While Tiffany was an atrocious mother, her two children were brilliant, and Padgett was a man who separated personal grudges from familial loyalty.
Owen Churchill had lived a life of pampered privilege, and the last thing he wanted was to be kicked out of the family.
The holiday gala had been completely soured by Tiffany's toxic presence, leaving a bitter taste in everyone's mouth.
However, Agatha found some comfort when her nieces invited her to play bridge.
She could be petty at times, but she wasn't inherently malicious.
Over the past year, Claire had seamlessly integrated into the Churchill family, growing as close to her three cousins as if they were her own brothers.
When the party finally wound down, she walked Dane to his car.
Dane took a moment to remind her.
"If Tiffany ever tries to use her status to bully you again, don't let her intimidate you."
"I was never afraid of her," Claire said. She only tolerated the woman out of respect for her grandfather.
And out of consideration for Yolande and Seb.
"Claire."
After seeing Dane off, Claire ran into Yara Quincy outside.
When they had first met, Yara had been snooty and aloof, openly antagonistic toward Claire.
But tonight, her attitude had softened significantly.
Even Jules took the initiative to say hello.
"Yara, do you need something?" Claire asked, unsure if this was a coincidence or if Yara had sought her out.
"Claire, we're going out to have some fun. Do you want to come?"
"It's just me, Jules, and Quinn. We need one more."
Yara was bored out of her mind, and knowing her grandmother wouldn't be leaving anytime soon, she figured it would be better to hang out.
"What are you guys doing?" Claire asked, mildly curious. "Aren't you inviting anyone else?"
"No one else. We're heading out to the suburbs to set off some fireworks." Fireworks were banned in the city limits, but the outskirts were fair game.
By inviting Claire, Yara was officially acknowledging her place in their circle.
Yara wouldn't dare invite the older cousins like Owen.
She assumed Owen and the others would find something so trivial incredibly boring.
Claire stared at her blankly. She wasn't exactly thrilled by the idea of fireworks either.
"Come on, let's go. We even invited Yolande and Seb!"
Seeing Claire's hesitation, Yara quickly dropped a little surprise to sweeten the deal.
She hadn't planned on mentioning them just yet.
"Are they actually coming out tonight?"
After everything that had just happened, Claire assumed the
Siad looked themselves
their rooms
Surprisingly, Yolande and Seb had indeed decided to join them.
The two of them arrived in the same car, pulling in at breakneck speed.
Perhaps fueled by their bad moods, they were the first to show up.
"Yolande, are you okay?"
Claire noticed Yolande's bloodshot eyes; she had clearly been crying.
Yolande shook her head. "I'm fine. I was just overwhelmed for a minute, but I'm better now."
"The fireworks are gorgeous. Watching them definitely lifts the spirit."
The brilliant explosions of color across the night sky did seem to wash away the lingering gloom.
Seeing that she was putting on a brave face, Claire didn't push the issue.
After all, this was a matter between a mother and daughter, and an outsider had no place interfering.
If Tiffany and Yolande ever reconciled, Claire would end up looking like the bad guy.
The group spent the rest of the evening enjoying the display. But just as they were packing up to leave they bumped into Waylon Hudson, the same guy from the club the other night.
Waylon had an arm draped around a beautiful woman, looking genuinely surprised
to see Claire.
"Well, look who it is. If it isn't Claire."
His face was twisted into a cocky, arrogant smirk.
Claire's group consisted of four girls and two teenage boys, and
immediately tensed, instinctivenes
going on the defensive. .net>
"Claire, who is this guy?"
Yara, who had the most nerve among them, asked with open curiosity.
"Nobody. Let's just go." Claire had zero interest in entertaining Waylon.