Chapter 610
Claire Bennett Sees Someone Unexpected
The next day, Claire Bennett and Molly Lee packed up their things and immediately headed to the auction site.
After Claire Bennett picked this location, Molly Lee gathered more information for her, like which brands would be participating in the auction, so Claire would understand what kind of competitors she was facing.
In the car, she glanced at the list of participating brands in the materials. They were all recognizable names, and they looked extremely well-funded—clearly not the kind short on money.
No doubt they were about to fight a tough battle.
But Claire Bennett wasn't discouraged. She knew everything was hard at the beginning. Maison Verne might not have much name recognition right now, but in the future it would definitely become a household name in New York. When people talked about buying jewelry, they'd think of Maison Verne.
This storefront was being publicly sold by auction in a new shopping mall. The mall was almost fully built, standing right in the busy city center. It wasn't hard to imagine how massive the foot traffic would be after it opened.
The shopping mall wasn't open to the public yet. Everyone going in today was a brand merchant here for the auction.
Claire Bennett entered with her work pass.
She walked to the seating area for the brand merchants, and to her surprise, she saw someone unexpected.
Ava Bennett and her assistant, Olivia Lawson!
The two of them were here too, obviously to participate in the auction. Claire Bennett thought that was only normal. After all, for a shopping mall in this kind of location, any merchant serious about building a brand couldn't possibly pass it up.
She frowned, then quietly weighed her own wallet again, unsure whether she'd be able to win the storefront she wanted in this auction.
At that moment, Ava Bennett's assistant Olivia Lawson spotted Claire Bennett and immediately signaled to Ava. "Manager Bennett, look—that's Claire Bennett, isn't it? What is she doing here?"
At Olivia's words, Ava Bennett immediately looked over at Claire Bennett. When she saw Claire Bennett and Molly Lee, her eyes narrowed at once.
Today was the storefront auction, and everyone entering was a brand merchant. If Claire Bennett was here, she was definitely here to bid. Ava hadn't expected that after leaving Bennett Group, Claire would try to start building a brand again from scratch.
Now Julian Sterling had nothing left, and there was no way Claire Bennett could keep relying on him.
Ava gave a contemptuous snort inwardly: Everyone here today was an established brand with deep pockets. There was no way Claire Bennett could compete with them.
"Ignore her. I don't believe she has that much money to win a bid," Ava Bennett said flatly, withdrawing her gaze.
Olivia Lawson said hesitantly, "Mr. Bennett came today too. Do you think he might..."
Victor Bennett had come to the auction with Ava Bennett today. They were looking for a new storefront for Ava's brand. Since Claire Bennett was also Victor Bennett's daughter, Olivia was worried Victor might help Claire. Then they wouldn't get to laugh at Claire Bennett's misfortune.
Ava Bennett's eyes darkened instantly. She had almost forgotten about that.
Victor Bennett had gone to the restroom and hadn't seen Claire Bennett yet. If he did see her, who knew what might happen.
But very quickly, she thought of a solution. Ava Bennett stood up and said, "I'll call my mom right now and have her call Dad back home. Then we won't have to worry about him helping Claire Bennett."
Olivia Lawson gave her a thumbs-up. "Manager Bennett really knows what she's doing."
Ava Bennett took her phone and walked to an empty corner, then called Hannah Bennett and told her they'd run into Claire Bennett here. Hannah Bennett naturally agreed at once.
She gave a cold snort and said, "Ava, don't worry. Just leave this to me."
After the call, Ava Bennett finally returned to her seat at ease. When Olivia asked how it went, Ava smiled confidently and said, "Don't worry. Claire Bennett won't be getting any help."
...
At the same time, Victor Bennett had just come out of the restroom. He was just about to head back to the venue when he suddenly got a call from Hannah Bennett.
He answered the phone. "What is it? Is something wrong?"
"Bo'heng, I suddenly feel really dizzy. Can you come back for a bit?" Hannah Bennett's weak voice came from the other end of the line.
Victor Bennett immediately frowned. Hannah Bennett was usually in excellent health and rarely ever got sick. How could she suddenly have a headache?
After hesitating for a moment, he said, "I'm busy with the auction right now, and it's about to start. Have Mrs. Walker go to the hospital with you for a checkup. I'll come back as soon as I'm done here."
Hannah Bennett immediately said, "Mrs. Walker took the day off today. Isn't Ava over there with you? Just leave the auction to her. It can also help train Ava's abilities."
Victor Bennett thought it over and felt Hannah Bennett had a point. He answered in a low voice, "Mm, got it. I'll head back right now. Wait for me."
After ending the call, Victor Bennett called Ava Bennett and told her he was heading home right away and wanted her to handle things there. Ava pretended to be worried about Hannah Bennett's condition, then later assured him she would definitely complete every task.
After everything had been taken care of, Ava Bennett curled her lips into a cold smile.
Now she didn't have to worry about Claire Bennett getting any help.
Claire Bennett stayed seated, studying all the storefronts up for auction this time. In a big shopping mall like this, the storefronts were naturally priced according to location. She probably had no chance at all with the ones by the main entrance, but she felt she could still compete for some of the corner locations.
As long as the mall had enough foot traffic and the location was good enough, she didn't need to worry about not having customers.
This shopping mall had originally been an old urban district, but after acquisition and restructuring, it had been turned into the enormous shopping mall it was now. Needless to say, the old district's location was excellent, and the nearby pedestrian traffic was extremely strong too.
Good wine needs no bush. Claire Bennett firmly believed her designs would definitely win plenty of loyal customers. When that time came, she wouldn't need to worry about the location of the storefront.
This time, Claire Bennett had her eye on two storefronts in a corner of the mall. The spaces weren't very large, but they were more than enough for selling accessories.
Molly Lee leaned close to Claire Bennett's ear and whispered, "Boss, Ava Bennett came too this time. Do you think she'll pull some trick on you?"
Molly still remembered clearly how Ava Bennett had stolen Claire Bennett's Hudson Capital investment before. Later, if the owner of Hudson Capital hadn't happened to know Julian Sterling, they probably wouldn't even have been able to hold their launch event.
Claire Bennett's eyes darkened. She remembered the investment information on the shopping mall she'd looked over earlier. The investor was a very famous one, and seemed to be a foreigner. She said, "Don't worry. Ava Bennett doesn't know the people behind this shopping mall, so she has no way to mess with me. What we should be worrying about is how to beat everyone else and grab the storefront."
"That's good." Molly Lee let out a sigh of relief.
But then she thought of something else and said hesitantly, "I think I saw Mr. Bennett—Victor Bennett—a little while ago. Why isn't he here now?"
Claire Bennett didn't need to think to know exactly why.
She let out a cold laugh. "Molly, we need to rely on ourselves. Don't count on other people's help. Better to rely on yourself than on someone else."