Meeting the In-Laws

Mr. and Mrs. Sterling were far too curious about Claire Bennett. They both wanted to spend a little more time with their daughter-in-law.

They had just come up with a little plan.

Julian looked at Claire and asked, "Do you mind if I take them home first?"

"N-no, I don't mind."

Actually, she could have taken a cab herself, but if Julian drove her, she could spend a little more time with him.

For some reason, Claire agreed instinctively.

Julian drove himself. Before Claire could choose a seat, Mr. and Mrs. Sterling pulled her into the back to sit with them. Under their combined offensive, Claire half-reluctantly sat down in the back.

At that moment, Mr. Sterling took out his phone and pulled up an address in the navigation app.

"Julian, you know the place, right?"

Hearing Mr. Sterling's words, Julian lowered his head and glanced at it. The address on the screen was an old residential building in the old part of town.

A look of surprise flashed through his eyes, and he looked up at Mr. Sterling.

Mr. Sterling winked at him.

Julian instantly understood. It seemed Ruby had already given the two elders a heads-up, and now they were cooperating with him.

So he drove toward the address Mr. Sterling had provided.

The car moved steadily along the road.

Claire sat in the back with Mr. and Mrs. Sterling, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something about this was strangely off.

Mr. Sterling was in front of her and Mrs. Sterling was beside her; the two of them had her boxed in as if they were afraid she might run away.

These uncle-and-auntie types were just way too enthusiastic.

The whole ride, they kept chatting with her, asking about her preferences, hobbies, and all sorts of little things, practically like they were checking her household registration.

Claire was still obedient and polite in front of elders, so she answered everything.

Before long, they arrived at the apartment building. Julian parked the car under a tree downstairs, unbuckled his seat belt, and got out.

Mrs. Sterling grabbed Claire's hand and said affectionately, "We're home. Let's get out."

Claire thought she wanted to invite her upstairs for a cup of tea, so she quickly declined, saying, "Ma'am, I still have to go back to work at the office, so I won't come to your home."

Hearing how Claire addressed her, Mrs. Sterling gave an unhappy huff and said, "Why are you calling me ma'am? You should be calling me Mom."

After saying that, Mrs. Sterling pulled Mr. Sterling over. "This is your dad."

Claire froze. She asked in confusion, "Dad? Mom?"

These two really were awfully familiar for strangers—actually going around outside claiming daughters.

Mrs. Sterling nudged Mr. Sterling and said happily, "Did you hear that? Our daughter-in-law called us Dad and Mom. Such a good girl!"

W-what? Daughter-in-law???

Claire was dumbfounded. She stayed shocked for a long while before carefully asking, "You and sir are...?"

"We're Julian's parents, daughter-in-law!"

Holy crap! They were Julian Sterling's parents—the ones he supposedly didn't get along with?

Claire was completely blown away. She hadn't had the slightest bit of warning, and now she was suddenly meeting the in-laws just like that?

Compared with Claire's shocked reaction, Julian was much calmer. He didn't say a word either; he just stood quietly behind them, wanting to see how Claire would deal with his parents.

Mrs. Sterling beamed as she held onto Claire and said, "Daughter-in-law, since you've already come to our place, you should come upstairs for a cup of tea."

With that, she pulled Claire upstairs.

Still in a daze, Claire was dragged straight upstairs.

They went up to the fifth floor. This was an older part of town, and it looked somewhat worn-down. The stairwell was full of age, and every household had a big iron security door, giving the place a lived-in feel.

When they reached one of the iron doors, Mr. Sterling took a key out of a flowerpot by the entrance, then unlocked the door.

It wasn't until Claire realized she was already inside someone else's home that she finally snapped out of her shock.

"Daughter-in-law, sit wherever you like. Don't be polite."

Mr. Sterling chimed in, "Yeah, have a seat."

"Uh..." Claire turned back to look at Julian, feeling a little resentful. Why hadn't he warned her just now that these two were his parents?

Now it had turned into a face-to-face meeting on the spot. If she hadn't had decent nerves, she probably would have been scared to death.

His parents had suddenly appeared—what if they threw a check at her and told her to leave Julian Sterling?

Mm... although that didn't really seem very likely.

From the brief contact she'd had with them on the way here, she felt that Julian's parents were actually pretty easy to talk to, and gentle and courteous too, not at all like his aunt.

No, that wasn't the most important thing.

The most important thing right now was that they were getting divorced!

If his parents found out in a minute, who knew what kind of scene it would cause? The thought was really unsettling.

Thinking that, Claire shot Julian a look.

Signaling him to hurry up and say something.

Julian stood quietly by the doorway. Faced with Claire's meaningful look, he ignored it. There was only a faint curve at the corner of his mouth, and his eyes were full of tenderness.