Raina’s POV:
Alice and Chloe went to the kitchen to prepare the fruits. Jerry, Jason, and I were left in the living room. I
couldn‘t stand to watch the twins. As long as these children were alive, there was no way for me to
separate Charles and Scarlett completely.
But I had to suppress my disgust for them. After all, they were important tools for me to successfully
marry into the Moore family. I picked up the baby snacks that were prepared in advance, put on the
gentlest smile I could muster, and slowly approached the twins. I coaxed them, “Hello, Jerry and Jason.
Will you call me Mommy, please?” Jerry and Jason, who were playing, suddenly stopped. They turned to
look at me. I smiled more brightly, waved the snacks in my hand, and secretly pressed the recording key
on my mobile phone.
“Come on, call me Mommy.” As I expected, the twins stared at the snacks without blinking.
Then, they said, “Mommy.”
I was overjoyed.
If I could make the twins like me, then it would be easy for me to make them acknowledge me as their
stepmother. 1 With a smile on my face, I reached out and tried to pick up Jerry.
“Stop!”
A sudden roar came from behind me, which scared me. I withdrew my hands in an instant. When I
turned around, I saw James and Tracy standing behind me.
“James, I...” I started, wanting to say hello to James.
“Stay away from my brothers, you ugly woman! You are not welcome here!” James screamed at me,
seething with rage. Ugly woman? That remark made me tremble all over with anger. I was about to lose
control of my emotions when James cast a cold glance at me, which sent a chill down my spine. I froze
at once. He looked so much like Charles. The condescending look he flashed me now was just like the
one Charles showed me every time he was angry with me.
Looking at James‘s eyes, I couldn‘t help feeling frightened, but in the end, I decided that I wouldn‘t let a
kid scare me.
“Don‘t get me wrong, James. I just wanted to give Jerry and Jason a hug. Look, 1 prepared some snacks
for them. I also prepared some for you. Let me give them to you, okay?” I stepped forward, hoping to
appease him. Ignoring my flattery, James walked straight to the stroller. The twins immediately put me
out of their minds and reached out to their big brother.
James touched Jerry‘s face and said coldly, “No, thanks. Keep your snacks. And we only have one
mom. No one can ever replace her. I think it‘s time for you to leave.”
Damn! I had never felt so wronged in my life. I would‘ve already slapped this arrogant brat if I hadn‘t
wanted to leave Alice with a good impression.
“What are you talking about, James? How could you be so impolite?”
Just then, Alice and Chloe happened to come out of the kitchen. Chloe seemed to overhear James, so
she snapped at him. It was my chance.
“Chloe, don‘t blame James. He didn‘t mean it,” I said, stepping back and pretending to be sad.
“James, you are a good boy. You should treat Miss Hill with respect, okay?” Chloe knelt in front of James
and gently reminded him to behave. My trick worked.
Without anyone noticing, I cast James a triumphant glance. I was surprised when James suddenly
pursed his lips and then burst into tears. Everyone instantly panicked. Alice rushed over to James and
hugged him.
“Oh, honey, what is it? What‘s wrong? Tell Grandma.”
“Miss Hill... bullied... me... She pinched me hard. She even wanted to... hurt... Jerry...” James spoke in
between sobs, tears continuously streaming down his cheeks. He showed Alice his arm, and there was
indeed a red mark on it. It looked raw and painful.
At this time, everyone, including Chloe, looked at me suspiciously. That was a false accusation!
“No, I… I didn‘t touch him at all...” I explained, trying desperately to keep my panic at bay.
“Grandma, please ask this bad woman to leave. I don‘t want to see her again.” James cried louder and
louder in Alice‘s arms, and Alice‘s eyes filled with the sort of coldness that I didn’t want to see.
“Raina, my grandson is frightened right now. How about you leave for now?” Obviously, Alice was getting
upset.
James was crying and fussing, leaving me with no chance at all to defend myself.
“You can come next time, Raina. It‘s just not a good day today,” Chloe also persuaded me. I stood
helplessly in the living room. Everyone was asking me to leave.
Grievance, unwillingness, and humiliation crashed over me like a tidal wave, and the back of my eyes
started to sting with bitter tears.
This was all James‘s fault. He made a villain of me in front of his family!
I clenched my fists and forced an apologetic smile. “Very well. I‘m so sorry to have bothered you today.
I‘ll come visit at a better time,” I muttered, turned around, and left. As soon as I made it out the door, I
frowned and let the flames of fury consume my heart. I thought about my successful attempt at recording
the twins calling me Mommy. Suddenly, my heart was full of joy.
Holding my phone tightly, I put on a complacent smile. ‘I won‘t let you off, Scarlett!‘
Chloe‘s POV:
After Raina left, James stopped crying immediately. He snuggled up in Mom‘s arms, looking calm and
collected as if he wasn‘t just bawling his eyes out minutes earlier. Did this little boy just make fools out of
us?
“James, did you lie about Raina bullying you?” I asked seriously.
“Yes, and I did it on purpose,” James answered without remorse.
“You disappoint me. You know it‘s wrong to lie, don‘t you? Why did you do that?” I reprimanded him.
“I hate her. I hate that ugly woman. She touches my brothers, and she even wants to replace my mom.
Who does she think she is?” James looked at me with eyes full of disdain.
“Let‘s go, Tracy.” James walked to Tracy and asked her to bring the twins upstairs with him.
“Give it a rest, Chloe. He‘s just a kid,” Mom told me.
“Mom, James is not a kid anymore. Sooner or later, he has to accept that Charles is going to have a new
wife. I truly believe that Raina will make a good wife to Charles and stepmother to the kids,” I said firmly
Seeing that Mom was a little hesitant, I decided to strike while the iron was hot. I held her hand and said,
“The auction of the land on the east bank will be held soon. Charles doesn’t have an escort yet, does
he? Can you please ask him to take Raina with him?”
I looked at Mom expectantly, and she finally agreed, “Okay, but if Charles says no to Raina, we won‘t
force him.”
“Okay,” I replied, heaving a sigh of relief, and added, “Charles doesn‘t know that I know, but he bought a
lovely dress. It must be for Raina. How about we give her a necklace to match that dress?” I smiled.
“Sounds like a plan,” Mom nodded, returning my smile. She took my hand and led me toward the
basement. There was a special jewelry room that our family built in our mansion. It was an underground
space lined with glass display cases and cabinets. Inside those cases and cabinets were a variety of
jewelry that would make any woman swoon.
The last time I paid the jewelry room a visit was before I flew abroad to study. At that time, Mom gave me
an exquisite yellow diamond necklace, but unfortunately…
“How about this one, dear?” Mom‘s voice snapped me back to reality
She held up a shining blue diamond necklace. The blue diamond was perfectly embedded in a daisy–
shaped base and surrounded by a circle of little diamond studs that shimmered under the light.
“Wow. This one will look amazing.”
“Then give this necklace to Raina, but don‘t make your brother angry this time, all right?” Mom
exhorted.
“Don‘t worry,” I promised her confidently. This time, I would make a match between Raina and Charles.
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