Chapter 411
The Memories She Kept Hidden in Her Heart
Claire Bennett openly brought Julian Sterling over and sat down.
Quite a few of Nia's employees looked at Julian Sterling, their gazes lingering on him, some unable to look away. Some were even secretly whispering to each other, sizing him up from head to toe—though all of it was admiring.
Suddenly, another noticeable commotion rose from the doorway, and everyone turned to look.
They saw a middle-aged man with a huge belly appear before them. Even though he was wearing a suit, his body was bloated and bulky, his face shiny with grease, and after coming in, his eyes immediately darted around over everyone present. That probing look of his made people feel uncomfortable all over.
"Who is that guy?"
"Seriously, we don't know him at all. He shouldn't be one of Nia's employees, right?"
"No way someone like that works at Nia. Maybe he's from Maison Verne."
...
Everyone there was young, and even the family members who looked very ordinary didn't have a partner who looked like that. For a moment, people were all curiously guessing who had brought him, or rather, which woman had such low standards that she'd taken a liking to a man like him.
Just as everyone was wondering, Claire Bennett's face suddenly went pale.
That man... Ian Walsh!
Memories from the past struck her out of nowhere, and Claire Bennett's expression visibly changed.
Ian Walsh was a department manager at Bennett Group. Back when Claire Bennett had first joined Bennett Group, she'd had quite a bit of contact with him. At the time, he had helped her a lot, and Claire Bennett had thought he was a good person.
Unexpectedly, Ian Walsh later actually asked to date her. Claire Bennett at the time was shocked, but she immediately turned him down.
Because Ian Walsh was a married man.
After failing to take advantage of her, he flew into a rage from humiliation and immediately spread the word that she had seduced him and wanted to use his position to climb the ranks at Bennett Group.
When she entered Bennett Group, she hadn't revealed that she was the eldest daughter of the Bennett family, so naturally no one believed her. She was ostracized and cursed at.
Later, Victor Bennett handed the matter over to her stepmother and Ava Bennett to deal with.
The two of them naturally couldn't stand to see her doing well, so they deliberately dragged the matter out for a very long time. Only after her reputation had sunk to rock bottom did they go find Ian Walsh and have him come forward to apologize, saying that everything had been a misunderstanding.
In everyone else's eyes, though, they thought Ian Walsh had reached some kind of private settlement with her and had been forced to apologize. No one believed it was really a misunderstanding.
In short, it was a stain on her life.
A long time had passed since that incident, but Claire Bennett still felt sickened by it, and even had a physical reaction of revulsion toward Ian Walsh as a person.
She never expected that after so many years, she would see Ian Walsh again, stirring up the memories she had buried deep in her heart.
Julian Sterling keenly noticed Claire Bennett's change in mood. He turned and asked softly, "Claire, what's wrong?"
"Nothing." Claire Bennett shook her head.
She didn't want to lay that kind of past bare in front of Julian Sterling. She didn't want him to know about those unbearable things in her past, so she chose to hide it.
Julian Sterling pressed his lips together. Although he knew something had to be wrong, he still didn't continue pressing her.
Claire Bennett said nothing was wrong, but after she saw the man who had just arrived, she had become like this. The problem lay with that man from a moment ago.
Julian Sterling's gaze drifted toward Ian Walsh, seemingly casual.
His brows drew tightly together, and a trace of coldness spilled into his eyes, making Ian Walsh feel an inexplicable chill run down his spine.
Just when he wanted to take a closer look and see what was going on, Julian Sterling had already withdrawn his gaze, his face returning to an indifferent expression that revealed nothing unusual.