So They Really Did Tamper With It

For the past two days, Chloe Carter had been sticking close to Willow Lane, trying to build ties with her in hopes of climbing to a higher position.

She had immediately turned herself into Willow Lane's lackey, and the way she looked at Claire Bennett was full of disgust and contempt.

Hearing that, Willow Lane's expression eased. She gave Claire Bennett a cold look, then snorted and said, "I will definitely handle this impartially. Anyone who smears Sterling International, I won't let them off easily!"

At that, Chloe Carter immediately chimed in, "Exactly. A black sheep like this definitely needs to be cleaned out. Our Maison Verne brand has only just gotten off the ground. We absolutely can't let her ruin it."

The others behind them all nodded in agreement.

For a moment, quite a crowd gathered around Willow Lane, all of them echoing her.

After all, she was the future lady boss now, with all the momentum on her side. Who wouldn't suck up to her?

Seeing Claire Bennett become the target of everyone's criticism, Willow Lane curled her lips into a smug smile and said, "Claire Bennett, if you still want to keep a little dignity, then I don't need to say much more. Admit on your own what you've done!"

Chloe Carter was extremely excited. Last time they hadn't succeeded, and Claire Bennett had even managed to restore the design draft, but this time was different. This time they could definitely drive Claire Bennett out!

Standing beside Willow Lane, she added, "Willow, since the evidence is already conclusive, why waste so many words on her? Just make her leave."

Without Claire Bennett, when the time came to compete for the person in charge of Maison Verne, she would have one less competitor.

Willow Lane glanced at Claire Bennett.

Of course, she didn't just want to drive Claire Bennett away. She wanted to make it impossible for her to stay in this industry.

The best way was to make her do what she had done at Bennett Group back then: admit her mistake with her own mouth.

Back then, when Claire Bennett had stood before Victor Bennett with red eyes and gritted teeth as she admitted her mistake, she had looked unbelievably miserable, like a stray dog.

As Claire Bennett listened to the two of them repeatedly claiming the evidence was conclusive while she herself had yet to see this so-called evidence, her gaze darkened slightly. She held out her hand to Willow Lane and said, "Give it here!"

A faint smile on her lips, Willow Lane handed the restored design draft to Claire Bennett.

She wasn't afraid of letting Claire Bennett look at it in the slightest. Even if she saw something, she could only swallow it silently like she had back then.

Claire Bennett opened the design draft and looked at it. It was indeed the one she had restored, basically no different at all. But on close inspection, it was possible to see that parts of it had been altered!

So they really did tamper with it!

She lifted her eyes to Willow Lane, who just stood there smiling at her, looking smug as could be.

The way Willow Lane looked made it obvious she was saying, So what if Claire Bennett noticed?

At that moment, Chloe Carter immediately urged again, unable to wait, "See? The evidence is right here. Claire Bennett, are you still going to deny it?"

She simply turned to Willow Lane and said, "Willow, since someone like this refuses to repent, go tell Mr. Sterling about it. Have him send someone over to straighten out this ungrateful woman, Claire Bennett."

Actually, Chloe Carter also wanted to see whether Willow Lane was really that favored in Mr. Sterling's eyes.

That way, she'd know how to flatter Willow Lane in the future.

Hearing Chloe Carter's words, Willow Lane knew she had her own little scheme in mind. A thoughtful look appeared in her eyes.

Although everyone was fawning over her, there were still some who didn't believe she had really hooked up with Mr. Sterling. No one said it openly, but she knew perfectly well what they were thinking behind her back!

In that case, she would give those people something to be jealous of.

So Willow Lane said to the person beside her, "Go to Mr. Sterling now and tell him Claire Bennett is refusing to cooperate."

"Okay, I'll go right away."

...

The president's office.

Wes Mercer was reporting Claire Bennett's matter to Julian Sterling. After he finished, he saw Julian Sterling's face darken rapidly, and a chilling coldness that made one shudder swept in from all sides.

Good Lord, that was terrifying.

How had Claire Bennett gotten herself into something like this? But seeing Julian Sterling like this, he felt there might be more to it. It definitely wasn't as simple as it looked on the surface.

Wes Mercer said, "Mr. Sterling, this matter isn't necessarily huge, but if it's not handled well, it could be bad for Ms. Bennett's reputation. Do you need me to have someone suppress it?"

Julian Sterling lifted his eyes to Wes Mercer and asked, "Have you contacted the designer who's pursuing this?"

The matter had first been exposed by a well-known designer in the industry, and later Wes Mercer had moved quickly to suppress the news.

That designer then turned around and contacted Sterling International, demanding a huge amount in compensation. Sterling International could afford that bit of money. If it had been an ordinary business dispute, Wes Mercer would have handled it himself directly.

But this matter involved Claire Bennett. If they really paid compensation, that would be admitting the matter was true.

Claire Bennett was Sterling International's president's wife. How could she be made to suffer such an unjust accusation? He had to ask for Julian Sterling's instructions.

Wes Mercer lowered his head respectfully and said, "We've already contacted her. She said not a single cent of the compensation can be missing, or else she'll expose the matter directly to the reporters."

Julian Sterling's gaze darkened. He thought back to how, after learning that Claire Bennett was the Bennett family's daughter, he had had Wes Mercer do additional investigation into her past in the Bennett family. It had detailed, down to the last thing, everything about Claire Bennett's time at Bennett Group.

Including what had happened to her at Bennett Group back then, and that incident as well.

If he agreed to this, it would likely be another major blow to Claire Bennett.

Just then, the office's internal line rang.

Julian Sterling picked it up and answered.

Victor Wells's voice came through. "Mr. Sterling, someone from Maison Verne just came by. She said Claire Bennett refuses to admit it and wants me to go help."

Anyone who came looking for Julian Sterling naturally couldn't meet him directly; Victor Wells had stopped them at the door.

He had not agreed immediately, but instead told the person to go back first, because he needed to ask Julian Sterling.

After hearing that, Julian Sterling's eyes suddenly darkened. "Got it."