After the divorce, he begged

Chapter 323

Stanley shot Gregory a look, signaling him to follow.

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This whole father-in-law vs. son-in-law had nothing to do with them. People like them were better off

staying out of the scene-no need to get dragged into the chaos or end up as collateral damage.

“Stuff like this is only family business,” Ryan said, completely unfazed. “You're no longer married to Rebecca -so

that makes you just an outsider now.”

Jeffrey shot back casually, “Oh, so you actually admit it.”

Ryan’s brow furrowed. “Admit what?”

“That you're Rebecca's father is a secret you don’t want getting out,” Jeffrey said, brave enough to ruffle his

feathers. “My connection with her is a lot more honest and upfront.”

Ryan gritted his teeth.

‘Man, this ex-son-in-law is really something else, Ryan thought to himself.

Feeling the tension of the standoff, Stanley hurried Gregory away with him.

“Don’t ever try to pull a stunt like Jeffrey just did,” Stanley cautioned Gregory, still shocked at someone actually

confronting their father-in-law like that. “When you're dealing with your partner's family, you need to show

respect. Acting like that is just asking for trouble.”

Gregory nodded. “Got it.”

‘I'm not stupid,” Gregory thought to himself.

“Gregory,” Jeffrey called out just as the two were trying to make their escape.

Gregory instantly shifted gears, all business again, and replied crisply, “Mr. Hanson.”

“Could you check with Rebecca and see if she’s really recognized Mr. Guzman as her father?” Jeffrey said, looking

straight at Gregory. “If it's true, | should probably send something over.”

Gregory nodded. “Got it.”

“Wait,” Ryan called out, stopping them in their tracks.

‘If Rebecca actually heard any of this, that slim one percent chance of her ever acceptingas her dad would

drop straight to zero, Ryan couldn't help but think to himself.

Jeffrey, still in that ridiculous mascot suit, tilted his head and asked, “Mr. Guzman, got any instructions?”

“You've got it all wrong. It’s not about her recognizing me—I am Rebecca's real dad,” Ryan retorted, refusing to

back down. He strode right up to Jeffrey and lowered his voice to a whisper by his ear, “You'd better think

carefully about whether you really want Gregory to ask her that.”

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10:22 Mon, Oct 13

Chapter 323

Jeffrey remained stubborn as ever, completely unfazed. “And why not?” he replied.

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Ryan met his gaze with a deadly serious stare. “Nothing and no one can ever change the fact that I'm Rebecca’s

father.”

Jeffrey just stood there, eyebrow cocked, waiting for Ryan to say more.

“If you want your path to getting back together to be filled with landmines, keep locking horns with me,” Ryan

declared, making it crystal clear he wasn’t backing down. No way was he letting stwenty-something punk

walk all over him.

Jeffrey? So what?‘ Ryan thought, not impressed at all.

‘Business tycoon or not, that doesn’t matter to me, Ryan scoffed in his mind.

‘In front of a father-in-law? Everyone has to stay in line,’ Ryan reminded himself.

“So what you're saying is, if Rebecca wants to remarry me, she’s gotta get your blessing first?” Jeffrey said,

voice light as a feather-acting all innocent while slyly digging a hole for Ryan to jump into. “And if you say no,

the wedding’s off?”

Ryan didn’t even pause. He just wanted to shut this kid down. “Exactly.”

Jeffrey just smiled, cool and calm. “Alright then.”

Ryan’s brow furrowed.

‘Is he really throwing in the towel that fast?’ Ryan wondered, a bit thrown off.

“I'll just tell Rebecca you're not even worth being called her dad,” Jeffrey shot back, his voice calm as ever.

“You're way too controlling-haven’t done anything for her, but you still want to try to control her whole life.”

Ryan was left completely speechless.

Ryan’s gaze grew even darker, his eyes narrowing with a dangerous glint.

He honestly couldn't believe there was someone out there even more shameless and thick-skinned than he used

to be.

“And I'll give Amelia a heads-up too-let her know she should think twice about both her freedom and Rebecca’s

before making any choices,” Jeffrey added, his voice still coming from inside that absurd mascot suit, just as

aggravating as ever.

Ryan was left completely speechless.

A faint smirk tugged at Ryan's lips. “Looks like you really don’t want to get back together with Rebecca, huh?”

“Instead of digging into my , maybe you should spend your energy figuring out how to win Amelia's

forgiveness and Rebecca's acceptance,” Jeffrey quipped. “Face it-your road to chasing her is way rockier than

mine.”

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Chapter 323

Ryan had to admit it, no matter how much he didn’t want to.

Jeffrey actually had a point-for once.

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All those missing years-over two decades-and whatever feelings they once shared had faded away into nothing.

Anyone could see it in Amelia's eyes; she didn’t have a trace of her old affection for him. He was nothing but an

afterthought to her now.

“Alright, let's get back on track,” Jeffrey said, cutting Ryan sslack and shifting the topic. “So, what moves is

Miles planning against Rebecca and Samuel?”

Miles was left completely speechless.

Wow, so you guys actually remember | exist?’ Miles complained to himself, feeling totally invisible.

‘Honestly, every miserable thing I've had to put up with my whole life-it all traces back to Ryan,’ Miles grumbled

inside.

“You two can hash it out,” Ryan said, shooting Miles a look before giving Jeffrey’s mascot suit a pat. “I'm just the

messenger here.”

Jeffrey, still in that ridiculous mascot suit, turned to look at Miles.

Miles said naturally, “Did you really wear that for the kid's birthday, Mr. Hanson?”

“Or did you think we were here to celebrate with you?” Stanley chimed in, not missing a beat.

Miles’s forehead veins bulged with anger.

If it weren't for Jeffrey standing right there, Miles would've made sure neither of them walked out of here in one

piece.

“I don’t know if what Mr. Guzman just said is true,” Jeffrey replied, his voice carrying a chill this time. “But let me

give you sadvice-putting everything on the line just for a quick payday? That's a dumb move.”

“Obviously, it’s all bogus,” Miles said, playing it cool. “I've got nothing against Rebecca. Why would | even go

after her?”

Miles wasn’t dumb. Going toe-to-toe with Jeffrey would only end badly for him. Sure, they were in Honnala, but

with Jeffrey's reach, if he wanted to ruin Miles, it'd be no effort at all.

Until Miles had everything set, he wasn’t about to show his real hand.

“Good,” Jeffrey said, his voice flat and unreadable. “I'm not nearly as nice as Mr. Guzman. If | ever go after

someone, they won't just lose it all-they’ll never get a shot at making a comeback.”

“You're no fool, Mr. Guzman. You know what | mean.”

Miles replied calmly, “Understood.”

Jeffrey hummed in acknowledgment. “That's settled, then.”

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Chapter 323

Miles didn’t bother to hang around. After tossing out a couple of quick pleasantries, he bailed.

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It wasn’t until Miles had vanished into the crowd at Samuel's birthday party that Jeffrey finally made his way

back over to Rebecca.

“Hey,” Stanley finally spoke up, having been itching to talk about this for ages. “Aren’t you worried about giving

your father-in-law attitude like that? He's not like Richard Jensen-he’s got sserious chops.”

“Honestly, it's not like being nice would stop him from messing with me,” Jeffrey shrugged, totally unfazed.

Stanley blinked, caught off guard.

Then it clicked.

Let's face it-fathers-in-law and sons-in-law are naturally at odds. One’s convinced his precious daughter's been

stolen by sguy, and the other sees the whole relationship as a giant obstacle on his road to romance.

“But...” Stanley began, wanting to say something.

“It’s not like he’s the only one who knows how to throw roadblocks,” Jeffrey interrupted coolly. “If he wants to

play games, | can play right back.”

After throwing out that parting shot, Jeffrey left Stanley and Gregory behind-right now, his mind was all on

Rebecca. She'd made it clear she didn’t want to see him, but with the mascot suit on, as far as she was

concerned, it'd just be sbig cartoon character wandering around, not him. At least, that’s what he convinced

himself.

When he arrived, Rebecca was chatting away with Jessica and the rest. Out of nowhere, a giant shadow loomed

over them-Rebecca instinctively glanced up, only to meet the oversized cartoon eyes of the mascot

costume.

“Uh... who are you?” Rebecca blinked, clearly baffled and not recognizing who was in the suit at all.

Stanley and Gregory hadn't bothered to follow him this time.

With that silly mascot costume, there was literally no way anyone could guess who was hiding inside.

“Becky, get behind me,” lan said, pulling her behind him and throwing Jeffrey a suspicious look. “You never

know-he might pull out a knife or something. Better safe than sorry.”

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