What a Small World for Enemies

Naomi Pierce stopped while she was ahead and didn't keep talking. She changed the subject and said gently, "Ethan, are you still mad at me?"

"I only did something like that because I cared about you too much. I've already gotten the punishment I deserved—I got chased all over the internet by people cursing me out for days, and I even lost over a million followers."

Naomi Pierce's eyes reddened slightly as she continued, "Sigh, I've actually already started regretting it. How could I have come up with something like that..."

Ethan Sterling came back to himself and said absentmindedly, "I'm not mad anymore."

For the sake of Naomi Pierce's status as the Bennett family's daughter, he could let a small matter like this slide. It was only damage to his reputation anyway, far less serious than what had happened with the engagement before.

Thinking of what had happened at the engagement, Ethan Sterling's eyes darkened as he said, "Naomi, the jewelry brand is already on track, and now we've started designing new products too. Everything is developing in a good direction. Invite Father-in-law over for a visit."

As soon as he said that, Naomi Pierce's body stiffened almost imperceptibly.

Have Victor Bennett come visit Maison Verne? Wouldn't that expose her identity?

Absolutely not!

Compared to the previous few times, Naomi Pierce was much calmer. She quickly forced down her panic and asked, "Ethan, what made you think of having my dad come over? So much has happened to me lately, and I don't want him worrying about how I'm doing. Why don't we wait a little longer?"

After saying that, tears rolled down her face.

"Do you not trust me? Even Luke Ward, the Bennett family's house steward, came personally to help me negotiate the contract. Could all of that have been fake? How can you doubt me..."

Seeing Naomi Pierce start to cry, Ethan Sterling quickly reached out and hugged her.

"Naomi, don't overthink it. It's not that I don't trust you. I just want Father-in-law to see what I'm capable of."

Although he was now Maison Verne's manager, the job wasn't easy, and with Naomi Pierce pressing down on him from the side, he felt stifled no matter what.

His ambition was too great. He wanted more.

He even wanted to surpass Julian Sterling.

"I know. Even though the pregnancy was fake, I really did get hurt pretty badly from that fall. And we still haven't really accomplished anything yet, so it wouldn't look too good if he came now, right? Once we're fully prepared, we can invite him over then, okay?"

A look of hesitation flashed through Ethan Sterling's eyes, but in the end he still agreed. "Okay, okay, okay. We'll do everything your way."

Seeing that Ethan Sterling had finally given up on the idea, Naomi Pierce let out a sigh of relief.

This whole matter with Claire Bennett wasn't really a loss after all. At least in the short term, she could use it as an excuse not to see Victor Bennett, and the fact that she wasn't really the Bennett family's daughter wouldn't be exposed.

Before Naomi Pierce could feel happy for long, she heard Ethan Sterling say, "In a few days it'll be our new product launch. We should invite him then."

Naomi Pierce's body tensed, but she had already made excuses and turned him down just now. If she refused again now, it would definitely make him suspicious.

She had to pick up the pace and make Maison Verne Jewelry a success as soon as possible!

...

Claire Bennett pulled Julian Sterling to another restaurant tucked away in a corner of the shopping mall. This place didn't look as crowded, and they didn't have to wait long before going in to eat.

Not long after they sat down, the dishes were quickly served.

Even though she'd run into someone who ruined her appetite, Claire Bennett wasn't affected at all. Instead, she ate with great relish and obvious enjoyment. Julian Sterling, on the other hand, seemed to have no appetite after having been turned into another man's clothes rack.

Claire Bennett glanced at Julian Sterling and saw that he hadn't picked up much food.

She asked in confusion, "Why aren't you eating? It's not to your taste?"

"No."

Claire Bennett said with a sigh, "Though I also think it really doesn't taste that great. If we were eating at that chain grilled fish place Sean told me tasted good, you'd definitely feel differently."

She curled her lips into a smile. "But that's okay. We can try it another time when we have time."

Julian Sterling's hand holding the chopsticks paused, and in an instant he had even less appetite.

Sean Shaw said it was good, and Claire Bennett wanted to try it too.

And she even wanted to bring him along.

Together with what had just happened with her trying on clothes for Sean Shaw, it stirred up a nameless anger in Julian Sterling's heart. He said coldly, "That grilled fish place isn't good."

Claire Bennett didn't suspect anything and instead grew puzzled. "Huh? No way, right? I remember they had pretty good reviews. Is it really not good?"

Julian Sterling said with a straight face, "They paid for fake reviews."

"What? A restaurant would pull that too?"

After hearing that, Claire Bennett's craving for the grilled fish faded quite a bit.

She picked up some food with her chopsticks and put it in Julian Sterling's bowl, smiling as she said, "Okay then, I won't keep thinking about that grilled fish place. Let's hurry up and eat."

Julian Sterling cast a faint glance at it and realized Claire Bennett had given him all the meat.

Some of the irritation he'd been holding in finally eased.

After the two of them finished eating, Claire Bennett rushed to pay the bill, and then they drove back to Parkview Heights.

In the car, Claire Bennett took out her phone and sent Sean Shaw a message.

She told him she'd done a little damage control just now and hadn't let Julian Sterling find out she was buying clothes for him, and that tomorrow she would secretly give them to him and surprise him big time.

After hearing that, Sean Shaw held his phone and let out a few gleeful chuckles. Claire Bennett really was teachable—she got it the moment he pointed it out!

It felt like he was getting closer and closer to gaining a wealthy cousin-in-law as his backer.

After that, Sean Shaw praised Claire Bennett for being clever and smart, and wished her an early success.