Chapter 162 Chapter 162
“She's just a fifth-rate extra, with no resume, no name... and she dares to audition for a role like this?” Claire paced back and forth, her voice dripping with venom. “Does she even know her place?”
Claire hated “artistic” and independent films, finding them boring and poorly paid.
But she knew Kleber Meirelles' reputation. He was a “kingmaker.”
She felt threatened. Kleber was famous for ignoring hierarchies and turning unknown faces into stars overnight.
Since the director didn't care about fame or connections, that bitch Caroline really had a chance.
After all, Caroline was pretty. She had that air of innocence that men loved to “protect.” If she used her charms to seduce the director...
No, Claire thought, gritting her teeth. I can't allow it.
Once that girl had a chance to show her face to the world, it would be the end.
She needed to clip Caroline's wings before she learned to fly.
“Is your sister auditioning for Kleber Meirelles' show?” asked Linda, still processing the sudden change of plans.
“She's not my sister!”
Claire exploded like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. The mask of coldness fell away, revealing an ugly, uncontrolled fury.
“How can that bitch be my sister?” she shouted. “She and I have nothing to do with each other! Not a drop of blood in common!”
Linda recoiled, startled by the vehemence.
Claire, realizing that Linda thought it was just a figure of speech, decided it was time to expose the dirt. She let out a cruel laugh.
“You don't understand, Linda. She's just a bastard my father picked up from a filthy orphanage. An orphan with no parents, no background, nothing! How could someone like that be my sister?”
Claire's eyes glowed with a sick elitism.
"So what if she stole the spotlight for a while? So what if she almost married Edward? That bastard Collins wasn't worthy of mixing with the Cassano family to begin with.
She puffed out her chest. She was the true heir. The only legitimate Miss Ford. The only one with noble blood.
How could that impostor be doing better than her at anything? Everything Caroline had, or tried to have, was an insult to Claire's birthright.
Linda was stunned.
She had been working with Claire for two years and had never heard about this.
Caroline... wasn't the biological daughter of the Ford family?
On second thought, the initial shock passed quickly. The two sisters were nothing alike. Neither physically nor in temperament. They were complete opposites.
Linda kept her surprise to herself and asked casually, trying to extract more information: “So... that other sister, Sara...?”
Linda knew the family dynamics. She knew Claire treated Sara and Caroline like trash.
“Are you talking about that useless sicko?” Claire grimaced in disgust, as if she had smelled something bad. “She and Caroline are the same. Two peas in a pod. Two bastards from the orphanage.”
Linda blinked. “Wait. Caroline and Sara... aren't they biological sisters too?”
They didn't look alike either.
“No.” Claire sneered, taking perverse pleasure in revealing the secrets her father kept under lock and key. “Neither of them is related to anyone. They both came from the system. They were adopted by the Ford family when they were just over a year old.”
“But... why?” Linda was genuinely confused.
“Why would your father adopt unknown children instead of having his own?”
“Humph. All because his ex-wife was a barren hen who couldn't lay eggs,” Claire fired back with vulgar cruelty. “If it weren't for that, he would never have stooped to picking up other people's trash.”
She continued, reviewing the story with disdain:
“Initially, my father wanted to adopt a boy to inherit the name. But there were no healthy or handsome boys at the orphanage at that time, so he took Caroline as a consolation prize. The following year, he went back there and brought Sara too, to keep her company.”
Linda processed the information. “So... do Caroline and Sara know this? Do they know they're not his biological daughters?”
“No,” Claire laughed, a dry sound. “I don't know why my father insists on this charade. He forbade my mother and me from telling anyone the truth. Maybe he's grown fond of those intruders... especially Caroline.”
After all, she had been “daddy's little girl” for a long time.
Claire rolled her eyes.
“He says he's worried about hurting their ‘self-esteem’ and ‘dignity.’ What a joke.
She approached the mirror, admiring her own ”legitimate" reflection.
“But a bastard is a bastard, no matter how many designer clothes you put on him. Bad blood always shows. I doubt this little secret can be kept forever. Ah... I can just imagine the look on that bitch's face when she finds out she's a nobody. That she's just a charity case gone wrong.”
Linda observed the pure malice and distilled hatred in Claire's eyes and felt a chill down her spine.
She couldn't understand it.
Claire already had everything: money, status, “pure” lineage, and she had even stolen Caroline's fiancé, the coveted Edward.
Why did she still hate her so much? What threat could a “bastard” girl, without parents or money, pose to the powerful Claire?
Unless... deep down, Claire knew that Caroline had something that money and blood couldn't buy.
“I've already surpassed her in everything. Money, status, fiancé... I have everything, she has nothing.”
Claire paced back and forth in the dressing room, her nails digging into her palms.
“That damn brat wants to fight me? She thinks she's better than me?” She let out an incredulous and cruel laugh. “Dream on! I'll crush her before she takes the first step. I won't let her get what she wants, not today, not ever.”