Claire pinched the bridge of her nose. All she wanted was dinner and some sleep. Whatever this was, she had no interest in it.
Emelda reached out to grab Claire’s arm, but Donna slapped the old woman’s fingers. "Don’t even think about it." She snapped.
"You are the world’s worst wrinkled, pruny, old bag of bones." Wilder yelled at Emelda, her eyes flashing with pure fury. "You know damn well how your precious son Alden treated Claire like she was disposable while parading that other girl around the city like a queen for two whole years! Don’t you dare come in here acting like you give a rat’s tail about Claire now!"
Stephen lightly patted his wife’s hand, trying to project a calm, authoritative presence. He looked down at Claire with a soft, pleading expression.
"Claire, listen to your grandfather," Stephen began, his tone dripping with calculated sympathy. "We know you’ve been hurt. But you are living in isolation here, surrounded by poverty and uncultured humans. Is this how you plan to spend the rest of your life? Ritah and Andrew are both so deeply remorseful for what happened. Just come back with us and start over."
At the mention of Andrew, Donna’s hands froze entirely on Claire’s hair.
"Remorseful?" Donna repeated, her voice dripping with venom. "Andrew was Claire’s fiancé! He was supposed to marry her! And Ritah stole him right out from under her, with Alden and Heimi’s blessing! How dare you bring his name into this house claiming that he is remorseful when he just came here yesterday to harass her?"
Stephen held up his hands placatingly. "Love doesn’t ask why, child! It just happens. Sometimes when it happens, some people get hurt. But that is when you have to think of the Lord. All that he does is for a reason. You and Andrew were not meant to be for a reason."
"Nobody quotes scriptures better than the devil." Wilder shrieked and cackled.
Stephen shot her a sharp glare before quickly returning his focus to Claire. "They both realize now how much pain they caused you, Claire. They talk about it all the time! They cry about how broken the family has become and pray over it. Just the other day, Ritah asked me to put you in my prayers. She wants you to heal and move on. They need your forgiveness so everyone can heal." His voice took on the pretentious, otherworldly air it always adopted when he was preaching. "Matthew 6, verse---"
"Here we go." Wilder cut in, rolling her eyes.
Claire rolled her eyes too, stealthily. She didn’t have a problem with the message. Only the messenger. Stephen Dane was a hypocrite. He preached about loving your neighbor and went on to hate his poor neighbors. It was not hard to see why Wilder called him and his wife Satan.
Emelda nodded vigorously, leaning on her walker to get closer to Claire’s chair. "Ignore that woman, Claire. Wilder Prescott is nothing but a troublemaker. Focus on your family--your real family. They are truly heartbroken. We all care so much about your future, child. You cannot spend the rest of your life hiding out here! You have a life back in the city. You have a job. You have friends and a lot of other important duties waiting for you. Enough is enough. It’s time to come back to the real world."
Victor scoffed. "The real world! Mother, do you hear yourself?"
Emelda smiled, a sweet, manipulative expression spreading across her wrinkled face. "Stay out of this Victor," she snapped. The old woman kept her eyes on Claire, the only prize she wanted. "Your grandfather and I have already talked about your next steps extensively. Once you forgive your uncle Alden and come back, we promise to set you up on a date with a wonderful, nice boy from a respectable, wealthy family.
One that is strong in the faith like us. A real gentleman who can take good care of you, honey and not a playboy like the one they say you are now dating. You need to end that relationship, it’s embarrassing to the family. Apollo is not it; he is a rake that will break your heart and humiliate our humble name."
Claire raised her brows. In her mind she was checking off the reasons why the old couple had come to seek her out. Now, she had found another reason. Ritah did not want her dating Apollo, and it was her cousin who had truly engineered this little visit.
Wilder let out a sharp, incredulous whistle. "A date?! Are you out of your withered old mind?! You’re trying to parade her around to your hypocritical friends like a prize pony?!"
"Shut your mouth, Wilder!" Emelda snapped, before turning back to Claire with urgent desperation. "Claire, listen to reason! You must stop being so stubborn. Throwing your life away will only ruin your future! A bright future at that. Your uncle Alden and aunt Heimi are still your parents, the ones who raised you! Whatever they did, whatever mistakes were made, they did it in the heat of the moment! They were overwhelmed by the news of the baby swap!"
"Heat of the moment! You call two years the heat of the moment." Archer’s voice boomed from the doorway. He had come to check on his sister only to stumble into this mess. He stood tall, his jaw set in a hard, rigid line as he listened to his grandparents pleading for the people who had destroyed his sister’s life in different ways.
He walked forward, stepping between his grandparents and Claire. "I cannot believe that you two are truly my grandparents. I have always known you were biased but wow! The lengths you would go to for Uncle Alden’s money are truly endless and shameless. My father and mother are standing right here!" He barked loudly. "How can you call Alden and Heimi Claire’s parents in their presence? Are you blind or crazy?"
Emelda winced. She wanted to speak up, but Archer was on a rant and had no plans to pause.
"In the heat of the moment?" He spat out and cackled harshly for a few seconds. "They spent months systematically stripping Claire of her earnings, taking credit for her hard work, and pushing her out of the family business which she built! Only after they had taken control of everything did they finally push her out and reveal the truth about the swap. By the time we were invited over, they had packed her bags! That wasn’t a mistake in the heat of the moment mother. That was deliberate, cold-blooded greed!"