Chapter 23

Claire was momentarily stunned by those words. She stood there, frozen, carefully trying to figure out how to say no without sounding harsh. "Beatrice, I know you've always cared about me, but…" Before Claire could finish, Beatrice cut her off sharply. "Claire, sweetheart, I know you still blame us deep down, and I get it. But can you not shut me out so fast? As for this whole godmother thing... let's just wait till the divorce is finalized, okay? It's not like you two are officially over yet. Just calling me 'Mom' for now—it's not too much, right?" Her tone had softened at the end—careful, coaxing, almost pleading. It was the kind of voice that made it hard to say no. But Claire's heart just wasn't in it. She didn't reply. She didn't want to hurt her, but she couldn't force herself either. So she simply stayed silent. Not pushing any further, Beatrice still couldn't hide her disappointment, her voice losing its earlier cheer. "Alright, Claire, maybe I wasn't thinking it through. If yo