No More Trying

"I can't. I'm working right now. After I get off."

Claire ended the call, came out of the bathroom stall, washed her hands, and went out.

After she left, another person came out from the stall beside her.

It was Willow Lane.

She had been squatting in the next stall just now, and then she heard Claire Bennett lowering her voice while talking on the phone. Although she couldn't make it out clearly, she vaguely caught words like breaking up.

Could it be that Claire Bennett had fallen out with that man pursuing her, and she'd been dumped?

At that possibility, an excited smile appeared on Willow Lane's face.

She'd said it all along: a woman like Claire Bennett who played both sides was bound to crash and burn sooner or later. And now something really had happened, hadn't it!

She needed to plan this out carefully—how to spread the news and make Claire Bennett lose all face!

After all, she'd been so high-profile for a while there. This time she was definitely going to become a joke.

...

Outside Sterling International.

Sean Shaw waited for Claire Bennett in the car. This time, unlike before, he wasn't impatient at all. Instead, he was much more patient; even after waiting several hours, he had no complaints whatsoever.

When Claire came downstairs, the first thing she saw was Sean's car parked outside.

She waved goodbye to Molly Lee, then got into Sean's car.

Behind her, while Claire was opening the door, Molly Lee took a look at Sean in the driver's seat, a thoughtful expression appearing on her face.

So this was the man pursuing Claire Bennett. He really was good-looking. No wonder Claire had such a good impression of him and kept praising him. The two of them really looked well matched!

Sean took Claire out for dinner.

The two chose a quiet Western restaurant with few people. As soon as they sat down, Sean impatiently asked, "Have you really thought it through? You're not going to try a little harder?"

Claire gave a bitter smile. "His aunt came to see me, threw a check at me, and told me to leave him. We weren't even together yet, and there was already a huge gap standing between us."

If Julian Sterling liked her, then she might have tried a little harder to fight for it.

But he didn't like her. Presumably, he would listen to his aunt too.

She could try to win him back again, but if things were only headed toward the same ending as now, it would be better to end it here. At least that way, they could still preserve something beautiful in each other's hearts.

After hearing all that, Sean was completely furious!

He protested indignantly, "What kind of bullshit is that! What right do they have to look down on you? We're not lacking either, okay? If you went back to the Bennett family..."

Before Sean could finish, Claire Bennett shook her head.

She cut him off and said, "Sean, I'm not going back."

The Bennett family had long since stopped being her home, and there would never be any place for her there. The way things were now was fine.

In the end, Sean let out a heavy sigh and could only comfort Claire softly, saying there were plenty of fish in the sea, and there would be lots of good men waiting for her in the future.

As for business between Shaw Group and Sterling Group, so be it if they didn't do it!

He wasn't someone without principles. Shaw Group could afford to take that loss.

After the two finished dinner, they chatted a while longer before getting up to leave.

Suddenly, Claire thought of something and asked, "Sean, I'm moving out of Parkview Heights. Can you come back with me and help me get my things?"

"I thought it was something serious. Of course that's not a problem." Sean agreed readily. He said, "I just bought a detached house in Chicago recently. You can move in there for now."

Originally, Sean had wanted to buy a place in Parkview Heights, but later that didn't work out, so he had no choice but to settle for buying somewhere else. Thinking about it now, he was glad he hadn't bought it, or it'd be too upsetting later on.

Claire had planned to move into Ruby Sterling's place temporarily and then move out again once she found somewhere suitable. She hadn't expected Sean to take the initiative and offer his house.

What was there to be polite about between her and Sean? So she nodded and said, "Okay, I'll stay at your place for now. Once I find somewhere, I'll move out."

Sean patted Claire on the shoulder and said generously, "What are you saying? It'd be fine even if you stayed there forever."

Claire only smiled and said nothing.

In the blink of an eye, the two arrived at Parkview Heights, and the car came to a stop in the parking garage.

Sean said, "Do you have a lot of luggage? Do you want me to go up and help you carry your stuff?"

As he spoke, he reached to unbuckle his seat belt.

"No need. I only have one suitcase. There's nothing else."

When she came to Chicago, she had only brought one suitcase. She didn't have many things to take away, so there was no need for Sean to help.

Sean thought about it and let her have her way. He said, "All right, then I'll wait here. Go on up."

Claire took the elevator upstairs. As she watched it slowly rise, the scene of when she and Julian Sterling had just moved in suddenly surfaced in her mind. Back then, she had been excited and full of anticipation.

Unfortunately, after only such a short time, she was already leaving this place.

Her mood suddenly sank. Deep down, she was reluctant to leave, but reality left no room for any feelings.

Claire forced down her emotions so that her tears wouldn't spill out.

Ding. The elevator doors opened.

She sniffed and stepped out.

After opening the door, the apartment was still pitch-black. Ever since Julian Sterling left that night, he had never come back.