Chapter 611: It Was Claire Sherwood Who Replaced Ivy Sherwood Back Then

Jason Summers had stationed his men on the other end of the surveillance cameras, cutting off the feed just in time before Quentin Blackwood could make his next move.

When Claire Sherwood threw her arms around him, Quentin’s face immediately darkened. His expression was cold and merciless.

Frowning, he tried to shove her away but failed. A second later, he simply pulled out a gun and pressed the muzzle directly against Claire’s forehead.

"Let go!" the man demanded, his voice brimming with displeasure.

Being touched by Claire made him want to discard his clothes on the spot. He felt as if he had been contaminated by a deadly virus.

Sensing the imminent danger, Claire froze. She immediately released her grip, not daring to touch him anymore.

A deal was a deal, but Claire had no intention of sacrificing her own life to help Jason Summers. In Jason’s plan, he had withdrawn all his subordinates so she could put on this act. If Quentin actually wanted to kill her, she wouldn’t even have a chance to dodge.

Claire’s face turned deathly pale. "Quentin, please calm down. I know you’re here to save me. I was just too excited. I thought I was going to die. Quentin, I’m genuinely so happy to see you."

Quentin stared at the woman before him with cold indifference. Claire’s expression was rich with emotion—filled with fear, yet screaming of calculation.

"I came here today to ask you something."

Quentin sat down casually, his imposing posture causing Claire’s heart to tremble violently. She wondered what Quentin wanted to ask.

"Go ahead..."

"Do you know the consequences of deceiving me? Personally, I don’t like ending a person’s life straight away. I prefer to torture them, watching them slowly wallow in regret."

Claire’s face drained of color. She wondered what he meant by that.

"Have you heard of Joy Sheridan?"

Claire had certainly heard of the renowned Sheridan Group. For some unknown reason, the enterprise had vanished suddenly, shortly after its executive died.

Quentin continued, "She tried to plot against me before. Now she’s gone mad, trapped in the place she fears the most."

Claire shuddered, her mind instantly flashing to Thea Sherwood. Thea was acting like a lunatic now, locked up in the villa, looking utterly pathetic.

"I will only give you one chance. Answer me—were you the one who delivered food to me back then? You’d better think carefully before you speak."

Claire took a step back, her eyes brimming with terror. "Quentin, why are you suddenly asking this? If not me, who else could it be?"

"Think carefully. Is this your answer?" Quentin’s gaze was frigid; his stare was downright terrifying.

"I..." Claire was unsure of his underlying meaning. Did Quentin know something and was deliberately trying to trick her? However, the pitch-black muzzle of the gun was incredibly intimidating—a weapon that could take her life in an instant.

"Quentin, did Ivy tell you something?" Claire asked tentatively.

"She didn’t tell me anything," Quentin replied. "She doesn’t know about this."

Hearing this, Claire breathed a sigh of relief. She had assumed Ivy had said something to tip Quentin off. If Ivy was still in the dark and hadn’t said a word, then Quentin couldn’t possibly know anything.

Claire suddenly regained much of her composure. "Quentin, I have your Jade Pendant. Doesn’t that prove everything? Back then, I was the one who cooked and delivered meals to you every day. Perhaps it’s destiny, meant to bind us together. If I hadn’t spent all these years abroad, maybe we could have developed a deeper connection.

"I know you’re very happy with Ivy now, and I don’t mean anything by it. I just think that if I had met you earlier—if I hadn’t gone abroad—would everything be different?"

Claire feigned deep affection. Usually, when she was abroad, men were completely defenseless against such a gaze from her. Yet, Quentin continued to look at her with an impassive stare, leaving Claire feeling completely unmoored.

"You cooked for me every day. Hah." Quentin let out a scoff before continuing, "Then what did you make for me when we were kids?"

Claire’s heart skipped a nervous beat. "It’s been too long, I’ve forgotten. I truly can’t remember something from that far back."

"Is that so? Speaking of which, I quite miss the taste of those childhood meals. How about Eldest Miss Sherwood cooks one for me again?"

Claire’s fingers were fair and delicate, adorned with a beautiful manicure. She didn’t look like someone who ever stepped foot in a kitchen.

"That... that’s not very convenient, is it? There are no cooking utensils here, nothing at all."

"That’s easy. I’ll have someone bring them over."

Terrified that he would actually make her cook, Claire hurriedly said, "Please don’t go to the trouble. Actually, I haven’t cooked in a long time. I definitely wouldn’t be able to recreate the taste from our childhood."

"Is it that you don’t want to cook, or you don’t know how to cook?"

Quentin’s eyes were genuinely unnerving. Standing before him, Claire felt she had nowhere to hide.

She was left speechless, at a complete loss for words. At that moment, Quentin spoke again, "Or perhaps I should give Ivy a call. Do you think she would know what was in the food you supposedly delivered back then?"

Claire’s pupils dilated in shock. "No... don’t..."

The answer was already glaringly obvious.

Quentin couldn’t fathom where Claire had found the audacity to deceive him. The little girl who had delivered food to him back then wasn’t Claire at all—it was Ivy!

Claire must have stolen Ivy’s identity from back then. Although he didn’t know how Claire had gotten her hands on the Jade Pendant without Ivy knowing, he was absolutely certain that it was Ivy all those years ago.

"Since you don’t remember what you cooked, what about the time? What time of day did you deliver the food?"

"At noon, of course," Claire replied.

Quentin smiled coldly. "The little girl who brought me food came every afternoon."

She had told him it was difficult to sneak out at noon, so she could only secretly slip out a little past one in the afternoon while the servants were asleep.

"I just remembered it wrong. It’s been so many years, who would remember?" Claire, her face pale, scrambled for an excuse.

"Claire Sherwood, even if you did me a favor, it was wiped clean the last time you tricked me into saving your mother. This new debt will be settled separately."

This Claire was truly brazen to deceive him like this. Did she honestly believe he wouldn’t bring this up with Ivy? No wonder she had previously pleaded with him never to mention it to Ivy. He had assumed she simply didn’t want Ivy to know, but in reality, she was terrified that his mentioning it would expose her lies.

"No... listen to me explain! I really did deliver food to you back then."

It was on the day she found the Jade Pendant. She had walked over carrying a lunchbox. But by then, Quentin had already been let go by Silas Blackwood and the others. Quentin was no longer there, leaving behind only the lunchbox containing the Jade Pendant. Otherwise, he would have eaten the food she brought. In her mind, she wasn’t entirely lying.