After the divorce he begged novel Chapter 83

Jeffrey said, “I will, as long as it’s legal.”

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Andrea didn’t bother pretending to be naïve in front of him anymore, knowing he could see right through her no matter what. She said, “I want shares in the Scott Group–a bigger stake than Jessica.”

Jeffrey looked up.

The atmosphere in the hospital room instantly grew heavy.

Meanwhile, back at Rebecca’s, once Samuel was asleep, she returned to her sketches, watching her balance creep up–small gains, big relief. Near 1 a.m., Rebecca’s phone buzzed–it was the group chat she had with Jessica and lan.

Jessica texted: [Heard Andrea ended up in the hospital yesterday. True or not? Wait, actually, it was the day before yesterday. It’s already past midnight.]

lan replied: [It’s for real.]

After that, Ian sent a voice message that lasted over ten seconds, telling Jessica about everything—from Andrea’s car accident to Jeffrey sticking with Samuel and Rebecca through it all.

Jessica texted: [Serves her right. She can’t be stirring anything up these last few days. So your waiting period ends on the 12th, and you and Jeffrey are getting your divorce certificate on the 13th, right, Rebecca?]

When Rebecca picked up her phone, that message was right at the top. She glanced at the calendar and typed back: [Yeah, seems like it.]

It had been a little over twenty days since Rebecca and Jeffrey applied for divorce. Rebecca had worried she wouldn’t be able to handle life without him, but now, while her heart hadn’t fully adjusted, she’d mostly gotten used to it.

She could look after herself and Samuel. She could pay for her mom’s medical expenses. She realized she didn’t need Jeffrey anymore.

Jessica texted: [Oh, almost forgot–you know how I went out to the bar yesterday? Ran into your dad there. He wants you to see him on Wednesday, says it’s super important and something to do with your mom.]

Rebecca paused.

Another voice message from Jessica arrived. She said, “Honestly, I’ve got a feeling he’s up to no good, so I didn’t tell you right away.”

Rebecca typed back: [Just ignore him.]

Richard might really know something about Amelia, but after getting played once, there was no way Rebecca would fall for it again. For all she knew, Richard just wanted to drag her along for drinks–or something even more disgusting.

Besides, after what May had said last time, Rebecca was even more convinced that Amelia had been keeping

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Chapter 83

things from her on purpose.

Jessica asked, “Why are you still up so late?”

Rebecca replied: [I’m basically a wage slave now.]

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Jessica said, “If your mom had let you learn how to run a company with me back then, you wouldn’t be stuck grinding away at grunt work now.”

Rebecca rested her head on her hand, lost in thought.

The Jensen Group was founded by Amelia and Richard together–Amelia was the one calling the shots for most of the big moves.

But from as far back as Rebecca could remember, Amelia had stepped away completely and never let her get involved or learn the ropes. When the Jensen Group went bankrupt, Amelia didn’t lift a finger to help. She didn’t even bat an eye.

Rebecca replied: [Maybe she figured I’d never go hungry, so she wanted to keep me away from all the betrayal and scheming in the business world.]

It’d be a lie to say Rebecca was not curious, especially after what that mystery man and May said. But she knew Amelia couldn’t give her any answers right now. There was nothing she could do except wait.

The three of them kept the group chat alive for a few more minutes until Rebecca dropped a quick “back to the grind–OT calls” and vanished.

Jessica and Ian both tried to convince Rebecca to join their companies, but they knew she wouldn’t go for it. So instead, they told her, “Just let us know if there’s ever anything you need.”

The next day rolled around in a flash.

After Victor dropped Samuel off at school, the company car pulled up and whisked the whole department off to their team–building retreat.

At first, things in the car were pretty quiet, but as the morning went on, everyone shook off their sleepiness. Soon enough, scattered bits of conversation filled the car.

Lisa suddenly leaned in from the seat next to Rebecca and called softly, “Rebecca.”

Rebecca shot her a sideways glance.

Lisa glanced around and whispered, “Andrea said your family used to be loaded. Is that true?”

Rebecca replied, “Not even close.”

“And she said your family went bankrupt before?” Lisa asked, probing for more.

Rebecca replied, “I guess everyone’s got their own idea of what ‘bankrupt‘ means. Most families hit a point

where they gotta wipe out their savings for some big thing. Ours was no exception.”

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Chapter 83

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Lisa picked up on it–Rebecca clearly didn’t want to talk about it any further. But the more Rebecca kept quiet, the more curious Lisa got. She even ended up gossiping about it with a couple of other teammates in a group chat.

Rebecca had zero clue what everyone was gossiping about, and honestly, she couldn’t have cared less. Right now, all she wanted was to figure out what this team–building trip actually meant–whether it was about team spirit or just a random outing.

Most importantly, she needed to know if joining the activities was mandatory or if she could simply chill on her own.

The minute the van pulled up to the lake–house villa, Rebecca had her answer: the schedule read “free time- do your own thing.”

Inside the villa, there was a bunch of stuff to do–billiards, poker, karaoke, swimming, Werewolf, and a huge pool too.

Rebecca didn’t give a damn about any of it. She was wiped out, and all she wanted was to hit her room and dive straight into sleep.

“You’re not gonna join in?” Jane asked.

“I’m not really good at this stuff,” Rebecca replied, making up an excuse. Not wanting to skip out completely, she added, “Go have fun. Once it’s time to eat, I’ll cook something up for you guys.”

Jane didn’t call her out. She said, “Alright.”

Rebecca breathed a little easier. Just as she was about to head upstairs, her phone rang in her pocket–it was May calling. She walked out into the garden outside the villa before picking up. She called out, “May?”

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