The True Heiress Reborn And Slays (Alicia Delaney) novel Chapter 640

Chapter 640 Bar Confession Night

Claudia looked up, startled, and met Raymond’s gaze. A faint, knowing smile played on his lips.

How did he figure it out?

But in that moment, she felt the steady support of his arm around her shoulders. The sharp sting behind her nose began to ease, just a little.

Under the stunned stares of Cyrus and Maeve, Claudia gave a slow nod. “Yeah.”

“Tsk, tsk.”

Raymond clicked his tongue in mock sympathy, his dismissive glance sweeping over Cyrus’ flushed face all the way down to his polished leather shoes-as if inspecting some off-the-rack suit.

Then his thin lips curved. “Pretty lousy taste, if you ask me.”

It was hard to tell whether he meant Claudia had shown poor judgment getting involved with someone like that back in the day, or whether Cyrus had made a fool’s choice letting Claudia go for the pretentious woman now clinging to his arm.

Either way, it landed like a punch to the ego.

Cyrus bristled. “Who the hell are you calling ‘lousy taste’?”

Raymond held his gaze, the smirk becoming more pronounced as he pointed directly at him. “You.”

Cyrus had always thought pretty highly of himself. Student body president in college, family comfortable if not filthy rich-enough to skate through life with his pride intact.

Being dressed down so openly by Raymond left him seething. His eyes raked over Raymond’s tailored suit, understated but clearly not off-the-rack, and the Patek Philippe on his wrist-the kind Cyrus had only seen in Forbes spreads. Jealousy curdled into a cheap, blustery contempt.

“Please. I’m not wasting my breath on some trust-fund kid who’s never worked a day in his life. Aside from being born lucky, what have you actually got to show for yourself?”

It was the best dig he could muster-trying to shrink everything Raymond had into nothing but an accident of birth, just to protect his own fragile self-worth.

Not to be outdone, Maeve jumped in, eager to prove her man-and by extension, herself-was the real success story.

“Exactly!” she chimed in loudly. “People like you, born with everything handed to you, don’t have a clue what it means to work your way up from nothing! Cyrus is a regional director at a Fortune 500 company now. Maybe it’s not some billion-dollar family empire, but everything we have, we earned ourselves. Step by step.”

Raymond didn’t even blink.

His eyes, glinting with cool amusement, shifted to Maeve.

“So?” he said, tone almost casual. “Being broke’s nothing to be ashamed of. But wrapping it up like it’s some kind of virtue and parading it around… honestly, it just comes off as trying too hard. Sounds pretty insecure to me.”

1/3

He hit the nerve, clean and sharp.

Standing there under the shelter of Raymond’s arm, Claudia had braced herself to face them alone. She never expected this man to wield words like a scalpel.

Every sentence struck where it hurt.

Suddenly, the pride of being a Belmont daughter came rushing back.

She gently shifted Raymond’s arm aside, took half a step forward, and fixed Cyrus with an icy, sarcastic look.

“Fortune 500… regional director?” She let out a light, humorless laugh. “I honestly don’t get where this sudden superiority complex is coming from.

“Cyrus, if my father hadn’t made a few calls back then to skip you past three rounds of interviews straight into the leadership program, do you really think you’d be here now? I remember you whining to me that the offer was ‘just corporate’ and ‘kind of a sellout.’ Funny how it’s your proudest achievement now.

“Let’s be real-both of you know exactly how good it is to have connections and money. You just want to have it both ways. Well, news flash: the world doesn’t work like that.”

With that, Claudia couldn’t stomach another second looking at them.

She turned, tugged at Raymond’s sleeve, and lifted her chin. “Let’s get out of here.”

“You got it.” Raymond bit back a laugh and played along.

The two turned and walked off without another glance, leaving Cyrus and Maeve rooted in place, stiff as statues under the heat of their own humiliation.

They crossed the small hospital garden and passed through the quiet lobby without speaking.

Only when the elevator doors closed, leaving them alone in the sudden silence, did Claudia feel her racing heart begin to steady.

The adrenaline of the confrontation drained away, leaving her hollow and tired.

The elevator descended straight to the parking garage.

“Where’s your car?” Claudia asked flatly, eyes ahead.

Raymond nodded toward a matte-black Jeep Wrangler parked a few rows over. “Over there.”

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