Chapter 188
Claire Bennett Gets Kidnapped
Molly Lee looked up at him. "You know Director Bennett?"
Marcus Reed had no time to worry about anything else. He immediately pulled out his phone and made a call. As he called, he asked, "Who were the people who kidnapped Miss Bennett just now? What did they look like? How many of them were there altogether?"
Molly Lee was terrified and said in a trembling voice, "I don't know either. They looked really fierce, really scary. They just said they wanted to see Director Bennett, and then they took her away."
After finishing the call, Marcus Reed immediately went to pull the surveillance footage.
On the way to the security room, he called Julian Sterling and told him that Claire Bennett had been kidnapped. However, Julian Sterling's phone kept going unanswered.
Marcus Reed's heart instantly sank to the bottom. Where had Mr. Sterling gone?
...
The car was driving down the road. Claire Bennett had just been thrown onto the back seat, and a man was sitting beside her, staring at her.
After sitting up, she shrank back to the edge, her hand quietly reaching toward her purse, wanting to call for help.
Unexpectedly, the man beside her seemed to see through her intentions. He looked over at her and sneered, "No need to make a call. No one dares touch my madam. You'd better behave and listen, unless you want to suffer physically. You don't want to be tied up, do you?"
Hearing that, Claire Bennett's eyes darkened.
She didn't know whether this man was trying to scare her or whether he truly wasn't afraid.
She hadn't expected that in the years she'd been away, Mrs. Bennett's influence had grown so powerful. Whether these people were bluffing or truly so lawless, if she resisted, it wouldn't end well for her.
Claire Bennett gradually calmed down.
She looked at the scenery speeding backward outside and saw that they had already left the central city. Very soon, the car turned into an upscale residential neighborhood of detached houses, then stopped in front of a four-story house.
A man in black barked, "Get out!"
Claire Bennett got out of the car with her purse. Under the watch of several men in black, she walked into the detached house.
She turned back for a look. After she went in, the men in black stood guard at the door.
Claire Bennett's heart sank slightly. It seemed impossible for her to take the chance to escape.
Since that was the case, she wanted to see exactly what Mrs. Bennett was trying to do!
She took a deep breath, steeled herself, and walked fearlessly farther into the house. After pushing open the iron door, she entered the living room.
Sitting on the sofa was a woman with exquisite makeup. She wore an expensive, high-quality dress. Her features carried the mature charm of a woman in her prime. She was stunningly beautiful, yet looked oddly familiar, and she also carried a coldness that made her seem hard to get along with.
It wasn't Hannah Bennett?
Claire Bennett had always thought the person looking for her was Mrs. Bennett. She hadn't expected it to be a strange woman, and she didn't know this woman at all.
Who was she?
When Paige Sterling saw Claire Bennett arrive, she slowly lifted her eyes, her appraising gaze falling on Claire Bennett.
The girl before her had stunning features. On her palm-sized face, those clear eyes, gentle as water, were especially captivating. When her eyes moved, they were full of alluring charm.
Most distinctive of all was her bearing. They could call Claire Bennett a poor nobody, but she carried the kind of poise Paige Sterling had only seen in the socialite daughters of New York.
Though she was viewing her with prejudice, Paige Sterling had to admit that Claire Bennett was extremely beautiful, more beautiful than any of the wealthy young ladies she had met. No wonder Julian Sterling had been bewitched by her.
Actually, it was best if Julian Sterling was infatuated with a pretty face. That would benefit both her and her son, Ian Sterling. It was just that the old man had ordered her to drive Claire Bennett away.
For Ian Sterling to enter Sterling Group's core team, she had to do this.
In an instant, Paige Sterling had already suppressed the thoughts in her heart. She gently set the fine bone china teacup in her hand on the table and said to Claire Bennett, "Miss Bennett, have a seat."
Claire Bennett sat down on the sofa opposite her and asked, "May I ask who you are?"
Paige Sterling showed a surprised expression and asked in puzzlement, "Julian didn't tell you about the family? I thought you'd be able to guess who I am."
Claire Bennett frowned in confusion.
Julian Sterling had talked about his family. At first, he said he was an orphan. Then he said he had a younger sister. Later, he said he didn't get along with his parents and had fallen out with them.
Thinking back carefully, Claire Bennett finally realized that Julian Sterling had been stringing her along the whole time.
Because of the filter of love and affection she had for him, she hadn't minded those things. Looking back now, she realized that aside from knowing those bits, she knew absolutely nothing about Julian Sterling, and she had never met any of his family members either.
Claire Bennett's heart instantly sank. "What are you to him?"
Paige Sterling gave a light laugh and said softly, "I'm Julian Sterling's aunt."
Hearing the identity she introduced confirmed Claire Bennett's earlier thoughts even more. As expected, Julian Sterling had hidden many things from her.
She actually knew nothing at all about his family.
But now was not the time to think about that.
Claire Bennett quickly suppressed the displeasure in her heart and said, "Mrs. Sterling, why did you have people 'invite' me here?"
Claire Bennett deliberately stressed the word "invite," carrying a trace of sarcasm, as though accusing her of being rude.
Paige Sterling's eyes narrowed slightly, and she smiled. "My men didn't know their limits. Miss Bennett, don't take offense. I had you brought here for no major matter..."
Her tone paused, then she said casually, "I simply hope you can leave Julian. You should know that you are not worthy of Julian and are not qualified to enter the door of the Sterling family."