Seeing Connor completely ignore her presence and try to have both her and Sylvia thrown out, Cynthia finally snapped. She yanked over a chair and plopped down.
"If anyone has the right to speak on whether Ms. Pearson is being smeared, it's me," she said.
Her smile laced with bitter irony as she continued, "I've always thought of her as kind, considerate, and thoughtful, so I liked her. But now, it seems that I was mistaken."
Memories of past events and everything Kate had said flooded back to her all at once.
It was like a lightbulb had gone off for Cynthia. Suddenly, she seemed to understand all of Kate's intentions at once.
It seemed that Kate had been using her all along.
Cynthia's voice shook with fury. "Come to think of it, Ms. Pearson had a huge hand in the tension between me and Rhea. I remember that when she first came to me, she praised Rhea for sacrificing everything for love. But she was actually secretly warning me that Rhea had been divorced and wasn't worthy of George.
"Then she told me that Rhea had only recently divorced before dating George and asked me to trust their feelings for each other. But that was also meant to suggest that Rhea might be using George to heal herself. Ms. Pearson, you really have a way with words."
Cynthia's eyes glinted with scorn, her gaze piercing.
Kate struggled to breathe, but instead of retreating, she leaned toward Cynthia. "Mrs. Snider, what's wrong with you? Are you not feeling well? It's me, Kate. Don't scare me."
"Oh my, why did Mrs. Snider suddenly flip?" a lady whispered.
Someone teased, "She has been admitted to a psychiatric hospital, remember?"
"But she can't just go crazy out of nowhere."
Upon hearing that, Kate smiled faintly. "Mrs. Snider, calm down. I'll get you a seat. Drink some water first."
She was feigning goodwill.


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