Chapter 39

What the heck was happening?

Jennifer glanced over at Claire, confused. Wasn’t this Pandora’s granddaughter? Since when did she become the “fake heiress” everyone was talking about?

Nobody bothered to fill Jennifer in. Claire just smiled and shrugged. “You know, you actually make a good point. Maybe the engagement should go to you instead p>

She caught the way Shirley’s eyes suddenly sparkled and shot her a sly look, half amused, half teasing.

“But I think Cindy has a stronger claim, doesn’t she p>

Shirley’s face fell. She turned that disappointment into pure annoyance, glaring at Claire. “Who cares? Whoever it is, it has nothing to do with a fake like you p>

“Listen, Claire, York is way out of your league now. Don’t even think about trying anything with him p>

“And this isn’t some place for country girls to just wander in. Why don’t you just run along back to wherever you crawled out from p>

“If you’re really that desperate for food, here, take this.” Shirley pulled out her wallet and stuffed a thick stack of bills into Claire’s hand. “This should keep you going for a bit p>

Claire glanced at the cash. There had to be at least a thousand, maybe two, in

there. For Shirley, that was nothing. She blew through twenty grand a month without blinking.

“Alright, you’ve got your money. Now get out of here,” Shirley said, acting like she was doing some grand favor.

Someone else piped up, pretending to be the voice of reason. “Shirley, don’t you think that’s a bit much? Why not let Claire stay and eat with us p>

“We’ve all known each other for so long. It’s the least we could do p>

“Besides, now that she’s out of the James family, she’ll probably never get to eat at Hearth & Kettle again p>

That was Rose talking. She used to call herself Claire’s best friend. Now that Claire had been kicked out, it looked like Rose couldn’t wait to cozy up to Shirley.

“How about this? When the food comes, we can give Claire a little bit of everything and let her eat out in the pavilion p>

This group was the worst-spoiled, mean, and clueless. The more they used to fawn all over Claire, the more they wanted to trample her now.

Pandora’s eyes flashed with anger. These kids had absolutely no manners.

Jennifer couldn’t take it anymore. She stepped forward, her voice firm. “Who said Claire isn’t allowed to eat here at Hearth & Kettle p>

“If she wants, she can come by every single day. No reservation needed p>

The whole room went quiet.

Shirley shot Jennifer a sharp look. “Who even are you? You think you have the right to say that? Are you the owner of Hearth & Kettlecor something p>

“Yeah, right,” someone snickered. “Look at all these random people standing up for Claire now p>

The others laughed, all of it aimed at Claire.

Jennifer just smirked. “Actually, yes.

I am the owner of Hearth & Kettle And as of right now, your reservation is canceled In fact, none of you are welcome here anymore p>

“We don’t serve people like you. Please leave p>

The laughter stopped instantly. You could have heard a pin drop.

Not a single one of them had expected Jennifer to be the owner. Now this whole group of rich kids, was getting kicked out while Claire got to stay.

Their faces turned sour and one by one, they all stared at Claire.

Claire just lifted the cash and gave Shirley a sweet, innocent smile. “Thanks for your generosity. This will actually last me a while p>

Shirley’s face turned red as she lunged, trying to snatch the money back.

But Claire was quicker. She shifted out of reach and blocked Shirley’s arm easily. At Shirley’s height, she didn’t stand a chance.

“What’s wrong? Changing your mind already? You want your money back after making such a show of giving it away p>

Shirley stamped her foot in frustration. “Forget it! I don’t want it anymore! It’s dirty now that you’ve touched it p>

“And your stupid restaurant? Even if you begged me, I wouldn’t come back p>