Cordelia understood everything, and nothing could escape her notice.
"This time, you should thank Arya." Cordelia spoke softly. "If it weren't for her timely intervention, it'd be hard to put an end to the situation should it escalate."
"Is that so? Thank her?" Renee sneered. "Aunt Cordelia, you heard what she said, right? She claimed she mistakenly took my ring and put it in her own bag, only to forget about it. Why did you all buy what she said just because she's the Bayer heiress? Why didn't you consider the possibility that she and Lena conspired to stage this whole drama?"
Cordelia was somewhat surprised. She had been under the impression her earlier hint was enough but did not expect Renee to be so inflexible.
In retrospect, it seemed that Renee had placed all her resentment for losing her mother on Lena. She believed that Lena had triggered Kaitlyn's second personality, that Lena had driven Kaitlyn to jump off the cliff.
In other words, Lena had indirectly killed her mother!
Cordelia frowned. She could understand the deep mother-daughter bond between Renee and Kaitlyn. After all, she had experienced that kind of bond formed through reliance and enduring hardships with her own mother as well.
However, to say that Lena had forced Kaitlyn to her death was going too far. It might be more accurate to say that Kaitlyn's death had brought relief to her.
"Renee, you can't randomly blame others." Cordelia tried to counsel her. "We're all doing this for your own good, hoping that you can be as happy as you were before—"
"Aunt Cordelia!" Renee suddenly raised her voice. "If this had happened to me today, if I had taken someone else's ring, would you have reported it to the police?"
"What are you saying?"
"In the end, it's just because Arya is the Bayers' daughter that you believe what she said. And because I have nothing, everything I say is wrong!"
"Renee!" Cordelia was serious as she looked coldly at her.
Renee realized her mistake and dared not say more. She sat quietly, head lowered, and that sense of inferiority began to creep back.
It was eerily quiet around them, so quiet that she could clearly hear her heartbeat.
In fact, even she did not know why she was doing that.
She had depended on others for too long, to the point where she seemed to have forgotten who she was. When Kaitlyn was alive, she still had a mother even though she was weak from illness and could not care for her properly.
She was a complete orphan now, all alone in this world.
Her father had plotted against Nicholas, and her mother had harmed many people. Their whole family had wronged Lina, Lena, and even the people currently welcoming her with open arms.
The more this happened, the heavier her sense of inferiority grew.
She owed others so much that she could not repay it in this lifetime or the next.
Great favor bred great resentment might just be the truth. Since she could not repay this kindness, she might as well drag the whole world down with her!
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