Chapter 205: Never choose me over Adelyn.
Charlotte’s expression changed.
For a moment, she didn’t fully understand what Clara had said. But when she saw the tears in her eyes, her heart tightened instantly.
Taking a step closer, she reached out and gently lifted Clara’s face.
"Clara, what are you even thinking?"
When Clara looked at her, Charlotte softened her voice, trying to explain more clearly, more firmly.
"You didn’t take anything from Adelyn. What’s yours is yours —and it will always remain that way. You don’t need to return anything to anyone."
But Clara shook her head, refusing to accept her words.
"No, Mom. It doesn’t belong to me. It never did." Her voice trembled, yet carried a strange certainty. "Nothing ever belonged to me. You, Liam, Bryer, the Scott family ... Xavier —none of you were ever mine. You all were always Adelyn’s."
Charlotte shook her head again, panic creeping into her chest as she tried to deny it.
But Clara didn’t give her the chance.
Sobbing, she pressed on, refusing to listen.
"Even ... even my career —the one I built over the past five years —it isn’t mine either." Her voice cracked. "That was Adelyn’s too."
Charlotte froze.
Her hand, which had been gently caressing Clara’s head, stilled mid-motion as she stared at her in shock.
The shift was too obvious.
Even someone unaware of the situation would have noticed it.
How could Clara not?
She felt it.
Because she had been waiting for it.
For this exact moment.
Lifting her head slightly, she looked straight into her mother’s eyes.
"It belonged to her... didn’t it, Mom?"
Charlotte’s lips parted, but no words came out.
"You know it already?" she finally asked, her voice uncertain.
Clara smiled faintly —but said nothing.
"I asked Maria not to tell you. How could she—"
"You wouldn’t have been able to hide it for long, Mom," Clara interrupted softly, her smile only making her look more fragile. "If Maria hadn’t told me, the tabloids would have once it became official."
"Clara ..."
"Mom, I don’t blame you," she said quickly, reaching out to take Charlotte’s hand into hers. "I’m just accepting what’s true."
Her grip tightened slightly.
"That ... they were never mine. And what was never mine ... I can’t keep it, can I?" Her voice grew softer, heavier. "I would have to return it eventually ... sooner or later."
Charlotte’s heart clenched painfully as she listened.
Meanwhile, Clara looked weak, pitiful—
But inside, she was grinding her teeth.
Earlier, when Charlotte had promised that she wouldn’t let anyone bully her and would get her the role in Director Rhodes’ movie, Clara had believed her again.
Believed in that love.
A love she thought belonged only to her—
A love she would never have to share with Adelyn.
But later, when Maria told her everything —how Charlotte had agreed with Liam instead—
She realized once again how foolish that belief had been.
To them, Adelyn was still just as important as before.
And she ...
She was nothing more than a responsibility.
A responsibility tied by blood —one they could never abandon.
A responsibility ... and nothing more.
And since that was all she was—
She wouldn’t hesitate to use them.
After all, if she didn’t fight for herself—
No one else would.
She wouldn’t let Adelyn take everything that rightfully belonged to her.
Not her family.
Not her career.
And definitely not the man who should have been hers.
"Clara ..." Charlotte’s voice trembled, heavy with a mother’s pain. "You are my daughter —the one I gave birth to. How can you say something like that?"
She cupped Clara’s face again, forcing her to meet her eyes.
"I belong to you. Liam, Bryer —our family —we all belong to you. We always have. When have we ever made you feel otherwise?"
Her voice softened further.
"And your career—it was always yours. You built it with your own efforts. How could it belong to someone else?"
Clara stared at her for a moment.
Then, a soft, almost hollow chuckle slipped past her lips.
It made Charlotte frown.
"It belongs to me?" Clara pressed her hand against her chest, her smile widening faintly in disbelief. "Haha ... you really think so?"
"Clara, dear ..."
"Mom, you know ... I almost believed the same thing," she said, her gaze sharpening as she looked at her.
For a brief second, Charlotte caught something dark flickering in her eyes.
But before she could grasp it—
Clara continued.
"But then I realized ..." she paused deliberately, her voice weighed down with disappointment, "if it really belonged to me, how did I lose something I wanted so badly?"
Her voice broke.
"Shouldn’t I have gotten it easily? After putting in so much effort?"
Tears slipped down her cheeks.
"Then how did it go to Adelyn so easily ... when I was the one who should have had it?"
Charlotte’s eyes filled with tears.
She raised her hand again, wanting to comfort her—
But before she could even touch her—
Clara moved away.
Charlotte’s hand froze in the air.
"Liam said he’ll help you get a better opportunity," Charlotte said softly, trying to reassure her. When Clara looked at her, she nodded firmly. "He will. Trust him. You don’t need to pin yourself to just one thing you can’t have. You can have something else ... something better."
"But what if I don’t want something better?" Clara asked quietly.
"What if I only want this one?"
Charlotte paused.
She looked at her as though she had never expected such stubbornness from her.
Clara caught that expression instantly.
And she realized—
She had pushed too far.
Stubbornness was part of her nature. But she had never shown it so openly before. She had always known when to hold back—
To protect her image.
Quickly, she looked away, composing herself.
"Mom ... I’m sorry," she said, her voice trembling again. She reached up and grabbed her own hair tightly, as if punishing herself. "How could I ask you something like that? I shouldn’t have. I didn’t mean to put you in such a difficult position. Please ... don’t mind it."
Charlotte immediately grabbed her hand, pulling it away.
"It’s okay, sweetheart," she said quickly, trying to calm her. "You didn’t say anything wrong."
But Clara shook her head again.
"No, I did." Her tone turned firm despite the tears. "I asked you to choose me over Adelyn. How could I do that?"
"You didn’t—"
"No, Mom. I did," she insisted, pulling back slightly to look straight into her eyes.
"But Mom ..." her voice softened again, turning painfully gentle, "never choose me over Adelyn."
Charlotte stilled.
"After all ... she’s just as important. You’ve already wronged her in the past. If you hurt her more ..." she trailed off, her voice trembling, "it will only make things worse."
A tear rolled down her cheek.
"As for me..." she gave a faint, fragile smile, "I’ll understand."
"I’ll understand that it was never meant to be mine."
Her voice dropped to a whisper.
"That nothing was ever meant to be mine."
And with that, she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around Charlotte’s waist, burying her face against her. Like it was too difficult for her to accept it.
Charlotte immediately held her tightly, her own tears falling silently.
Clara’s words sounded selfless—
Sacrificial—
But beneath them...
There was something else. Something far deeper. Something that was already beginning to tilt everything—
Quietly,
And entirely —in her favor.
