Otherwise, they would have lost their top-scoring valedictorian, and she might have even held a grudge against the school.
More importantly, Principal Garrison spotted the school's founder, Queenie, at the gala.
Queenie had been living abroad but recently returned home after receiving word about her husband's whereabouts.
Hearing that the young girl had aced her college entrance exams, she decided to join the festivities.
Queenie and Pandora were close friends, so she took a seat directly at the head table.
Principal Garrison and the others immediately went over to pay their respects.
"Don't mind me," Queenie laughed. "I'm just a friend of Claire's grandmother. You're her mentors, so please, make yourselves at home."
The principal caught the major shareholder's drift: I'm here strictly off the clock. Don't bother me.
Fair enough.
They stopped hovering and agreed to pretend the influential woman wasn't even there.
Claire had kept the guest list tight, though a few colleagues from the hospital were included.
Mary was obviously present, and she had brought Dr. Duncan along.
Dr. Duncan was an amusing case; he had practically invited himself.
Overhearing Claire invite Barry and the others at the hospital, he enthusiastically
insisted on coming to celebrate her success.
Remembering how supportive he had been, Claire graciously extended an invitation.
Right now, Dr. Duncan was whispering conspiratorially to Lawler.
"I brazenly invited myself, but I had no idea the banquet was at a place like this. If I'd known... this has got to cost a fortune, right?"
Doctors didn't exactly struggle financially, given their high salaries and generally low daily expenses.
But Dr. Duncan came from a modest background, and he'd heard enough hospital gossip to know the prices here were astronomical.
Claire wasn't accepting gifts, having made that perfectly clear when she handed out the invitations.
She was wearing a form-fitting vintage gown-there was literally nowhere to hide a wad of cash.
Lawler liked Dr. Duncan. He was a capable senior colleague with a famously amiable personality, effortlessly getting along with everyone.
"Claire isn't hurting for money. Plus, the owner of Hearth & Kettle is one of our mentor's patients. He has bone cancer, and we're currently
throwing aff our pesotaroes Itto his
treatment plan."
As the medical team treating Daniel, they had all visited Hearth & Kettle before.
Initially, Barry was strictly against
the unethical practice of accepting free meals from patients' families.
But dennifer had be
persistent, and they 1
only
accepted one dinner invitation around the holidays.
She had insisted it was merely a thank-you for their dedication to the old man.
Honestly, given that Daniel had late-stage bone cancer, most hospitals would have opted for conservative palliative care.
Just managing the pain until the inevitable end.
Their refusal to give up was partly fueled by their drive for in-depth medical research.
That being said, that particular meal had been absolutely unforgettable.
The historic restaurant absolutely lived up to its legendary reputation. The food was phenomenal.
"Ah, that makes sense. So Claire managed to book the place through your patient's family?"
He had just heard whispers that Hearth & Kettle never allowed full buyouts, and even this private lounge was off-limits to the public.
"Not exactly," Lawler replied, clearly more in the loop than Dr. Duncan.
"Do you see the older woman standing next to Claire? That's her grandmother."
Dr. Duncan stared in shock. "Wait, I thought Mary was her grandmother."
Lawler quickly brought him up to speed on the entire switched-at-birth saga, leaving DDuncan to lament how out of touch he had become a from spending too much time at the hospital.