Chapter 294

The moment her son called, he didn’t even bother with hello. “Mom, what are you doing? Why would you pay people to attack Claire online p>

Octavia let out a huff. “How am I attacking her? I’m just telling the truth p>

She’d already been scolded by her husband, so her tone with Lance was sharp and defensive.

Lance sounded almost stunned that his mother could be so brazen. “You call that the truth? Only you know if you’re just lashing out. Claire hasn’t done anything to provoke you. The whole thing with Cindy isn’t even settled yet. Aren’t you worried Claire might turn around and go after Cindy for revenge p>

He really did think Claire was capable of that. At this point, she didn’t seem to care about family at all. Sometimes, he regretted the choices he made back then.

“Her signing up for the winter camp was her way of provoking us,” Octavia shot back. “Cindy cries herself to sleep every night. Are you telling me Claire has zero responsibility? If she hadn’t put so much pressure on Cindy, your sister could’ve focused on her studies, pushed through, and maybe gotten into a top university. But now, with all this stress, Cindy’s depressed. Who knows if she’ll even get into college in six months? Isn’t Cindy’s future important? Claire stole that from her. She stole Cindy’s life p>

Octavia sounded so certain, so righteous, but if anyone had no right to be this self- assured, it was her.

“Mom, that’s not fair. It’s not like Claire chose to be switched at birth,” Lance said. He rubbed his forehead,

feeling the tension rise. The way things wer with

Cnow, it was a

mess, and it was doing him o

absolutely no favors.

Octavia’s face darkened. “Lance, why are you taking her side? Don’t forget, Cindy’s your real sister. Claire took everything that should’ve belonged to Cindy. Shouldn’t she at least do something for Cindy now? I only asked for a tiny favor, and she couldn’t even do that, instead Instead, she recorded me and went to the police She’s so ungrateful. And don’t tell me about her grades. Even if she didn’t go to that winter camp, she’d still ace the exams. She did this on purpose, just to show off in front of Cindy. Entering the math competition, making Cindy feel worse about herself… she knows Cindy just transferred to Silverpeak and is struggling to keep up. Instead of helping, she piles on the pressure. What kind of person does that p>

Hearing all this, Lance couldn’t help but think his mom had a point. Claire was

incredibly smart—couldn’t she just make things a little easier for Cindy?

“Mom, bottom line, you were in the wrong first. Just apologize to her, okay? Then I’ll reach out and try to talk things through. If she’s willing to speak up for you, it’ll look like we’re still on good terms. That’s not just good for you and Cindy, but for the company too p>

“You expect me to apologize to her?” Octavia’s voice rose. “If things are already this bad, maybe I should just go public with everything. All I ever wanted was for Claire to stay away from Cindy p>

Lance felt like he was about to explode. “You could do that, but you’d better be ready for everyone to turn on Cindy. Do you really think she could keep going at Silverpeak? Do you want her classmates to completely shut her out p>

Suddenly, Octavia couldn’t say a word.

From the corner of the living room, Cindy had been quietly listening in. She stepped out, her voice soft. “Mom, it’s okay. I can apologize to Claire myself p>