After the divorce, he begged

“No hurry.” Ryan spoke up gently. “Let's talk about it after we've had dinner

Rebecca responded with a quiet “mm”

Because Jeffrey was there, everyone ate with an unusual sense of ease.

There were no awkward questions, no gossiping, and nobody tried to dig for secrets.

h

D

58 vouchers

Everyone kept quiet under Jeffrey’s watchful gaze. Even when someone tried to bring something up. Jeffrey

would step in and settle it before Rebecca ever had a chance to say a word.

The family dinner ended up feeling just like any normal meal with friends.

For most of dinner, it was pretty much nothing but the Guzman family singing Jeffrey's praises-felt like one big

show of business flattery from start to finish.

Halfway through dinner, Rebecca's gaze landed on Jeffrey, who exuded a quiet elegance and carried himself with

cool detachment. Sensing her eyes on him, he quickly wrapped up his conversation and looked her way, a

warmth in his eyes he himself seemed unaware of. “What's wrong?” he asked softly.

“Nothing.” Rebecca said, turning away.

Leaning in close, Jeffrey spoke in a low voice meant just for her. “If you want to leave, just tell me. I'll take care

of it.”

For a moment, Rebecca's eyes grew unfocused, as if her mind had drifted somewhere far away.

He'd always said that to her at every dinner, a familiar promise. Sometimes, he'd whisk her away before she

even had the chance to ask.

There was a sudden splash.

Then ca sharp clatter.

Jeffrey's wine glass toppled over right in front of him.

The wine splashed all over his clothes.

“Sorry about that, Jeffrey!” blurted the person offering the toast.

“Jeffrey, you okay?” someone else jumped in, voice full of worry.

The guy who spilled the drink started to panic, looking uneasy.

Even though this was a Guzman family gathering, everyone at the table knew just how important Jeffrey was in

their social scene. With someone accidentally pouring wine on him during the toast, people couldn't help but

worry he'd see it as the Guzmans trying to pick a fight.

11 10 Wed 05

Chapter han

It's nothing Jettres replied the red prevally Benishing off the wine. Ell to change

Ferrone hurried to ich him course of inter-pile sue dist

CRE

T's really familiar with this place Becky, could your showthe way? feffrey’s eyes landet on her, he vice low

and deliterate. She understood exactly what he was hinting at.

Bebeen looked around the room, taking in everyone's faces.

Old Mr. Lawrence gave her a slight nod, his gesture permission enough. ‘Go ahead.”

The looks she got from the others grew a shade more polite, a touch of respect slipping into their eyes compared

to before.

Rebecca softly said “mm” and walked out with Jeffrey.

Ryan's eyes darkened. With all his experience, he could tell right away that Jeffrey had tipped that glass over on

purpose. Meanwhile, everyone else at the table was totally clueless, still looking all anxious for no reason

“Ryan, do you think Jeffrey’s mad?” someone asked, their voice brimming with worry.

“What if he thinks I did it on purpose because | don’t like him?” another piped up, anxiety clear in their tone.

“Seriously, it wasn’t on purpose! | have no idea how his wine glass ended up spilling,” someone else added.

sounding flustered.

No one could stop talking, nerves all over the place.

Not a soul wanted to cross Jeffrey.

The Guzman family was no exception.

“No idea, Ryan said flatly, making it clear he wasn’t going to make things easy for anyone. Why would | bother

comforting them? he thought, his tone chilly. “When he gets back, ask him yourselves.”

Isn't your daughter with him? Why not text her and see if she can suss out how he’s feeling?” someone offered

awkwardly. If he’s mad, I'll just say a few nice things and smooth it over later.”

Ryan gave them a pointed look.

The group exchanged hesitant glances. “Uh, is something wrong?”

Seizing the opportunity, Ryan said, “So | heard someone wasn't too thrilled aboutpassing my shares to

Rebecca

“Really? Who said that?”

“I didn’t know anything about it.”

neither.”

11:19 Wed, Oct 15

Chapter 336

“Rebecca’s your daughter-giving her the shares just makes sense, doesn’t it?”

Everyone started chiming in, talking over each other and trying their hardest to suck up

Ryan kept his mouth shin. He'd seen it all before-these people were bending over backwards now just so they

wouldn't rile up Jeffrey. But give it a bit, and as soon as Miles started tossing threats around, they'd flip sides

faster than you could blink. He couldn’t even bother to feel surprised.

Typical fence-sitters.

Nothing worse than that.

“So Rebecca's Ryan's kid?” Miles finally drawled, sounding almost lazy. “How cI never heard about that?

When did this even happen?”

“Uh... Everyone exchanged awkward glances, not sure what to say.

“Has anyone even seen the paternity test?” Miles asked, coolly but with a bit of an edge.

As soon as he said that, the room went dead silent.

Nobody knew what to say.

Ryan was the biggest shareholder in Guzman Group, but Miles had plenty of shares himself-out of everyone at

this table, his stake ranked second only to Ryan's.

“From what I've heard, Rebecca's actually Amelia’s kid-she had her with someone else back in Jelasburg,” Miles

tossed out, making sure everyone heard. He'd kept quiet while Jeffrey was here, but now that the coast was

clear, he had zero qualms about stirring the pot.

He was mixing truth with lies, as usual.

Even if Ryan wanted to argue back, he couldn't even figure out where to begin.

“Seriously? Is that even true?” someone blurted out, eyes going wide with disbelief.

“Ryan, you ever get a paternity test done?” another person pressed, curiosity all over their face.

“You haven't talked to Amelia in, what, more than twenty years? How do you even know for sure Rebecca's really

your daughter?” someone else piped up, their tone half-skeptical, half-teasing.

“You know, the Quinn family and our Guzman family have never exactly gotten along. What if Rebecca's just

their way of trying to mess with us? | mean, lately she’s been hanging around the Quinns a lot!” someone added,

throwing in ssuspicion for good measure.

Instantly, the whole table erupted into a whirlwind of debate and speculation.

Ryan shot Miles a look.

‘No way they'd be running their mouths unless Miles gave them the go-ahead, Ryan thought, not believing a

single word out of any of them.

11:19 Wed, Oct 15

Chapter 336

ASO

85 Vouche

“Why so quiet, Ryan?” Miles smirked, his voice heavy with sarcasm. Letguess, no paternity test, huh? You

just figure since you and Amelia used to have a thing, that automatically makes Rebecca your daughter?”

“Rebecca is my daughter. Believe it or not, that’s your problem. Ryan said coldly, his steely gaze sweeping

across the room. “Anyone with half a brain can see the bond between us.”

Everyone shot each other a look

Ryan wasn’t wrong. Most of them had been full of doubts before, but after seeing for themselves how Rebecca

shared so many of his features, their suspicions vanished in an instant.

Still, believing was one thing-actually being okay with it was a whole different story.

But Miles and his crew weren't about to just sit by and let Ryan hand over the shares to an outsider who'd never

been part of the Guzman family.

“Even so, we ought to handle the matter of shares with the utmost caution,” someone said, trying to sound

reasonable.

“Rebecca’s ties to the Quinn family are a little too close for comfort. Passing the shares to her might end up

stirring up even more trouble,” another chimed in.

“So what, you'd rather have it go to Miles’s useless brat?” Ryan fired back, not bothering to sugarcoat it. “Or are

any of your own kids actually capable of handling something this big?”

Everyone fell dead silent, not daring to utter a single word.

Seriously, there hadn't been a single standout among the younger Guzman generation. If there had been, Ryan

would've never needed to bring someone from outside the family to run Guzman Group.

Miles’s eyes darkened in an instant. “Ryan.”

Ryan was as blunt as ever. “What is it?”

“I'm your uncle!” Miles snapped, any trace of calm wiped away when facing Ryan. “Is this how you treat your

elders?”

Ryan shot back, “Tell me-exactly when did | ever disrespect you?”

The word “you” cout slow and deliberate, dripping with sarcasm.

Miles wanted to fire back, but couldn't find a single word that would make him look good-he just sat there, stuck

with nothing to say.

Honestly, his son had never done anything noteworthy. Every the got put in charge of something, he either

blew it big tor turned the whole deal into a mess.

“I've said all | need to,” Ryan returned, letting his eyes rest on each person at the table. “You've all weathered

your share of storms-how you handle this isn’t up to me. I'm sure you know better than anyone what to do.”

“Ryan, dig in,” Old Mr. Lawrence said, directly cutting everyone off before things could get any messier.

11:19 Wed, Oct 15

Chapter 336

83

55 vouchers

Ryan had already said everything he needed to, making it clear he wasn’t about to say another word.

Seeing Miles’s sour expression, everyone else quickly shut up, nobody wanting to get on his bad side.

“They actually have a point,” Old Mr. Lawrence said seriously. “If you want Becky to inherit your shares, a

paternity test is unavoidable. Take care of it sometsoon—it’ll save everyone a lot of speculation.”

Ryan shot him a look.

‘Whose side is he really on?‘ Ryan wondered, a flicker of doubt crossing his mind.

word

word

mmMwWLIII0fiflo&1

mmMwWLIII0fiflo&1

mmMwWLHI0RAO&1

mmMwWLIII0fiflo&1

mmMwWL1i10f1ifl0&1

mmMwWLIII0fiflo&1

word

word

mmMwWLIII0fiflo&1

mmMwWLIII0fiflo&1

mmMwWLHI0RAO&1

mmMwWLIII0fiflo&1

mmMwWL1i10f1ifl0&1

mmMwWLIiI0fiflO&1