The Billionaire's True Heiress From Fake Jewel to Real Crown novel Chapter 505

“Because...”

Just when Octavia thought Claire was finally going to give her a straight answer, Claire just grinned. “Why don’t you guess?”

Octavia felt her anger about to explode as she stepped right in front of Claire, blocking her from leaving.

“Claire, what do you want from me?”

Gone was the fake friendliness. Octavia’s real face came out, but really, she’d been losing the act around Claire for ages. Claire knew exactly what kind of person Octavia was beneath all the smiles.

“Octavia, I’m not plotting anything. I just want to live my own life. Please stop showing up and making trouble for me.”

“I have my college entrance exams soon. You popping in all the time... Are you actually hoping you’ll mess me up so your daughter has a better shot?”

“You’re reading way too much into this,” Octavia said, almost rolling her eyes.

To be honest, if Claire was the type to get distracted, Octavia wouldn’t hesitate, but Claire was just too stubborn for that. Nothing could shake her if she didn’t want to be shaken.

Still, Octavia couldn’t get over one thing. Claire knew about Fallon.

“Did you ever see Fallon back when you were around your dad... I mean, Latham?”

If she hadn’t, how else would Claire know about Fallon? And how did she know about the recent drama between Fallon and Latham?

“Nope. Never did,” Claire replied with a calm smile.

The truth was, Claire had seen Latham flirting with more than a few women. As long as he didn’t cross any major lines, she just pretended not to notice.

Octavia wasn’t innocent either. If some woman ever really threatened her position, Octavia would’ve taken care of it way before Claire could.

Octavia always put herself first. Anyone who thought she was only about the family or about her husband’s feelings clearly didn’t know her.

“You’re lying!” Octavia snapped, her voice sharp.

She hated how much Fallon unsettled her. Fallon had even gotten pregnant by Latham once. No one else had managed that. Fallon had come really close to stealing everything from her, and Octavia was never going to forget it.

Meanwhile, Claire made her way home, humming to herself. Right on cue, the late-night meal Edison had ordered arrived.

Since Claire refused to have anyone come take care of her, Edison found a new solution—he started booking her nutritious suppers from a fancy hotel nearby. Every night he’d send over a different dish, and Claire got the menus ahead of time so she could pick what she felt like eating.

It cost a bit more, but Claire liked the food and the variety meant she never got bored. After dinner, she’d stand on the balcony for twenty minutes, soaking in the night air, before getting ready to wash up and head to bed.

Claire never really studied at home. For her, home was a place to relax. By the time she got back from self-study sessions at night, it was always late anyway.

Most of the time, it was Shirley who complained the most. Ever since she decided to get her act together, she was convinced she was living in hell.

That reminded Claire—Shirley’s friends said they wanted to visit her in Apex, but those plans got put on hold. Shirley’s busy studying, so the trip is delayed until after the exams.

Claire was fine with that.

Maybe it was because Octavia found something else to obsess over, or maybe she just gave up, but for the entire last month before the big exams, Octavia didn’t show up even once.