The fiery sunset gradually faded, and a few bright stars appeared on the vast sky.
In Brimfield, a typical northern city, the biting wind howls as soon as winter arrives. At this mont, the gale was battering the windows, creating a series of dull thuds, making one shiver unwittingly.
Sienna Thornton sat motionless at her desk, lost in thought. She had maintained this posture for several hours.
It was getting late, and the people at the law firm were preparing to leave work. Rhonda Wagner knocked on the door and ca in, "Lawyer Thornton, it’s past six, aren’t you leaving?"
"Hmm?" Sienna Thornton snapped back to reality, sat up straight, and chanically tidied up the things on her desk, "Okay, I’m leaving too. See you tomorrow!"
Rhonda Wagner saw her looking normal, wished her to drive safely, and left, closing the door.
Once the door closed, Sienna Thornton lowered her head and dazed off for a while again, until she seed to regain her soul and took out her phone, downloading a few photos of Quentin Thorne from the internet.
She texted Simon Forrester, saying she would have dinner at linda Linton’s place tonight. Without waiting for Simon Forrester’s reply, she got into her car and drove straight to linda Linton’s apartnt.
The traffic in the old city area was as congested as ever, and Sienna Thornton, preoccupied with her thoughts, narrowly avoided several rear-end collisions.
At every long red light, she leaned back feebly, pinched her temples, and told herself to hold steady, just two or three more hours to wait, and once linda Linton saw the photos, everything would be clear. At this mont, she must not let this unresolved matter disturb her mind.
.
Sienna Thornton arrived at linda Linton’s place, nearly eight o’clock.
linda Linton, not expecting her, had already had dinner with Jenna Raines and was sitting in the living room watching TV.
Seeing her look unwell and showing up so late, linda Linton thought she had fought with Simon Forrester. She quickly ca up, held her hand, and asked nervously, "Annie, what’s wrong? What happened?"
"I’m fine, Mom, let’s go inside, I have sothing to ask you." Sienna Thornton changed into slippers and went straight to linda Linton’s room.
Jenna Raines, who was watching TV, cast a curious glance.
Once linda Linton entered the room, Sienna Thornton closed the door but didn’t imdiately take out the pictures of Quentin Thorne.
She led linda Linton to sit on the divan chair in the room and hesitated for a long while, lacking the courage to take out her phone.
linda Linton grew anxious and pressed her, "Annie, did you have a fight with Rex?"
Sienna Thornton shook her head, seeing linda Linton about to cry, she had to take out her phone.
The first picture in the phone gallery was a high-definition profile photo of Quentin Thorne from the encyclopedia.
In the profile photo with a sky-blue background, Quentin Thorne was wearing a black suit, a white shirt, and a colorful tie with vintage patterns. He looked at the cara smiling, radiant and with curved eyes.
This is a man, though over fifty, still gracefully charming and handso.
Sienna Thornton handed the phone to linda Linton.
linda Linton looked down at it for a long ti without saying a word, tears dropping onto the phone screen one by one.
Sienna Thornton understood.
The biological father she had never given up searching for had been by her side for over a year.
At this mont, she felt nothing of the joy or turmoil from finding her biological father, only a sense of relief. But once that fleeting relief passed, overwhelming anger surged in!
She kept taking deep breaths to adjust her emotions, preventing herself from losing composure in front of the fragile linda Linton.
linda Linton remained silently weeping, head lowered, staring at that striking photo of Quentin Thorne.
Sienna Thornton drew a few tissues to wipe linda Linton’s tears.
She said nothing, quietly staying with linda Linton.
Compared to Sienna Thornton, who had ntally prepared herself beforehand, the unprepared linda Linton clearly couldn’t accept this fact at once. She continued to shed tears silently, just sitting there looking at Quentin Thorne’s photo, crying.
After an uncertain amount of ti, linda Linton finally asked in a tearful tone, "How is Mr. Thornton now?"
She indeed always mistakenly thought Quentin Thorne’s last na was "Thornton."
It was just because of an accent that caused Sienna Thornton to delay finding this person by several years. If she had known her biological father’s last na was "Thorne" from the start, she might have found him years ago when Sienna had soone looking for him, and she wouldn’t have kept this person and this matter in her heart for so many years.
But Sienna Thornton couldn’t bring herself to bla linda Linton for this; illiteracy wasn’t linda Linton’s fault. No matter what, linda Linton had worked hard to give birth to her back then and did everything to send her outside for education, which shaped who she is today.
But who she is today... seems about to lose everything soon.
She had imagined countless tis the scene of recognizing her biological father, never once like this, at her career’s and reputation’s lowest point.
Sienna Thornton felt a profound bitterness, mustered up her energy, and replied softly, "He’s now the Dean of Court G – an authority in the judicial field. Life should be okay for him."
linda Linton didn’t dare ask more, lowering her head even further.
But Sienna Thornton knew she actually wanted to know everything about Quentin Thorne; after all, he was the man she had longed for thirty years.
Sienna Thornton drew a few more tissues for her, just about to go out and fetch so hot water, when she opened the door and found Jenna Raines standing straight up outside, startled.
Sienna Thornton looked coldly at Jenna Raines and asked, "Were you eavesdropping here?"
Jenna Raines defended, "No, sister, I wanted to ask if you’d like so water."
"If that’s the case, could you please fetch two cups of warm water?"
Hearing this, Jenna Raines quickly went to get water.
When this apartnt was bought, Simon Forrester had it refurbished; all the old kitchen cabinets were knocked out and replaced with the top-notch integrated cabinets. The entire kitchen water system was intelligent; as soon as the faucet turned on, the water was imdiately drinkable.
Jenna Raines quickly returned with two cups of warm water, and Sienna Thornton took them, gave her a stern look, then turned around and closed the door.
linda Linton still gazed at Quentin Thorne’s photo, teary. After drinking the warm water and drying her tears, she finally found the courage to ask, "Does he know about your existence?"
"He might know." Sienna Thornton said, "His only daughter is more than seven months younger than I am, which ans, half a year after he disappeared, he got his current wife pregnant with his current only daughter. This is all I know for now."
Sienna Thornton said no more, and linda Linton didn’t ask further.
The matters of those years, no one could describe them clearly.
But Sienna Thornton was still very angry. Angry that Quentin Thorne not only abandoned linda Linton after she beca pregnant, but also just within half a year, had a child with soone else.
Angrier that he might have known about her existence early on, yet chose not to acknowledge her, instead posing as an industry senior approaching her, conducting various probes and persuasion.
Sienna Thornton instinctively felt that Quentin Thorne either was observing her, assessing if she was worthy of recognition; or he simply never wanted to acknowledge her, afraid that this illegitimate daughter might tarnish the reputation he had painstakingly built over the years!
After all, in the entire judicial and legal circles, all spoke about how the revered Dean Thorne prized his family, loved his wife, and kept himself clean!
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