chapter572

Juna glanced over at him. "What are you talking about?"

Lincoln looked even more confused, his voice rising with urgency. "Seriously, what's going on?"

Everybody knew Connor was engaged to Lucinda, so what was he doing with

another girl? And it wasn't like Lydia was the type to steal someone's man. She was Miss L, after all.

And Lucinda had been at the banquet. Did she not notice her own fianc leaving with someone else?

Juna just shrugged. "You saw it with your own eyes."

Lincoln let out a frustrated sound. "Yeah, but isn't Connor supposed to be Lucinda's fianc ?"

Juna raised her shoulders again, as if she couldn't care less. "Go ask Lucinda, not me."

Lincoln just stood there, at a total loss for words.

Juna slipped the watch into her pocket and tossed back a casual, "Thanks."

She walked away without looking back.

Lincoln stared at his bare wrist, feeling a twinge of regret.

"Seriously? Wasn't that robbery in broad daylight?"

Meanwhile, Lucinda went home with Cameron and Kylie. Lydia was nowhere to be

seen.

Kylie called Lydia and found out she was out with Connor.

The news hit Lucinda like a punch to the gut.

Grace noticed the stormy look on Lucinda's face and guessed something had gone wrong at the banquet. As soon as Lucinda walked into her room, Grace followed her in.

"Lucinda, I heard Mr. and Mrs. Norwood got both you and Lydia gifts at the charity auction tonight."

Lucinda sat at her vanity, wiping off her makeup. Her response was barely more than a sigh.

Grace tried to keep things light. "Since they got you a gift too, why do you still look so down?"

To Lucinda, it sounded like Grace was saying she should be grateful for whatever she got, no matter how big or small.

That's what she tried to tell herself, too. But every time Lydia got even a little more, even just by a hair, this awful thought crept in. Mom and Dad must love Lydia more, because Lydia is their real daughter.

It was like a curse she couldn't shake, a knot in her chest that wouldn't come loose.

"At the banquet, everyone was

talking about how amazing Lydia is.

Even though Mom and Dad didn't

tel

say who she really was, you could tell how proud they were. About the gifts he was eighty million but hers was a hundred million."

Grace let out a dramatic sigh. "Yeah, Lydia is honestly incredible. It makes sense the family wants to spoil her a little... Oh, I'm sorry, Lucinda. I shouldn't have said that Mr. and Mrs. Norwood always say they treat you and Lydia the same."

and

Lucinda's hand tightened on the makeup pad, twisting it out of shape.

Did they really treat them the same?

Grace decided not to push any further and instead tried to reassure her. Lucinda, you're amazing, too. You're just as good as Lydia. It's just that Lydia went through so much for eighteen years, so the family just wants to make it up to her."

Lucinda stared at her own reflection, thinking about all the compliments Lydia had gotten that night.

She couldn't help it. "But she's Miss L. She's Melody Mastro. She's crazy talented in medicine, she's a champion racecar driver, she got the best grades at finals. Even if she never came back, she'd still have this great life."

Why did Lydia have to come back?

If she was already that perfect, wouldn't she still have everyone's attention, even without the Norwood name?

Did she come back just to take away everything from me, the fake daughter?

Grace's eyes narrowed. Yeah, for Lydia, being a Norwood is just one more trophy. For you, Lucinda, it's not the same thing at all.