Grace felt her mind go totally blank, like something inside her just collapsed. “Mr. and Mrs. Norwood, that instructor is Lydia’s cousin?”
Cameron nodded. “Exactly. Last time we went to France, we all went to a car race together. He’s a great kid. He and Lydia have always gotten along really well, and we’re glad they have each other. But these people… I don’t know where they come up with this nonsense.”
Kylie’s face was tight with anger. “Seriously. What, girls aren’t allowed to have male friends now? Any time you talk to a boy, it’s automatically a date?”
Cameron’s voice turned sharp. “We need to get to the bottom of this. We have to find out who started these rumors and make them apologize to Lydia.”
“Yes, honey. Whoever spread these lies absolutely has to apologize to Lydia. If they don’t, we’ll take legal action.”
Grace’s face went pale with fear. She rushed to apologize. “I’m so sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Norwood. I overreacted. I knew it had to be some kind of misunderstanding. Lydia would never do what they’re saying. Those people are horrible. They should really be held responsible for this.”
Kylie frowned. “Grace, you’ve been with our family for years. You know what Lydia is like. Next time you hear anything like this, don’t jump to conclusions.”
Grace nodded quickly. “Yes, ma’am. I understand.”
As soon as she left, Grace pulled out her phone and messaged Lucinda:
[Lucinda, turns out that instructor already knew Lydia ages ago! Mr. and Mrs. Norwood have met him too. They don’t believe the rumors at all. They even want to hunt down whoever started them. I think our plan just failed again.]
Lucinda had been in a good mood, but when she saw Grace’s message, she nearly lost it.
Her parents were so hopelessly biased. The photos were right there and they still believed Lydia and Jay were innocent? Anyone with eyes could tell there was something going on between those two.
She thought for a second, then replied to Grace:
[They might be blind, but Connor isn’t. He’ll see that Lydia and Jay are definitely up to something.]
One day, Connor would dump her for good.
Inside, Monica and Fiona were zooming in on a picture of Lydia and Connor kissing when the door suddenly swung open. They both jumped, staring at Lydia with frozen faces.
Lydia raised an eyebrow. “What’s up?”
Monica tried to play it cool but just laughed nervously. “Oh, uh, nothing.”
Fiona couldn’t hold back. “Lydia, your boyfriend is seriously good-looking.”
Lydia lifted her eyebrow even higher. “You saw him?”
Monica coughed. “We, um, saw the photos on the forums.”
She immediately looked angry. “But the stuff people are saying on there is just ridiculous. It’s way out of line. Why doesn’t anyone stop them?”

Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Ready to Rule: The Real Heiress Strikes Back
thank u!...
Olha a história bem boa só algumas coisas são chatas ( nesse tipo de história sempre troca as filhas pela a da empregada ou então pegam uma menina pra criar) pelo menos eles tratam a filha bem só enche o saco que até agora a Lucinda tá lá enchendo ! Fora isso tá bom Connor é um fofo a família dela a ama muito só Lucinda pra abaixar o nível do livro já era pra ter resolvido isso e fazer ela pagar mais tudo bem li um livro chinês que era parecido só algumas coisas diferentes ,ais mesma coisa tipo ela salvou o Connor no início lá ela salvava o avô dele , no chinês ela não tinha um irmão mais novo com os pais adotivos , a mãe dela tinha 2 irmãos e todos os avós estavam vivos mais história quase igual e tem coisas tipo o triângulo que lá TB tinha até a Lucinda que no chines TB ficou o livro todo aprontando só no final a família descobria e se livrava dela aí ela ia morar com o cara que ela usa pra disfarçar que não gosta do Connor aí depois ainda quase matava a irmã dele e a mãe dele que ele via como ela era...
thank u for the upload...
the next chapter is exciting...
the next upload is exciting. i cant wait....
Every chapter is missing a sentence from the end of every chapter. It’s frustrating to try guess what’s missing or said...
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