Chapter 8

Claire turned her head, her voice cool and steady. "Now let's talk about you, Serena."

Serena flinched, instinctively shrinking closer to Elena like a child hiding behind her mother.

"W-What could there possibly be between us?" she stammered, voice trembling, tears glinting in her eyes. "You're the one who wanted the divorce. Nelson agreed. That's it."

"That's between me and Nelson," Claire replied sharply. "What I'm asking about—is how you paid that man to lure me upstairs, locked the door, and tried to trap me in a scandal."

Her tone didn't rise, but the chill in it made the room go still.

"I've never done anything to hurt you," she continued, "so why would you do something so vile?"

"I didn't!" Serena screamed, her face draining of color. "Sometimes I just… lose control, okay? You know how I get when I have an episode—I don't even remember what I did!"

That excuse again.

Always the same shield.

Always the same performance.

Elena pulled her daughter into her arms, her voice tight with pain. "That's enough, Claire. Serena lived outside the family for years. She's traumatized. You're fine now, aren't you? Can't you cut her some slack?"

Claire let out a hollow laugh. "You want me to forgive someone who tried to set me up to be assaulted?"

Her gaze locked onto Elena—filled with disbelief.

All she saw was worry. Not for her. For Serena.

Something twisted inside her chest.

"I don't understand," Claire said quietly. "It's been twenty years. Even if we're not blood—did I really mean so little to you? So little that you'd turn a blind eye while your 'real' daughter planned something like this?"

Elena opened her mouth, then closed it again, her expression flickering between guilt and defiance.

She looked away. "There's no point digging up the past. What matters now is Serena. She can't take any more stress."

"This is all your fault!" Serena shrieked suddenly.

She shoved Elena aside and stepped forward, her chest heaving with rage.

"So what if I did it?!" she shouted, pointing a trembling finger at Claire. "I hate you! Why do you get to wear the pretty dresses, sleep in the master bedroom, be spoiled by Mom and Dad, and even marry Nelson?!"

Claire didn't move.

"I didn't cause your pain," she said flatly. "It was the hospital's mistake. They switched us."

"I don't care!" Serena screamed, completely unhinged. "Everything you had should've been mine! Even Nelson! You knew I loved him—we were meant to be! Why did you marry him?! Why couldn't you just die?!"

The words landed like knives.

The crowd gasped audibly.

Claire closed her eyes, inhaling deeply to steady herself.

"So you knew exactly what you were doing," she said softly. "You knew what this would do to my life—to my marriage—and you still went through with it. Serena, do you even understand what you've done?"

Serena's eyes were wild, her voice cold. "But look at you. You're still standing, aren't you?"

Claire blinked, stunned by how twisted that sounded.

Serena didn't flinch. "You owe me an apology."

Silence.

Even Elena was too stunned to speak.

Claire stared at her sister, disbelief etched into her face. "Serena… nothing justifies what you did. Nothing gives you the right to hurt someone like that."

"All I want is your apology," Serena repeated, voice thin and trembling. "That's it."

"No way!" Elena blurted, finally snapping out of her haze. "Claire, please… treat this as a favor to your mother, alright? I'll apologize on her behalf. We were wrong. Just let it go—for old times' sake."

Claire slowly shook her head.

"There haven't been 'old times' between us in a long time."

Her voice was quiet, but firm.

"If she wants forgiveness…" Claire's eyes didn't waver. "She'll need to say it herself."