Reba sent invitations to the wives of the two deputy ministers of the Ministry of Defense, as well as to the wife of the Minister of Defense himself. Though she doubted thetter would attend, she was confident that the wives of the deputy ministers woulde.


    Reba nned to ask them about the general situation of the war and how the Ministry of Defense would reward the meritorious.


    However, on the day of the tea party, neither of the deputy ministers'' wives showed up. Even the wives of slightly higher-ranking officials did not attend. Only the wives of fifth- or sixth-rank officials, and even some of seventh or eighth rank, came with their families. Some of these guests were not even on the invitation list, which made Reba both angry and distressed.


    She had spent so much money on this tea party to raise her family''s profile and create a strong and favorable impression for Barrett and Aurora. When they returned victorious, she hoped Salvador and the Ministry of Defense would consider the public''s praise when distributing rewards.


    Nowadays, the rumors about the female general had spread everywhere, and the praise was growing louder.


    Reba had previously felt that Carissa bing a duke''s daughter after the divorce was a bit unfair. But now that Aurora and Barrett had made significant achievements, the Warren family''s future seemed promising.


    A duke''s family with only an orphan girl versus a family with real power-anyone could see which one to favor!


    But seeing the tea party filled with lower-ranked officials, Reba fumed internally. iming to be ill, she refused to entertain them and left Amelia to host the guests.


    Reba couldn''t understand it. With all the public buzz, why couldn''t she attract the high-ranking wives?


    This farce made Charlotteugh. How could someone of Reba''s status expect the wife of a second -rank minister toe for tea and pastries?


    Even if Barrett and Aurora had indeed achieved great things, many other people had contributed to the Southern Frontier battle over the years. When it came to rewards, Barrett and Aurora would be further down the list.N?velDrama.Org owns ? this.


    If the rumors were true and Aurora had led the troops to capture two cities, that would indeed be a significant achievement. However, the fact that the Minister of Defense''s wife and the deputy ministers'' wives didn''t attend clearly indicated that the female general was not Aurora.


    In the middle of the night, Reba experienced severe chest pain and called for a doctor. Sebastian, despite selling medicine to her, still refused to see her. So, she had to call another physician.


    As the Warren family could no longer afford to keep a family doctor, Amelia attended to Reba for most of the night. Exhausted, she eventually left the servants to watch over her mother-inw and


    went to rest.


    The following day, when Reba saw that Amelia was not there to serve her, she flew into a rage and demanded her daughter-inw''s presence. However, Amelia did note, iming she had caught a


    cold.


    When Charlotte came to visit Reba, she found her in a fit of anger and tried to console her.


    "You''re only hurting yourself by getting angry at everyone. What''s the point of this? You know, when Carissa was here, she took such good care of you. If you had a headache or felt dizzy, she''d call Sebastian without you having to say a word. You never appreciated such a good daughter-inw. Instead, you treated a nobody like a treasure. If you don''t cherish your blessings, all you''ll get is suffering," said Charlotte.


    Reba''s face turned ashen as she remembered how Carissa had attended to her tirelessly whenever her illness red up, neverining. Now, when she asked Amelia to take care of her for just one night, it was too much for her.


    She also.recalled that before Aurora went to war, she was the same-affectionately calling Reba" Mom" but never actually tending to her when needed.


    However, in front of her sister-inw, Reba needed to uphold her image.


    She retorted coldly, "Since you think so highly of Carissa, why don''t you have one of your sons marry into her family and inherit the title? They can live off her fortune." Charlotte remained unbothered. "My sons aren''t worthy of Carissa. She deserves better, at least better than Barrett."


    "How dare you!" Reba clutched her chest, ring furiously. "You''re just here to provoke me!"


    Charlotte smiled. "The truth is hard to hear, isn''t it? Well, you can say what you want. It doesn''t matter.


    With that, Charlotte stood up and left.