she divorced Jeffrey, there just wasn’t space for anyone else. No one else could ever fit in her world.

“What if we'd always played house as kids?” lan teased, a mischievous glint in his eyes. “If every t| saw you,

| announced | was gonna marry you someday-do you think we'd have ended up different?”

Rebecca shot back, “No point sugarcoating a life we never lived.” She didn’t let herself fall for hypotheticals.

“Honestly, we probably would've just argued nonstop and ended up not even friends.”

lan stopped for a second, mulling it over.

After a brief pause, he nodded. “Yeah, good point.”

Rebecca had always been the mature one in their group. If lan had actually spent their childhood declaring he

wanted to marry her, she probably would've just thought he was sannoying little kid and rolled her eyes at

him every time.

“lan.” Rebecca spoke with her usual seriousness. “Thanks for your feelings, but | really am sorry.”

“Hey, don't

get

all tic on me!” lan said, flashing his trademark smirk. “Honestly, | ought to thank you for

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Chapter 276

turningdown.”

“Hm?” Rebecca looked puzzled.

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“If you didn’t reject me, I'd probably still be hung up on you for another ten years,” lan admitted, trying to keep

things easy for her, not wanting her to feel guilty. “To be honest, sometimes | can’t even tell if it was love or just

an old obsession I've dragged along all these years.”

Rebecca was stumped. ‘Huh?’

She asked, “Why?”

“Can't really say, it's just a feeling,” lan said, pretending to ponder seriously. Then he grinned at her. “We're still

cool, right? You wouldn't be so cold as to turndown and then kickwhile I'm down, would you?”

Rebecca pressed her lips together. “No, | won't.”

“Good,” lan nodded, a playful glint in his eyes. “Guess you're not totally heartless after all.”

Thanks to lan’s lighthearted banter, the whole thing blew over quickly, and soon enough, they were back to

normal-just like nothing ever happened between them.

lan knew he was out of luck. Most girls might turn a guy down a few times, but after enough persistence and

sincerity, they'd eventually give in. But Becky? She was a whole different story.

For her, the moment she said no the first time, that was it-she’d already written that person off for good.

Her way of handling things was cold, but at least it was straightforward.

*That night*

lan asked Jessica to meet up.

He invited Jessica out that night.

As soon as she heard lan had confessed to Rebecca, Jessica hopped on a flight to Honnala-purely to watch

sparks fly and enjoy the show.

Rebecca had no idea Jessica had flown in. After seeing lan off, she focused back on her work. Before long,

Samuel wandered over and softly said, “Mommy?”

“Hm?” Rebecca looked up.

“Did Uncle lan confess to you?” Samuel blurted out, remembering how he’d snuck over hoping to overhear

their conversation.

He knew it wasn’t really okay for kids to eavesdrop on grown-ups...

But he was just too curious about what Uncle lan and Mommy had talked about.

Rebecca gave Samuel's hair a gentle tousle, her tone as warm and soothing as always. “Yeah, he did, but I said

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Chapter 276

no. We're just friends, nothing more,”

Samuel pressed his lips together, unsure what to feel.

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Part of him really wanted his mom to be happy-to find someone she truly loved, and who truly loved her back.

But deep down, he couldn't help but wonder... If Mom ended up with someone else, would she have more. kids?

And if she did get little brothers or sisters, would she stop loving him so much?

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