Chapter 470
“What would I have to regret?” Claire asked, her tone light and teasing. “Do you actually think I’m that great p>
“You are great. Ever since you were a kid, you’ve always lived up to everything Latham and I hoped for in a daughter p>
It was exactly because Claire had always been so perfect that Octavia could never truly like her adopted daughter. If Claire hadn’t been there, everything every bit of praise, every achievement—would have belonged to her real daughter. Everything Claire had accomplished, shouldn’t it have all been Cindy’s?
If only Cindy had grown up in the James family, she never would have ended up like this. Octavia might brag about Cindy in front of other people, but deep down, she couldn’t hide her disappointment. In her mind, her own daughter should have outshined everyone.
In some ways, she and Latham were cut from the same cloth—both hopelessly vain. It’s true what they say. Birds of a feather p>
“But I’m not your daughter. You’ve always known that,” Claire said with a gentle smile.
A shiver ran through Octavia. She forced herself to smile. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. If it hadn’t been for Lance, your eighteenth birthday would have gone off without a hitch p>
“If you’d really always known I wasn’t your daughter, there’s no way you would have kept me. You’d have found Cindy sooner and sent me straight back to James Village, wouldn’t you p>
Claire’s lips curved ever so slightly, her eyes glinting. “Exactly. Knowing I wasn’t really yours, why didn’t you ever go looking for your birth daughter p>
“Even if you didn’t know where she was, you could have asked around at the hospital, right p>
“I have to say, I’m pretty impressed you kept quiet all these years p>
“If Lance hadn’t accidentally found Cindy, and brought her straight to my birthday party without asking you first… would you have even acknowledged her p>
Claire’s gaze never wavered as she threw the question right at Octavia. For a moment, Octavia just stared at her, lost for words, panic flickering in her eyes.
Would she have accepted Cindy? Of course not.
That’s why, when Lance showed up with her real daughter, the shock had sent Octavia straight into a panic attack that she’d passed off as fainting. The truth was, the fear had completely overwhelmed her.
“Octavia, if you didn’t want anyone to find out, you shouldn’t have done it in the first place p>
“If I wanted to dig deeper into that whole baby swap business… who do you think everyone would blame? What secrets are you trying to keep buried? Should I remind you?” Claire’s words were soft but steady.
Octavia had lost the upper hand. She stared at Claire. “How much do you really know p>
Honestly, it had all started as guesses for Claire. It was only because Octavia kept teaming up with Cindy to make trouble for her-time and time again-unti Claire just couldn’t take it anymore. She’d always had a bit of a temper, and she wasn’t about to quietly let them keep pushing her around.
“If you mind your own business and stop picking sides, I don’t need to know anything at all. But if you keep backing Cindy and stirring things up, I can’t make any promises p>
“Are you threatening me?” Octavia squinted, trying to size up the girl
she had raised as her own. She used to think she knew Claire through and through, but now she realized Claire had been hiding her true selfcall along.
This wasn’t a gentle, harmless little lamb. Claire was a wolf.
“How is that a threat?” Claire looked right at Octavia, completely unfazed. “Is that what you’re afraid of, Octavia p>
Octavia wondered just how much Claire actually knew, and more importantly; how she’d figured any of it out. But Claire had no intention of spelling things out. Octavia, Quilty and uncertain, didn’t dare ask for the truth.
In the end, Octavia gave up first and left.
MS
Claire sat back, finished her coffee, and helped herself to another bite of dessert.