Chapter 94

Claire knew exactly why Elena had been so quick to bring out the severance letter when she got kicked out. She just wanted to cut ties clean—afraid Claire might cling to the "adopted daughter" title and stir up trouble, maybe even take a piece of the Thompson family pie. So ironic, really. Elena was the greedy one, yet assumed everyone was just as calculating. She didn't even want to adopt her in the first place—just wanted to play the good Samaritan for a better reputation, keeping Claire around like some charity case. Such a move was low, honestly. Now, standing there looking at her so-called adoptive parents, Claire couldn't even remember how they treated her before Serena came into the picture. Maybe they were somewhat kind back then. Or maybe they were just trying to use her as a bargaining chip to keep close to the Cooper family, making her act like the perfect little granddaughter around Nelson's grandfather. Whatever. That part of her life was fuzzy now, and she wasn't interest