The Mocked Miss’s Hidden Crowns novel Chapter 673

Charlotte looked stunning in her red dress, tall and slender, her features just as beautiful as ever. Every detail about her, from the way she stood to the way she smiled, seemed to shine with something special.

For a second, Samantha felt like she was seeing Nora at eighteen again, standing there with that soft, familiar smile.

Nora had been about Lottie's age when she left. Twenty years had flown by in a blink.

“If your mother were still here…”

Charlotte was facing the mirror, carefully smoothing out her dress and adjusting the straps so everything sat just right. At Samantha’s words, she went still.

She turned, catching sight of Samantha sitting on the couch, staring at her with tears brimming in her eyes. “Lottie, your mom’s body… they never found it, did they?”

“No,” Charlotte answered quietly.

She came over and knelt down in front of Samantha, looking up at her. “Steven said that after Mom gave birth to me, her organs started failing really fast. She left so the family wouldn’t have to watch her go through it.”

Later, someone found her shoes and coat on a beach.

They said she must have walked into the sea.

So many years had passed. If she was still out there, she would have come back by now.

“Charlotte…” Samantha reached for her hand, holding on tight. She tried to keep her own sadness in check, her voice gentle. “Don’t be upset. I’m here now. I’ll always be here for you.”

Nora’s daughter was her daughter too.

“You’re the best aunt in the whole world,” Charlotte said with a soft smile, her eyes stinging as she pressed her cheek into Samantha’s warm palm.

It almost felt like her mom was there.

Charlotte bit her lip, her eyes growing thoughtful. She should really go through everything her mom had left behind. Maybe there was something in there, some clue about what happened with the A1 Research Institute and why her mom’s body gave out so suddenly.

She couldn’t shake the feeling that what happened twenty years ago wasn’t just a failed experiment. Maybe it was something much darker.

Charlotte blinked, not really following.

Something off, as in…?

“I think they’re having an affair!”

That made Charlotte choke on her milk, her throat burning as she coughed.

“I really don’t think—” she started, but Samantha cut her off.

“You think it’s possible too, right?” Samantha’s eyes sparkled, like she’d just cracked some huge secret. “No way, I have to figure out what’s really going on with those two today.”

…

Downstairs, in the VIP lounge, Anthony stood by the floor-to-ceiling windows. He was dressed in a perfectly tailored dark blue suit, looking sharp and collected. A cigarette burned between his fingers as he glanced at his watch every so often, waiting.