Chapter 493
Hazel Lewis Lost Completely
Molly Lee immediately broke into a smile, shaking Claire Bennett's arm as she said, "Manager Song, I knew we could win. We really won! We won this competition!"
Although Claire Bennett had already had a good idea of the outcome, she had still been a little nervous just now, afraid that there might be some one-in-ten-thousand accident.
Fortunately, no accident happened.
Compared with Claire Bennett's side, the people on Nia's side were far more shocked, and some of them were already speechless.
Hazel Lewis looked awful. She finally couldn't hold back anymore and stood up, saying, "I don't believe this result. Was there a mistake in the calculations? How could Nia possibly lose!"
Seeing how agitated Hazel Lewis was, Uncle Ming also knew they had no way of accepting this result.
In fact, when he had seen the numbers clearly just now, he had also felt very surprised. But because he had met Claire Bennett several times and knew she was not some ordinary pretty face, it also seemed to make sense.
He handed the materials in his hand to Hazel Lewis and said, "Take a look for yourselves."
Hazel Lewis impatiently read through the materials in her hands from beginning to end. When she saw that those designers she had always wanted to poach but never managed to bring over were actually from Maison Verne's side, she froze on the spot.
Her face was full of shock as she stared fixedly at the materials in her hands in disbelief.
How was that possible!
How could they be Claire Bennett's people?
No wonder she had never been able to poach them. So it was because of Claire Bennett. Because they were Claire Bennett's people, they refused to jump ship.
But Claire Bennett was just an ordinary person. Where had she gotten the connections and ability to bring these people in?
Countless questions surfaced in Hazel Lewis's mind, but even more than that was her unwillingness to accept Claire Bennett's victory.
Maybe Julian Sterling had helped. Only Julian Sterling could possibly have pulled something like this off.
Hazel Lewis had nothing to say. She could only look at Claire Bennett with darkened eyes, her chest churning with intense unwillingness.
She would not admit defeat. Sooner or later, she would crush Claire Bennett beneath her!
At the very least, Claire Bennett was completely inferior to her in status. Claire Bennett was nothing more than an ordinary person!
The three-month-long competition came to an end just like that amid Hazel Lewis's unwillingness.
At this moment, at the Sterling family residence in New York.
After seeing Claire Bennett win, Old Mr. Sterling's face darkened, and he couldn't say a single word.
Old Mrs. Sterling, on the other hand, looked at Claire Bennett's steady composure, and there was faint admiration in her eyes.
Sigh! In truth, Claire Bennett really was a very suitable candidate for her granddaughter-in-law.
It was just that she had to be that woman's daughter. If not for that, perhaps she would not have been so opposed to Claire Bennett being with Julian Sterling.
Just then, Old Mr. Sterling's phone rang. It was a call from Julian Sterling.
He more or less knew what that brat wanted to say to him and pettily refused to answer. Before long, the ringing stopped, and then Old Mrs. Sterling's phone started ringing instead.
When Old Mrs. Sterling saw the caller ID and then glanced at Old Mr. Sterling's blackened face, she roughly understood what was going on.
She curled her lips into a smile.
He was really suffering for the sake of keeping up appearances!
After steadying her emotions, Old Mrs. Sterling swiped to answer. "Hello, Julian, is there something you wanted to talk to Grandma about?"
"Grandma, is Grandpa beside you?"
Old Mr. Sterling shot Old Mrs. Sterling a warning glare, signaling her not to give him away. But Old Mrs. Sterling was not someone who would be threatened by him, and she immediately blurted out, "He's right here with me. I'll hand the phone to him right now."
After saying that, Old Mrs. Sterling did not hand the phone to Old Mr. Sterling, but instead turned on speakerphone.
She also wanted to hear what Julian Sterling was actually going to say.
Julian Sterling's low, magnetic voice came through the phone as he said slowly, "Grandpa, about the condition we agreed on before: if Claire won the competition against Hazel Lewis, then you would stop interfering in our affairs. I hope you'll keep your word."
"Hmph! What I said was that I would stop arranging blind dates for you and Hazel Lewis. When did I ever say I would stop interfering in your affairs? And that woman Claire Bennett, in the Sterling family home she even did that to Megan Sterling..."
However, before Old Mr. Sterling could finish, Julian Sterling cut him off. "I trust Claire."
After saying that, he did not wait for Old Mr. Sterling's reply and directly hung up the phone.
Hearing the busy tone from the other end, Old Mr. Sterling could hardly believe his ears. Julian Sterling actually dared to hang up on him!
Seeing that Old Mr. Sterling was about to blow up, Old Mrs. Sterling couldn't help speaking up. "All right, settle down a little lately. Julian has already started taking over the Sterling family's business, and this is a critical period. Don't affect his career."
Hearing Old Mrs. Sterling's words, although Old Mr. Sterling felt aggrieved, he could only let out a muffled snort.
...
After everything was over, Claire Bennett packed up her things and got ready to leave. She had now returned to the Bennett family and returned to New York. Perhaps from now on, her focus would be entirely in New York.
Today she had not only come to compete with Hazel Lewis, but also to return to Chicago to pack up her things.
Although she had not lived in Chicago for very long, she still had quite a few things to take away.
Unexpectedly, she ran into someone she had not expected at all.
Ethan Sterling.
Just a few days ago, she had suffered because of Ethan Sterling, and now seeing him appear right in front of her, Claire Bennett felt a strange sense of unreality. Last time she had asked Julian Sterling where Ethan Sterling had gone, but Julian Sterling had not told her.
Compared with before, Ethan Sterling looked much more haggard.
His hair was cut very short, there was quite a bit of stubble on his face, and there were heavy dark circles under his eyes. He looked utterly dejected, as if he were a completely different person.
Although Claire Bennett and Ethan Sterling had been together before, they had not broken up peacefully.
Things had also ended unpleasantly the last time afterward, so now that they were meeting again, there was nothing good to say. She merely glanced at Ethan Sterling before turning to leave, but unexpectedly, Ethan Sterling's tall figure suddenly blocked her path.