Julian Sterling Has a Wife and Child

After saying that, she led Claire Bennett upstairs and said to her, "You just woke up, so you have to get some proper rest first. I'll go call the old madam and old master back. I'll be right back."

The maid turned and left.

Today, the old Mrs. Sterling and old Mr. Sterling had gone to the market. Living in the village, they didn't use cell phones and relied entirely on the landline in the house to keep in touch.

If the maid wanted to tell them that Claire Bennett had woken up, she could only go tell them in person.

After the maid left, Claire Bennett gradually calmed down. She slowly stood up and walked downstairs. After wandering around the house, she saw many familiar traces.

At last, Claire Bennett saw the telephone on the coffee table in the living room.

Claire Bennett wanted to call Julian Sterling. She was desperate to make contact with him, even if it was only to hear his voice.

She had long since memorized Julian Sterling's phone number by heart. Claire Bennett dialed his cell number, then waited nervously. She didn't know whether Julian Sterling had changed his number.

Maybe he no longer used his old number, or maybe he was still using the same phone as before.

Beep, beep, beep... the sound of the call waiting to be answered came from the receiver, and Claire Bennett waited nervously.

All of a sudden, she didn't know what to say to Julian Sterling. Although the time she had spent lying there felt to her like nothing more than a dream, Julian Sterling had truly and actually stayed with her for three whole years.

Not long after, the call connected.

"Julian Sterling..."

Before Claire Bennett could finish speaking, she heard a woman's voice from the other end. "Hello, Julian Sterling is busy at the moment. What do you need him for?"

"N-no... nothing," Claire Bennett said softly.

Her excitement felt like it had been doused with a bucket of cold water. She didn't know who the woman was who had answered Julian Sterling's phone, or what her relationship with Julian Sterling was. Could it be that during the three years she had been unconscious, Julian Sterling had gotten together with another woman?

Just as Claire Bennett was about to ask clearly, she heard a small child's voice from the other end of the phone. "Mommy..."

Then the call was hung up.

Claire Bennett gripped the phone, her head buzzing. At that moment, an inexplicable panic rose in her heart.

A woman had answered Julian Sterling's phone, and there had even been a child beside that woman calling her Mommy.

Three years was neither especially long nor especially short, but it was enough to change a great many things. If Julian Sterling couldn't endure the loneliness and found another woman and had a child with her, that seemed like a perfectly normal thing too.

But what about her?

Claire Bennett's mind was a mess. She didn't dare imagine what she would do if she saw that Julian Sterling already had a wife and child.

She had never thought she would sleep for so many years. In truth, she couldn't really blame him for not waiting for her.

After all, no one had known when she would wake up. Even that maid just now had said that no one believed she would wake up at all. Maybe Julian Sterling simply couldn't keep waiting until she woke up.

It was still more than an hour from here to the city. If she wanted to go find Julian Sterling, how was she supposed to get there?

Claire Bennett stood up and searched around the house. In the end, she discovered that the maid's bag was still there and hadn't been taken. Looking through it, she found a wallet and a transit card. The maid must have left in too much of a hurry and forgotten it. She would borrow the maid's money for now and pay her back later.

After taking everything she needed, Claire Bennett left the little courtyard.

She didn't have a cell phone with her, so she could only ask people where the station was as she walked. Once she found the station, she got on a bus and left the outskirts for the city.

At the same time, the maid found old Mrs. Sterling and old Mr. Sterling at the market. When the two of them heard that Claire Bennett had already woken up, they stopped shopping and immediately hurried back.

Unexpectedly, Claire Bennett was already nowhere to be seen in the house.

"Where did Claire go? She just woke up. What if something happens now that she's gone?"

"It'll be very easy for something to happen to her if she's by herself!"

The few of them were frantic with worry. Just then, the maid realized her bag was gone. She hesitated, then said, "Ma'am took my bag. Could she have gone to look for the young master?"