The Billionaire's True Heiress From Fake Jewel to Real Crown novel Chapter 1258

"Preston, are you mad at me?"

"You used to say you'd never get mad, no matter what I did."

Preston let out a dry, humorless chuckle. "I'm not mad at you. I'm mad at myself."

Zoe looked genuinely perplexed.

He finally turned to look at her, staring so intently that it sent a chill down her spine. "I'm mad that I was so blind, that I let someone play me for a fool."

"Thank god my cousin is smarter than I am."

Zoe's face drained of color. "Preston, what are you trying to say?"

"Are you blaming me?"

"It's not that I don't care about you, it's just that I really can't be with you right now."

"You know how difficult my situation is within Rose's family."

Claire and Skye finally couldn't hold back anymore and strolled over from the side.

Zoe instantly dropped her theatrical performance.

She had just been lamenting her difficult living situation, and now Zara's two classmates had suddenly appeared.

If they were merely Zara's classmates, they wouldn't be worth worrying about.

But Claire also happened to be Dane's fiancée, a fact that left Zoe seething with jealous resentment and utter frustration.

"Well, sorry about that. We didn't mean to eavesdrop on your little chat," Claire said smoothly, her tone unapologetic.

She greeted the two of them with effortless grace.

Preston was in no mood to deal with her, but Zoe glared at Claire, flush with humiliation. "Claire, I'm trying not to judge you since you're Zara's friend, but how could you do something as classless as eavesdropping?"

Claire barely wanted to waste her breath on this woman.

"Do you even hear yourself right now?"

"You don't need to do me any favors for Zara's sake. After all, you spend half your time framing her for things she didn't do, don't you?"

"But you can certainly watch your tone for my fiancé's sake."

"After all, he's brilliant, incredibly wealthy, and gorgeous. You've been lusting after him for a while now, haven't you?"

"Don't talk nonsense! I may admire Dane, but—"

Zoe stumbled over her words, so Claire kindly finished her sentence for her. "But you never intended to ruin our relationship, right?"

"That's only because you know damn well you couldn't ruin it even if you tried, isn't it?"

"You really didn't think you had a shot at breaking us up, did you, Ms. Zeller?"

"Oh, and I just heard you complaining about how miserable your life is with Rose's family. If it's so awful, how can you afford to dress so lavishly?"

"I checked online earlier. That gown you're wearing is worth tens of thousands of dollars, isn't it?"

"Could your parents afford that on their meager salaries?"

Zoe's face turned a sickening shade of gray. She had never expected Claire to not only eavesdrop but to call her out on it right in front of Preston.

It was true. Based on her parents' income, they couldn't even dream of affording a dress like this.

"I rented this gown from SUNNY."

Zoe instinctively glanced at Preston, desperately hoping he would step in and defend her.