Rebirth: My CEO Husband's Thoughts Are Too Shameless

Back inside the bakery, Silvia stood fuming as she watched the women.

She had tolerated their nonsense for long enough, but the way they had repeatedly insulted Clara only confirmed her suspicions. They hadn’t come here to complain about a cup of coffee. They had come looking for trouble.

Gen and Lily hurried to Silvia’s side, both glaring at the three women.

"You three have done nothing but cause trouble since you walked in," Lily finally said.

She had been trying to hold herself back because Dorothy was Clara’s mother. But watching them deliberately humiliate Clara in front of customers had pushed her patience to its limit.

"Lily is right," Gen added. "If you have such a problem with a small bakery, why did you come here in the first place? Go somewhere else and enjoy your lavish feast."

Her voice was sharp despite her usually cheerful nature.

She didn’t care anymore if they offended Dorothy.

They could insult her, criticize the bakery, or complain about the coffee all they wanted.

But they were not going to drag Clara’s name through the mud.

Martha and Noran stared at the girls in disbelief.

"Look at them!" Martha exclaimed. "Now you’re blaming us for your own carelessness? This is unbelievable!"

She pointed toward Silvia.

"You attacked me in front of everyone. I will sue this entire place!"

Silvia scoffed.

"Go ahead."

Martha’s mouth fell open.

Silvia folded her arms.

"If you believe we’ve done something wrong, you’re free to take legal action."

"You—"

Before Martha could continue, Noran stepped forward.

"You girls have no idea who you’re dealing with."

She pulled out her phone.

"I’ll have this shop shut down before you even realize what’s happening. I’ll call my husband, and he’ll make sure this place is demolished."

The threat immediately silenced them.

Noran confidently searched for her husband’s number.

"Let’s see how long this little bakery survives after I make one phone call."

Silvia, Lily, and Gen exchanged uneasy glances.

Dorothy remained seated, watching everything unfold.

She hadn’t expected the girls to defend Clara so fiercely. Considering Clara’s reputation within the family, Dorothy had assumed they would simply remain silent.

But, strangely enough, their reaction pleased her.

Because everything was going exactly as she had intended.

Her eyes briefly shifted toward one of the customers who had been recording the incident on her phone.

Perfect.

That video would spread quickly.

And once people saw employees throwing coffee at customers and arguing with them, nobody would care about what had happened beforehand.

All they would see was Clara’s bakery mistreating its customers.

(Exactly what I needed.)

Meanwhile, Lily swallowed nervously.

"Silvia..." she whispered. "What should we do now?"

Gen’s face had gone pale.

"They’re talking about calling the police."

"I heard them," Lily murmured.

None of them had expected things to escalate this far.

A few minutes ago, they had been dealing with rude customers.

Now they were standing in the middle of a public confrontation with threats of lawsuits, police involvement, and even the bakery being shut down.

Several customers were watching them uneasily.

The weight of those stares finally sank in.

Gen wiped her sweaty palms against her apron.

"We’re screwed, aren’t we?"

Lily shot her a nervous look.

"Don’t say that."

"But we are."

Silvia clenched her fists.

She was angry, but she wasn’t stupid.

One wrong move now could cost Clara everything she had worked so hard to build.

She took a slow breath and forced herself to remain calm.

"Nobody say another word until we figure out what we’re dealing with."

But even as she said it, Silvia’s eyes drifted toward the phone in the customer’s hand.

Something told Silvia this wasn’t over. Not even close. But before she could think of what to do next, the soft chime of the entrance bell rang through the bakery.

Everyone turned toward the door as a woman’s voice followed.

"Oh, I heard this place was famous for its delicious desserts. But look at that..." She paused, taking in the tense scene before her. "It seems today it’s crowded for all the wrong reasons."

"..."

Grace Sterling stepped inside.

She carried herself with effortless elegance, her posture straight and her expression calm as she surveyed the bakery.

For a moment, nobody moved. Not Silvia. Not Lily. Not Gen.

And certainly not the three women sitting at the table.

Noran’s phone slipped from her hand and landed on the floor with a loud thud.

Martha’s jaw dropped.

"Is that...?"

"Grace Sterling," Noran whispered.

The name alone was enough to make several customers turn around.

Grace calmly walked farther inside, completely unfazed by the attention. Meanwhile, the three girls looked like they had just seen a ghost.

Lily’s eyes widened before she slowly covered her face.

"Oh no..."

Gen looked like she was about to cry.

"Why now?"

Silvia closed her eyes for a second.

Of all the people who could’ve walked in...

She glanced toward the ceiling.

Please, universe. Have mercy.

The three women who had been threatening them moments ago were now completely silent. But nobody looked more horrified than Dorothy.

Her expression shifted from confusion to disbelief and then slowly drained of color. Her fingers tightened around the edge of the table.

What is she doing here?

Grace’s gaze casually moved around the bakery before settling on the tense group.

"Well," she said pleasantly, "I certainly wasn’t expecting this kind of welcome."

Lily quietly grabbed Gen’s arm. "We’re finished."

Gen’s eyes filled with tears.

"I know."

Silvia looked at both of them. "Stop crying."

Meanwhile, Grace completely ignored the curious eyes following her and calmly pulled out a vacant chair before taking a seat.

Dorothy and her friends stared at her in surprise.

Martha, however, quickly recovered. She forced a bright smile onto her face and stepped forward.

"Mrs. Sterling, what a pleasant surprise!"

She waited expectantly.

After all, she had met Grace at several business events before and had proudly mentioned those encounters to almost everyone she knew.

Grace paused and looked at her.

There was a brief silence.

"I’m sorry," Grace said politely. "Do I know you?"

The smile on Martha’s face disappeared instantly.

Her expression froze.

She glanced around and noticed several customers watching her.

"Oh... perhaps you don’t remember me," she said awkwardly. "We’ve met at a few business functions."

"I see."

Grace gave her a courteous nod before turning her attention elsewhere.

Martha stepped back, thoroughly embarrassed.

Noran, who had initially been preparing to approach Grace as well, immediately reconsidered after witnessing Martha’s humiliation.

She quietly returned to her seat.

Dorothy, however, didn’t retreat.

She maintained a pleasant expression as she approached Grace.

"Mrs. Sterling, I would suggest that you don’t order anything from this place."

Grace looked at her.

"And why is that?"

"They’re serving unhygienic food and putting their customers’ health at risk."

Dorothy spoke with such confidence that she clearly expected Grace to believe her.

She had no idea that Grace already knew exactly who owned the bakery.

Grace’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"And how exactly should I trust your judgment when I haven’t even ordered anything yet?"

Dorothy’s smile stiffened.

"I’ve seen what happened."

"You saw a complaint."

"Yes."

"And somehow that was enough for you to declare the entire bakery unsafe?"

Dorothy hesitated.

Grace leaned back in her chair.

"That’s quite an accusation."

Dorothy quickly recovered. "I’m only trying to protect you."

"How thoughtful."

Grace’s tone was pleasant, but there was a subtle edge to it.

Dorothy smiled again.

"You don’t understand, Mrs. Sterling. The owner of this place clearly doesn’t know how to run a proper business. If she did, something like this wouldn’t happen."

Grace’s expression changed.

"The owner?"

"Yes."

Dorothy glanced toward Silvia.

"She hides behind her employees while they mistreat customers. Frankly, I’m surprised such a poorly managed establishment has survived this long."

Grace stared at her for a moment.

Then, to Dorothy’s surprise, she smiled.

"You seem to know quite a lot about the owner," Grace said, her tone remaining deceptively calm. "Then you must also know that she is none other than my daughter-in-law—and your stepdaughter, Clara."

The moment Clara’s name left her lips, Martha’s and Noran’s jaws dropped.

They stared at Dorothy in disbelief.

Dorothy, meanwhile, felt a sudden rush of embarrassment. She blinked rapidly, struggling to maintain the composed expression she had worn all morning.

Grace continued before she could recover.

"And surely everyone in this country knows that a Sterling doesn’t build a business by fooling customers."

Her smile disappeared.

Grace’s eyes sharpened as she looked directly at Dorothy.

"And you should know that better than anyone, Mrs. Hayes. After all, even your husband’s business operates under the supervision of the Sterling Group."

Dorothy’s face burnt.

She opened her mouth, but no words came out.

Behind her, Martha leaned toward Noran and whispered,

"Did she seriously come here just to target her own stepdaughter?"

Noran’s eyes remained fixed on Dorothy.

They knew Dorothy’s relationship with Clara had never been particularly warm. In fact, they had heard enough over the years to know that Dorothy had always been far more affectionate toward her own daughter while treating Clara differently.

But they hadn’t expected her to deliberately walk into Clara’s business and create such a scene.

Martha lowered her voice. "I think we should’ve asked what she was planning before coming here."

Noran nodded quickly. "And maybe not threatened to call the authorities."

Dorothy heard their whispers and shot them a warning look. Both women immediately fell silent.

Grace, however, hadn’t missed a single word. She leaned back in her chair, her expression unreadable.

"But since you’re so determined to inspect this place, please, feel free to do so. However, if you fail to find any problem here, then the consequences will fall on those who made these false accusations."

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