After the divorce, he begged

would dare jeffres inderrupted motering him get a wind in her for pri pude is every

Ja sam of whenvers pong in betweenand Varen Medien warned, the word ”

www for pro fnning into pelas lentes betone From now, we don’t haerfere in each/?

jethey spede luduty Ind you put mesttoday!

Morphen’s expression turned grim. “What exactly do you wentr

jeffrey didn’t bother answering he simply hung up

Gregory had heard everything Once be confirmed the well had ended, be hesitated forbefore asking. Mr.

Hanson, do you wantto make any preparRIV

“No need Jeffrey replied.

And about Mr. Stephen Hanson Greypry ventured, uncertain.

Jeffrey and Stephen had gone to to the countless times, but it was always a shadowy food-povers in the open as

this

Just keep your eyes on the Quinn family petfrey said, his your dark and unreadable, “Shephants not youn

One day, Stephen might even do something, reckless for love,

But that day wasn’t today, and it wasn’t coming, anytsoon

There was nothing, in this world that could ever make Stephen let up of power and profic. In that sense, he was

just like tharcus.

If the Hanson Group hadn't faced a crisis inside and out back then, Marcus never would've handed over divares

and sof his authority to fettrey-the one who cout on top. Marcus would have kept a tigh wip on his

power, controlling, both Jeffrey and Stephen for the rest of their lives.

His phone buzzed several times.

they picked up. “What now?

Sephen besitated before speaking, his voice low “May out of my business with Karen, and I'll tell you about one

of our father’s schemes. It’s about

w

11 were anyone che, Stephen wouldn't have breathed a word.

ven prey aready knew way too much about his whole affair with Karen

11:46 Sun, Oct 12

Chapter 316

Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt

Jeffrey replied, “Not interested”

Stephen pressed. ‘Don’t you want to know why | sabotaged Rebecca’s project?”

Jeffrey said, “Nope.”

Stephen's eyes grew darker

He stayed silent for a long moment

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“Dad actually hinted that if you couldn't get Rebecca back, | should try to win her over,” Stephen said.

Jeffrey's poker face slipped.

“I don’t care about Rebecca, and | want nothing to do with you two,” Stephen admitted-probably more than he'd

ever told Jeffrey. “That's the whole reason | found a way to make her hate me.”

For once, Jeffrey was at a loss for words.

‘Should | say Stephen’s way too sure of himself? Or does he really have no idea what Rebecca's actually like?"

Jeffrey thought to himself.

“Totally unnecessary,” Jeffrey said.

You know Dad only cares about the money-he’d never let you give all that to Rebecca and just do nothing,”

Stephen explained. “If this schfails, he’ll try something else.”

Jeffrey’s tone stayed flat. “And then what?”

Stephen really didn’t get it.

They'd seen every shady move their old man had pulled since they were kids. Hell, one of their childhood friends

had jumped off a building all because of him.

‘After everything, is he still being so reckless?‘ Stephen thought.

J

“Pass this on to him,” Jeffrey said coldly. “If he dares to do to Rebecca what he did to Andrew, I'll make sure he

ends up meeting Grandpa the sway. And when everything falls apart, he better not act like sore loser.”

“He’s your father,” Stephen reminded him.

Jeffrey didn’t deny it. “So what?”

He wasn’t Stephen-he didn’t give a damn about what the world might think.

Rebecca was everything to him-mess with her, and he’d burn the world down to get even.

In that moment, Stephen realized just how different they were. He was like a caged bird-outwardly obedient to

their father, but always scheming for his own benefit behind the scenes.

Jeffrey, though, was a wolf-unrestrained and fearless. If something didn’t suit him, he'd go for the jugular

11:46 Sun, Oct 12

Chapter 316

without a second thought

0g

“Stephen, Jeffrey said bluntly-something he rarely did “If you want to play the dutiful son, fine by me. If you're

dead set on chasing Rebecca, I'll just treat it as you being crazy. But keep your hands off her career

Stephen could never really make sense of his brother.

If anyone so much as acted like they were interested in Karen-even just putting on a show-Stephen would

instantly hate them and go to any lengths to get rid of them.

But Jeffrey.

“Wait, don’t you like her?” Stephen blurted out.

“Yeah, Jeffrey replied.

“You really have that kind of reaction just because | say I'll go after her?” Stephen challenged. ‘Isn'tchasing

Rebecca even more maddening than sabotaging her career?‘ he thought.

Jeffrey didn’t mince words. “If you try chasing her, you'll get nothing but the taste of rejection. Someone like

you-spineless and irresponsible-is exactly the kind of guy she’ll look down on her whole life.”

Stephen didn’t get angry. Instead, he shot back, “And what about you? You're so responsible and brave-has she

fallen for you?”

Jeffrey replied, “She does.”

Stephen let out a laugh, a touch of sarcasm in his voice. “You really do love lying to yourself, don’t you?”

“She likes me,” Jeffrey said, sounding dead sure. “Trust me, you can like someone and hate them at the same

time.”

Stephen was taken aback.

Jeffrey shot back, “Isn’t that exactly what you feel with Karen sometimes?”

Stephen's grip on his phone tightened.

Karen had never liked him.

With her, everything was about money and fake smiles.

“This is just payback,” Jeffrey warned, voice like ice. “If you dare mess with Rebecca again, | won't hesitate to

break you completely. You care about what things cost-I don’t.”

Stephen hung up.

He knew Jeffrey always followed through. All the Hanson family power Stephen obsessed over didn’t matter one

bit to Jeffrey. And with Karen's show getting put in the spotlight, Stephen knew that was already set in

stone.

11:46 Sun, Oct 12

Chapter 316

After mulling it over, Stephen finally shot Jeffrey a text: [You're on your own.]

w

65 vouchers

The old man might've been sidelined by Jeffrey, but decades of connections weren't just going to vanish. And

when push really cto shove, their father was the kind who'd do whatever it took, no matter the cost.

Jeffrey could see it coming just as clearly. After the call ended, he turned to Gregory and asked, “Where did you

book Samuel's birthday party?”

Gregory stared, totally lost, like: “Huh?”

| thought we were still dealing with that mess...” he wondered.

He didn’t dare ask and quickly replied, “The seven-star hotel, the Grand Imperium.”

Jeffrey nodded. “Got it.”

Gregory shot him a couple more glances.

‘Wait, that's really it?’ he thought, a little thrown off.

“Something else?” Jeffrey asked, noticing Gregory kept trying to say something but always holding back, his

sharp gaze flicking over curiously.

“What about Mr. Stephen Hanson?” Gregory finally asked, trying to help but worried he’d mess things up.

“Should | get ready for any trouble from Jelasburg?”

Jeffrey replied, “Tommy and Barry will handle it.”

Feeling a bit relieved, Gregory nodded. “Alright.”

Rebecca had no idea what kind of was brewing behind the scenes. She was just doing her own thing,

going to work like always, making sure all the Jelasburg and Riverside City projects were set up and running

smoothly. Once she wrapped everything up, she actually found herself with sfree tfor a change.

After this, her job was pretty much done except for checking on their progress every now and then, and getting

everyone to sign off and release the final payments when it was all finished.

That day, just as Rebecca clocked out and was heading toward the car with Mark, but before they even got

inside, two bodyguards approached her-polite and formal. “Ms. Jensen, Mr. Hanson would like to see you.”

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Chapter 317