Contractually Yours: The Billionaire's Unlikely Bride
Chapter 76: HEART-TO-HEART TALK 2

Chapter 76: Chapter 76: HEART-TO-HEART TALK 2

Briar smiled reassuringly at Lyra as if saying, ’It’s fine,’ and said, "Whatever you are thinking, stop it. Just always know that no matter what title I carry, my love for you kids will never change." Her gaze scanned the three as a whole.

"We_"

Briar cut the one who wanted to speak and continued, "I just hope that in this period we are mother and children, or even after this all ends. You will continue to carry yourself with dignity and be good kids.

I have been your nanny since I was fifteen years old and it’s been over a decade now. I know the kids that I raised and I am very proud of those kids. They are my whole world and for them, I can do anything," her tone deepened as she looked at the kids.

If she didn’t love the kids, she would have disrupted their lives a very long time ago. And all it would take was to expose Selena. Even without including herself, she could do it covertly and benefit somehow. But she didn’t do it.

Because she wanted to see the kids growing up with a whole family, even though everything was just a pretense. At least that would be better than growing up with a broken family.

Sometimes, being widowed was better than coming from a single-parent family where the parents divorced. It wasn’t easy for such kids.

As someone who grew up in a twisted family, she didn’t want to be the reason why a family would break apart.

"Mother, you ....." Cade found himself softly calling but failed to finish, as he felt blocked, his eyes stinging with the tears.

Briar smiled faintly at the young man responsible for extending the family’s bloodline in the future and said, "Suddenly having me change from nanny to stepmother mustn’t have been easy and it’s still something that we are all processing. However, as was mentioned before, I am indeed in a contract marriage with your father. When the time comes, we will divorce. As for what happens next, we will see when the time comes. However, that isn’t what I want to talk about.

I want you to know that regardless of fake or real, the love I carry for you and feel for you won’t change just because of that. Just because I married your father and you must call me second mother or mother, doesn’t mean that I will replace your mother. I am not here to do that.

I might have some selfishness, but that won’t include the woman who gave birth to you and risked her life to have you. She would always be a part of you and you must never forget about that.

At the same time, just because I am not your real mother doesn’t mean that I don’t care about you. I care deeply about you. After all, even if I didn’t birth you, I still raised you in some sense. If I can’t bear any feelings after all that, won’t I be ruthless?" with a faint smile on her face, she said to the kids, making them relax a bit.

"You ..... you will always be our second mother, no matter what happens," Lyra said determinedly as she looked at Briar.

Although she couldn’t bear to call the other mother, as that would make her feel as if she was replacing that woman in some sense, she wouldn’t accept anyone else except her either.

Briar chuckled lightly as she looked at the other.

"I will always love you, second mother," Tiana chirped, making Briar soften as she looked at this rebellious kid before her gaze drifted elsewhere.

"I know that you care for me and for that, I will always be grateful. Here comes my point now," she said seriously as she looked at the kids.

When the kids heard that, they automatically sat straight, as if ready to be reprimanded or receive orders.

Seeing them like that, she couldn’t help but find them cute, but there wasn’t anything cute about what they were going to talk about next.

"As your nanny, I have done my best to raise you in the greatest methods that I could and I am grateful that you cooperated with me. However, recently, I have noticed that you kids are starting to act ....." She dragged her words as she looked at the kids with a narrowed gaze, making the three cower and lean backwards, while their eyes darted to the sides.

Seeing them like that, she scoffed inwardly, thinking about how they had been intentionally causing trouble.

"You have been acting a bit too unrestraint and rebellious, which honestly isn’t good. I don’t and won’t restrict your freedom, but I only expect you to behave in a manner that would make you feel proud.

We have been together for years, so I will not beat about the bush. Do you guys know how hard it is to be a stepmother or have one?" she suddenly asked, her tone serious as she looked at the three.

The three looked at each other for a brief moment as if communicating telepathically before shifting to face Briar and Lyra responded, "Um. We have listened to many evil stepmothers’ stories."

Who didn’t know about how abusive these people were?

That was why her friends were nervous for her when they heard that her father remarried. They didn’t want her to suffer at the hands of the stepmother.

Briar nodded with a smile as she looked at the kids, very satisfied with the answer.

"Exactly. Stepmothers tend to be portrayed as such, which I don’t even defend. After all, the majority do indeed do that." Briar didn’t object to that answer but actually supported it, baffling the kids in the process.

Of course, they weren’t the ones shocked as more than two people were listening to this strange conversation without the knowledge of the mother and children seriously having a heart-to-heart talk on their way to school.

"Second mother, you_"

Briar raised her hand, dismissing Cade, who wanted to speak and said, "And yet stepmothers suffer as well. In the public eyes, whatever they do, it’s bad. If they indulge the kids, the public would say that they are doing that to raise waste. That way, their own children would sweep everything away," her tone was very melancholic as she said that.

When the kids heard that, they froze for a moment as they found this making sense.