Chapter 417 - 420: There Is a Problem with the Drinks

Claire Sterling strode in her high heels, her pace urgent as she headed straight for the exclusive VIP lounge at the end of the hallway.

Pushing open the door, she was met with a wave of warm air.

Claire Sterling saw Wren Sutton half-reclining on a soft velvet sofa. Her face was still pale, and her once-clear eyes were now clouded with a hazy, unfocused mist. Her brow was tightly furrowed, and even her breaths were faint and rapid.

Wren Sutton’s whole body felt limp and strengthless. Even lying on the comfortable sofa, the dizziness was intense, and a wave of nausea churned in her stomach.

She was in the grip of a strange, indescribable discomfort.

Mrs. Flynn was sitting by Wren Sutton’s side, gently and meticulously wiping the fine beads of cold sweat from her temples with a warm towel.

Seeing Claire Sterling enter, Mrs. Flynn rose to meet her, shaking her head with a grave expression.

"Wren is still not feeling well. She keeps saying she’s dizzy and has no strength. Looking at her condition, something is very wrong."

Claire Sterling anxiously hurried to the sofa, kneeling to take Wren Sutton’s cold hand.

"Wren, Mom’s here. Don’t be afraid. I will get to the bottom of this for you. I won’t let you suffer this injustice for nothing."

Claire Sterling placed her other hand on Wren Sutton’s forehead. Her temperature was normal; she didn’t have a fever.

But her eyes were unfocused and listless. She was drowsy and lethargic, her eyes half-closed, her lips moving with faint, fragmented whispers.

Claire Sterling’s heart sank. She had a bad feeling.

"Wren, tell Mom, besides feeling dizzy and weak, is there anything else that feels wrong?"

Wren Sutton shook her head weakly and mumbled indistinctly, "My... whole... body... feels awful. It’s torture."

Seeing her in such distress, Mrs. Flynn also furrowed her brow. She exchanged a look with Claire Sterling, the same suspicion flashing in both their eyes.

"I find it strange too," Mrs. Flynn lowered her voice. "Wren didn’t actually drink that much; we all saw that. No matter how strong the red wine is, it shouldn’t have gotten her this drunk, let alone made her so weak and dizzy that her consciousness is fading. This looks more like..."

Halfway through her sentence, both women paused. The same terrible thought occurred to them simultaneously.

"You mean, someone slipped something into Wren’s drink? That she was set up."

Mrs. Flynn nodded, her expression pained. "I believe so."

Claire Sterling’s face turned ashen. The fury she had suppressed earlier surged up again, but she forcibly reined it in, afraid of scaring Wren Sutton.

"Who would be so bold as to scheme against my daughter-in-law?"

At this, Mrs. Flynn immediately began to rapidly review every detail of the day’s 100-day celebration in her mind.

The Flynn Family had meticulously planned this banquet. To ensure nothing went wrong, everyone—from those sourcing the ingredients and the chefs in the kitchen to the on-site servers and security personnel—were all long-time employees of the Flynn Family.

Every step was strictly controlled, with no oversights in any part of the process. There was no possibility of contaminated ingredients or tampering in the kitchen.

"Claire, I can solemnly assure you, all the ingredients at the banquet today were absolutely safe. There wasn’t a single issue. From the chefs to the servers, they’re all our own people. The problem isn’t there."

Claire Sterling believed Mrs. Flynn and didn’t suspect the food.

"If it’s not the ingredients and not the dishes, then it must be..."

She thought for a moment. "The drinks!"

As soon as the words left her mouth, Claire Sterling herself felt it didn’t quite add up.

"But the waiters opened and poured the red wine in front of everyone at the banquet today. We all saw it. And we all drank it too. Why is everyone else fine, and only Wren is sick?"

Mrs. Flynn was puzzled by this as well.

Everyone ate the same food and drank the same wine. No one else had a problem, only Wren Sutton.

So where, exactly, had things gone wrong?

Mrs. Flynn racked her brain. Then, in a flash, she gasped as a key moment suddenly came to mind. Her expression changed in an instant.

She leaned close to Claire Sterling’s ear, her voice carrying a faint, almost imperceptible tension.

"Do you remember, in the middle of the banquet, a woman named Claire Bennett came to the main table to offer a toast? She toasted Wren then, too."

"Claire Bennett?" Claire Sterling repeated the name. It didn’t ring a bell, but she remembered the toast.

"Yes, the daughter of the Bennett Family," Mrs. Flynn said. "When she first arrived, she even exchanged a few words with your Wren. They must know each other, but not well."

With this reminder, Claire Sterling finally recalled Claire Bennett’s fawning expression, and her face instantly darkened.

"Are you saying that woman, Claire Bennett, put something in Wren’s drink?"

"I can’t think of any other explanation."

"In front of everyone, especially right in front of me... How dare she? She must have a death wish," Claire Sterling gritted out.

Wren Sutton heard the entire conversation between the two older women.

When she heard Claire Bennett’s name, she suddenly realized it too. She had indeed started to feel unwell not long after Claire Bennett’s toast.

’This strange weakness, this dizziness and light-headedness... it’s definitely not from being drunk. Someone tampered with my drink.’

’Claire Bennett is the prime suspect.’

Wren Sutton fought through the hazy exhaustion and called out in a weak, hoarse voice, "Mom..."

Hearing her, Claire Sterling immediately leaned down, her expression softening as she wiped the cold fury from her face.

"Wren, what is it? Tell me. Mom’s right here."

Wren Sutton suppressed the discomfort rising in her throat. Looking at Claire Sterling, she spoke slowly and deliberately, her tone certain. "If someone really did drug my drink, then Claire Bennett is definitely the prime suspect."

Mrs. Flynn listened quietly from the side.

A cold glint flashed through Wren Sutton’s eyes. "Does that woman have a grudge against you?"

Wren Sutton didn’t know how to answer this question.

’In theory, she and Claire Bennett had no grudge against each other. They had only met five or six times in total.’

’She also couldn’t understand why Claire Bennett was so hostile toward her. Every time they met, Claire Bennett seemed polite on the surface, but she was always trying to stir up trouble, as if she were desperate to prove something.’

’She hadn’t wanted to alert her target and had planned to investigate Claire Bennett slowly and secretly.’

’But after today, with her personal safety at stake, she couldn’t keep it a secret any longer.’

"Mom, I have no feud or grudge with Claire Bennett."

"But there’s something else I want to tell you. Claire Bennett is the person who pretended to be a distant cousin of the Lancaster family to visit Adrian in the hospital."

Hearing this, Claire Sterling froze as if struck by lightning, overcome with uncontrollable rage.

She never would have imagined that the woman in the security footage was Claire Bennett.

"So she’s the one who was trying to drive a wedge between you and Adrian?"

"Yes. I have a video of her entire visit to Adrian at the hospital. It’s on my phone," Wren Sutton revealed.

Nothing more needed to be said. Both Claire Sterling and Mrs. Flynn understood everything.

Claire Sterling’s expression turned completely glacial as rage surged through her.

’She finally connected all the dots.’

’Posing as a Lancaster cousin to get into the hospital and stir up trouble. Proactively offering a toast at the celebration. Wren Sutton feeling sick right after the toast. And then being immediately cornered, slandered, and publicly humiliated.’

’From beginning to end, this was an elaborately planned trap.’

"So that’s Claire Bennett for you," Claire Sterling’s tone was bone-chillingly cold. "A flawless disguise, but so malicious underneath. She’s got some nerve."

After speaking, she reached out and took Wren Sutton’s hand, her tone immediately softening, filled with heartache and guilt.

"You silly girl, why didn’t you tell me sooner? If I had known Claire Bennett had ulterior motives, I would have never let her get anywhere near you, let alone allowed you to drink a toast with her."

Just as Claire Sterling finished speaking, the door to the VIP lounge was pushed open.