Chapter 103
Of Course It's Tit for Tat
Having Luna Brooks and Meryl Finch beaten up, branded as thieves, and hauled away was the first step of Claire Bennett's plan.
But her target wasn't the two of them. It was Naomi Pierce behind them. After all, those two could only be considered pawns; if she was going after someone, she would go after the real culprit.
Since Naomi Pierce still dared to come looking for trouble, Claire was definitely going to make her suffer properly.
The second step of the plan was to let Naomi Pierce get a taste of what it felt like to be surrounded and interrogated by reporters. The thing she was desperately trying to cover up probably wasn't something she wanted made public, either, right?
That night, in the apartment.
After dinner, Claire Bennett asked about Mr. Sterling. She looked at Julian Sterling and asked, "When did Mr. Sterling find out about us?"
Julian Sterling's expression didn't change. "Today."
Claire thought to herself: So Julian Sterling had already admitted fault ahead of time. No wonder Mr. Sterling hadn't been angry when she went over there.
He was probably giving Julian Sterling face because he worked for the Sterling family, so he didn't make too much of it.
"What are you planning to do about Meryl Finch and Luna Brooks?" Julian Sterling asked in return.
Claire Bennett answered honestly, "Of course it's tit for tat!"
Naomi Pierce had exposed her situation and sent reporters after her, so what was wrong with doing the exact same thing back to her?
When she came back from Sterling International today, she had looked up news about Naomi Pierce and Ethan Sterling's engagement party, but there wasn't a single report online.
Maybe someone had paid to suppress it.
Who besides Ethan Sterling could have pulled that off?
She hadn't expected Ethan Sterling to still not give up on Naomi Pierce after seeing that kind of video of her. What kind of powerful charm did Naomi Pierce have to make him so obsessed?
But that had nothing to do with her anymore. If the two of them were all lovey-dovey, she wouldn't have done anything on her own initiative. But now that Naomi Pierce had come to pick a fight at her door, of course she wasn't going to let her off easily!
Julian Sterling said, "Then I'll wait for the show tomorrow."
"Oh, right." As if remembering something, Claire Bennett said hurriedly, "I almost forgot. I still need to contact Ruby Sterling to get in touch with some reporters."
"Need any help?" Julian Sterling asked sincerely.
"No. You wouldn't be able to help anyway. What, do you know any news reporters? Don't stick your nose into this. I'd better ask Ruby."
As Claire Bennett spoke, she picked up her phone and walked off to the side to make the call.
Julian Sterling watched Claire Bennett's back, his eyes darkening slightly.
It seemed Wes Mercer's acting today had been pretty good. Claire Bennett really had believed he was Mr. Sterling.
...
Early the next morning, the venue for a press conference had already been set up outside Sterling International, and quite a few reporters sat in their chairs looking around excitedly.
Last night, the Sterling family's eldest daughter, Ruby Sterling, had contacted them and invited them to come to Sterling International today for a press conference.
It was probably about Mr. Sterling's recent marriage.
Was this going to be a public acknowledgment?
The position of Mrs. Sterling was one countless women dreamed of. They all wanted to know exactly which woman had conquered Julian Sterling.
Thinking of that, quite a few reporters nervously checked their video equipment and audio recorders again to make sure they wouldn't miss any exclusive news later.
Off in a corner, Ethan Sterling sat with a cold expression.
For the past few days, he had been busy dealing with the mess from his engagement banquet with Naomi Pierce, and it had cost quite a bit of money to smooth everything over.
The news had actually been easy enough to deal with. The real headache was the people in the business world and the wealthy social circle.
They weren't the kind of people you could fool just by throwing money at them.
Even though Naomi Pierce's video was fake, they didn't see it that way.
Just when he was having a headache over it, he unexpectedly got word that Sterling International was going to hold a press conference.
He guessed that his real uncle had found out about the stupid thing Claire Bennett had done, so he was going to make it public.
If that was the case, then what had happened at his engagement party would also have attention diverted away from it.
With that thought in mind, Ethan Sterling became more and more pleased with himself.
A mocking smile curled at his lips as he sat in the chair below, waiting for the press conference to begin.