The Billionaire's True Heiress From Fake Jewel to Real Crown novel Chapter 399

“It’s just that Cindy is too honest for her own good,” Octavia sighed. “She doesn’t know how to charm people, especially older folks. I guess she gets that from me. I was never good at winning over your mom, either. Now, look at Claire. She’s practically a professional at making Pandora happy. I swear, your mom isn’t a fan of any of us, except for Claire—the one who isn’t even related by blood.”

Latham didn’t respond. He knew it was true. His mother really did have a soft spot for Claire.

Octavia narrowed her eyes. “You don’t think your mom would give everything nice to Claire and leave Cindy out in the cold, do you?”

Latham hesitated. “I don’t think she would. Sure, she likes Claire, but blood’s still blood. Cindy is her real granddaughter.”

“That soft spot she has for Claire is obvious, though. You know, I’ve been thinking.” Latham’s words seemed to flow a little freer after a couple drinks. “What if Lance married Claire and brought her back home?”

Octavia stared at him like he’d lost his mind. “Absolutely not! No way!”

Latham was confused. “Why not? Didn’t you say yourself, we raised Claire for eighteen years, almost like we did all that just to hand her off to someone else? If Lance marries her, we all stay family. What’s so bad about that?”

“In your plan, Claire just goes from being a granddaughter to a granddaughter-in-law. Even if your mom has something to give away, it’s still in the family. Sounds perfect to me.”

Octavia’s face turned dark. “Claire is my daughter. That’s how I’ve always seen her. How can you tell me she should become my daughter-in-law? That’s just… wrong. Wouldn’t that make things just like they are with Pandora? Pandora dislikes me, but at least I can avoid her. What about Claire, though? What am I supposed to do, shut her out of my life for good?”

“He cared about Claire for a long time,” Latham said quietly. “I don’t know how he figured out she wasn’t actually our daughter, but that’s why he was so determined to find his real sister. He stopped wanting to be Claire’s brother ages ago. That’s why he always acted distant with her.”

It was like those boys in grade school who picked on the girls they liked, just to get attention. Latham thought it was childish, but if it got results, he wasn’t going to complain.

“Claire owns Hearth & Kettle now. That place is worth over a hundred million. If Lance marries her, it stays in our family. That’s huge for the West Side project. If Claire’s family, everything’s easier to work out between us.”

Latham spoke with total confidence. He really believed he wasn’t shortchanging Claire. Any money made would end up Claire’s and Lance’s anyway. And if the James family got control of Hearth & Kettle’s development rights, they’d have way more power when dealing with the Byron family.