"Claire, I know you have a good heart. You couldn't possibly just stand by and watch our family's company go under, could you?"
"I certainly won't just stand by and watch," Claire replied, her face utterly earnest.
A flood of relief washed through Octavia. She never expected Claire might actually step in when it mattered most. Her heart lightened as she reached for Claire's hand. "I knew you were a good girl—someone who doesn't forget the people who paved the way for her."
Claire calmly slipped her hand free and smiled. "Octavia, I think you've misunderstood me."
Before Octavia could respond, Claire went on, "What I mean is, if the James family does go bankrupt, I can always close my eyes and pretend I didn't see it."
“That way, I won't just be standing by and watching it happen.”
A heavy silence fell. Octavia nearly lost her composure. Did this impossible girl even know what she was saying?
"How can you say something like that?" Even Cindy couldn't listen anymore. "What are you talking about?"
Octavia's expression soured. "So if our family goes bankrupt, you're just going to stand aside and do nothing?"
"What else do you want me to do? Throw myself into the fire with you?" Claire thought Octavia's logic was baffling. Why on earth would she expect Claire to ask her fiancé to pour money into the James family's black hole?
"All I'm asking is that your fiancé lends a little help. If you refuse, so be it—but why call our family a fire pit?" Octavia's voice trembled with disappointment.
"You grew up in this house, spent your uncle's money from the time you were a child."
"We paid for your lessons, your art classes, your schooling everything."
"And now, all we're asking is for you to introduce your fiancé to your uncle so maybe, just maybe, he could give us a hand. Is that truly so hard?"
"I honestly don't know what to say anymore."
"You say you have a fiancé, so I haven't pushed you to meet others. But Claire, can you look in your heart and tell me: what exactly do we owe you?"
"Don't owe me?" Claire's lips curved in a chilly smile as she looked straight at Octavia. "Would you like me to remind you who's responsible for the mix-up with the babies in the first place?
"I could have grown up by Pandora's side, but I was switched and ended up in the James family."
“Sure—the James family gave me a comfortable life, good schools."
"But what did I get from you, emotionally?"
"Your coldness? Your silent resentment?"
"You always knew from the very beginning that I wasn't your real daughter. How could you ever truly care for a girl who wasn't flesh and blood?"
"The only reason you didn't destroy me isn't because you're generous—it's because Pandora started to suspect something."
"After that, when you couldn't touch me anymore, you pressured me to study harder, become better-so you and Latham could flaunt me to your friends."
"As long as I was the daughter you could display as a trophy, you treated me well enough."
"Tell me, what kind of mother acts that way toward her daughter?"
"You knew all along I wasn't your own, but you never dared go looking for your real child. Why not?”
"Why don't you tell everyone the truth now?"
Cindy stared, too shocked to hide her disbelief. "Mom... is what she said really true?"
She wasn't alone. The same
alone.
question came from across the room-the newly returned Latham was staring at Octavia, his face a
Octavia? Did you
storm of shock and anger. "Is it true, lways know she wasn't our daughter?”
"If you knew from the start, why did you keep it a secret?"
"Octavia, what on earth have you done?"
For so long, Latham had thought Fallon was the one to swap the
babies and after he unco net
the
trut he'd kept quiet, feeling a little guilty for having blamed Octavia.