I Quit Being a Stepmother (Cypress Gem) novel Chapter 16

Chapter 16

“Are you really staying here tonight and not going home?” Maeve was genuinely surprised.

Rhea, who used to treat those two kids like her own flesh and blood, was actually letting go for once.

They sat around a small table. Maeve had prepared a spread of late–night snacks, but Rhea barely touched a bite. She only clinked glasses with Maeve silently.

At some point, she had developed the habit of drowning her sorrow in alcohol.

She knew it wasn’t healthy, but she couldn’t help it.

Every time she sobered up, Carter’s unfamiliar face would haunt her again.

“I want a divorce,” Rhea murmured.

Maeve’s eyes widened. “Are you serious? Have you really thought it through? You might regret it in two days.” Rhea shook her head and smiled faintly. “I never regretted marrying him. And I won’t regret divorcing him either.” Maeve raised her glass to that. “Well, you wasted your best years on him. But at least you’re still smart. Leave this marriage, go back to work, and shine like you were always meant to.”

They said that friends should try to save a marriage, not break it. But as Rhea’s best friend, Maeve truly felt sorry for her.

If there had ever been love between Rhea and Carter, then maybe she wouldn’t have said that. But clearly, there

wasn’t.

“You’re the only daughter of a prestigious family. People would have treated you like royalty. Yet, you ran off to Colburn. Honestly, what were you thinking?”

Since Rhea’s great–grandfather’s generation, the Ravelle family had only ever produced males. That was

until Rhea came along.

Since she was young, she was cherished beyond reason. Fortunately, her elders had kept their heads, never raising

her to be soft or delicate.

That was why the Ravelles had never forgiven her since the day she chose to become a stepmother.

Rhea lay her head down, resting her cheek against her arm. “Do you think I’ve embarrassed my parents? I’m such a disappointment. I’ve never made them proud.”

Tears slid silently down her cheek.

Rhea turned her phone back on and, fueled by the alcohol, called Nathan in the middle of the night. She didn’t dare call her parents, as she was afraid it would only make them angrier.

The call connected quickly.

She hadn’t even heard Nathan’s voice yet when her tears began falling like rain.

Thunder rolled outside, loud and unrelenting.

Covering her mouth, Rhea tried to suppress her sobs and the choking gasps for air. But the person on the other end of the line had already heard it.

Chapter 16

+25 BONUS

“Nathan, I’m not okay… I want to cry… I’m sorry…” she choked out between sobs.

Right after she said that, tears began to pour out. She tried to hold it back, but the sound of her sobs was still enough to break anyone’s heart.

Maeve hurried over and pulled her into a hug. “Alright, alright. Just sleep. Don’t cry anymore.”

Rhea was completely drunk. She dropped her phone as Maeve helped her to bed. But the call didn’t end.

At a private club in Draventh, George quietly ended the call and set the phone down.

Nathan emerged from the restroom, asking, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

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