I Quit Being a Stepmother (Cypress Gem) novel Chapter 485

Chapter 485

Kate only lashed out and tore away her carefully built facade because she felt cornered. She no longer cared if the people in front of her saw her true colors. After all, they had already had a falling out.

All that false softness and pretense of wanting peace was just her way of stirring things up and drawing others to her side.

But never in her wildest thoughts had she imagined Lauren would snap like this.

The Lauren she remembered was timid and vain. So, why wasn’t she afraid anymore? Wasn’t she worried she would run out of options, burn every bridge, and be left to rot in some corner?

Kate had only dared to bluff Lauren because she thought she had figured out Lauren’s weakness- her greed and desperation.

Lauren wanted money to escape Draventh and leave Dalea behind. But Carter wouldn’t give her a dime anymore, nor did he have the power to.

Kate also hadn’t expected Rhea to stoop so low, even joining forces with Lauren temporarily to

attack her.

The scene had turned bizarre.

Kate shifted her gaze. Under the watchful eyes of her colleagues outside, her voice broke with sorrow. “When I explain, you don’t listen. When I apologize, you don’t forgive. When I try to make peace, you reject me. Is it only when I lash out and curse you that you’ll let me go? I only want to work hard and take care of my dad. Why must you corner me like this?”

She looked utterly wronged.

The women outside immediately thought that Kate must have been pushed to the edge. They figured that she had tried to reason and appease them, and still, they pressed on until she cracked.

Their shock and suspicion from earlier slowly gave way to pity for poor Kate.

Lauren, however, was stunned at how quickly Kate had flipped the script, thinking that the latter was utterly shameless. How could someone twist things this well?

From Lauren’s perspective, Kate wept and cried out, yet still glared at her with stubborn defiance, as if she were the real victim.

Meanwhile, Rhea, who should have been the one complaining, sat there like a spectator, occasionally fiddling with her phone, as if the whole scene had nothing to do with her.

She remained lofty and unbothered.

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Chapter 485

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The contrast between the two, paired with memories of the past, suddenly left Lauren shaken.

She admitted that she had wronged Rhea, but even then, Rhea had never tried to destroy her completely.

But Kate?

She had never done Lauren any favors, yet slyly used her as a pawn to do her dirty work, only to dump all the blame on her in the end.

Lauren almost shivered with relief that she hadn’t truly gone mad enough to harm Arielle and Adrian.

If cruelty had a queen, it was Kate.

With her arms crossed, Lauren sneered. Her tone wasn’t sharp anymore but eerily calm. “It’s no wonder George wanted nothing to do with you. He must have seen through your duplicitous act and that vicious nature of yours.

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