"Thanks for looking out for me," Cyrus shot back, his patience entirely evaporated. "But my love life doesn't need a peanut gallery."
Lily's face turned stormy. The guy was completely ungrateful.
Cyrus couldn't care less about their hurt feelings; he just needed them to shut up and walk away.
He was terrified that Claire would lose her temper and ruin his carefully laid plans.
But unfortunately for him, Claire wanted him gone just as badly.
"Cyrus, since we have an audience, why don't you explain exactly why you're so obsessed with me?"
"Let's clear the air and tell everyone where this sudden, baffling infatuation came from."
Claire's icy, deadpan expression was genuinely intimidating.
Cyrus stammered, frantically searching for an excuse, flatly refusing to confess the truth.
He stubbornly jutted out his chin and insisted he just had a massive crush on her.
"Are you actually crushing on me, or are you just trying to seduce me into dumping my fiancé so Latonia can swoop in and take him?"
Claire ruthlessly ripped the mask off his entire operation.
She had spent days racking her brain, trying to figure out why a guy who knew she was happily engaged would suddenly turn into a relentless stalker.
It wasn't until Yolande and Sophia sat her down and analyzed his sinister motives that the pieces clicked into place.
Claire was thoroughly disgusted.
A devoted brother willing to prostitute his own romantic life to secure his sister's happiness-how touching.
Unfortunately, Claire had zero interest in being a sacrificial lamb for someone else's fairy tale.
She wasn't even madly in love with Dane, but the second someone actively tried to steal what was hers, her territorial instincts flared.
If Latonia wanted Dane, she should have the spine to pursue him herself.
Sending her brother to act as a honey-trap was pathetic.
Claire loathed the Franklin siblings. Her natural rebelliousness flared hot, instantly solidifying her resolve to marry Dane just to spite them.
Let them cry about it.
The sheer magnitude of Claire's revelation sent a shockwave through the cafeteria.
The gossip trio stood completely paralyzed.
So Cyrus didn't actually have feelings for Claire?
Macy's gaze darted frantically between the two of them.
A twisted mix of relief and intense frustration bubbled in her chest.
If Cyrus had genuinely liked Claire, it would have been perfect.
Once Claire was off the market, the other guys would finally stop obsessing over her.
Macy conveniently filtered out the part where Claire mentioned having a fiancé. Lily, however, perked up the second the word 'fiancé' was dropped.
"You're engaged and you're still flirting with other men? You're unbelievable, Claire!"
Lily expertly ignored the part where Cyrus already knew about the engagement and pursued her anyway.
It was like talking to a brick wall!
Claire let out an exhausted sigh.
Thankfully Tabitha's lack of a filter finally worked in Claire's favor. "Lily, are you deaf, Claire just said cyrus is the one trying to seduce her."
"Bullshit! Why would Cyrus ever lower himself to seduce her?"
Lily snapped instinctively.
"Why wouldn't he? He's been following her around like a lost
puppy all week, Tabitha state
pointing
out the out the
5.
Lily looked like she was about to pop a blood vessel. "Tabitha, whose side are you even on?!"
Tabitha blinked, genuinely confused. "Why are you yelling at me? I'm just looking at the facts."
"And didn't Claire just say she's engaged?"
"Wait, Claire, you're seriously engaged at your age?"
Before Claire could even open her
mouth to respond, Lily scoffed
mockingly. "Do you
even have to
ask She's obviously lying though
her teeth!"
FindNovel.net
"She was literally kicked out of her rich family! What kind of respectable man would
be her fiancé?"
"And even if she did have one, he definitely would have dumped her by now!"