Chapter 408

“Claire is way smarter than me, and honestly, she’s better at so much. Why would anyone say I’m above her?” Cindy said, playing it casual as if she hadn’t just been scanning the crowd for Shirley’s group. She wasn’t really fishing for validation, just setting things up so Rose would go on. She knew Rose and the others weren’t admiring her out of nowhere. It was about the James family’s money and nothing else.

Still, hearing people say nice things felt good. Nobody was immune to that, not even her.

Rose didn’t miss a beat. “Yeah, she might be clever, but come on… she’s nowhere near as rich as you.” Rose grinned. “You’re the heiress of the James family. You started life miles ahead of most people p>

“And really, so what if Claire wins a gold medal at some international competition? After graduation, she’s just going to be someone else’s employee p>

“If you want, you could have your parents hire her at The James Group. She could work for you for the rest of her life, wouldn’t that be something p>

“No matter how special she is, Claire isn’t in the same world as us anymore p>

“She grew up in the countryside. How is she even qualified to compete with you p>

Listening to Rose, Cindy actually felt the words start to make sense. The other two girls chimed in, nodding in agreement and throwing in their own little compliments.

A few feet away, Shirley was already losing patience. She’d been narrow-minded before, she could admit that. Back when Claire moved to the countryside, Shirley thought for sure she’d come back looking like a total country bumpkin.

But things had changed, especially after their last trip to The James Village. Claire’s grandmother was clearly someone important. The woman was the matriarch, calling all the shots for the whole clan, and everyone there listened when she spoke.

Claire was next in line as the young head of the clan. People in The James Village respected her. Even though she was still so young and looked even younger, everyone treated her with total respect.

And didn’t Claire have money, too? Why did everyone pretend Cindy was the only one with a future?

Cindy might be the official James family heiress, but if Latham didn’t give her shares, all she would have was the title. Meanwhile, Claire’s future looked wide open, as long as she stuck with her studies.

Honestly, Rose was going above and beyond with the flattery. The other girls kept following her lead, constantly building Cindy up while making Claire sound smaller and smaller, as if they couldn’t wait to see her come back just to get stepped on.

Cindy started to imagine it could

actually be nice if Claire did end up working for

The James Family. Of

course kept that thought to

Qu

herself out loud all she said was f Claire ever wants to work forThe James Group, that’d be amazing p>

“We’d make sure she was treated really well p>

Shirley finally couldn’t hold it in. “Wow, listen to yourself. So fake p>

The words cut through the chatter. Cindy’s smile froze, and all the girls whipped around Sure enough, there was Shirley, standing there with her own friends.

Cindy’s heart started pounding. She flashed a practiced smile. “Shirley, hey, you’re out shopping too p>

She wasn’t sure how much Shirley

had overheard. From the way Shirley said “fake” Cindy knew exactly whe she was king about But she couldn’t admit it out loud.

Was she really being fake? Wasn’t she just telling the truth?

Shirley was full of surprises, too. Hadn’t she always argued with Claire? Now suddenly, she was shielding Claire and coming at Cindy.

Didn’t Shirley realize which of them she was related to by blood?

To be honest, if blood ties were all that mattered, there would never have been any drama with Claire.

Shirley folded her arms. “If I hadn’t shown up, how else would I know what you and your little gang really think about Claire p>

“Cindy, you just got back to the James family. Don’t let some people drag you down p>

“Did you know that Rose used to follow Claire around like a puppy p>

“Now that Claire’s gone, she’s turned into your shadow instead p>

The look Shirley gave Rose made it clear exactly how little she thought of her.