The Billionaire's True Heiress From Fake Jewel to Real Crown novel Chapter 177

Latham couldn’t shake one worry. He was offering five percent, but what if the Byron family still stuck to their measly three? Wouldn't that basically mean he was paying them to take his daughter off his hands? The James family could see right through the Byron family's little game, but everyone kept their smiles, acting like everything was perfectly pleasant.

Dinner talk felt more like a business negotiation than a family meal. Olga kept bringing up Claire, using her as a way to get her point across, which was starting to really get under Octavia’s skin. What was so wrong with her own daughter, Cindy? But here was Olga, constantly gushing about how much she adored Claire.

Back when Olga used to praise Claire, Octavia loved it. After all, she’d been the one to raise Claire. Claire’s success made her look good. But now that Claire had started thinking for herself, wasn’t so easy to control, Octavia’s feelings had shifted. Now, every time Olga praised Claire, it felt like a slight against Cindy.

“Claire is such a wonderful girl. We basically raised her ourselves. I really hate to let her go,” Olga said with a sigh. “She’s called Latham and me Mom and Dad for eighteen years. We were even thinking about picking a day to get her grandmother’s blessing and make it official, you know, as her godparents. But now that she’s someone else’s granddaughter, it’s really up to Pandora. If she doesn’t agree, there’s not much we can do.”

Olga turned to Octavia, curiosity all over her face. “When Cindy lived in the countryside, did she and Claire’s grandmother get along?”

“Pandora absolutely dotes on Claire,” Octavia replied, trying to keep her voice steady. Hearing that made her blood boil. Claire got all of Pandora’s love when she lived with the James family. Meanwhile, her own daughter, Cindy, was treated like a servant.

“Pandora has a quiet personality, but she was always nice to Cindy too. She even took a few pounds of special agarwood and made a pillow for Cindy. Just because Cindy had trouble sleeping as a kid. She used that pillow for more than ten years.” Octavia couldn’t help mentioning the valuable pillow, her tone a mix of pride and jealousy.

Cindy looked surprised her mom brought that up. Olga’s eyes widened. “Wait, I thought they were just regular country folks. How’d they get their hands on agarwood pillows? That’s fancy!”

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