"Mom," Juliet linked arms with her mother, a sly smile playing on her lips.
"Let's wait for Queen to join us first."
No comparison, no disparity.
Only by setting her up as a foil could everyone see the difference, right?
"No need to wait for her," Madam Bernardo thought of her straightforward younger daughter, a flicker of worry crossing her eyes.
"That child is too blunt for her own good—she detests socializing.
I don't know who she takes after."
When Queen first returned from studying abroad, she hadn't been without friends.
But the moment she discovered they were merely following their families' orders to get close to her—or more accurately, to exploit her connection to the Bernardo family for business—and then badmouthed her behind her back, she immediately cut ties without hesitation.
Truth be told, she and her husband weren't oblivious.
They had simply turned a blind eye, relieved that someone was willing to keep their daughter company.
