Chapter 524

The group’s excitement fizzled out instantly. Claire hesitated, and suddenly, nobody felt like celebrating anymore.

“Claire, we’ll wait for you!” Sophia reached out and squeezed Claire’s hand, totally serious about it.

Claire gave a helpless smile. “If I can’t make it, just go have fun without me. Don’t worry about it p>

After dinner, they headed out to a karaoke place, wanting to relax and blow off some steam now that graduation was finally behind them. Claire barely sang, letting Len and Shirley take over the mic with their ear-splitting wails. Sophia would sing every now and then, but she only knew a handful of songs.

While they were having their own party, Cindy was at a different karaoke spot with her own friends. She hadn’t been in the mood to celebrate, feeling convinced her exams had gone horribly. Even when Rose and the others tried to cheer her up by inviting her out, her spirits stayed low. But when she got to the karaoke room, she managed to loosen up just a little.

She had just picked a song when Shirley’s unmistakable voice rang out from the room next door. Cindy paused, frowning. “Rose, does that sound like Shirley singing next door p>

Rose listened for a second and nodded. “I think it might be.” Rose knew Shirley pretty well, having once been part of the group that liked to talk behind her back. Everyone was aware Shirley wasn’t the real heiress of the James family’s main branch, so Rose never made an effort to be close to her.

But Rose always looked out for herself. After Claire’s true identity came out, she tried to cozy up to Shirley instead. Too bad Shirley and Claire made up again-Rose ended up stuck in the middle, not really belonging anywhere.

Shirley saw right through people like Rose, especially once Rose started hanging out with the real heiress, Cindy. Whatever friendliness had been there before was gone now. They’d fallen out for real.

“It’s not weird for her to be here with her friends. I heard Shirley likes to party,” Rose said, brushing off the topic with a casual remark that let everyone draw their own conclusions about Shirley.

Cindy looked curious anyway. “I wonder who she’s with. If we go over, do you think we’d be interrupting p>

Shirley always seemed to have her

own crowd. Ever since Cindy moved in with the James family,

Shirley who had never gotten along with Claire-suddenly started spending time with her again To Cindy, that felt like an insult. Clearly, Shirley didn’t see her as family, and Cindy saw no reason to pretend otherwise. Still, as much as she disliked it, she knew she had to keep up appearances.

Rose’s eyes glinted with interest. “Cindy, are you and Shirley not that close? Why

didn’t she invite you out with her tonight p>

A flicker of annoyance flashed

across Cindy’s face. “We just do our

own thing. She doesn’t live with

me-we have our own friends.” But

before Cindy could say more,

another verce drifted over from next

door.

Both Cindy and Rose recognized Claire’s voice right away. Claire must have gotten pulled into singing by Shirley and Sophia.

“It really sounds like Claire is with her,” Rose said quietly, watching Cindy’s face for a reaction.

When she saw the look of

disappointment in Cindy’s eyes, Rose let the corners of her mouth curfup ever so slightly. Cindy might be the real heiress, but she sure didn’t seem happy here.

“They’re hanging out together, just leaving you out,” Rose said, acting like she was

on Cindy’s side.

The rest of the girls jumped in right away.

“Yeah, Cindy, should we go take a look p>

“Do you think they’re in there talking about you behind your back p>

“Cindy, whatever with Shirley—she’s your cousin, but who’s Claire to act like she’s one of you p>

They all started piling on. With friends like these, it was clear they weren’t here to comfort Cindy—they just loved stirring up drama.