Chapter 177
Latham couldn’t shake one worry. He was offering five percent, but what if the Byron family still stuck to their measly three? Wouldn’t that basically mean he was paying them to take his daughter off his hands? The James family could see right through the Byron family’s little game, but everyone kept their smiles, acting like everything was perfectly pleasant.
Dinner talk felt more like a business negotiation than a family meal. Olga kept bringing up Claire, using her as a way to get her point across, which was starting to really get under Octavia’s skin. What was so wrong with her own daughter, Cindy? But here was Olga, constantly gushing about how much she adored Claire.
Back when Olga used to praise Claire, Octavia loved it. After all, she’d been the one to raise Claire. Claire’s success made her look good. But now that Claire had started thinking for herself, wasn’t so easy to control, Octavia’s feelings had shifted. Now, every time Olga praised Claire, it felt like a slight against Cindy.
“Claire is such a wonderful girl. We basically raised her ourselves. I really hate to let her go,” Olga said with a sigh. “She’s called Latham and me Mom and Dad for eighteen years. We were even thinking about picking a day to get her grandmother’s blessing and make it official, you know, as her godparents. But now that she’s someone else’s granddaughter, it’s really up to Pandora. If she doesn’t agree, there’s not much we can do p>
Olga turned to Octavia, curiosity all over her face. “When Cindy lived in the countryside, did she and Claire’s grandmother get along p>
“Pandora absolutely dotes on Claire,” Octavia replied, trying to keep her voice steady. Hearing that made her blood boil. Claire got all of Pandora’s love when she lived with the James family. Meanwhile, her own daughter, Cindy, was treated like a servant.
“Pandora has a quiet personality, but she was always nice to Cindy too. She even took a few pounds of special agarwood and made a pillow for Cindy. Just because Cindy had trouble sleeping as a kid. She used that pillow for more than ten years.” Octavia couldn’t help mentioning the valuable pillow, her tone a mix of pride and jealousy.
Cindy looked surprised her mom brought that up. Olga’s eyes widened. “Wait, I thought they were just regular country folks. How’d they get their hands on agarwood pillows? That’s fancy p>
Octavia laughed. “They don’t look rich, but apparently their ancestors left them a little something. We went to visit. They even have a family shrine, and the whole village shares the same surname p>
“Pandora is the only female head of the family,” she added, making her point clear. Her daughter may have grown up in the countryside, but she was raised right. How badly could as child turnout with a family matriarch like that?
“Really?” Olga looked genuinely surprised, as if she was hearing the juiciest gossip.
The conversation went back and
forth, but Claire was tuning it all out,
fighting to stay awake. Then Olga turned to her with a smile. “Claire you and York are about to break off your engagement. If you have anything to say about it, just speak your mind p>
Olga thought her son was quite the catch. If the two girls started competing for him, things could get complicated. If Claire wanted some compensation, Olga was willing to give it. If she wanted to be their goddaughter that was fine too. She just didn’t want her sonsreputation taking a hit. If they made Claire their goddaughter, people would talk about how generous the Byron family was.
What Olga didn’t expect was that Claire didn’t play by anyone’s rules.
With her mouth still full, Claire looked up when she heard her name. She set down
her chopsticks and said carefully, “Well, can’t we just part on good terms p>
Olga was completely thrown off, and Octavia nearly burst out laughing.