I Quit Being a Stepmother (Cypress Gem) novel Chapter 39

Chapter 39

Louie shook his head and said, “That may have been true before. But Ms. Ravelle is now an employee of Scott Group. If someone tries to exploit my staff, I’m not going to sit back and let it happen.”

He had long thought about it. If Rhea and Carter ever went to war, Louie would stand with Rhea, without question.

Not just because he enjoyed making life difficult for Carter, but because pulling Rhea to his side meant pulling in the most powerful heiress of Draventh.

And he would never be the fool who told Carter the truth about Rhea’s real identity.

He was looking forward to the day Carter would finally regret it.

Carter’s expression grew darker, his gaze locked on Rhea. “It’s getting late. You should go back and video call the kids.”

He felt that it was Rhea’s responsibility. After all, the kids depended on her the most.

They adored her, so wasn’t it only right for her to be the one who cared for them?

Even here, in public, Carter had the nerve to order her around like she was nothing more than a nanny, without giving her even the slightest bit of respect.

Since that was how he wanted to play it, Rhea saw no reason to keep their dirty laundry hidden anymore.

She said flatly, “I already told you, I’ll take care of the kids if they carry my last name. But as long as you two keep calling me a stepmother, then all my efforts will just be treated as mere obligation. That, I can’t accept.”

Her love for the children had never come with a price. It was Carter who made her slowly realize that she had been

wrong.

Her love for the kids could be unconditional. But when it came to him, there had to be a clear price.

Carter looked stunned. “So now you’re putting a price on caring for the kids? Just because they’re not biologically yours, you think it’s okay to be irresponsible?”

Even Louie, an outsider, was disgusted by his words. “Carter, have you no shame?”

Carter’s anger flared. “This has nothing to do with you, Louie!”

“Carter, don’t start an argument in public. Rhea has her own career. It’s understandable if she can’t take care of the kids,” Lauren said, trying to smooth things over.

But those words left the people around them wide–eyed in disbelief. What was that supposed to mean?

They wondered if it was simply expected of Rhea to care for the kids, while the biological parents somehow had the nerve to criticize her.

Wasn’t the responsibility of raising the children supposed to fall on the two of them?

“Yeah, it’s understandable.” Rhea felt utterly disheartened. With a cold expression, she turned to face them. ” Because that’s your responsibility, not mine.”

Carter moved to take a step closer, but Rhea slammed the private room door shut with a loud bang.

Fortunately, Carter stepped back just in time. Otherwise, the door would have slammed right into his nose.

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Chapter 39

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His eyes burned with anger as he stared daggers at the door.

He could faintly hear Louie’s voice from behind the door.

“What kind of lunatic blames someone else for not taking care of their own kids? Aren’t they out here wining and dining? They’re really shameless.”

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