Eleven Years All to the Wrong Man novel Chapter 160

"You know, they're both daughters, but look how successful Emma is. My Cindy, on the other hand! She's even a few months older than Emma, but she has nothing to show for it. Now she's just working some job in this backwater town, barely making enough to get by. Ugh, they're both daughters, how can they be so different!"

The second aunt shook her head and sighed, completely missing the flicker of awkwardness and embarrassment on her daughter's face behind her.

When they were younger, Emma was always being compared to her cousin, Cindy Hayes.

Cindy was a good student and pretty. Back then, if you asked who the most beautiful girl in town was, everyone would have pointed to the older daughter of Emma's second uncle, Cindy Hayes.

Emma looked through the crowd at her cousin, who was only three months older than her.

She still had the same long, straight, beautiful black hair from high school, wearing it down. She had on a slightly cheap-looking, thin, cream-colored coat and a pair of low-heeled black shoes. On closer inspection, Emma could see she was wearing light makeup, but because of the dry weather and lack of skincare, it had settled into the fine lines around her eyes and mouth, making her look tacky and outdated.

Her face was still flushed from her mother's comments, and she stood awkwardly behind the group, her eyes downcast.

Seeing her again after eleven years, the once-vibrant cousin who had been the center of attention now looked like this.

She had high hopes for her beautiful daughter's future marriage prospects. Everyone in Riverside Millford knew the second aunt planned for her daughter to marry into a wealthy family, which was why Cindy hadn't dated anyone even by the time she was sixteen or seventeen.

One could only imagine how furious the aunt had been when she heard her daughter was involved with a poor kid new to town. The story went that she had stormed into Mrs. Doyle's tailor shop that very day, first making some passive-aggressive remarks to Mrs. Doyle before giving Evan a harsh scolding and warning him to stay away from Cindy before leaving in a huff.

It all happened eleven years ago, Emma thought, recalling the old gossip, though she wasn't sure what was true and what wasn't.

Just then, as the adults were chatting, Emma happened to glance over and saw her cousin, who had been looking at the floor, quietly lift her head. She shot a complicated, lingering look in Evan's direction before slowly lowering her gaze again.