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After giving instructions to EImer, Amelia turned to Rebecca and asked, “Are you going to invite him?”

She didn’t say who she meant, but Rebecca knew exactly who she was talking about.

“No need to invite him,” Jeffrey said, knowing Rebecca as well as she knew him. “He wouldn't miss any of

Samuel's important days. He'll show up when the tcomes.”

At the stime, Samuel was asking the squestion.

Only, the person he was pestering was Jeffrey.

The two of them were always at each other's throats with their playful banter. Samuel put on a dead-serious face

and declared, “Since you're my original dad, I'll save you a slice of my birthday cake. You don’t have to thank me

or anything.”

“Don’t bother. | don’t need it,” Jeffrey replied lazily, not missing a beat in their usual back-and-forth.

Samuel stopped for a second, caught off guard.

‘He really doesn’t want a slice... he muttered, feeling a little bummed.

‘Wait, does that mean he’s not coming?’ Samuel worried.

“Alright, if that’s how it’s gonna be, Ill just save the cake for my other dads,” Samuel retorted, stubborn as ever.

“Just don’t get jealous or throw a fit later!”

Jeffrey raised an eyebrow. “Con, you really think I'd get jealous over cake?”

“Yeah, you totally are,” Samuel fired back, not missing a beat.

Jeffrey shot him a playful look. “Really? News to me.”

“You madesleep alone as soon as | turned three,” Samuel started listing it out for him, eyes narrowed. “And

you convincedthat a three-year-old tough guy shouldn't stick with his mom.”

“Yep, that's exactly how it went,” Jeffrey admitted, completely unabashed.

“After that, if | wanted to sleep next to Mom, | had to basically do boss fights and level up for you,” Samuel

grumbled, still nursing a grudge about the whole thing.

Samuel knew that nobody could ever love him as much as his dad did-Jeffrey was one of a kind when it cto

being a father.

But on the flip side, Jeffrey was seriously clingy with Rebecca. Every single night, he just wanted Mom all to

himself, not giving a second thought to the fact that Samuel, as a kid, really needed her too.

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Jeffrey's dark eyes stared at Samuel through the screen. “Why are you suddenly bringing up old times? Got

something to say to me?”

Samuel stayed stubborn. “Nope. Just wanted to remind you how petty you can be.”

Jeffrey lifted his brow with a teasing grin. “Oh, is that so?”

“Yes!” Samuel snapped back, his voice crisp and clear.

“Noted.” Jeffrey replied, his unusually calm tone only making it more aggravating. “Anything else?”

Samuel:...

Samuel's cheeks puffed up angrily. “Nope.”

‘Ugh, this annoying dad!‘ Samuel grumbled to himself.

‘He just loves messing around with me,’ Samuel thought to himself, rolling his eyes.

“Make sure you enjoy your birthday,” Jeffrey said after a quick look at his calendar. He wasn’t about to let

Samuel wallow in gloom. “I'll swing by as soon as | wrap things up at work. If anyone tries to keepout, I'm

counting on you to vouch for me, little buddy.”

“Depends on my mood-hmph,” Samuel replied proudly, getting all haughty as usual.

Jeffrey just laughed.

Seriously, that smug, spoiled attitude after getting his way? Samuel and Rebecca really were cut from the same

cloth.

“I'm gonna stop now, my puzzle still isn’t done,” Samuel said, once he'd gotten the answer he wanted. No way

he was going to stretch out this call any longer.

Jeffrey replied in his usual chill way, “Yeah.”

Samuel: “Alright, I'm hanging up!”

Jeffrey: “Sure.”

“Bye-Dad!” Samuel blurted, the last word coming out quick before he could change his mind.

He said it so quietly, almost under his breath, that Jeffrey hadn't even processed it before the call disconnected.

Yet even so, the faint, impossibly proud “Dad” still reached Jeffrey's ears.

Jeffrey pulled up Samuel's chat and sent a simple message: [See you on your birthday.]

Samuel clutched his phone, a happy grin spreading across his face.

He knew Rebecca bought him this phone so he could talk to his dad whenever he wanted. Samuel also knew

there was a bunch of stuff between his parents that he couldn’t figure out-stuff that kept them apart. Even

though he tried to respect their choices, deep down, he couldn't help but wish they’d get along again. He

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didn’t even need them as a real couple-just if they could talk like friends, he'd be happy enough.

Rebecca and Jeffrey always knew exactly what was going on in Samuel's head.

But there were just so many walls between them.

Even after knowing about Jeffrey’s messed-up childhood and teen years, Rebecca couldn't help feeling bad for

him-just not enough to forgive him.

“Mr. Hanson, Gregory said as he finished listening in on the entire conversation, a hint of confusion furrowing his

brow. “You've kept your schedule completely clear for Samuel's birthday, and that international meeting you'd

planned has already been rescheduled ahead of time.”

“I'm aware, Jeffrey replied.

Gregory: “?”

Jeffrey didn’t offer any more details. He set his phone aside and got right down to business. “So-how’s the

digging going?”

“The guy who made a scene outside Quinn Group was actually put up to it by someone from one of the Quinn

family’s side branches,” Gregory reported, his voice steady. “He got all bitter when he heard Ms. Jensen was

about to beca big shareholder, so he tried to drag her reputation through the mud.”

Jeffrey's eyes grew dark. “A side branch?”

Gregory replied, “Went over it a bunch of times-yeah, it’s definitely someone from a side branch.”

“Remind Michael-tell him not to mess with people he shouldn't touch,” Jeffrey instructed. “And if they ignore the

warning, I'll show them myself how these things are handled.”

When Liam cto him before, Jeffrey just played along with whatever he said.

But this twas different.

This time, Jeffrey wasn’t just going through the motions-he meant business.

For Jeffrey, protecting Rebecca for the rest of her life meant far more than simply keeping his distance from her

affairs. That was the promise he cared about most.

“Got it,” Gregory replied right away.

It didn’t take long for Stanley to get wind of what was going on.

When Stanley realized Jeffrey wasn’t following every single rule he'd set for Rebecca anymore and was sneaking

around loopholes, he secretly felt pretty pleased. Once he heard everything, he didn’t waste a second before

poking around: “Wait, didn’t Gregory say it was sjunior from the Quinn family side branch behind it? So

why'd you get Michael involved?”

Jeffrey didn’t bother answering.

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Seriously, if the CEO of the Garcia Group couldn't figure out something this simple, what's the point of even

being the boss?

“Why aren’t you saying anything?” Stanley asked. He never bothered overthinking stuff that had nothing to do

with him. “Did your signal cut out or something?”

Jeffrey set his phone aside, barely sparing it another glance, and fixed his attention on the stock market graphs

flickering across his screen.

Stanley: “??” He stared at his phone, totally baffled.

Stanley: “Hey, you still there?” He couldn't help urging, a little impatient.

“That side branch kid is basically just a distraction Michael cooked up,” Gregory said, stepping in since he knew

the boss wouldn't waste his breath. “Really, Rebecca buying back those shares only messes with Michael -hardly

makes a dent in the side families.”

“Yeah, makes sense,” Stanley agreed after a beat, but then frowned. “Still, going out and warning people with

zero proof-isn’t that a bit much?”

“Mr. Hanson doesn’t need evidence to act,” Gregory replied, totally earnest. “Even if it’s abrupt, they'll just have

to swallow it.”

Stanley: ...

‘Gotta hand it to Jeffrey—no one else can get away with that,’ Stanley thought, shaking his head.

If anyone else tried that, nobody would buy it.

Stanley chimed in, “Needto keep tabs on Michael for you? I've got nothing on my plate anyway.”

“No need,” Jeffrey said, since he always liked to handle things himself. “Just worry about your own company.

Stephen's been pretty active lately-he might cafter your projects.”

“Not a chance,” Stanley replied, sounding super confident.

Jeffrey: “2”

Stanley, catching Jeffrey’s confusion, added, “His relationships are way too tic right now. Trust me, he’s got

zero tto mess with my projects.”

“Did Karen find out about his engagement to Yvonne?” Jeffrey guessed, putting the pieces together from what

he’d heard lately.

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