Chapter 38
Rosalie's lips curled into a mocking smirk. "Looks like all these years of being a tag-along have really spoiled you. Do you actually think you're the heiress of the Graham family?"
Helena, provoked beyond reason, blurted out the words she'd long suppressed. "I am the heiress of the Graham family."
The dining room fell silent. Edward and Claudia, previously seething at Rosalie's sharp tongue, were instantly stricken with guilt and panic. Their faces stiffened, as if Helena had struck a nerve. Instinctively, they turned to Rosalie, awaiting her reaction.
Rosalie arched a brow, amusement flickering in her eyes. A slow smile played on her lips as she rubbed her ear, feigning uncertainty. Then, narrowing her gaze at Helena, she asked, "What did you just say?"
The anger clouding Helena's mind finally cleared, the fury subsiding. Rosalie's teasing gaze sent a shiver down her spine. Helena's heart clenched, her eyes flickering with hesitation, unable to meet Rosalie's.
Rosalie, however, showed no inclination to wait for an explanation. Shifting her attention to Edward, she chuckled, her voice laced with amusement. "If I didn't mishear, she just claimed to be the heiress of the Graham family, right?"
"No, that's not what Helena meant," Edward interjected, hastily attempting to smooth things over, abandoning his earlier anger. He turned to Rosalie, explaining, "What she meant is that, as my stepdaughter, she's technically part of the Graham family now. That makes her half an heiress."
Claudia, desperate to defuse the situation, quickly added, "That's right. Helena didn't mean it that way at all."
"Really?" Rosalie let out a short, cold laugh. Her gaze returned to Helena, ignoring the resentment and unwillingness burning in her eyes. Then, her voice, light as a feather yet sharp as a blade, cut through the air. "That's a relief. For a moment there, I thought you were admitting that Dad cheated on my mother."
Edward's forced smile froze, his jaw tightening. His laugh was stiff, almost strained. "What nonsense are you spouting!"