Quietly Following Old Madam Sterling

Old Madam Sterling swept her gaze around the restaurant and spotted Claire Bennett in the booth at once. Her sixth sense told her that this was the girl Julian Sterling liked, the person she had come to meet today.

She walked toward Claire Bennett and then sat down in front of her.

Old Madam Sterling spoke first. "You're Julian's wife, Claire?"

Hearing Grandma Sterling's kindly tone, Claire Bennett's nervousness eased a little. It seemed Grandma Sterling wasn't a very difficult person to get along with.

Because of the longing she felt for her own grandmother, Claire Bennett's attitude softened involuntarily when facing an elder.

She called out to Old Madam Sterling in a bright voice, "Hello, Grandma."

Old Madam Sterling laughed. "Good, good, good."

She sized up Claire Bennett in front of her. Judging by looks alone, Claire Bennett was no worse than the high-society daughters Old Master Sterling had picked out. Her family background was a little lacking, but in her opinion that wasn't much of a problem.

At that moment, with Uncle Ming's help, Old Master Sterling arrived at the restaurant security room.

Through the surveillance feed, he was staring fixedly at Claire Bennett and Old Madam Sterling.

When he saw Claire Bennett and Old Madam Sterling getting along happily, without the slightest hint of stiffness, he pressed his lips together in displeasure.

Could it be that while he didn't know, Evelyn had been secretly in contact with Claire Bennett behind his back?

Otherwise, how could there be no sense of unfamiliarity or distance between them at all?

Evelyn Sterling's attitude toward Claire Bennett was even better than her attitude toward Hazel Lewis when she came to the Sterling family home that day!

Although Old Master Sterling was unhappy, he only gave a cold snort and said nothing more, continuing to watch the surveillance footage.

He wanted to see exactly how that woman planned to bewitch Evelyn!

Claire Bennett's initial restraint quickly disappeared after Old Madam Sterling showed her goodwill.

She took out the gift she had brought and handed it to Old Madam Sterling, saying, "Grandma, this is a local specialty I bought in Chicago. I hope you won't dislike it."

Chicago's natural environment was indeed excellent, with beautiful mountains and clear waters, and it had many nourishing medicinal foods that were well known far and near.

What Claire Bennett bought were some nourishing supplements, very suitable for an elderly person. They weren't especially expensive, but she had picked them out carefully.

Old Madam Sterling had seen every delicacy imaginable—rare mountain foods, bird's nest, abalone, shark fin, fish maw, sea cucumber. Naturally, this little bit meant nothing to her.

But since it was from Claire Bennett, she still liked it very much.

And the brand she had brought was the same one Julian Sterling often prepared for Old Master Sterling.

After Old Master Sterling drank it before, his complexion had improved quite a bit. Recently they had just happened to finish it, and now that Julian Sterling and Old Master Sterling had argued, with Old Master Sterling angry at Julian Sterling and refusing contact with him, it had never been replenished. Claire Bennett bringing it now truly was timely help.

Old Madam Sterling immediately smiled and said, "I won't dislike it. That was thoughtful of you, Claire."

Seeing that Old Madam Sterling didn't dislike it, Claire Bennett instantly breathed a sigh of relief.

At that moment, from the back, Old Master Sterling, who was watching the monitor, asked, "Uncle Ming, what did that woman take out?"

Uncle Ming had been to Chicago and had seen that kind of thing before.

So he immediately replied, "Sir, that's a medicinal food supplement from Chicago. Quite a few people in New York have their servants fly to Chicago specifically to buy it. Young Master Julian used to bring you the same thing. It seems Miss Claire was very thoughtful."

Old Master Sterling recalled that his relationship with Julian Sterling had recently dropped to freezing point, and it was all because of this woman.

Julian Sterling wasn't even sending him medicinal food supplements anymore.

He was definitely withholding it on purpose so this woman could use giving it to Evelyn, who would then pass it on to him, to get him to accept her.

Hmph! As expected, she was no good woman.

Such deep scheming, and he had seen right through it at once.

Seeing Old Master Sterling's dark expression, Uncle Ming glanced at the monitor and sighed inwardly in helplessness. The medicinal food had worked well for the old master, and he had always praised Julian Sterling for bringing it. He hadn't expected that now even Claire Bennett bringing this wouldn't win him over. It seemed Julian Sterling and Claire Bennett still had a long road ahead of them.

Old Master Sterling snorted. "Let's see what other tricks that woman has!"

After saying that, he stared tensely at the monitor again.

Claire Bennett chatted with Old Madam Sterling for a while, then suddenly thought of Old Master Sterling being sick. Looking at Old Madam Sterling with some concern, she asked, "Grandma, is it true what you said on the phone about Grandpa being sick?"

Old Madam Sterling's eyes flickered, and with a trace of guilt she said, "It's true. Actually, we've seen a lot of doctors, but nothing has helped at all."

When Old Master Sterling was young, he pushed himself too hard, and his body had been worn down badly. That was how he built Sterling Group's empire.

This man had been proud his whole life, so he was even less able to tolerate a woman like Claire Bennett—someone he looked down on—damaging the industry the Sterling family had worked so hard to build up. Getting him to accept Claire Bennett easily was not going to be a simple matter.