Chapter 187
An Uninvited Guest
Claire Bennett didn't sleep all night. She wanted to wait for Julian Sterling to come back, but he never did. Even as the sky gradually brightened and it reached the time she normally left for work, she still hadn't seen any sign of him.
She felt this was something she had to lay out plainly and talk through with Julian Sterling.
But Julian Sterling wasn't answering her calls or replying to her messages.
She had no way to communicate with him at all.
Seeing that she was about to be late for work, Claire Bennett washed her face to wake herself up a little, then headed to Sterling International.
After arriving at Sterling International, Claire Bennett first checked in at Maison Verne, then went straight up in the elevator to the top floor, heading for the president's office.
At that moment, upstairs, Marcus Reed and Wes Mercer had only just started work.
Wes Mercer was sitting at his desk eating breakfast when he unexpectedly saw Claire Bennett appear. She looked at Wes curiously. "Good morning, Mr. Sterling."
In truth, Claire Bennett was a little puzzled.
Why did Mr. Sterling like going out to eat breakfast? Did he dislike the smell being too strong?
Wes Mercer nearly choked to death on a mouthful of bun. After guzzling a big mouthful of water, he finally came back to life, his face flushed red.
Marcus Reed beside him reacted extremely quickly. He stood up and walked over to distract Claire Bennett, asking, "Miss Bennett, what brings you here? Is there something you need?"
Claire Bennett asked, "I... is Julian Sterling here? I need to talk to him about something."
Marcus Reed froze for a second, not knowing what to say.
Didn't Julian Sterling live with Claire Bennett? Why was she asking him where to find him?
He had gotten off work early last night and didn't know what had happened afterward, so he was completely confused right now too.
Suppressing his curiosity, Marcus Reed said in a natural tone, "He hasn't come in to work yet. Is there something you need, Miss Bennett? Would you like me to pass along a message for you?"
Claire Bennett shook her head. "If he comes in, have him contact me."
After saying that, Claire Bennett turned and left.
After taking two steps, she seemed to think of something and stopped, turning back around. "Oh, right, Assistant Marcus, thank you for renting us the apartment at Parkview Heights."
Only after Claire Bennett had truly left did Wes Mercer click his tongue and say, "Marcus Reed, so you're actually that rich. You can even afford a place at Parkview Heights."
"You're overthinking it. That's Mr. Sterling's! If it were mine, that'd be great." Marcus Reed rolled his eyes at him and said, "Sitting out here is too dangerous for you. From now on, move into the small conference room and work there."
Wes Mercer also felt that sitting outside was too dangerous. What if Claire Bennett came up again in the future? It was safer to move after all.
Thinking about how Claire Bennett had looked just now, it seemed like something had happened between her and Julian Sterling.
Lowering his voice gossipy-style, Wes Mercer asked, "Marcus Reed, what do you think happened between Mr. Sterling and Miss Bennett? They didn't have a fight, did they?"
"Our boss's business isn't something we can meddle in. Even if they did fight, there's nothing we could do about it. Hurry up and pack. I'll help you move your stuff."
Claire Bennett waited at Sterling International all day, but no notice ever came from Marcus Reed.
It looked like Julian Sterling hadn't come in to work today.
He seemed to have completely vanished off the grid.
At quitting time, Claire Bennett went downstairs with Molly Lee.
Julian Sterling hadn't come to pick her up, so today she needed to get home on her own. Claire Bennett chose to take public transportation, and since Molly Lee's route home happened to be pretty similar to hers, the two went back together, which at least gave her some company.
Molly Lee asked curiously, "Director Bennett, did you not sleep well last night? You looked totally drained all day today."
Claire Bennett smiled. "Yeah, I stayed up all night binge-watching a show."
She didn't want things with Julian Sterling becoming public knowledge and turning into gossip fodder at Maison Verne, so she casually came up with an excuse to brush it off.
"Wow, I didn't know you watched shows too, Director Bennett. What were you watching? Was it that really popular one that's airing right now?"
Claire Bennett was just about to speak when a black car suddenly stopped in front of them.
Right after that, several burly men got out of the car and quickly surrounded Claire Bennett. "Claire Bennett, our madam wants to see you."
Looking at the men before her, who had clearly come aggressively, Claire Bennett's eyes filled with wariness.
She took a slight step back. "Who is your madam? Hannah Bennett?"
Back then, that stepmother of hers had made plenty of moves against her. Now that the Bennett family was already under her control and Claire herself had left the Bennett family years ago, what more could she possibly want?
If she was worried that Claire would return to the Bennett family and compete with Ava Bennett for resources, then there was no need for that concern at all, because she would never go back to the Bennett family.
At the thought, Claire Bennett's expression darkened. She said coldly, "Tell your madam I don't have time to see her."
After saying that, Claire Bennett turned to leave.
To her surprise, the men ignored the eyes of the people around them. One on each side stepped forward and directly grabbed Claire Bennett by the arms, forcibly abducting her into the car right there on the street.
The black sedan quickly drove away from the spot.
Molly Lee was almost scared out of her mind. She watched helplessly as Claire Bennett was taken right before her eyes.
Who exactly were those people? What did they want to do to Claire Bennett?
"I need to call the police right now!"
She took out her phone, only to find that it was dead.
At that moment, Molly Lee was so anxious she was on the verge of tears. When she saw someone coming out of Sterling International, she hurried over and grabbed the person, saying, "Hi, can I borrow your phone? My boss was kidnapped just now, and I need to call the police."
The person who came out happened to be Marcus Reed.
Molly Lee didn't know him, but Marcus Reed knew everyone around Claire Bennett like the back of his hand and knew that Molly Lee was Claire Bennett's assistant.
Hearing Molly Lee's words now, his heart immediately sank, and he pressed, "Did you just say Miss Bennett was kidnapped?"