After the divorce, he begged

“I promise | won't leave you hanging-you have my word.” Stanley said quickly, meeting Rebecca's gaze.

“Those two are totally shameless,” Mark said, his face blank as usual and voice completely flat. “I just overheard

them badmouthing you behind your back.”

Rebecca glanced over at him.

Mark continued, “Honestly, for your own safety, we should get you back to Honnala.”

“It’s really not that big of a deal,” Rebecca said, walking over, her voice softer than before. “I've already sorted

things out with Mr. Garcia, so you don’t have to worry.”

Mark still wasn't letting it go. “But...”

Rebecca replied, still calm as ever, “If you're really that worried, just put everything in writing. I'll look after

Jeffrey for a week, and Mr. Garcia is payingwith one percent of the Garcia Group's shares.”

Stanley: “72?”

Gregory: “?”

Both Stanley and Gregory were completely dumbfounded.

Stanley blinked, thinking back. “Did | ever say

that?”

“No,” Rebecca shot back. She had zero intention of playing nurse for Jeffrey for nothing. Making things clear now

meant less trouble once he woke up. “And seriously, | can’t exactly put something like ‘If | kill someone, you

handthe knife’ in a contract-that’s just nonsense.”

Stanley went quiet.

Rebecca stayed chill, glancing at him. “If you've got any better suggestions, I'm all ears.”

“I do,” Mark said.

All three of them shot Mark a look.

Stanley and Gregory just knew Mark was probably up to no good.

“You could sign a one-year work contract with Mr. Garcia,” Mark offered, loyal as ever to Rebecca and never

one to care about anyone else. “You can write in whatever duties you want, just keep it legal.”

“Hold up... Didn't we already settle everything?” Stanley was completely confused.

Mark stepped in for Rebecca. “Did you ever sign an actual contract with my boss?”

Stanley shook his head. “No.”

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Mark was blunt as always. “If it's not down on paper, it's worthless. If you change your mind later, we've got

nothing to back ourselves up.”

Stanley: “?”

Stanley pointed to himself. “Seriously, doesn’t my reputation count for something? I'm not that shady.”

Rebecca didn’t hold back. “Maybe | could trust you-before you and Jeffrey trickedinto pawning that ring.

Now? Forget it.”

Stanley's head was buzzing.

Mark didn’t even give Stanley tto think. “If you don’t agree, that’s your call. We're not here to force anyone-

it’s got to be voluntary.”

“So you're actually sticking around if you don’t agree?” Stanley turned to Rebecca.

“No way. I'll take her out myself without hesitation,” Mark said, ever the loyal assistant, calm as a machine. “And

if she tries to stay, I'll just knock her out and carry her out.”

Stanley: “?”

Gregory: “?”

Both Stanley and Gregory stared at Rebecca, like they were silently thinking, ‘Are you seriously okay trusting a

bodyguard this intense?’

Mark pressed him, “You've got thirty seconds to decide. If you don’t sign, we're out of here.”

Stanley’s mind was spinning with question marks.

“Why am | the one signing this contract?‘ he thought.

I'm just a friend, for crying out loud!"

“Con, just sign it,” Gregory piped up, clearly loving the chaos. “If you end up losing anything, Mr. Hanson

will oh-so-generously make it up to you.”

‘No way, Stanley thought.

‘Honestly, if Jeffrey doesn’t hold a grudge againstfor telling Rebecca about the old mess, I'll be lucky. There's

zero chance he'd ever go out of his way to make it up to me.

Mark: “Twenty seconds.”

Stanley shot Rebecca a look. “Con, can you really let Samuel lose his dad when he’s just a kid?”

“He...” Rebecca barely got a word out before Mark jumped in and interrupted her.

“Samuel will never be without a dad,” Mark said in his usual mechanical monotone. “So long ne Me

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Rebecca: “7”

Mark: “Yeah.”

Rebecca pressed her lips together, but in the end, she didn’t say a word,

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Honestly, it's good if he sees it that way. Keeps things simple-everyone knows where they stand and what

they're after, Rebecca thought.

“Ten seconds,” Mark said, fixing his gaze on Stanley,

“Just so | know, what exactly am | supposed to do under this work contract?” Stanley asked, not about to get

played. “You're not expectingto pull off a million-dollar job for 500 dollars, are you?”

Mark glanced over at Rebecca.

Mark was clearly making it obvious-Rebecca was the one calling the shots here.

“It’s not like I'm actually hiring you-1 just want to set up skind of buffer,” Rebecca explained calmly. “If

Jeffrey givesany grief over the next year, you've gotta backup and deal with him.”

Stanley: “Seriously, he won't.”

‘Right now, all he wants is to get back on her good side-no way he’d cause any problems, Stanley thought.

Even if the guy’s slow, he’s not that hopeless, Stanley added silently.

“I'm the one who gets to say what's trouble,” Rebecca insisted. She knew maybe she was pushing it, but

honestly, there was no way she was going through all that mess again.

Stanley hesitated.

Gregory chimed in, trying to help smooth things over. “You and | both know what Ms. Jensen is like. Since we

invited her to look after Mr. Hanson, showing a little good faith is the least we can do. She could've just said no

and left us to deal with this mess ourselves.”

“Fine, Stanley gritted his teeth and gave in. If things get messy, Ill just have Riley bailout, he thought.

“Where's the contract? I'll sign”

“Ill get it to you tonight,” Mark replied, switching to a more respectful tone, though his face stayed just as blank.

“| still need to go over the details with Ms. Jensen.”

Stanley: “Wait, wasn't it thirty seconds?”

Mark: “That was just for you to think it over.”

Stanley: “......"

“If there's nothing else, you two can head out,” Mark said politely, his expression still unreadable. “I've got some

work to report toJonson”

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Chapter 285

Stanley and Gregory exchanged a look, silently communicating.

Stanley: ‘Wait, isn’t this our turf?”

Gregory: ‘Yeah.”

Stanley: ‘Is this guy for real with that attitude?’

Gregory: ‘That's normal.’

Stanley frowned. ‘Normal? You call that normal?”

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A bodyguard daring to threaten me? Can't believe it-never had that happen before, Stanley thought.

Gregory shot a glance at the door, giving Stanley a look that screamed, ‘Honestly, even if the two of us joined

forces, we'd still be no match for this guy!

“Just say whatever's on your mind,” Mark said, catching their eye contact. “Ms. Jensen and | aren't unreasonable.

If you've actually got a good suggestion, we'll go with it.”

Stanley: “Nothing.”

Mark raised an eyebrow, “You scared of me?”

Stanley: “72?”

Stanley: “I!”

Stanley squared his shoulders, smoothed out his jacket, and met Mark’s gaze-sheight, no backing down.

“I'm the CEO of the Garcia Group,” he declared.

Mark: “And?”

Stanley: “I've got a whole squad of bodyguards working for me.”

Mark: “Really?”

Stanley: “Why would | ever be scared of you?”

“Because your bodyguards aren’t around, and even if you and Mr. Baker teamed up, you guys couldn't even lay

a finger on me,” Mark replied, his voice totally monotone and face unreadable, almost robot-like. “If | felt like it, |

could drop you both right here, no problem.”

Stanley clenched his jaw, itching to throw a punch.

But annoyingly, there was no way he could actually take him on.

Seeing how childish they were being, Rebecca just rolled her eyes and headed for the hospital bed, leaving the

boys to their .

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out, “Ms. Jensen.”

N

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