The Unwanted Bride: Claimed by the Billionaire - Chapter 88: Chapter 88

Lauretta’s POV
“I’m certain you took after me, but when it comes to courage, you really lack that.”
I stared at my mom in disbelief with tear-stained eyes. “You chose to bully me in these hard times?”
Rhoda scoffed. “I’m not, and even if I did, you definitely deserve it. You fucking need to be strong, Lori. I don’t know if it has ever dawned on you, but I hope you know that I am not going to be by your side forever!”
My mother’s words felt like a slap to my face. She was literally my life, and the thought of not having her by my side to do things for me and also protect me, broke my heart into pieces.
“Why are you being negative?” I attacked.
“This is exactly what I am fighting you for. I’m speaking the truth but you feel I’m being cynical.
“If Cassie’s mom, may her soul continue to be in distress.” She rolled her eyes at her statement. “What I mean is that, if Cassie’s mom or even her Dad were alive, you think she would go through these struggles or even suffer a bit? Of course not, and that is because she’s weak. She has no idea what it takes to stay strong and fight for herself.”
“We weren’t born in the same year, so there’s no way we are going to die on the same day. You need to be positive. You need to learn how to make things happen on your own. The world is cruel, so you will get trampled on if you do not learn how to be strong.”
“Life will not always give you what you want, Lori. You are only going to end up miserable if you keep sobbing and blaming everyone. I keep telling you that you need to fight until there is nothing else to fight for.”
“You need to convince the universe. Let it see that you’ve fought enough that you deserve all you’ve been chasing. I didn’t sacrifice so much to bring you up only for you to end up as a weak child. You need to fucking grow up amore or else you are going to end up being maltreated like your disgusting step sister.”
I tried to fight the tears in my eyes as my mom spoke. This was honestly one of the few times that she had raised her voice at me.
“You are getting it wrong.” I sniffled. “I’m not weak. Remember that even the strongest soldier gets tired.”
“Oh please, you’ve done nothing but complain every single day since we’ve found out that Cassie has been married in your place. I do my best to motivate you, but you are beginning to freak me out.”
“I can’t believe I sacrificed years trying to make things work out for you, and this is what I get in return.”
“Complaints and ingratitude.”
I wiped away tears from the corner of my eyes. “You are beginning to go far, Mama. I’m not being a brat. I’m not being ungrateful. I mean, where do we go from here? This was like the final hope.”
“Since it’s our final hope, I guess we can just move on. I’m sure you do not mind getting married to any other man of your choice.”
“Stop this, Mom.” At this point, I couldn’t help with the tears that rolled down my cheeks. “Your words hurt so much. I want Shawn Elias. It’s either him or no one else.”
“If you want him, then you’ve got to act like it!”
“The reason why you are so depressed is because you are looking at the situation from the perspective that your step-sister won over you.”
“Didn’t she?” I whispered.
“O God… why are you acting so dumb?”
“Didn’t we just know about Shawn recently? So even if he wasn’t with Cassie, he would have been with another woman. Men like him do not stay single for long.”
“And it’s up to you to give up. I’m sure the top celebrities, the models especially, are still in the race. Good for them because a fellow just dropped out. They know what they want, so they are going to chase it even though it will cause them everything.”
I stared at Rhoda in disbelief.
“You really do not know how this works, do you?” She mocked.
“Why do you think his ex came to blow up those secrets online? Even if she dated Shawn in the past, she is still freaked out that he got married to a woman who wasn’t her. You will be shocked as to how many women are okay with being his mistress while he claims he is married to that bitch! It’s totally your loss if you give up.”
“Well, that will be good for me since it means that I finally got the time to focus on myself.”
“I’m not giving up.” I sobbed, slightly glaring at my mom. I wasn’t even sobbing this hard before she started speaking.
“Well, you need to act like it. Whenever you start getting depressed, remember that you are giving other women the chance to overtake you.”
“And mind you, seduction takes a while. More than a year even.”
My eyes went wide. “More than a year?”
Mom scoffed. “I guess you underestimated how big of a deal this is.”
“It could be shorter than that, but in our case, that’s so impossible because we don’t have access to Shawn as we would want to. The situation would be different if you worked for him and had close access to him.”
“But the truth is that those who work for him are steps ahead of you because they get to see him almost all the time.”
“So you are suggesting that he could be dating one of his workers?” I said in disbelief.
“What do you expect from a man so rich and powerful?”
“I’m not saying things to stain his reputation, but hardly would you see someone like him have eyes on only one woman.”
“But Donald had been faithful to their Mom,” I mumbled. This conversation didn’t sit well with me because if Shawn finally accepts me as his woman, I wouldn’t want him to have affairs with any other woman.
“Oh, please!” Mom rolled her eyes. “I’m sure he’s got things going on for him. They’ve got all the money in the world, so they can buy people to keep their secret.”
“I’m also not indicating that Shawn is a terrible person. But one thing I know for sure is that women have their eyes on him. The ones who would do all it takes to seduce him.”
“It’s up to you to give up if you are tired of pushing.”
“I don’t want to. I just don’t know what to do anymore. Plus, it’s going to hurt so much if I put in so much work to make him mine, then see other women throw themselves at him.”
“That’s a good thing to hope for, but I cannot promise you that, honey.”
“Shawn is married to Cassie, but look at the tragedies going on.”
“The only thing Cassie enjoys is safety, regardless of what the intention behind the marriage is. So I advise that you focus on the benefits of being known as Shawn’s woman, instead of the distraction the position may come with.”
“Okay, I’m sorry, and I give you my word that I won’t throw tantrums that aren’t necessary.”
Rhoda stared at me as though I had grown horns on my head.
“Okay, I wouldn’t throw any tantrums. Sorry for getting you offended, but I know better now. You really need to help me, Mama. I can’t do this on my own.” I intertwined my hands with hers as she was still seated beside me.
“I really want to proceed, but I don’t know what to do.
“Do I apply for a job role in his company?”
“No!” My mom shrugged off my statement. “That’s unwise. Besides, I do not think you will be employed.”
“I think I’ve got a more efficient plan.”
“Which is?” I asked, staring at my mom intently.
“We need to get Cassie out of the picture.”
I stared in confusion for a while, replaying Rhoda’s statement. And then it hit me after a couple of seconds.
My lips curved into a smile.