Chapter 502
So, what’s up with Octavia?
At first, she shouldn’t have been mixed up in this whole baby swap mess. But the more Claire thought about it, the more she realized Octavia must have known from the start that Claire wasn’t really her daughter. That set off all kinds of alarms. If Octavia knew her actual child had been switched, why didn’t she go looking for her? Was it out of guilt for what happened to Fallon? No way. Octavia wasn’t the type to let guilt eat at her.
Claire dug deeper into Octavia’s past, and what she found nearly blew her mind. Octavia had been having an affair with Wade, that guy who worked at the DNA testing center. That meant Cindy wasn’t even Latham’s kid. She was actually Octavia and Wade’s daughter. Wild, right?
Once Claire figured out Cindy wasn’t Latham’s child, it suddenly all made sense. Octavia had let Fallon pull off the switch and never tried to get her real daughter back because she was just as afraid of the truth coming out. If Latham ever found out Cindy wasn’t his, it would be chaos. So Octavia let Fallon do her thing, basically sacrificing her own flesh and blood. That way, when everyone finally realized Claire wasn’t related to them, Latham couldn’t really blame Octavia. I mean, who would ever imagine that neither girl was his?
Octavia had played it cool for years, keeping everything under wraps. She probably thought she’d pulled off the ultimate coverup. She just never expected her son, Lance, to actually bring her real daughter back into the picture.
That’s why she passed out at Claire’s coming-of-age party. She was terrified Latham would dig into the past and discover Cindy wasn’t biologically his either. Fainting gave her the perfect excuse to buy some time and arrange new DNA tests, just to keep everything under control. In her mind, her plan was flawless.
She had no clue Claire would catch on. But Claire had proof. In her hands was Wade and Cindy’s paternity test, and it confirmed everything: they were definitely father and daughter. Suddenly, all those little things made sense, like why Wade always treated Cindy with unusual kindness during DNA testing, and how the two kind of looked alike if you really paid attention. Claire had never suspected it before, but now she couldn’t see it any other way.
Every time she looked at Latham
after this, she couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for him. He was just p>
clueless. The guy had no idea honet
was being lied to from all sides. But honestly, he wasn’t any better. He started this whole mess by getting involved with Fallon. If he hadn’t there never would’ve been a baby swap. And if the swap hadn’t happened, he probably would’ve figured out Cindy wasn’t his a long time ago. Talk about karma.
Claire had to admit, there was a twisted satisfaction in all of this. Getting swapped at birth was entirely the James family’s fault, and any warm feelings Claire had for
them had pretty much vanished.
Turns out, Latham had known for ages that Fallon was the one who swapped the babies. Or at least, suspected. He just never did
anything about it. Deep down
Re
blamed himself for messing up Fallon’s life, leaving her unmarried and alone. He felt so guilty, he never tried to punish her. Actually, when he found hints, he’d even help cover things up for her.
Octavia had her own secrets to keep, of course. So after a nice settlement from the hospital, both she and Latham quietly decided to let everything go, no questions asked.
At the end of the day, Claire was the one who lost the most. Well, Cindy too. It wasn’t her fault she was the result of Octavia’s affair.
Claire wasn’t the least bit bothered when Octavia started showing up. When she heard about Octavia and Fallon finally facing off, she sat back, ready for the show. She even called her private investigator, telling him to keep an eye on everything that was happening.
Honestly, Claire was looking forward to the drama. She wanted front-row seats for whatever would happen next.
Back at the James house, no one had a clue they were the stars of someone else’s soap opera. Latham and Octavia went through the motions at dinner, barely saying two words before home
e heading vineness
Upstairs, Cindy was busy stressing over her homework, with no idea her world was about to get turned upside down.