I Quit Being a Stepmother (Cypress Gem) novel Chapter 628

"Make sure you save it for me, okay? Don't sneak any for yourself. I'm saving up for a house," Lauren said.

Affording a mansion was out of the question in this lifetime, but an apartment in an upscale neighborhood might be possible. Still, in a city like Draventh, even that wasn't easy.

Lauren wasn't in any rush, though. She would be content as long as she could afford a place before retirement. All she wanted was a place where she could live out her days in peace.

As for Arielle and Adrian, she'd never once imagined relying on them in the future.

Since they worked in the same company, Carter had naturally noticed how much Lauren had changed. He simply never brought it up.

That quiet routine went on for more than a year and a half until Lauren finally collapsed. She had come down with a fever.

The night before, she'd been running errands for the project team in the middle of a downpour. By the time she made it back to the villa, it was already past 2:00 am. She couldn't even get out of bed the next day.

Carter usually gave her a ride to work every morning, but that morning, she was nowhere to be found. It wasn't until Arielle went in to check on her that they realized that she had fallen ill.

"Dad, her face is all red. She's burning up!" Arielle shouted.

Carter came in right after, and before long, Lauren was lying in bed with an IV drip.

But after just one day of rest, she was already trying to drag herself back into the office.

Over the past year or so, she'd managed to save more than a hundred thousand dollars. It was all real money that she had earned through sheer effort. That was enough to buy, at best, a third of a bathroom.

But she was only in her early 30s. There was still time.

"What are you doing here?"

When Carter spotted her in the office, his brows drew tight. "You're supposed to be on leave. If you drop dead here, the company's not going to take responsibility."

Naturally, life mattered more than money. Without it, there'd be no money to make in the first place.

Lauren dragged her feverish body home. She couldn't just lie there, though. With each shallow breath burning her chest, she shuffled into the kitchen with a mask on, planning to make some seafood pasta.

But by the time the three of them—father and kids—came home, washed up, and sat down to eat, they immediately dug into the pasta. Half a pot of seafood pasta was gone in no time.

Lauren didn't get to have a single bite. "Was it good?" she asked.

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