The True Heiress Reborn And Slays (Alicia Delaney) novel Chapter 648

Chapter 648 Family Dinner Night

Chapter 648 Family Dinner Night

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“Since they didn’t even consider your feelings and went behind your back to arrange my brother’s engagement, it means that in Dad’s and my brother’s eyes, even if you found out, the worst you’d do is mope around at home for a while–you wouldn’t actually make any real trouble. That’s why they felt so comfortable pulling this off.”

Melissa, visibly stung, leaned forward anxiously. “Elsie, what are you trying to say?”

Elsie kept the cold, calculating gleam in her eyes hidden.

“Mom, what if… you were so heartbroken over this that you fell seriously ill? Or even… did something desperate out of despair?”

“Desperate?” Melissa shivered, staring at her in disbelief.

“Yes, desperate.” Elsie took Melissa’s hand, her tone layered with suggestion. “Raymond might seem a little distant toward you right now, but he’s still your son. If he knew that his insistence on marrying into the Belmont family pushed you to… say, slit your wrists or swallow pills- even if it’s just an act–once there’s real blood and it turns into a hospital emergency, do you really think he’d still go through with the engagement to Ms. Belmont?

“The Belmonts have their pride too. Would they really let their daughter marry a man who drove his own mother to attempt suicide? Once word gets out and the media picks it up, the court of public opinion would come down hard on Raymond and Dad. Then not only would the engagement be off, but out of duty–and to avoid the backlash–your brother would have to stay by your bedside day and night, full of remorse. At that point, wouldn’t you have control back in your hands, Mom?”

Whether it was Elsie’s vivid description or Melissa’s own rising desperation, her dull eyes suddenly rekindled with a wild, distorted light.

She looked at Elsie, her lips trembling as if wrestling with a final, grim decision.

But in the end, she gave a slow nod and began murmuring to herself, “You’re right… I’m his mother… he can’t just turn his back on me…”

Seeing Melissa had taken the bait, Elsie maintained her carefully worried, caring expression on the surface. Inside, however, she was sneering–amused at how easily Melissa had fallen for it while still believing she was the one in control.

On the other side of town, Raymond remained completely unaware of any of this.

After getting Claudia’s agreement, Raymond arranged a small gathering and brought her to

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Chapter 648 Family Dinner Night

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Riley hadn’t been back in Nexopolis for long, and her old social circles had hardly overlapped with Claudia’s, given that Claudia was a native to the city’s elite scene.

But to everyone’s surprise, as soon as they sat down, Claudia slid into the seat beside Riley and leaned in, her eyes bright with excitement. “Oh my gosh, Riley, you have no idea how much of a legend you are in our crowd!”

Riley raised an eyebrow, a hint of amusement in her expression. “Really? I had no idea I had that kind of reputation.”

“Are you kidding?” Claudia’s enthusiasm was unmistakable. “The moment you returned to the Harper family, you put that impostor Elsie in her place–everyone was cheering!

“Then you quietly landed the most elusive bachelor in all of Nexopolis! And now you’re running the company in your dad’s place, making all these bold moves… Seriously, among us so–called ‘it girls‘, if any of us managed just one of those things, we’d be dining out on the story for years! And you’ve done all of it!”

Riley couldn’t help but laugh softly.

She could sense the genuine admiration in Claudia’s tone, so she let some of her formality fade and replied warmly, “But you’re plenty impressive yourself. My brother’s always been incredibly stubborn–Dad’s been worrying about him settling down forever, but he refused every setup no matter what. Now suddenly he’s engaged to you, and it all happened so fast. I

up and even asked him privately what went down between you two, but he just clammed wouldn’t say a word.”

At that, a faint blush spread across Claudia’s cheeks, and her gaze shifted slightly, as if caught off guard.

She took a quick sip of her iced coffee and brushed it off with a light laugh. “Oh, it wasn’t anything dramatic. Officially, we just… get along well and decided to keep seeing each other.”

Riley was perceptive and immediately picked up on what wasn’t being said. She decided to cut straight to it. “So… you don’t actually have feelings for my brother?”

The question was direct, but Claudia actually seemed relieved.

She’d never been good at hiding things, and under Riley’s attentive gaze, she chose honesty. “Your brother is… a great guy. We’ve known each other since we were kids, and on paper, he’s an ideal match. But… we’ve only really spent time together a handful of times. Saying I have feelings for him already would sound… insincere.”

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