After the divorce, he begged

Jeffrey watched her intently, his dark eyes never leaving her face.

Rebecca went on, “I just cto take a look at you-it’s no loss to me.”

“You're not the type to compromise just for resources, Jeffrey asserted confidently.

“Then you really don’t knowat all,” Rebecca shot back. Since the divorce, she'd grown up a lot and seen her

fair share of . “Just a few days ago, | was actually smiling and raising my glass to people who looked down

on me, playing nice and saying sweet things.”

Jeffrey didn’t believe a word of it.

Rebecca’s nmight sound gentle, but her backbone was anything but soft.

She never bothered to toast or sweet-talk those who looked down on her-she’d either ignore them or do

something to make them eat their words.

“If you don’t believe me, go ask anybody who was at that dinner,” Rebecca said, determined to make him let go

of his old illusions about her. Maybe then they could finally stop getting tangled up with each other, and he

wouldn't have to keep getting all twisted up inside, caring about her while struggling to hold it all back.

He used to love that she was so real, so uncomplicated-always straight-up, never one for games or .

But now, she wasn’t that girl anymore.

“I've got things to do, so I'm heading out,” Rebecca said, glancing at the time. She needed to get back and finish

her bid proposal. “I'll csee you again this evening.”

She didn’t stick around for even a moment.

Rebecca grabbed her bag and phone and, on her way out, spotted Stanley and Gregory. She just gave a quick

update: “Jeffrey’s all good for now-not feeling sick or anything, and he’s in pretty decent spirits.”

“Got it. Thanks for your help,” Gregory replied with a slight nod.

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Chapter 289

“Mark, let's roll,” Rebecca said, heading out together with him.

After watching them leave, Stanley and Gregory headed into the hospital room together.

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The mood inside was a little tense. The two exchanged a glance, and Stanley broke the silence with a playful

smirk. “What's with that look? Rebecca didn’t cheer you up?”

“Giveher schedule and everything she’s done over the past month,” Jeffrey demanded, Rebecca’s words still

echoing in his mind. “Especially those dinner parties.”

Gregory hesitated, lips pressed together, looking like he wanted to say more but decided against it. “I'll look into

it right away.”

Jeffrey fixed him with a calm, almost suffocating stare.

Gregory's nerves were shot-he could feel his heart pounding.

‘That look!" Gregory thought, freaked out by the icy stare.

‘What does he want from me?’

“Weren't you always keeping tabs on her?” Jeffrey asked, drawing out each word, his tone sharp and deliberate.

“I used to, but after you seriously toldto stop digging into Ms. Jensen's situation, | haven't looked into

anything about her,” Gregory said, keeping his cool as he lied through his teeth. “Whatever | mentioned to Mr.

Garcia was just stuff | heard secondhand.”

Jeffrey fixed his gaze on him, just quietly watching.

He didn’t believe a single word of it.

“I can back him up on that,” Stanley chimed in, clearly stirring the pot. “It was all just gossip-otherwise, we

wouldn't have even talked about it.”

“You know | can’t stand being lied to,” Jeffrey said, giving Gregory one last shot. He glanced over at Stanley. “If

you can’t telleverything Rebecca's been up to lately in the next ten seconds, pack your bags and go join his

team at the Garcia Group.”

Gregory: “!"”

Gregory instinctively looked at Stanley, panic flashing in his eyes. ‘What do | do? Should | just tell him

everything?

Stanley gave him a subtle nod. Just spill it.

Gregory's brow furrowed in distress. ‘But Mr. Hanson toldstraight up not to dig into Ms. Jensen’s business.

What if this is a trap? If | say too much, | might just get myself fired for real!

Stanley shot him a glance. “Then just join my team.”

Gregory: “..

16:19 Fri, Oct 10

Chapter 289

Stanley: “Huh?”

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‘Seriously, what's that face for? Is being my assistant really such a blow to your ego?‘ Stanley thought, feeling a

bit miffed.

“Three seconds left,” Jeffrey reminded him, his voice icy, no room for argument.

“Just a moment, sir,” Gregory blurted out, already on his feet. “I'll grab my laptop right now.”

A minute later, Gregory had his laptop open and set it on the bedside table.

He gave a helpful rundown, “This is everything that’s happened to Ms. Jensen since the divorce. It covers

detail of how people have treated her.”

every

Jeffrey started clicking through the folders, scanning the documents.

It was all about Rebecca’s work and her clashes with the Quinn family—no mention of her personal life

whatsoever. Gregory clearly knew where to draw the line.

“It's just a general overview,” Gregory said, a bit flustered. He'd only put this together in case Jeffrey ever asked.

“If you've got questions, just ask.”

Jeffrey clicked on the first document.

It showed how many dinner parties Rebecca had gone to this month—and all the shady, offhand remarks people

threw her way at those things.

One of them went: [Rebecca, you're good-looking. If | was loaded, I'd totally put you in charge.]

Another read: [Seriously, with looks like yours, why bust your ass on projects? Just let sguy spoil you rotten.]

And then there was: [Rebecca, con, let’s drink! Tonight, nobody's leaving till we're all hammered!]

The further Jeffrey scrolled, the more explicit and direct the comments became,

By the end, the things they said were straight-up crude.

Jeffrey stared at the last few lines, his voice low and dangerous. “Are you absolutely sure these were the things

people actually said to Rebecca at those dinners?”

“Yes,” Gregory answered, adding a quick explanation about the parentheses. “The lines in parentheses are what

someone dug up after the dinner, while those people were still drunk-basically, info we got by sending someone

to sound them out.”

Jeffrey's eyes grew darker and darker, his expression turning stormy.

The stuff in parentheses spelled it out plain as day-those men holding all the cards were practically drooling over

Rebecca, openly wanting to toy with her, spouting shameless, dirty jokes like it was nothing.

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Chapter 289

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He always knew there were sreal lowlifes in these business circles, but it pissed him off to realize even a

little deal could draw out the worst of them.

“Find a tand handle these clowns,” Jeffrey said, eyes glued to those disgusting lines in parentheses, his tone

cold and lethal. The way they openly talked about Rebecca's looks, her body-he could feel a wildfire of anger

raging in his chest. “Scum like that never play clean.”

Stanley smirked, unable to resist poking at him. “I thought you were done meddling in Rebecca's business?”

Jeffrey shot Gregory a look. “Go handle it.”

Gregory nodded instantly. “Yes, sir.”

Gregory dashed out, while Jeffrey stayed glued to the screen, still paging through the docs, eyes dark and

focused.

Stanley dragged a chair over and made himself comfortable right beside him, legs crossed like he owned the

place. “So, had an epiphany, huh?”

“Looking out for her, always-that was the promise | made,” Jeffrey thought, grasping for an excuse. “This isn’t

butting in-just making sure she’s alright.”

Rebecca always said that after the divorce, he should stay out of her business, stop checking up on her, and

keep out of her sight...

Gregory was only keeping tabs in case she ran into trouble-that wasn’t stalking. Taking care of those assholes

was just not letting trash disrespect women, nothing to do with getting involved in her life.

That didn’t feel like breaking his word.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever Mr. Hanson says,” Stanley said, finally relaxing a bit. “If the boss calls it, that’s how it is.”

Jeffrey shot him a look.

Stanley smirked, “Seriously, what changed? How cyou didn’t get it before?”

Jeffrey's lips pressed into a thin, tight line.

He always figured with Amelia, Jessica, lan, Mr. Guzman, and Mr. Quinn all looking out for her, Rebecca would be

just fine without him. And with how much she hated his guts, if he ever broke his promise, there was no way

she’d let him back into her life-maybe he’d really never see her again for the rest of his days.

But this time, she cto see him herself.

After he pointed out her flaws, Rebecca fired right back, “You're so sharp when it comes to other people's issues-

so when are you gonna get your own act together?”

He realized then-maybe she didn’t want him holding onto that promise so stubbornly after all.

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