Make Claire Bennett Despised by Everyone

"How can I not worry? Didn't you see that all the guests' eyes are on that woman right now? If Julian Sterling stands beside her later, what place will there be left for you?"

Hazel Lewis's expression darkened as she said, "But the fact that she can show up openly at the birthday banquet proves they aren't completely unable to accept her. If I don't take action now, maybe Claire Bennett really will steal the position of Mrs. Sterling from me."

At that, Daniel Lewis's expression turned ugly.

"That woman is really that capable? She actually managed to win Old Mrs. Sterling's favor."

Hazel Lewis thought about how she had wanted to stir up trouble in front of Old Mrs. Sterling just now, but Old Mrs. Sterling hadn't shown the slightest bit of disgust. It made her feel that perhaps Old Mrs. Sterling already had a fairly good impression of Claire Bennett, which was why she hadn't been fooled by her.

She sighed and said, "Maybe so. Right now, only Old Mr. Sterling is against her."

Maybe before long, even Old Mr. Sterling would stop opposing her.

Daniel Lewis's eyes darkened, and he said in a low voice, "That competition between you and Claire Bennett last time was originally a great opportunity, but you lost to her and ended up in a passive position. Now that Claire Bennett has appeared in front of everyone today, your standing has become even worse."

He paused, his gaze passing over the guests in the room and landing in Claire Bennett's direction.

At that moment, Claire Bennett had already walked over to Old Mrs. Sterling and was warmly wishing her a happy birthday. No one knew what the two of them were saying, but there were faint smiles on their faces, and it was obvious they got along quite well.

Daniel Lewis continued, "Right now Claire Bennett has pleased Old Mrs. Sterling, but she still hasn't caught Old Mr. Sterling's eye. Old Mr. Sterling is still the one in charge of the Sterling family, so it isn't as if we have no chance at all."

"I just saw that Old Mr. Sterling looked very displeased. Presumably he also doesn't want to see Claire Bennett here. Maybe we can start from there!"

Hazel Lewis hadn't noticed Old Mr. Sterling's expression, but since Daniel Lewis said so, it must be true.

"That woman Claire Bennett doesn't have any family background at all, right?" Daniel Lewis suddenly asked.

Hazel Lewis nodded and said, "That's right. I already had her thoroughly investigated back then. I heard she doesn't have a father, comes from a single-parent family, and only has a mother who's in the hospital."

The Lewis father and daughter had been whispering in the corner the whole time and hadn't heard what anyone else was saying about Claire Bennett at all.

Even now, their impression of Claire Bennett was still stuck at the time of that earlier investigation.

They had no idea whatsoever that Claire Bennett had long since returned to the Bennett family and was the Bennett family's daughter.

When Daniel Lewis heard that, he let out a cold snort. "She's nothing but a woman from a single-parent family, yet she wants to step all over us. In that case, this will be easy!"

Hazel Lewis looked at Daniel Lewis in surprise.

She didn't understand what idea he had in mind.

Daniel Lewis let out a cold laugh and said, "You know as well as I do that in our circle, what matters most is a person's family background. A woman with such a lowly background, who grew up in that kind of environment, may be able to disguise herself a little now, but in front of heiresses from prominent families like you, she'll show her true colors sooner or later..."

Hearing Daniel Lewis's words, Hazel Lewis nodded in agreement.

She had received a proper socialite education since childhood, and after growing up she had even studied abroad.

It could be said that Daniel Lewis had raised her as the future lady of the house, so on this point she was completely confident that she could suppress Claire Bennett.

Daniel Lewis snorted and said, "Didn't you prepare quite a few things? They'll come in handy in a bit. When the time comes, make her show her true colors in front of those heiresses. If she loses all face, the Sterling family will probably dislike her even more."

Daniel Lewis was still absolutely confident in Hazel Lewis's abilities. How could Claire Bennett possibly compare to her?

Hearing Daniel Lewis's words, Hazel Lewis smiled with complete confidence.

How had she forgotten what she had prepared? This time, Claire Bennett was done for!

...

The banquet continued. Although Claire Bennett's appearance had drawn quite a bit of attention, things soon returned to normal.

Hazel Lewis knew that many socialites, heiresses, and wealthy married women would definitely be attending Old Mrs. Sterling's birthday banquet today, and she also wanted to use this opportunity to work her way into New York's circle of wealthy society wives.

So this time she had brought quite a few pieces of jewelry designed by Nia's famous designers, planning to use them to build closer connections.

Quite a few wealthy married women were gathered around Old Mrs. Sterling, chatting and laughing with her, and the atmosphere was lively for a time.

Claire Bennett had been pulled over by Ruby Sterling to offer birthday wishes. She didn't know what to give Old Mrs. Sterling. Given Old Mrs. Sterling's status, there was probably nothing she lacked, so Claire Bennett could only give her a piece of jewelry she had designed herself.

She had just finished saying her birthday wishes and had not yet had the chance to take the gift out of her bag when a voice cut in from the side.

"Mrs. Monroe, your gown is so beautiful today. It would really be a shame not to pair it with a lovely necklace!"

Mrs. Monroe was someone of some standing in New York, and most importantly, she was distantly related to Old Mrs. Sterling, so she could also get a word in with Old Mrs. Sterling.