Planting the Seed of Doubt

"What's your husband's name?"

Yesterday, when Zane had found out that Claire Bennett was already married, he'd been deeply shaken and hadn't asked that man's name. Only now did he remember it. He had to investigate this properly.

"Uh..." Claire Bennett rubbed her nose and mumbled, "He has the same name as President Sterling..."

For some reason, even she herself found it a little hard to believe once she said it out loud. The coincidence was just too much of a coincidence. No wonder Zane had been so agitated just now. If it were her, she probably would have misunderstood too.

Julian Sterling had absolutely nothing to do with President Sterling.

"Julian Sterling?!" Zane's expression changed abruptly. He stared fixedly at Claire Bennett and asked coldly, "You're not about to tell me your husband's name is Julian Sterling, are you?"

Claire Bennett said nothing, which counted as a tacit admission.

Hearing that, Zane couldn't sit still anymore. He got worked up all over and said irritably, "You were definitely tricked! The name Julian Sterling is famous far and wide. There is absolutely no way there'd be someone with the same name!"

"Why not? It's not like it's some especially unique name."

Seeing that Claire Bennett didn't believe him, Zane was so angry his chest hurt. He took a deep breath and forced down all his rage. Only after a long while did he say, "Fine. It doesn't matter if you don't believe this. But I can tell you one thing..."

Zane's expression was icy as he said, "Tomorrow is Old Mrs. Sterling's birthday banquet, and it's being held at Fountain Ridge Estate. A lot of New York's social elites and wealthy families have been invited. At first, when you mentioned that man's grandmother's birthday, I didn't think much of it. But how could there be such a coincidence? It'd be one thing if the birthdays happened to fall on the same day, but even the venue for the banquet is the same, and the name is exactly the same too!"

Claire Bennett's expression changed drastically, and she was unable to speak.

Zane continued, "Then where is your husband right now?"

"He went on a business trip..." Claire Bennett said in a muffled voice.

"Heh, a business trip?!" Zane curled his lips mockingly and said in pained indignation, "Business trip my ass! Julian Sterling is probably just playing with you. Are you really dumb enough to believe him?"

Claire Bennett frowned unhappily when she heard that. "He isn't."

Zane wished he could pry open her skull and see what on earth was inside.

"What kind of worthless descendant goes off on a business trip when their family is celebrating a birthday?" he sneered. "You probably don't know this, but the Sterling family sent me an invitation. I declined, saying I had something to do. Later I asked around, and guess what? The Sterling family is going to announce at the birthday banquet that Julian Sterling is about to enter a marriage alliance!"

"If your husband is Julian Sterling, then he lied to you about going on a business trip, when really he's coming to the birthday banquet and happily entering a marriage alliance with someone else. Then he'll dump a worn-out shoe like you. Use your brain a little!"

Claire Bennett knew Zane had always had a vicious mouth, but she hadn't expected him to speak so bluntly.

And she didn't seem to have anything she could say to refute him, either.

Had Julian Sterling really lied to her?

Claire Bennett left Zane Cole's residence in a complicated mood.

At first she had been full of confidence and thought Zane was talking nonsense, but after belatedly thinking it over carefully, she began to feel that this whole matter had seemed strange from the start.

The name Julian Sterling really wasn't common. The odds of two people having the same name might only be 0.0001%!

The first time she met him had been arranged by Ruby Sterling. Because she trusted Ruby Sterling, she hadn't had any doubts at all.

Could Ruby Sterling have lied to her?

And then there was Julian Sterling's wealthy aunt, who kept saying over and over that she wasn't good enough for Julian Sterling. If he really was that Julian Sterling, then his aunt truly did have every right to say that.

At that moment, Claire Bennett was no longer sure.

The more she thought about it, the more panicked she became. Most of all, there was what Zane had said about the Sterling family announcing Julian Sterling's marriage alliance partner at the birthday banquet.

Claire Bennett took out her phone, wanting to question Julian Sterling.

But then she thought that if she was mistaken, would he be angry that she didn't trust him?

After agonizing over it for a long time, she still put her phone away.

No matter what, if she went to the birthday banquet tomorrow, she'd know the truth!

...

Fountain Ridge Estate.

Claire Bennett arrived at the estate entrance right on time and stood in an inconspicuous spot by the gate, watching for a while.

There were many vehicles coming and going, with luxury cars gathered everywhere. Quite a few wealthy families and rich businessmen had come, along with famous A-list actresses.

This had to be the Sterling family's birthday banquet Zane was talking about.

And there was simply no restaurant around here that fit someone of Julian Sterling's status. Besides, Zane had said all the land in this area belonged to the Sterling family, making it even more impossible for anyone else to be here.

So was Julian Sterling really what Zane said he was?

Claire Bennett waited at the entrance and watched for a long time, but still didn't see any figure who seemed like Julian Sterling. It even made her start to suspect that maybe she'd gotten it wrong. Perhaps there was some misunderstanding.