"In the late 1980s, Wrayhaven was really very poor. The town was okay, but those villages below had hardly any decent schools. At that ti, we just brought so cent, paint, and waterproof cloth from the city, found a place in the village, roughly plastered a cent wall and painted it black, and that was the blackboard."
Quentin Thorne described, gesturing with his hands to indicate a circle a few centiters in diater: "Then we used bamboo this thick to set it up, covered it with waterproof cloth, and that beca a classroom. Back then, I volunteered as a teacher in Linton Village for a total of three years."
Sienna Thornton: "Three years is quite a long ti."
Quentin Thorne: "Yeah, originally, the volunteer teachers were supposed to change every year so the kids could learn more."
At this point, Quentin Thorne stopped talking, a bit embarrassed, and took a sip of soup.
Sienna Thornton laughed, "So you stayed because you fell in love with my mom and didn’t want to leave when the first year was up?"
linda Linton blushed and softly explained, "No, at that ti, we hadn’t..."
Quentin Thorne set down the soup bowl, turned to look at linda Linton, his gaze gentle: "At that ti, I was ardently pursuing your mom, but she wouldn’t agree, afraid that I would abandon her once I returned to the city. I was determined to be with her, so I stayed in Linton Village to teach. A year later, your mom agreed to be with . I was in my third year of university and had decided that once I graduated and got assigned a job and housing, I would bring your mom back to the city and marry her..."
What happened afterward is well known.
Ian Grant took a liking to Quentin Thorne, and the Thorne family parents were influenced by the power of the Grant family, and the two elders secretly arranged the marriage. When Quentin Thorne returned to the city and learned about it, he already had a fiancée chosen by his parents, Ian Grant.
"At first, I hid it from your mom, afraid that it would hurt her. But eventually, I convinced my parents to take to the Grant family to see if I could persuade them to agree to cancel my engagent to Ian Grant..."
At this point, linda Linton’s expression changed, and soon her eyes turned red.
She picked up a handkerchief to wipe her tears, couldn’t eat any more, mumbled sothing, and went back to her room.
Sienna Thornton looked at the equally distressed Quentin Thorne: "You should go in and comfort my mom."
"Okay." With his daughter’s approval, Quentin Thorne quickly put down his chopsticks and went after linda Linton.
After the two left, Simon Forrester whispered, "Why bring up these things and make the elders sad?"
"Do you really think this is sadness?" Sienna Thornton put another piece of braised pork on his plate.
Simon Forrester glanced at the slightly ajar bedroom door, inside he could faintly hear linda Linton’s gentle sobbing and Quentin Thorne’s gentle consoling.
He shook his head, sighed, and turned to ask, "Do you think if your parents had gotten married back then, we would have t?"
Sienna Thornton thought for a mont and giggled, "Probably not. If my parents had married back then, I’d be a child of the Thorne family. By now, I’d either be working in physics like Grandma Forrester or joined the judiciary system like Mina Thorne. In that case, I wouldn’t have beco a lawyer, wouldn’t have delivered a dog to you, nor taken on that bizarre false accusation case, much less started a guesthouse and sought you for design blueprints..."
Saying that, they both grew a bit somber.
Thinking that if Sienna Thornton had originally been a Thorne, by now, she might have ended up with the son-in-law Quentin Thorne favored, Simon Forrester felt a pang of sadness.
He felt sorry for Sienna Thornton’s unfortunate childhood and challenging school years and wished she had grown up in a stable family. But realizing that if her life’s trajectory had been different, their paths might never have crossed, left him conflicted.
With a sense of both lancholy and affection, he put down his chopsticks, pulled Sienna into his embrace, kissed her on the forehead, and gently caressed her arm clad only in a sleeveless shirt, his gaze fixed on the antique clock on the dining room wall, as if his thoughts transcended ti and space.
"Before you, I never had feelings for any girl, so many thought I was gay," he chuckled, "Even if you had been a Thorne from the start, trust that in the countless encounters with strangers in life, we would eventually find each other."
Sienna Thornton nestled into the crook of his neck, her nose gently pressed against the skin of his neck, smiling: "It’s possible that when you t , I might have already been married..."
"Married? Isn’t there still divorce? For you, I have the patience to wait."
"Oh, so this is what they call ’no unmovable wall, just not enough effort to be ’the other woman’?"
Tricia Forrester: "..."
.
Ever since linda Linton moved into the new apartnt, Sienna Thornton, worried she wouldn’t adapt, decided to stay with her.
Simon Forrester wasn’t used to living with elders. Initially, he stayed in his own apartnt, but after a couple of nights, lonely and restless, he packed his things and eagerly moved in with Sienna. He spent the entire sumr there, even giving up his habit of visiting Old Master Forrester once a week for dinner.
Old Master Forrester waited several tis, craning his neck, not seeing his precious grandchild, and started throwing a fit at ho: "To get him to marry the Thorne family’s eldest daughter, I conceded to having just two great-grandchildren, with one taking the Thorne last na, and yet he still ran off to live with her at her family ho! He’s determined to beco a son-in-law who lives with the bride’s family!"
Grandma Forrester took the opportunity to complain that he agreed to the marriage, causing their precious grandson to be divided between the Thorne and Grant families.
On Quentin Thorne’s side, now that both his daughter and son-in-law were at linda’s, he simply went straight there for dinner after work every Friday, stayed to chat with his daughter and linda until after ten before going ho. On weekends, if he was free, he would spend most of the day there bonding with his daughter.
Ian Grant was aware of his whereabouts and initially caused a fuss, mocking him for having two families and threatening to report him, but seeing his indifference and his determination to ignore her every word, she beca disillusioned. Bound by the letters between Mr. Thorne and Old Master Grant, even if unwilling, she had no choice but to endure.
.
Ti flew by, and September arrived.
September to October is the best ti for maple leaf viewing, but at the beginning of September, the maple leaves on Fenmore Hill begin turning from yellow to orange, which is quite beautiful as well.
On the weekend, Simon Forrester borrowed a four-wheel eight-seater electric cart from the villa managent office and took Sienna Thornton, linda Linton, and Quentin Thorne to Fenmore Hill to enjoy the falling leaves.
Sienna brought so Old Belden pastries, rice balls, and sushi made by Auntie King, spread a checkered cloth along the pavilion’s boardwalk, laid out the food, making it feel like a fall picnic.
She wore a black three-quarter sleeve long T-shirt from Adidas, paired with black tight leggings that reached mid-thigh. The T-shirt had a side slit and a cinched waist, accentuating her graceful figure.
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