Building Her Throne Burying My Heart (Claire) novel Chapter 98

“Besides, my boss told me to stay here. Unless she says otherwise, I’m not going anywhere.”

I stood confidently behind Claire, purse in hand, and watched the discomfort on their faces.

Seeing how determined I was, Halley turned to Claire. “This is a family issue. It’s not really appropriate to have someone else here.”

I jumped in before Claire could answer. “So what, I’m not family now? Why shouldn’t I be involved?”

Garrison looked like he was about to blow a fuse. He’d just told me to join in, and now here I was, inserting myself all over again.

Alice just stared at me, totally speechless. After what I’d done earlier, she was convinced I was stirring things up on purpose.

Claire clearly didn’t want to get dragged into any more drama. “Don’t mind him,” she said, not even looking my way. “Just pretend he isn’t here. Let’s talk about what we came here for.”

Halley had no choice but to let it go, and everyone shifted gears to talk about the wedding.

Alice spoke up first. She thought they should get married as soon as the engagement was done, since the engagement was really just a formality.

“We all want to see you married soon. Once that’s settled, you two can focus on your careers and let us handle the rest.”

“You’re the only one left in your family now. When you marry Garrison, I’ll treat you like my own daughter.”

Garrison squeezed Claire’s hand. “My mom really is great. You have nothing to worry about.”

Alice nodded. “If you want to live with us, or if you’d rather have your own space, I’ll support you either way. And when you have kids, I’ll be there to help with them.”

Honestly, Alice was a pro at acting loving. I doubted she even remembered how many diapers she’d changed for Garrison.

Halley stayed quiet but kept nodding, clearly agreeing with everything Alice said.

Claire watched everyone at the table, taking in their reactions.

Halley’s face fell instantly. Alice looked at him, totally lost, and Garrison just stared helplessly from his dad to Claire.

“A crisis? I didn’t hear anything about this.”

Claire’s brow tightened. “It’s real. I just didn’t want you to worry. If you don’t believe me, I can show you the messages.”

Garrison stopped her right away. “No, it’s fine. I believe you.”

Claire’s heart skipped a beat. Thank goodness he didn’t ask to see, because there were no messages and no crisis. She’d made it up to see how they’d react.

After all, she hadn’t forgotten that Halley was the one who refused to help her when she asked for support.