"Obstruction of justice through thods like violence, threats, or bribery to prevent a witness from testifying or instructing others to give false testimony can lead to imprisonnt for up to three years or detention; in severe cases, imprisonnt ranges from three to seven years," Rhonda Wagner said. "For the lawyer surnad Jiang encouraging false testimony in the hostay case, the maximum sentence is three years. With parole and sentence reduction, the actual sentence might just be two years."
The phone was dropped beside her leg, and Sienna Thornton had the criminal code open halfway on her lap, holding a pen. She was taking notes as she asked, "With only two eyewitnesses and no physical evidence, do you think we can convict the lawyer surnad Jiang?"
On the other end of the line, Rhonda Wagner thought for a while before saying, "If we can present evidence that the fifty thousand in cash used to bribe the witness in the hostay case was provided by the lawyer surnad Jiang, then it should not be a problem. But..."
Aurora Buckley, who was also on the conference call, said, "The other side is a lawyer, and from the start, they cautiously used cash transactions. How could they withdraw fifty thousand in cash from their account for us to use as evidence?"
Sienna Thornton put away the pen, her voice sowhat deflated, "I will see the witness tomorrow, maybe they’ll have so clues."
After ending the voice eting, Sienna Thornton shut her phone.
Simon Forrester walked over, handed her a glass of water, and sat down next to her. "I’ll go with you to see the witness tomorrow."
Sienna Thornton gulped down half a glass of water and waved her hand, "I’ll have Rhonda go with . You need to rest at ho because it’s inconvenient for you."
Simon Forrester: "..."
Just because Rhonda is going with her, Simon Forrester even more so wants to go. He didn’t insist verbally but instead asked, "Suppose she is jailed this ti for two years, and after she’s out, she continues to retaliate, then what?"
Sienna Thornton stared at the glass in her hand, lifting her eyebrows and curling her lips in a sneer, "Won’t Partner Reed’s ex-wife also be out after two years?"
Simon Forrester was surprised, "What do you an?"
Sienna Thornton put down the glass, holding the code, stood up, and circled to the bookshelf behind the sofa to insert the code back in.
She turned around, smiling brightly and innocently at Simon Forrester, "After spending three years in prison, getting divorced while in jail, and finding out that the husband she deeply loved had been cheating with a subordinate for years. With Partner Reed’s ex-wife’s character and her family’s power, will Jane Jefferson have the energy to retaliate against by then? Won’t she be too busy hiding?"
Simon Forrester didn’t speak for a mont, and when Sienna Thornton ca over to snuggle in his arms, he sarcastically said, "Thomas Reed sent that woman to Britione, probably fearing that his ex-wife would take adverse action against her when she’s released. In that way, at least he does care."
Sienna Thornton changed her position, lying on his lap, her legs propped up on the sofa armrest, holding up docunts to read, "That’s probably it. They’ve been together for three or four years, there should be feelings involved. But how does Partner Reed manage this? How did both his ex-wife and lover go crazy?"
"You just now realize that Thomas Reed is toxic?" Simon Forrester gazed at her, coldly snorted, "You used to respect him so much, calling him your ntor this and that. Did he make a sound when he first knew Jane Jefferson reported you to the bar association with false accusations? If he had told us earlier, maybe we would have found out about these won a long ti ago."
Sienna Thornton remained silent, and after a while, she mumbled, "I’m quite resentful of him for this, but he did help before, so let’s just let it go."
"You have the ntor-student bond, so you can let it go. But I can’t. From now on, don’t expect to invest another penny in him!"
Simon Forrester puffed out in anger, expecting Sienna Thornton to advise him not to mind these things. Unexpectedly, Sienna Thornton, however, withdrew the smile from her face, "If those investnts yield nothing, best to stop early, don’t invest anymore."
Well, when it cos to money, even ntors don’t count.
Simon Forrester was secretly pleased; Sienna Thornton’s words were like those of a managing wife. Moreover, like him, Sienna Thornton takes financial matters seriously and never pretends to act rich because they aren’t short of money.
Thinking that Simon Forrester was never a generous person, his lifeti of generosity probably all spent on Sienna Thornton and her family.
The first ti he returned ho with Sienna Thornton, at the hospital, when he handed her a debit card with millions of yuan and the password without hesitation and rushed to the village chief’s house to save her, he should have known he already gave her his true heart.
"What are you thinking about?"
A soft voice interrupted his thoughts. Simon Forrester returned to his senses, looking down to see Sienna Thornton lying on his lap, blinking her big eyes at him. Because of the upward angle, her eyes seed larger than usual. The light from the ceiling reflected in her pupils made her eyes look dark and bright.
Simon Forrester’s heart was stirred, and he instinctively leaned down to kiss her when suddenly a hard force against his chest blocked the action. He was wearing a plaster vest and couldn’t bend down.
"What are you thinking about?" she asked again.
He smiled, his hand gently massaging her shoulder and neck, speaking softly, "By then, if I don’t invest in Thomas Reed, he will probably complain to Grandpa that I’m disregarding brotherhood."
Hearing this, Sienna Thornton’s face grew colder. She withdrew her gaze and shifted her focus to the docunts in her hand, "You can invest, but let him bring out the BP (business plan) first. It must at least go through your accountant and lawyer’s screening to ensure it’s sound and worthy of investnt. Then you invest. If Grandpa asks, just say that, but don’t ntion it was who told you."
Simon Forrester laughed and said nothing.
Sienna Thornton was staring at her docunts, but her mouth was still muttering, "Whose money is blown by the wind? Say invest, then invest? It’s all hard-earned money, alright? Look at you, injured your head and spine on the construction site, almost crippled... If Grandpa blas you for this, then I’ll have to bring up your injury at the construction site!..."
She mumbled indignantly for a while until she was tired, yawned, and then got up from the sofa to go to bed with Simon Forrester.
Before sleeping, Simon Forrester thought of what Quentin Thorne had said that afternoon and ntioned it a bit to Sienna Thornton, "Weren’t we planning to register right after New Year’s? Why not postpone it to February?"
Sienna Thornton turned over, nestling into his arms, and asked sleepily, "Why February?"
"Because February 14th is Valentine’s Day, it will be easier to rember the wedding anniversary."
"Next February 14th is a Sunday, the Civil Affairs Bureau isn’t open."
"...Really?"
Simon Forrester went to grab the phone at the bedside to check, but Sienna Thornton pressed down on his body, "No need to check, I have the calendar for the next two years morized in my head."
"...Why do you rember that?"
"For work convenience."
So Simon Forrester didn’t reach for the phone anymore.
Because he and Sienna Thornton had already agreed to register after the New Year, and suddenly wanting to delay it, he was worried that if he couldn’t co up with a good enough reason, Sienna Thornton might feel uneasy.
But he couldn’t tell her it was Quentin Thorne’s idea. It took him a while to co up with a la reason: "I planned on us celebrating our wedding anniversary abroad for a few days each year, but January is always close to the end of the year, so work is usually busy, and there’s a lot at ho to do. It might be inconvenient to find ti to go abroad, so it’s better to register in mid-February. This way, we can extend it to include the Spring Festival holiday, making a two-week long holiday, convenient for celebrating our wedding anniversary abroad every year."
He went on and on, but Sienna Thornton had no response. When he leaned closer to check, she was softly snoring.
Asleep.
Well, he would have to say it again in a few days.
Repeating the words he’d said before, Simon Forrester felt a full discontent, his resentnt towards his father-in-law increasing. But on second thought, considering that next year during the Spring Festival, Sienna Thornton’s mood and environnt might drastically change, he felt a slight worry.
Fortunately, by then, his back injury would have healed, and with him around, no one could bully Sienna Thornton.
Thinking of this, he couldn’t help but awkwardly held tighter the girl snoring in his arms, occasionally kissing her and whispering, "Little Pig... Sugar Little Pig... Little Sugar Pig... Sugar Pig Pig... Pig Pig Sugar..."
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