From Betrayal to Brilliance Her Rise to a New Life novel Chapter 203

Chapter 203 Please Stay

Teri’s little brows furrowed.

“She’s not a nanny!” she said firmly.

Carmen had always had a thing for Zaden. When she found out Athena had become Mrs. Storm, she was genuinely upset, felt like someone had beat her to it.

But then the situation took a surprising turn.

Athena’s ex–husband publicly clarified the whole thing. Apparently, there was nothing going on between Athena and Zaden. She’d just been invited along to summer camp as a companion, and if Carmen thought about it that way … wasn’t she basically just the

Still, it was obvious this “nanny” had feelings for Zaden.

That meant Carmen still had a chance.

nanny?

When she saw the way Teri was frowning, she figured Athena had already brainwashed the kid. Carmen leaned in gently and said in a soft voice, “Teri, I know you’ve always wanted a mommy, but not everyone who’s nice to you really likes you. You don’t want to be fooled, okay? Someone like me–I truly care about you. How about this–why don’t you go home and tell your daddy you want me to be

your mommy, huh?”

Her face was full of gentle affection as she tried to coax Teri into putting in a good word for her with Zaden.

Teri’s expression darkened. She was starting to feel annoyed.

She had nothing against Carmen, but she definitely didn’t want her as a mom. She wanted Athena.

But Athena and Daddy seemed like they were going to separate.

That thought made her heart sink, and she slumped in her seat, visibly down.

Carmen was about to keep going when a teacher called from the doorway, “Teri, your mommy’s here to pick you up!”

At the word mommy, Teri’s eyes widened in surprise.

A spark lit up behind her eyes as she suddenly perked up.

Mommy?

1/3

Could it be Athena?

Teri jumped up and ran straight toward the door!

Outside the kindergarten, most of the kids had already been picked up in small groups.

Athena stood by the entrance, scanning the crowd, waiting for the teacher to bring Teri out. Around her, several parents cast lingering glances her way.

Their stares were full of curiosity, suspicion, and thinly veiled judgment.

A few familiar parents leaned in to whisper to one another.

“That’s the woman Zaden’s been seeing.”

“I heard her ex–husband even came out publicly asking for a second chance. Guess she dropped him the second Zaden came into the picture.”

“She’s something else … juggling two men like that.”

The gossip floated right into Athena’s ears. Her expression stayed calm, unreadable, like she hadn’t heard a thing.

Maybe it was because of everything that had happened recently, people recognized her.

And now, seeing her in person, they couldn’t help but start whispering.

Athena did her best to ignore the looks and didn’t let the comments get to her. Talk was just talk. It wasn’t going to break her.

She focused her gaze on the doorway, waiting for Teri to come out.

Moments later, Teri appeared and immediately ran toward her, wrapping her little arms around Athena’s leg and burying her face against it.

Athena crouched down and scooped her up. “Teri, I’m here to take you home.”

Teri looked up at her, eyes sparkling, and nodded excitedly.

Athena scanned the ID card and left the preschool with Teri in her arms.

Carmen followed them outside. She stood there watching Athena walk away, Teri’s arms wrapped tightly around her neck, the two of them looking so close, so natural, so much like mother and daughter. Carmen’s hands curled into fists at her sides.

It looked like she needed to act fast, otherwise, Athena was going to beat her to it.

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Athena stood by the curb with Teri, waiting for Zaden to come around. Teri looked up at her, eyes filled with hesitant curiosity. It didn’t take long for Athena to notice.

She smiled and asked, “Teri, what’s wrong?”

The moment Teri heard Athena speak to her so gently, just like she always had, her eyes welled up with tears.

In a tiny voice, she said, “Athena … are you mad at me for lying? I could talk a long time ago… I just didn’t want you to find out, because I was scared that if you did, you’d leave Daddy.”

Athena froze for a second.

She had been a little upset about Teri pretending to be nonverbal, but honestly, she hadn’t taken it too personally.

She was just glad Teri was okay.

Reaching out, she gently ruffled Teri’s hair and said softly, “Of course I’m not mad. I’m happy, more than anything. Just promise me something, okay? Next time something like this happens, don’t keep it from me. I was really worried.”

She’d honestly thought the summer camp hadn’t helped much.

But clearly, it had done more than she’d imagined, Teri had only gone once and was already speaking again.

Teri’s heart filled with warmth when she realized Athena wasn’t mad. She was comforting her instead. “Athena’s the best,” she thought.

She wanted Athena to be her real mom–forever.

Teri looked up at her with hopeful eyes. “Athena, can you please not divorce my daddy? He really doesn’t want you to go either. I promise I’ll be good from now on, and I won’t hide anything from you ever again!”

Athena lifted a hand to her forehead and sighed,