Simon Forrester was standing on a chair, attaching a banner to the balcony door, and he glanced down at Sienna Thornton with a smile: "Hmm, the wine we bought when we went to Veridia has arrived. I asked Harrison Rowe to send a few cases of high-proof Château Latour, so of the cigars I don’t smoke from the old house’s warehouse, and cigars I don’t smoke myself over. After all, if they’re left there, they’ll just go bad, so I figured I might as well let your stepfather take them to give to the people back ho."
"And what about the red envelope? How much did you give?"
Simon hesitated for a mont: "...I wrapped 100,000 yuan."
Sienna exploded: "What are you doing? Why are you giving him money?! Are you trying to make angry?!"
She was in a state of agitation, pacing back and forth on the balcony, trembling with rage: "You know how he treated my mom and before! Why are you still giving him money? Wasn’t the 800,000 yuan I gave them before enough?!"
Seeing her emotional instability, Simon quickly jumped off the chair, holding her arms to make her sit down: "Listen to !"
Sienna glared at him, her eyes red with anger.
"To us, 100,000 yuan isn’t much, but 100,000 yuan can buy him being kind to your mom, so it’s worth it! In the past, your mom always suffered because you couldn’t do anything. Now that we can, spending so money to buy him being nice to her is nothing. Her health is so poor now, and if he gives her a hard ti again, what will she do?"
"But this way, he’ll think we’re being filial to him! Why should we?! He was so horrible to before..."
Sienna’s greatest vulnerability and the thing that most easily sent her emotions into a spiral tended to be family matters. Everyone has a weakness, and for her, it’s family.
Simon held her arms, squatted down to et her eyes, gently persuading her: "How he wants to think is his business, not ours. If he can be good to your mom, I’d give him 100,000 a month. For soone like him, if a little money can settle and ta him, why bother confronting him head-on? I see you every ti arguing with him, getting so mad you’re shaking all over. You should know that getting angry causes bad cells in the body to start dividing, and you’ll get sick!"
Sienna hung her head, her hands clenched into fists, seemingly still battling inside.
Simon smiled, leaned in, embraced her, gently patting her back, soothing her: "Alright, don’t be so stubborn. Today’s the last day of the old year. Fortunately, we’ve handled everything. So let’s leave all the unhappiness today, and after today, it’s a new beginning, okay?"
The person in his arms nodded after a while, humming a soft "okay".
.
On the afternoon of the first day of the lunar year, Sienna took Simon to et up with a few high school classmates to visit so of their teachers. In the evening, there was a class reunion at the Z City Hotel.
Sienna was a science major in high school, and half of her classmates were abroad, while the other half was engaged in advanced research in major cities. None were working in law in Z City. However, so well-connected classmates promised to help Sienna find a suitable job. One of them, Joy Jefferson, who had just returned from Volkland, earnestly invited Sienna to join the legal departnt of the company she worked for.
At the ti, Joy happened to be sitting with Sienna at the sa table and imdiately handed Simon and Sienna her business card. Simon noticed the company na and was surprised: "Is your CEO nad Idris Thornton?"
Joy was taken aback: "You know our CEO?"
"...We went to the sa middle school."
"Ha?" Sienna marveled, "What a small world!"
Simon discreetly pocketed the business card without saying anything more, picking a cherry from the fruit plate and offering it to Sienna’s lips: "Have so fruit."
.
On the way back, Simon drove, and Sienna, who had been drinking, was slumped dizzily in the passenger seat.
"Even if you can’t find another job, don’t consider working for that female classmate’s company," Simon instructed.
"Hmm?" Sienna’s response was delayed, "Why?"
"Their CEO is purely profit-driven. It’s best not to deal with such people."
"Ah haha~" Sienna laughed dryly, "I’m quite interested in their company, though. I heard it’s a Fortune 500 company specializing in aerospace and electrical components."
Simon was just about to explain how the managent approach of the Z City branch differed completely from the US-based headquarters, but Sienna had already dozed off in the gentle rocking of the drive.
.
Early on the second day of the lunar year, Sienna and Simon set off from Z City to the Forrester Family’s old house in Brimfield for the New Year greetings.
They arrived at the old house around noon, where a white Maybach and a convertible Bentley were parked outside.
Sienna recognized the Bentley as Thomas Reed’s car and said, "Partner Reed is here too?"
Simon drove into the yard: "Today’s the second day, a day for visiting the wife’s family."
This reminded Sienna of encountering Jane Jefferson here on the second day last year, making her blurt out: "I wonder if Jane will show up today?"
"We’ll see soon," Simon said, getting out of the car, opening the door for Sienna, and then took her hand to get the gifts from the trunk.
Hand in hand, they entered the inner courtyard, and from afar, they could see Bianca Fordham’s family sitting in the living room.
However, next to Thomas was a new slender figure.
It wasn’t Jane Jefferson.
Sienna silently thought, Thomas changes partners really quickly.
"Thornton’s here?" Sylvia Langley, sitting across from the Forrester family, was the first to spot Sienna, her face breaking into a smile. She quickly walked over, "Happy New Year, my beautiful daughter-in-law!"
Sienna: "Happy New Year, Auntie."
Sylvia approached for a cheek-to-cheek greeting, holding Sienna’s hand, and led her to the living room, sitting beside Zane Forrester, with Sienna naturally taking the seat next to her.
Once Simon also sat next to Sienna, they both looked to Old Master Forrester: "Grandpa, Happy New Year."
Old Master Forrester chuckled happily, digging into his coat pocket for sothing: "Jules, Thornton, Happy New Year."
Sienna turned slightly to wish Zane a Happy New Year, then looked at Bianca Fordham and her husband, offering them New Year’s greetings one by one, finally turning to Thomas and his female companion.
When she clearly saw the woman sitting next to Thomas, Sienna sharply inhaled, eyes widened with surprise.
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