Acknowledging Claire Bennett's Identity

Ruby Sterling secretly glanced over at Old Mr. Sterling, her expression a little wary.

She said in a muffled, dissatisfied voice, "Do you think Claire doesn't want to come down? Grandpa's the one not letting her come down, so Claire's been hiding upstairs all by herself. Grandpa's really gone too far. Who exactly is he trying to humiliate?"

Thinking about how she had just seen Claire Bennett all alone upstairs, so lonely, while all of them were happily attending the banquet down here,

Ruby Sterling felt Claire Bennett was pitiful. She truly felt sorry for her best friend!

After hearing Ruby Sterling's words, Julian Sterling's face suddenly darkened.

He didn't say anything more and immediately strode upstairs.

When Ruby Sterling saw Julian Sterling go upstairs, she let out a sigh of relief.

It looked like her big brother still liked Claire after all. At least he hadn't let Claire be wronged. It wasn't for nothing that she'd introduced her best friend to him.

At that moment, Old Mr. Sterling also noticed Julian Sterling heading upstairs. He also knew that Julian Sterling had probably found out Claire Bennett was upstairs, and his face darkened with displeasure.

A moment ago, Julian Sterling had left President Hong behind and walked off, and he'd thought something had happened.

Now it looked like it was because of that woman, Claire Bennett.

Old Mr. Sterling walked over to Ruby Sterling and lowered his voice as he questioned her unhappily, "What's going on? Your brother's going upstairs to find that woman Claire Bennett?"

Although Ruby Sterling was a little afraid of Old Mr. Sterling, she still stood on her good friend Claire Bennett's side. She braced herself and said, "Uh... it isn't really appropriate for Claire to be upstairs all by herself, is it?"

"What's inappropriate about it!" Old Mr. Sterling glared at her.

Just now, Julian Sterling had already appeared before everyone, and quite a few people were watching him and paying attention to everything he did. If he showed up now with Claire Bennett, it would definitely spark discussion from everyone.

And if someone asked, what would they say? Wouldn't that mean they'd have to acknowledge that woman's identity?

Right now, no one knew yet about Claire Bennett and Julian Sterling. His plan was to keep the child and get rid of the mother later. He couldn't let Julian Sterling become publicly tied to her now!

Old Mr. Sterling was extremely displeased. Although he had temporarily accepted Claire Bennett, that was only to let her give birth to the child, not to let her marry into the family!

The more he thought about it, the more dissatisfied he became. He let out a cold snort and said, "She was best off staying upstairs and not coming down in the first place. Now I want to see whether Julian Sterling plans to announce her identity to the public!"

With that, he walked toward the upstairs area with a dark expression.

Afraid Julian Sterling and Old Mr. Sterling might get into a conflict, Ruby Sterling immediately followed after him.

In the upstairs room, Claire Bennett had just turned on her phone and was about to send Julian Sterling a message when he walked in.

When Julian Sterling saw Claire Bennett sitting alone in the room, a trace of heartache appeared in his eyes.

He walked over and said softly, "Claire, did Grandpa make you stay here?"

Claire Bennett froze for a moment, quickly set down the phone in her hand, and said in surprise, "Why did you come up? Are you done with everything downstairs?"

Julian Sterling stared at Claire Bennett for a while. Only after confirming that there was nothing unusual in her expression did he reach out and pull her into his arms. He said gently, "Claire, I'm sorry. You've been wronged."

Originally, Claire Bennett hadn't felt all that wronged.

After all, she knew Old Mr. Sterling didn't like her, and she hadn't had much expectation to begin with. As for Old Mr. Sterling making her stay upstairs by herself, she felt that was only to be expected.

But now, hearing Julian Sterling's words, all those aggrieved feelings surfaced at once.

She said in a muffled voice, "It's okay. I don't feel wronged."

Julian Sterling gently stroked Claire Bennett's back and said, "Come on. Come downstairs with me."

Just as Claire Bennett was about to speak, Old Mr. Sterling's voice sounded from behind them!

He let out a cold snort. "Julian Sterling! If you take her downstairs now, when other people ask, how do you plan to introduce her identity?"

Seeing Old Mr. Sterling appear, Claire Bennett hurriedly stepped out of Julian Sterling's arms.

Old Mr. Sterling walked in with a dark expression. Suppressing his anger, he snorted and said, "Do you remember what you promised me before? Are you planning to go back on your word?"

Julian Sterling had lied to Old Mr. Sterling that Claire Bennett was pregnant, and only then had Old Mr. Sterling temporarily accepted Claire Bennett's existence. But the two of them had made a deal: they couldn't let anyone know about their relationship.

That was already the greatest concession Old Mr. Sterling could make.

Wanting him to accept Claire Bennett's existence all at once was perhaps not a simple matter.

Julian Sterling frowned tightly. He had indeed promised Old Mr. Sterling that.

But he also didn't want Claire Bennett to be wronged.

In the end, Julian Sterling chose Claire Bennett's side without hesitation. He said in a low voice, "Grandpa, although I promised you I wouldn't announce our situation to the public, Claire is my wife. There's no way I can leave her here alone."

"If I did that, then I'd be a heartless, faithless man. You probably wouldn't want me to become that kind of man either, would you?"

Old Mr. Sterling's face turned black. What kind of twisted logic was that!

He was just about to angrily rebuke Julian Sterling.

At that moment, Ruby Sterling walked in from outside and quickly tried to smooth things over. "Oh, come on, Grandpa! You don't have to be so angry. It really isn't appropriate for Claire to stay up here. It's better if she comes downstairs and stays with everyone. It'll be livelier that way too."

Old Mr. Sterling hadn't expected Ruby Sterling to actually help Claire Bennett. He gave a dissatisfied snort. "Ruby Sterling, what do you mean by this?"

Julian Sterling still wanted to say something, but he caught the meaningful look from Ruby Sterling.

So he did not continue speaking.

"Grandpa, don't get worked up just yet." Ruby Sterling moved closer to Old Mr. Sterling's side and quietly soothed him. "What you're worried about is probably that Claire will get tied up with my brother somehow."

"Actually, this is very easy to solve. Just let Claire go downstairs. I'll tell everyone she's my best friend, and then nobody will misunderstand anything."

Ruby Sterling knew what Old Mr. Sterling was thinking. As the go-between, she was doing her best to smooth things over and make both sides satisfied.

After hearing Ruby Sterling's words, the expression on Old Mr. Sterling's face eased slightly.

He gave a cold snort and said, "Fine. We'll do it Ruby Sterling's way! But if you dare do anything behind my back, don't blame me for being rude. I won't give anyone any face!"

With that, Old Mr. Sterling flicked his sleeve and left.