He Lost Me to His Best Friend novel Chapter 162

Clarissa had saved every single one of those videos to her phone. Whenever she had a quiet moment, she would pull them up, watch them, and find herself smiling.

Blood was thicker than water, after all. This was her actual niece.

Corinne was seething at first. Her immediate instinct was to push Clarissa's phone away without a second glance.

But just then, the baby in the video let out a bright, infectious laugh. That angelic, innocent smile instantly grabbed Corinne's attention, leaving her unable to look away.

The hand that had reached out to shove the screen aside slowly dropped back onto the bed.

She stared at the phone in total silence for over a minute. And this—more than two months after the baby was born—was the first time Corinne had truly looked at her own granddaughter's face.

The baby was breathtakingly adorable, the kind of child no one could possibly hate.

The cold, bitter wall in Corinne's heart thawed just a fraction as the video looped.

"Where did you get this? Did you go see that little bas... that baby?"

Corinne caught herself right before the insult slipped out. Clarissa was right—at the end of the day, this was her own flesh and blood.

Clarissa locked her phone and slipped it back into her pocket.

"Scarlett hates us with every fiber of her being. Why would she let me visit? I pulled some strings to get the video. Don't worry about how."

"But let me ask you one thing, Mom. Do you seriously not think Aunt Gwen and Sylvia crossed a massive line? You treated them like royalty, and this is how they repay you."

Corinne clutched her head, her eyes flashing with pure fury.

"Of course I'm furious! I never imagined your aunt was plotting against me behind my back! I gave them everything!"

"Mom, listen to yourself! You have never, not for a single second, considered Scarlett to be part of this family!"

"She endured your abuse for five solid years before she finally snapped and stopped respecting you! Before this, she was nothing but polite and subservient to you!"

"I'm telling you this so you finally get it through your head: Scarlett is your daughter-in-law! She is your family! No matter how much you coddle Sylvia, or how close you are to Aunt Gwen, they are outsiders!"

"When things went south, they were the first ones to push you into the fire! Think about that!"

"And even if you still want to treat Scarlett like an enemy, her daughter carries your blood and the Flynn legacy. What more do you want?"

Just as Clarissa finished speaking, a deep, commanding voice echoed from the doorway.

"Clarissa is right. Corinne, you really do need to take a long, hard look in the mirror."