Claire had originally wanted to warn Shirley that Oakley might make an appearance at the dinner.
But on second thought, she decided against it.
Whatever, she would just leave it as a surprise for Shirley.
She believed Shirley had grown up enough not to scream Oakley's name in the middle of a classy dinner.
"It's for the best. Octavia is busy taking care of Lance at the hospital, Latham is running around all day, and my dad is the one holding the company together."
"My dad had gained some weight before, and my mom used to complain about it. But in just this short amount of time, he's lost so much weight that my mom actually started cooking him hearty meals at home."
Claire had known for a while that The James Family's situation was dire.
What surprised her was that Shirley's family still had no idea Octavia had been taken into custody by the police.
"I've visited the hospital the past few days, but Octavia wasn't there. Only Cindy was looking after Lance."
"Latham probably hired a private nurse for Lance."
Claire originally hadn't intended to say too much, but figuring Shirley would find out about Octavia eventually anyway, she decided she might as well tell her now.
"How is that possible? Even though Octavia cares about Cindy since she just returned home, she definitely loves Lance more, right?"
It was just like her own mother. Even though her mom loved her, she clearly favored her younger brother a little more.
"She does love Lance more, but honestly, she loves herself the most."
Claire felt that Octavia hiring someone to orchestrate Fallon's car crash back then had been an incredibly stupid move.
If she had any real spine, she would have forced a clean break.
Or, if she had any backbone, she could have used the evidence to divorce Latham and walked away with a massive settlement.
Instead, she chose the most extreme method for revenge.
Was she just too attached to Latham?
Not quite. She was likely just too attached to the wealth and status that Latham provided.
Wade was a former classmate of hers who treated her like his true love.
It was obvious that if Octavia was willing to get a divorce, Wade would happily divorce his own wife to marry her.
But there was no way Octavia would agree to that.
Her vanity would never allow her to abandon Latham and hand over her title as the mistress of the family to someone else.
"You make a good point, but she couldn't just think about herself and completely ignore Lance, right?"
That was his biological mother.
Even if she was selfish, with her son in that condition, how could she not visit the hospital at all?
Shirley still couldn't wrap her head around it.
n«
"She was taken away by the police. It's not that she doesn't want to take care of Lance, she's probably just tied up with her own problems."
Claire revealed.
"Oh my God!" Shirley gasped, accidentally knocking over a carton of yogurt.
Her loud gasp immediately drew her mother's attention.
"What are you doing? Did your admission letter arrive?" Patti rushed
over thinking something had els
happened to her daughter
.net>
Seeing the mess the girl had made on the floor, she immediately wanted to grab a duster and smack her.
"No, Mom. Octavia got arrested by the cops. Did you hear?"
Seeing her mother's murderous expression, Shirley quickly explained.
"No idea. Why would the police arrest her out of nowhere? Fraud? Money laundering?"
Patti was just joking.
She didn't believe a word her daughter was saying.
Wasn't Octavia at the hospital taking care of Lance?
Why would the police arrest her? Did she cause a scene at the hospital?
"I have no idea what happened. If
you haven't heard anything, howet
would know?" Shirley suddenly remembered she was still on the phone with Clare.
"I'm on a call, I'll tell you later."
She waved her hand at her mother, signaling her not to eavesdrop.
"Who are you on the phone with?" Patti became instantly suspicious. Was her daughter secretly dating someone?