After the divorce, he begged

Chapter 325

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You're absolutely right, Jessica,” lan said, instantly perking up and dropping his earlier gloom. “Jeffrey’s great,

but when he’s a jerk, he’s really a jerk.”

Jessica nodded. “Exactly!”

lan grinned. “From now on, we're the biggest obstacles in Jeffrey’s way when it comes to Becky.”

“Obstacles?” Jessica rolled her eyes. “You wantto get dumped by Jeffrey? No wonder you're still single. You

can’t even talk right, you never stand up for me, and you’re too chicken to go after the person you like.”

Jessica gave him a good talking-to, not letting up for a second.

lan obediently listened, not daring to interrupt.

He didn’t dare say a word back.

‘Jessica’s a total boss, lan thought. ‘If she’s not chewingout, she’s probably getting ready to do it.”

“What's with that look? Don’t tellI'm wrong,” Jessica growled, gritting her teeth.

“Of course you're never wrong! Every word out of your mouth is pure truth,” lan replied quickly, playing along.

“Honestly, | should write all your wisdom down and recite it every night.”

Jessica narrowed her eyes at him. “Oh really? Then tell me—what did | just say?”

lan froze, totally caught off guard.

‘Should | just admit | totally zoned out?’ he wondered helplessly.

Jessica stared him down. “Didn’t you just say it was worth memorizing?”

“You talk so fast, | couldn't even keep up,” lan said, clearly not wanting to mess with Jessica. “Can you say it one

more time? | swear I'll actually remember it this time.”

Jessica shot him a look and went off to find Rebecca.

Jan hurried after her, practically tripping over his own feet to keep up.

When they arrived, Rebecca and Jeffrey were taking a “family of three” photo with Samuel. The photographer

had his camera set, and right as he pressed the shutter, out of nowhere-bam!-their tshot turned into a group

of four.

The photographer was baffled.

He stared at the screen. “Hold up, where'd that extra person cfrom?”

That's when Jeffrey finally realized Ryan had somehow slipped in and was standing right behind Samuel,

smack in the middle of the shot.

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Chapter 325

Ryan met Jeffrey’s eyes, looking totally chill as if he belonged there all along.

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“Hey, Jeffrey,” the photographer said, who was there just to document Samuel's birthday, “looks like we've got

someone extra in the shot. Gotta do a retake!”

Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt

“Ryan, can you scoot over?” Jeffrey said, his voice casual but with a hint of annoyance.

“Rebecca.” Ryan completely ignored Jeffrey and focused on her. “A family photo is best when everyone's

together. Let’s wait for your mom-then it'll really be a complete set.”

Rebecca hesitated, opening her mouth but not sure what to say next.

Before she could get a word out, Jeffrey raised his voice toward Amelia. “Mom, Ryan's hijacking the photo and

won't let us take it!”

Rebecca was speechless: ...?*

Samuel thought: ‘What the-?*

Ryan blinked: ‘Wait, what??*

None of them saw that “Mom” bomb coming from Jeffrey.

But what really took the cake was how Amelia, totally caught off guard, didn’t even say anything-she just stared

straight at Ryan instead.

Not a single word out of her-she just stared back, totally silent.

Ryan slipped away without a second thought.

“Gotta say, | never pictured the mighty CEO of the Hanson Group as the tattletale type,” Ryan teased as he

walked past Jeffrey. “Wonder what your staff would say if they saw this side of you.”

Jeffrey answered coolly, “They'd probably just think I'm pretty down-to-earth.”

Ryan was speechless.

‘What a shameless guy!‘ Ryan thought.

He shuffled over to Amelia, feeling so deflated and wronged-a feeling he could hardly recall ever having in his

entire life.

Usually, he was the one to leave others speechless; now the tables had turned and sjunior was running

circles around him. ‘Who needs a son-in-law like that anyway?‘ he muttered to himself.

“Amelia,” Ryan complained, practically pouting, “why do you always side with Jeffrey?”

Amelia didn’t even spare him a glance.

Since Samuel was born, Amelia had made it a yearly tradition for her, Rebecca, and Samuel to take a family

photo together.

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She didn’t want Samuel to grow up and flip through his album, only to find his fifth birthday missing that one

photo with both his mom and dad by his side.

“You didn’t say anything when he called you ‘Mom’ Are you actually giving them your blessing to get back

together Ryan pressed, then started mumbling to himself. “When you think about it, he really isn’t so bad- he

treats Rebecca well, he’s good-looking, talented...”

He kept going, rattling off every advantage Jeffrey might have, just wouldn't quit.

When he finally glanced over at Amelia, he was met with a look of pure disdain.

He immediately asked, “What's wrong?”

“So you think | can’t spot a fake?” Amelia exposed him instantly. “Or are you just convinced you're cleverer than

everyone else?”

“What do you mean?” Ryan played dumb. “| seriously have no idea what you're talking about.”

Amelia never had anything nice to say to him. “Then you really are an idiot.”

Ryan was speechless.

Ryan put on his best pitiful face. “Amelia...”

Amelia just moved a couple steps away, clearly not interested in dealing with him.

Ryan followed her, making sure his shoulder was practically glued to hers.

“Mom!” Rebecca waved at her after she and Jeffrey finished their tshot. “Cover, we're taking a group

photo!”

Amelia walked over.

Every year, after they finished their tshot, they'd always call her over for a full family photo.

She stood next to Rebecca, and just as the photographer was about to snap the picture, Ryan slipped in beside

her again, making sure he was right in the frame.

Click!

Click! The photo, was captured, locking in that moment.

Then, they took a big group photo with all their friends.

When the photo session was over, Ryan got his hands on the five-person family pic from the photographer. First

thing-he trimmed it down, keeping just himself and Amelia together as his phone wallpaper. After that, he

sneakily edited Jeffrey out, leaving just the other four in the frame.

He posted it to his feed, showing off: Family of four.

Comments started pouring in within seconds.

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[Wait, did Amelia actually let you off the hook? When did you two get back together?]

[Isn't Samuel supposed to have someone else by his side?]

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[Not just someone-con, it's like 99% definitely Jeffrey. Ryan, are you really going to pretend you don’t see

him there?]

[Tsk tsk tsk.]

Not a single person in his feed had anything nice to say-everyone was roasting him.

Ryan barely glanced at the replies and fired back: [You're all just jealous.]

Ding!

Amelia's phone chimed.

Someone in the comments section sent her a screenshot and messaged, “Amelia, did you and Ryan really patch

things up?”

Amelia tapped the image for a glance, then casually refreshed her feed.

Nothing showed up.

He'd set his post so she couldn't even see it.

“Ryan.” Amelia muttered, shaking her head. She really hadn't expected him to be just as shameless as ever-all

that tapart, and she'd actually thought he'd changed. ‘Sthings really never change, she thought.

Ryan was totally oblivious and just put his phone away after replying. “Hm?”

Amelia shot him a look, baffled. “Family of four?”

Ryan paused, a little caught off guard.

Amelia shot him a look. Jealous?’

Ryan’s Adam’s apple bobbed. His nerves were getting the better of him.

“Did you even bother to ask before uploading our photo?” Amelia's voice was steady, but her gaze was fierce.

“How about | sue, you for messing with my image rights, huh?”

“I just...” Ryan honestly had no clue she’d find out about that private block. Knowing any excuse would dig him

in deeper, he just put his hands up. “My bad. | admit it.”

Amelia didn’t even flinch. “Delete it. Now.”

Ryan tried to smooth things over. “Amelia...”

“Or would you rather | handle it myself?” Amelia raised an eyebrow, making it clear she wasn’t bluffing.

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Ryan paused, remembering she was a hacker-no way was he risking her hijacking his account. He quickly

whipped out his phone, tapped away, and handed it over. “Done. See? It's gone.”

Amelia checked it.

Ryan blinked, completely caught off guard.

For the first tin years, Ryan's heart nearly leaped into his throat.

‘Did she really just look?’ he thought, a little rattled.

She always used to ignore me-why’s she suddenly paying attention now?’ Ryan wondered, feeling weirdly

nervous.

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