Claire glanced back at Cindy, her gaze lingering a second longer than usual. "...Wasn't looking at anything."
"Don't you think Mom and Wade are pretty close?" Cindy asked, lowering her voice.
Cindy frowned. "Mom said Wade was her college classmate. Isn't it normal for them to get along?"
"Is it?" Claire didn't push further, but it still didn't sit right with her. There was just something off. Like the way Wade always seemed to have it out for Latham, or how he seemed to know so much about Octavia.
Was he secretly crushing on Octavia?
"Claire, don't say weird stuff in front of Mom. She'll be upset," Cindy said, trying to keep the peace. She really didn't want Claire and their mom to end up fighting.
"I didn't say anything weird. It was just a random comment." Claire shot her a meaningful look. "You're the one overthinking it."
Cindy fell silent, completely at a loss for words. Claire always had a way of shutting her down.
A moment later, Latham and Octavia walked out and spotted Cindy sitting alone, looking like she'd just been wronged. Claire was standing by the window at the end of the hallway, lost in thought.
"Cindy, did Claire give you a hard time again?" Octavia asked, shooting Claire a sharp look.
Almost as if she had sensed it, Claire turned around right then. Octavia hesitated, suddenly feeling a little guilty.
It was funny, Claire thought. The Octavia she remembered always acted so proper and put-together, but lately, she was getting worse at hiding her true feelings.
"Mom, Claire didn't do anything. It was my fault..." Cindy's voice trailed off, the words hanging in the air, almost like she wanted everyone to feel sorry for her.
"What do you mean, your fault? Don't put yourself down, Cindy." That was Wade, stepping in smoothly.
He had changed out of his lab coat and into regular clothes, looking calm and put together. Cindy didn't expect him to speak up for her and just stared in surprise.
But Latham took the chance to say, "The sampling went so smoothly, all thanks to you, Wade."
He turned to the girls. “Claire, Cindy, come on. Let's go have lunch with Wade. It's on us."
"I'll skip it. Grandma's waiting for me downstairs." Claire remembered that Dane was outside with Pandora and honestly had zero interest in hanging around with Lathants group any longer.
Latham's eyes flashed with something sharp. "Bring your grandma, too. She's not just your grandma, you know. She helped raise Claire, and we're really grateful for that."
"This is our chance to treat her."
Claire shook her head. "Dane's here too. It might not be convenient."
And that was exactly what Latham wanted.
"Don't say no just yet. Let's all go downstairs. I'll talk to them," Latham insisted,
trying to sound casual but clearly unwilling to give up.
He could see that Claire was
keeping her distance from the
family. If she cared about them at
all, she'd be trying to help out,
especially since Dane might invest in
The James Group. He really
regretted not stopping his son from
sending Claire back to the
countryside in the middle of the night. That was such a bad move.
“Alright,” Claire agreed, not bothered at all.
She already knew Latham wouldn't get his way Pandora was as sharp as they came. There was no way she'd
for any tricks And Dare even though he was young, gave off the vibe that he could handle
anything.
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Sure enough, when Latham invited Dane and Pandora down in person, they both turned him down.
"We already have lunch plans, and we've got other things to do this afternoon. You all go ahead and enjoy yourselves,” Pandora said, and Dane nodded right along with her.
For someone else, Latham's invitation might have sounded like a genuine thank you. But to them, it was nothing but a setup.