Chapter 492
Hearing Latham say that just made Octavia feel worse.
“Octavia, can you try to be reasonable?” Latham said, a bit more gently this time.
“I know you want to give Cindy the best of everything, but you have to think about what’s right for her. You’re pushing too hard. Maybe it’s better to slow down and let her get used to things one step at a time p>
Since Latham had softened his tone, Octavia’s anger faded for a moment. “It’s just… I can’t help but feel guilty for everything Cindy’s been through p>
“It’s our fault for not realizing she was our real daughter. Our fault we didn’t find her sooner p>
“She missed out on a good education. All those years she struggled in the country are because of us p>
Latham shook his head. “But if you look at it another way, even though Cindy didn’t grow up with as much luxury as Claire, she wasn’t suffering out there p>
“The people at The James Village really respect Pandora. Don’t you think they’d treat her only granddaughter well p>
“Pandora made sure Cindy went to school and took care of her. And honestly, it seems like Pandora isn’t exactly poor, either p>
“She just keeps a low profile. It’s not like Cindy went without because the family was stingy p>
“That’s still way better than if she’d grown up in some remote, dirt-poor village p>
“Think about those kids who have to do chores all day and never have a shot at learning anything p>
“Our daughter’s actually pretty lucky p>
Latham had been to The James Village a few times and found it wasn’t nearly as poor as people thought. Everyone was self-sufficient, their lives were comfortable, and the smiles you saw were real.
He’d done charity work in places where people were truly struggling. Those folks looked tired to their bones, like life had just worn them down.
But The James Village… families there just seemed happy. Maybe it was old- fashioned, but nobody looked like they were going without.
They genuinely liked their peaceful country life. They were content.
And Pandora? She still owned that big place, Hearth & Kettle, as a wedding gift.
That alone proved her family wasn’t struggling.
“That’s exactly why I’m upset,” Octavia shot back.
Zolinet
“The village isn’t poor. Pandora’s family has money. And yet… we raised Claire with everything, we gave her every advantage. And what did Pandora give Cindy p>
“She hid everything from her. She couldn’t even give her the house, fine but a pillow? She sewed a cover over it so Cindy wouldn’t know w it was p>
what
“If she’d just told us it was agarwood, do you really think Cindy wouldn’t have wanted it? Or that I would stop her p>
“If she’d let Cindy have that agarwood pillow, that could’ve at least made up for some of the years she missed p>
“And now Claire went and sold it p>
“Shouldn’t Cindy get at least half the money from that p>
“Look how they handle things p>
Latham had wanted the agarwood pillow too, but he couldn’t just say Pandora was wrong for not giving it to Cindy.
“That’s because you didn’t handle things well, he replied. “If you’d kept Claire here, treated her kindly, let her stay at the James house as an adopted daughter, don’t you think Pandora would’ve done the decent thing, too p>
He felt the sting of losing the agarwood pillow as much as anyone.
Octavia realized she wasn’t getting through to him. He always seemed to side with everyone but her.
“Fine. Our own daughter can never do anything right in your eyes, but you just love someone else’s child p>
“If you think Claire’s so great, go ahead, try to bring her back. See if she even cares enough about you to come home p>