Sienna Thornton smiled slightly, not arguing with him, and just said lightly, "There are always so people who need to stand up and do what they can for the country’s trade and regulatory interests, and it just so happens that I am one of them."
Faced with the other’s tricky and superficial question, her response appropriately highlighted her indifference without embarrassing the other party, maintaining the goodwill she wanted to extend to them.
Quentin Thorne looked at his daughter with admiration in his eyes.
The hot pot continued to simr, and lunch continued...
Although the round table was almost full, everyone was very polite. Apart from Sienna Thornton and her cousin, the lawyer, occasionally talking about matters in their circles, and the two elders constantly urging their two grandchildren to eat, there was not much conversation most of the ti.
Quentin Thorne had always held a deep grudge against linda Linton’s family, and the fact that he helped with Henry Linton’s case and accompanied them today was already a great act of kindness, so he remained silent throughout. linda did not dare to say anything to him, and Sienna showed respect for his reaction.
After the al, the group moved to the living room for tea.
Sienna Thornton noticed her cousin, the lawyer, heading to the balcony to smoke and quickly followed.
Quentin Thorne thought she was going to discuss legal matters with him, so he let her go.
Sienna closed the sliding door, and her cousin, who was leaning against the railing, exhaling smoke, turned to look at her and smiled.
She walked over, standing neither too close nor too distant, exchanged a few pleasantries, and suddenly asked, "Since you studied law at Braden University back then, why didn’t you stay and develop in Brimfield?"
He didn’t answer at first, with a cigarette in his mouth, he turned around, his gaze through the white mist in front of him, looking at Quentin Thorne sitting inside, the smile on his face slightly faded.
Sienna wasn’t in a hurry to change the subject and patiently waited.
After a while, he spoke heavily, "My mom always told , since I was young, that Aunt linda had offended so very influential people in Brimfield. They declared that they wanted to destroy our entire family. If I stayed in Brimfield and my identity was discovered one day, I would be thrown in jail just like my uncle."
Sienna was shocked, but in that brief mont, she pieced together the reason why linda was driven away back then.
The influential people in Brimfield were obviously The Grant Family.
More than thirty years ago, after Quentin Thorne and linda’s relationship was exposed, The Grant Family should have sent people to the countryside to threaten and intimidate the Linton Family, including linda’s two sisters-in-law. To protect their husbands and sons, they united in resistance and put pressure on their in-laws. This corroborated linda’s account when she said that when her parents drove her away, they said it was for the sake of the Linton Family and her two brothers, and they had no choice but to send her away.
After sorting everything out, anger swelled within Sienna to the point where she could barely stand, her body trembling uncontrollably, her face flushed with rage, and her eyes burning red, staring intently at Quentin sitting in the living room, sipping tea.
Her lawyer cousin noticed her distress, put out his cigarette, and asked, "Cousin, what’s wrong with you? Are you okay?"
Sienna snapped back to reality, gritting her teeth and shaking her head.
She turned around to gaze at the vast and boundless world in the distance, forcing herself to calm down.
...
The group sat for a short while, without much conversation, no one wanted to stay longer. Shortly after Sienna went back inside from the balcony, Quentin announced it was ti to leave.
Sienna didn’t say much, politely bid farewell to the elderly couple, her uncle, and aunt, ready to return to Brimfield.
The Linton Family escorted them downstairs, and it was then that Sienna rembered the gifts in the trunk, opening it so Henry Linton and his wife could take them upstairs.
Her two cousins, who had co empty-handed, each got in a car, while the elderly couple cried all the way until the car disappeared from sight, and then they dejectedly started walking back.
Sienna watched all this coldly, then turned and got into the driver’s seat.
linda went forward to bid farewell to her parents, held their hands, cried with them for a while, and then took out two big red envelopes from her handbag and handed them to the elderly couple.
Sitting in the car, Quentin Thorne retracted his cold gaze.
Inside the car, father and daughter sat in silence.
Sienna looked at him through the rearview mirror and suddenly asked, "The reason my mom was driven away back then, was it because The Grant Family threatened her family?"
Perhaps not expecting such a question so suddenly, Quentin Thorne was surprised when he raised his eyes, his gaze t hers in the rearview mirror.
He furrowed his brow slightly and instead of answering, he asked, "Who told you that?"
Sienna understood, retracting her gaze and coldly looking ahead, "No one needs to tell , I’ll find out sooner or later."
The expression on her face was very subtle.
Quentin Thorne realized for the first ti that he couldn’t decipher what his daughter was thinking. After a mont, he softened his tone and gently advised, "Annie, Ian Grant is already gone. When she was alive, I punished her, too. Let’s just let the past be?"
At this mont, Sienna was incredibly calm.
She glanced at the rearview mirror again, seeing linda showing no sign of entering the car, she continued, "What about Ian Grant’s father? If I’m not mistaken, he orchestrated everything back then, right? He’s still alive, shouldn’t he give my mother and an explanation?"
"Annie!" Quentin Thorne lowered his voice, trying hard to persuade her, "Ian Grant’s death is the biggest punishnt for him. Now that everything is well for you and your mom, and our family of three can reunite, that should be enough! We shouldn’t stir up trouble and disrupt the happiness we have now!"
Sienna’s eyes reddened as she stared at him intensely.
He suddenly slumped his shoulders, shook his head with a wry smile, "Just consider it your father getting old, becoming more timid with age. At first, I was also determined to go down fighting with The Grant Family, but deep down, I still had so desires, dreaming of the day when I could reunite with you and your mother..."
The conversation ended there abruptly.
linda got in the car.
Sienna retracted her gaze, took a tissue to wipe her eyes, and once her vision was clear, she started the car.
linda, caught up in her emotions, hadn’t noticed the peculiar expressions on her husband and daughter.
...
Sienna returned to her ho on Fenmore Hill, it was already past nine in the evening.
Simon Forrester had bathed their child and put the child to sleep by himself, and was now in the kitchen cooking noodles.
An hour earlier, as she exited the highway, she had texted him, saying she’d be ho around nine-thirty. He tid it just right to prepare her a al.
She gently pushed the door open and was enveloped in warmth.
On the first floor, only the warm yellow light strip was on, with a slightly brighter kitchen light above the counter. The house was heated, and Simon was wearing a white T-shirt and gray cotton pants, his hair clean and glossy from being damp. The pot before him was emitting plus of white steam, indicating the noodles were boiling.
The holy scent of smoke, the essence of family, and the silhouette of her beloved, such mundane yet blissful monts made Sienna suddenly understand why Quentin Thorne chose to let things go.
Compared to bold fighting, this kind of comfort highlighted its preciousness.
Quentin Thorne was old, afraid of battles...
But she was still young, and she must seek justice for herself and linda, to atone for the hardships they suffered as mother and daughter over the past twenty years!
She understood that if this issue wasn’t resolved, she would never be able to respect herself!
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