The Billionaire's True Heiress From Fake Jewel to Real Crown novel Chapter 299

"Claire?"

York didn't expect to run into her here. He looked genuinely surprised.

"Are you sick or something?"

He couldn't help but remember how Claire once jumped in to save someone who collapsed at Hearth & Kettle.

"I'm not sick," Claire replied, shaking her head.

Then why was she at the hospital? York couldn't make sense of it. His eyes drifted over to Lawler, sizing him up. Lawler wasn't exactly movie-star handsome, but with that white doctor's coat he seemed reliable, like someone you could count on. Still, he definitely looked a lot older than Claire.

Was it possible? Had Claire really bounced back from their breakup so quickly that she was already seeing someone else? York remembered seeing her at the gates of Silverpeak International College, clinging to another guy, bragging that he was better than York.

"Is Cindy the one who's sick? She looks pretty out of it."

Cindy's eyes widened and she glanced nervously at York.

He patted her shoulder gently. "She's fine. She just got caught in the rain, so I brought her here to get checked out. Didn't want her coming down with something."

Claire looked at Cindy's wet hair. She had definitely been out in the rain. But the real story was written all over Cindy's face. She didn't look sick so much as scared out of her mind.

It all started when Cindy stormed out of the James family house by herself. She claimed she was going to find Claire and apologize, but really, it was just a rash decision made in the heat of the moment. She left her phone behind and had no way of contacting Claire. Even Lance couldn't reach her.

She kept glancing back, hoping her parents would come after her, but no one showed. With nowhere else to go, she just wandered, letting her feet carry her wherever.

Without thinking, she ended up near her old high school. The smell of street food stopped her in her tracks. Back when she moved in with the James family, Octavia had banned all street snacks, calling them unhealthy junk. Cindy, wanting to be the good daughter, stopped eating them. But seeing the food now made her mouth water.

"You cried on the phone before, and Octavia keeps asking me to forgive you. I've already told both of you, I'm not going to drag you down with everyone else, but I'm also never going to forgive you."

She looked Cindy dead in the eyes. "Put your energy into something useful. I don't want to see you spiral again the moment I get my early admission. Don't expect me to hand over my spot just because you can't handle it."

Claire had no idea her offhand comment would eventually come true.

Cindy looked devastated. "Claire, I swear, I would never try to take your place. I lost my way before, got stuck in my head, always feeling like I was less than you."

She hesitated, her voice small. "If we hadn't been switched at birth... do you think I'd be as smart as you? Would I have been the one going to the winter camp?"

Cindy was basically accusing Claire of living the life that should have been hers.

Claire shook her head. "No, you wouldn't. We're just not the same. My grades, my skills, they're part of who I am. I got them from my real parents."