Chapter 112
Tonight, Julian Sterling Gets an Extra Drumstick
"Assistant Reed, you're here."
Marcus Reed looked at Claire Bennett suspiciously.
Yesterday, Claire Bennett had looked miserable. How did she suddenly seem so sure of victory today? Could something have happened?
A moment later, Marcus Reed lifted his head to look at the mural, pretending to inspect it, and casually offered his own opinions.
Claire Bennett quietly listened until he finished, then smilingly took out paper and a pen and wrote down every single point he had just made, word for word.
After writing it all down, she looked up at Marcus Reed and asked, "Assistant Reed, do you have any other requests? I'll note them all down here together."
"..."
"If there are no problems, then sign here."
After saying that, Claire Bennett handed the paper in her hand to Marcus Reed.
Marcus Reed's eyes widened. He stared at the paper Claire Bennett handed over with a completely dumbfounded expression, and for a long while he couldn't react at all. He had never expected her to do something like this.
Sign?
Wouldn't that mean that unless he brought up every single issue all at once right now, after this he wouldn't be able to raise any more requests or opinions?
Marcus Reed practically wanted to cough up blood.
Seeing his shocked expression, Claire Bennett thoughtfully asked, "Assistant Reed, do you still have any questions?"
"N-no, none." Marcus Reed forced a stiff smile.
In the end, he could only sign his name.
"Thank you for your cooperation, Assistant Reed." In a very good mood, Claire Bennett put away the paper and pen and continued with her painting work.
Thanks to Julian Sterling's suggestion, otherwise she probably would have had to keep being tormented, miserably revising the mural.
She decided that tonight, Julian Sterling was getting an extra drumstick.
With no room to show off his tricks, Marcus Reed could only slink away in defeat.
The president's office.
Marcus Reed tearfully complained, "President Sterling, Miss Bennett made me sign off on the issues. I really had no room to do anything!"
Julian Sterling lifted his eyes and glanced at him without speaking.
Marcus Reed continued muttering, "I don't know how Miss Bennett came up with an idea like that. It was totally unexpected."
"I told her."
"You told... huh?" Marcus Reed abruptly looked at Julian Sterling, shock appearing on his face, and asked uncertainly, "Signing to confirm the issues—you're the one who told Miss Bennett to do that?"
"Mm." Julian Sterling nodded.
Marcus Reed: "..." Was Julian Sterling trying to keep Claire Bennett here, or was he trying to help Claire Bennett win favor?
His boss's thoughts were too complicated. He couldn't figure them out anymore!
"You don't need to worry about this matter anymore. You may go."
As if granted a pardon, Marcus Reed immediately turned and left.
At this moment, having successfully dealt with Marcus Reed, Claire Bennett happily began focusing on her work.
Just as she was painting intently, a familiar yet loathsome voice sounded behind her. "Claire."
She turned to look, and it was actually Ethan Sterling.
A look of impatience flashed across Claire Bennett's face. She did not stop what she was doing, instead continuing to paint her mural as though she hadn't heard Ethan Sterling's voice at all.
Seeing Claire Bennett ignore him like this, displeasure appeared on Ethan Sterling's face.
He stepped forward and directly blocked Claire Bennett's path. "Why did you frame Naomi? Do you really hate seeing us happy that much?"
Claire Bennett had no choice but to stop. She rolled her eyes at Ethan Sterling and looked at him with the kind of concern one reserved for the intellectually disabled. "Heh, why don't you tell me exactly how I framed her?"
"At the engagement banquet, in order to make me give up Naomi, you deliberately used AI to make a fake video like that, and you even found a fake man to pretend to be my uncle!"
"Claire Bennett, you're not married, and you don't have a man. I know all of it now!"
Ethan Sterling looked as if he'd caught Claire Bennett by the tail, his face full of smugness.
As though everything Claire Bennett had done was just to attract his attention.
Ethan Sterling frowned tightly and looked at Claire Bennett with a reluctant expression as he lowered his voice and said, "Claire, actually it's not that you're bad. It's just that in some ways, you don't measure up to Naomi."
"I hope you won't use such extreme methods to break us up. After all, Naomi is still your good sister. Wouldn't it be nice if you could go on being sisters in the future?"
AI face-swapping?
Go on being good sisters?
Listening to every word Ethan Sterling said, Claire Bennett felt like she'd stepped in dog shit.
Suddenly, her eyes flashed as if she had thought of something. She casually tossed the paintbrush in her hand aside and slipped both hands into her pants pockets.
Using the motion of putting her hands in her pockets as cover, she pressed the quick-record button on her phone.
She wanted to see what even more disgusting things Ethan Sterling would be able to say next!
Claire Bennett said with a cold laugh, "So that's how Naomi Pierce explained it to you? If you believe her AI face-swapping story, then stay happily together with her. Just do me a favor and don't appear in front of me again."
Ethan Sterling's brows knitted tightly, and he sighed softly. "You're still as stubborn as ever. I understand your unwillingness to accept this."
After saying that, he changed the subject, and his expression softened a little.
"Claire, actually there's no need for us to make things so tense. You came to Chicago to look for me, didn't you? I have an apartment sitting vacant. If you need it..."