"Mom, Lance was the one who asked if I wanted to come."
Cindy just wanted to have a little fun with Lance, but she couldn't wrap her head around why her mom was reacting like this.
"I swear I won't mess with his work," she promised, hoping Octavia would back off.
Octavia still wasn't satisfied. "How about I take you somewhere instead? Let Lance focus on his job for once."
"Where did you have in mind?"
Octavia started listing a bunch of places in Southeast Asia. "Vacations are always better at the beach. You've never even seen the ocean, have you? Let me take you. We'll go wherever you want."
She figured if she used this chance to spend real time with her daughter, maybe she could get Cindy away from Fallon for a while. That felt important right now.
"Lance already planned everything out with me. York's coming too." Cindy thought of Fallon and suddenly found it hard to look her mom in the eye.
She almost expected her mom to force her into making some big, uncomfortable choice.
"York too?" Octavia's tone changed a little after hearing that.
Her daughter was officially York's fiancée now, but she knew Cindy wasn't as clever or beautiful as Claire. If Cindy wanted to truly win York over, she'd have to work for it really get close to him.
Octavia didn't want Cindy ending up stuck with a man who lost interest, especially if York turned out to be like Latham, running around behind his wife's back. She'd suffered enough herself and didn't want her daughter to go through the same thing.
"Yeah, York's going with us. Lance was the one who invited him."
Octavia paused, thinking. Maybe her son was hoping to help Cindy and York grow closer while checking out this new business project.
If York was coming along anyway, there was no reason for her to interfere.
Honestly, with Cindy gone, Octavia could finally take her time dealing with Fallon.
If only she could convince Claire to
sue Fallon and force her to answer for swapping the babies. But Claire might not even want to Or maybe Claire would drag things out and try to strike a deal.
Thinking about all that, Octavia let her gaze linger on Cindy.
"Cindy, what do you really think of Fallon now?"
“If she hadn't switched you and Claire back then, you would've grown up at home, gotten everything you wanted. You wouldn't be this old without ever leaving the country."
To Octavia, Cindy was restless and desperate for a big trip only because she'd been so sheltered. If she'd had any real experiences growing up, maybe she wouldn't be so attached to the idea of following. Lance around. She could find her own way to have fun.
"Mom, I do hate whoever messed up and switched me and Claire. But Fallon is still
my godmother. She took care of me for years..."
Cindy trailed off, and Octavia's heart dropped.
It honestly felt like she'd raised a
daughter for someone else. Fallon was the reason Cindy had gone through so much pain and a lonely, difficult childhood. But in Cindy's mind, Fallon was still someone worthy of gratitude.
There was no saving this child.
"Taking care of you for a few years doesn't erase what she did."
"She didn't just send you off to suffer in the countryside. She kept us apart for years -you and me, kept apart because of her!"
"I raised someone else's daughter like she was my own. But my real daughter was left to struggle and stew in misery."
"Every time I think about it, it hurts so much I can barely stand it."
"Cindy, I'm not asking you to pick a side. Just think about what she did. In my eyes, it's no different from what a kidnapper does."
"Does anyone forgive people who steal other people's children?"
"If everyone just let them off the hook, can you imagine how many missing kids there'd be?"