After the divorce, he begged

Chapter 303

Two minutes later, Jack ended his call with Rebecca. For once, a rare look of contemplation crossed his usually

calm face.

Daniel, ever the helpful assistant, spoke up: “What's wrong?”

“Why didn’t | think to record Uncle and the others when | was eavesdropping?” Jack rubbed his chin, deep in

thought. “I was going to get caught anyway. Wouldn't a recording have been even more solid proof?”

Daniel was speechless.

Jack asked, “So you didn’t think of it either, huh?”

Daniel pointed out kindly, “You didn’t expect to get caught while eavesdropping.” -

Jack mulled it over. “Makes sense.”

Daniel just got back to work, already used to Jack's occasional lapses in judgment.

Meanwhile, after she hung up, Rebecca found herself worrying about Amelia and how things had gone wrong.

Since Jack couldn’t remember the exact details of the conversation, she figured maybe he’d misunderstood

something while trying to listen in. As for Max, he always struck her as a pretty honest, straightforward guy.

Thinking it over, Rebecca made a mental note to dig deeper once she got back to Honnala.

Before getting down to business, she shot Karen a quick message: “Are you here yet?”

Karen texted back almost right away: “Just got here.”

Standing in front of the villa she'd called hfor the past three years, she drew a deep breath, squared her

shoulders, and headed inside.

What she didn’t know was that Stephen hadn’t gone upstairs to rest at all since his meeting with Jeffrey last

night. He'd been sitting on the couch the whole time, waiting for her, with his phone volturned all the

way up.

When he saw her cback, Stephen switched his phone to silent.

“So you finally decided to cback,” he said, his voice low and heavy with tension. His eyes behind the

glasses were bloodshot from a sleepless night.

Karen stood in front of him, trying to figure out how to bring up the real reason she was here.

Stephen's gaze lingered on her dark coat before he reached out, pulling her into his arms and starting to remove

it. “Did you forget what | told you before?”

“This is Rebecca’s coat,” Karen said, reaching out to stop him.

“I'm not going to say it again,” Stephen replied, his tone calm but carrying a definite chill. “Go upstairs and

Sat, Oct

Chapter 303

change your clothes.”

Karen swallowed her feelings. “Okay.”

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She didn’t bother arguing. With him in this mood, Stephen wouldn't listen to anything she said anyway. Might as

well switch into one of those pale outfits he likes and wait for the right moment to have a proper

talk.

Ten minutes later, Karen cback downstairs.

When Stephen saw her in that off-white knit sweater, sof that cold edge finally faded from him.

“Rebecca said you fainted from exhaustion last night,” he said, pulling her down beside him and gently tracing

her delicate fingers. “So, what's going on?”

Karen pressed her lips tightly together, refusing to answer.

Stephen's hand slid beneath the hem of her sweater, his rough fingers teasing her sensitive skin, making her

tremble. “Still not talking?”

“I want to talk to you,” Karen said, gathering her courage.

She'd worked up all her nerve on the way here, but now, wrapped in Stephen’s arms and overwhelmed by his

intense presence, she just couldn't bring herself to push too hard.

“Karen, don’t say anything that'll pissoff,” Stephen muttered, giving her waist a slight squeeze. “I haven't

grilled you about faking that faint or ghosting my messages, so don’t try to stir things up now.”

Karen stiffened.

‘He knows... she realized, heart sinking.

“You want to talk because Rebecca said something and now you're feeling bold again, huh?” Stephen called her

out, cutting straight through all her hidden thoughts.

Three years of raising her-he knew her inside and out.

She comes back after just one night away and suddenly wants to talk? Stephen couldn't think of reason except

Rebecca.

any

other

A chill ran down Karen's spine. “How did you know | faked it?”

“Like | don’t know your body inside out?” Stephen drawled, his glasses making him look like srefined villain.

“Someone who can stay wide awake through all that last night, and then suddenly faints from exhaustion?

Please.”

A flicker of unease crossed Karen's face, and a cold feeling settled in her chest.

‘How am | supposed to go up against someone like Stephen?’ she thought, feeling utterly defeated.

“Then why didn’t you callout on it?” she asked.

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Chapter 303

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“You want to mess around, fine, I'll mess around with you,” Stephen said, his hands roaming with blatant

possessiveness. “Maybe then you'll finally get a good look at reality and stop cooking up these silly fantasies.

Honestly, Stephen only realized this morning that Karen had faked that faint.

She hadn't called to explain anything-just showed up wanting to talk, which was a pretty obvious sign something

was up. Plus, her eyes looked totally red from not sleeping, so he could tell right away she’d been up all night.

No doubt Rebecca had said something to her, and Karen had been stuck turning it over in her head for hours.

“Is that what this is? You want to break up with me?” Stephen asked, his voice low and unyielding.

Karen met his gaze, and after a long, heavy silence, she finally said, “Yes.”

“Rebecca is Rebecca, and you're Karen,” Stephen said, giving her fingers a firm squeeze. “You didn’t grow up

with loving parents, you're not part of sfancy rich family, and you don’t have trust-fund friends who'll

always have your back. Whatever she told you, her advice just doesn’t fit your world.”

Karen bit her lip and kept quiet.

Inside, she felt herself sinking, lower and lower, straight into the abyss.

“Rebecca leaving Jeffrey? That's just Ms. Jensen trying out a normal life,” Stephen continued in that deceptively

gentle voice. “But if you leave me, you're plunging from the shadows into something so much darker.”

“I get it,” Karen said quietly. Stephen was making it crystal clear: don’t even think about it.

This time, he'd let it go.

But if she pulled something like this again, he'd make sure she’d never dare repeat it.

“From now on, don’t have anything to do with Rebecca,” Stephen said, scooping her up and carrying her

upstairs. He laid her on the bed, voice dipping into an icy whisper. “I don’t like her.”

Karen pressed her lips into a tight line, feeling herself sinking into an icy pit inside.

Stephen's hand slid down from her waist, his warm breath brushing against her ear. “Did you hear me?”

Karen answered quietly, almost on autopilot, “Yeah, | heard you.”

“That's my girl,” Stephen whispered, dropping a kiss on her ear. His cool presence enveloped her, leaving her

stiff and unable to move a muscle.

The next moment, Stephen’s touch grew more reckless, his movements emboldened and unchecked.

Karen reached out weakly to push him away, her eyes pleading. “Please, not today. | don’t want this.”

“Actions have consequences. Next tyou think about walking away, remember it’s not your call,” Stephen

murmured, his grip firm but gentle as he pinned her hands above her head.

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Chapter 303

Karen wanted to fight back, but she couldn't summon even a hint of strength.

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In that moment, she realized just how impossible it was to escape Stephen. Even when he was perfectly calm,

she couldn't help but be afraid of him. And if he ever really got angry... she didn’t even want to think about what

he'd do then.

Stephen’s phone buzzed in the background.

Stephen's phone started ringing.

He paid it no mind, pressing his lips from her earlobe down her neck, claiming every inch of her skin with his

touch.

“Just pick up the phone, please. What if it's something important?” Karen pleaded, grasping for any excuse to

end this closeness.

Stephen couldn't care less.

But that annoying ringtone just wouldn't quit.

He grabbed his phone, about to hit decline, but when he saw the caller ID, his expression darkened slightly. With

clear reluctance, he pulled away from Karen and went to answer.

“Is that you, Steve?” a clear, pleasant female voice rang out. “It's Yvonne Jones. I'm back in the country. When

can we meet up and have a talk?”

Stephen paused.

If it hadn’t been for this call, he'd nearly forgotten his parents were trying to arrange a marriage between him

and Yvonne Jones.

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