When Simon Forrester and his wife returned to the old house with their twins, Victor, Zane Forrester and his wife, and the Reed family were all gathered around the elder’s bed.
The family doctor stood by, and at the mont he exchanged a glance with Simon Forrester, he shook his head.
Simon swayed slightly, and Sienna Thornton quickly supported him.
The two of them walked heavily to the elder’s bedside.
The elder’s eyes were half-closed, and upon seeing the twins, he weakly waved them over: "Cherie, Yvie, co to great-grandpa..."
The twins, seeing so many people and the somber atmosphere, were a bit frightened and timidly approached the elder’s bed.
Thomas Reed and Victor naturally made space by the bed.
As the twins stood by the bed and saw the elder’s face, nearly gray, Yvie suddenly started to cry.
"Yvie, don’t cry..." The elder’s voice was almost too soft to hear, "Great-grandpa is going up to play with great-grandma..."
Tears fell from everyone’s eyes.
"Great-grandpa will bless you from above... no matter what difficulties you face... just rember... great-grandpa is watching over you... don’t be afraid..."
After struggling to speak these words, the elder weakly called out, "Annie..."
Sienna Thornton wiped her tears haphazardly, walked to the elder’s bedside, squatted down, and held the elder’s withered, cold hands in hers.
The elder looked at her and weakly smiled.
"The first ti Jules brought you to our ho... I saw you were ant to be..." The elder coughed twice, "The best decision I made in my life was supporting you and Jules back then... in... in... cough cough cough..."
Amidst a fit of intense coughing, silence followed. Old Master Forrester’s hand, which was covering his mouth, slowly fell to the side of the bed and never lifted up again...
He closed his eyes forever.
...
That night, Simon Forrester cried as he and Zeke Reed dressed Old Master Forrester in the burial clothes and shoes that had been prepared years ago.
He asked Sienna Thornton to take Cherie and Yvie ho to rest, saying he would keep vigil with Victor for Old Master Forrester.
Sienna knew he was grieving and had many arrangents to handle, so with red eyes, she told him, "Take care of your health" and took Cherie and Yvie back to Fenmore Hill.
An endless night.
Before dawn the next day, Sienna got up to prepare clothes for Cherie, Yvie, her husband, and eldest son still at the old house, dressed herself in black, and as soon as it was light, returned to the old house with Cherie and Yvie.
All the Forrester relatives who were notified ca, and the old house was packed shoulder to shoulder, compounded by the chanting and ceremonies of those conducting the funeral rites, making it even more chaotic and noisy.
Sienna tasked Victor with watching over the twins, and went to find Simon Forrester with his black suit and white shirt in hand.
Thomas Reed and Zane Forrester were overseeing the funeral arrangents, and she didn’t see Simon anywhere. After searching around, she finally found him in Old Master Forrester’s room, having spent the entire night awake, sitting there quietly.
He had his head down, lost in thought.
Sienna walked in quietly, her voice heavy with emotion, "I brought you clothes, go change."
He ca back to his senses and instinctively wiped his eyes with the back of his hand.
Sienna saw his eyes were swollen and the whites had turned red.
Her heart ached, and she stepped forward to hold his hand, speaking softly, "Go change."
Simon went to change his clothes, and she sat for a while in Old Master Forrester’s room, looking at that once familiar, now gray face, unable to suppress her internal sorrow, tears streaming down her face.
Simon returned after changing and continued his vigil, telling her to go outside to look after the three children.
When she went out, Cherie and Yvie were sitting in the living room, clinging to each other, sobbing, while Sylvia Langley comforted them.
Sienna wiped away the tears from her eyes, took a deep breath, and went towards her children.
...
Old Master Forrester’s funeral was grand, lasting three days and nights, during which Simon Forrester did not sleep as he kept vigil.
After the funeral, he, who had once appeared in his early forties, suddenly looked years older. Sienna, pained by this, forced him to take a week off to rest at ho.
Victor returned to the United States to continue his studies, and the twins went back to school.
The life of the five-mber family continued as usual.
However, after seeing Old Master Forrester off, Simon Forrester remained unsettled for a long ti, often looking sorrowful, spending nights sitting alone on the wooden walkway staring at the stars.
Sienna assud that he was conversing with his grandfather in the sky and chose not to disturb him, giving him space.
After Old Master Forrester’s passing, the old house was left with only Zane Forrester and Sylvia Langley.
Both already in their eighties, they had signed a separation agreent ten years ago, but never finalized any divorce, and ultimately never parted ways. With age ca tolerance, and Sylvia eventually forgave Zane. She moved back into the old house a few years earlier once the twins had grown up.
Another year quickly passed.
That year, Cherie and Yvie, sixteen years old, were in their second year at the best high school in Brimfield. Once noisy and playful, it seed the passing of Old Master Forrester had made them more mature and quiet.
They no longer needed their parents to worry about them academically. Every morning, Simon Forrester drove them to school, and at nine in the evening, after night study sessions, picked them up.
Academic challenges were remotely guided by Kyle, far away in the United States. Simon Forrester and his wife no longer had to correct howork or tutor, finally experiencing the lightness of middle age.
The couple’s work was going smoothly, with no major worries. They spent weekends taking the twins to the old house, enjoying ti alone at Fenmore Hill or going on short trips.
Later, the guesthouse at South Bay was acquired by the Forrester Group’s ultra-luxury hotel division, reopening after refurbishnt. Simon and Sienna visited frequently, escaping the city bustle while reminiscing about the days of their passionate romance.
In 2045, Sienna Thornton was fifty-four, and Simon Forrester was fifty-nine years old.
That year, Cherie enrolled in Braden University’s Business Managent major, and Yvie went to Franland to study her beloved fashion design.
Sylvia Langley, who had actively raised Yvie, accompanied her, claiming to protect her granddaughter from being deceived by bad people in Franland, choosing to live with her there. Zane Forrester, even stickier to his wife as he aged, also moved to Franland to settle.
Victor was still at MIT pursuing his PhD in Physics, long-term settled in the United States.
Fenmore Villa, having been lively for twenty years, returned to its serene state post-children as they left for their studies.
For a long ti after the kids left, Sienna had not adjusted, often waking in the middle of the night to check if their blankets were covered.
Each ti faced with an empty room, she’d realize the kids had left ho.
She’d return to bed, embracing Simon, silently crying—not just out of longing for her children, but also from struggling to adjust to the quiet.
Whenever she cried, no matter how deeply asleep he was, Simon would sense it.
He would tenderly pull her into his care, softly kissing away her tears and patiently comforting her, dreaming with her of the happiness when they’d be surrounded by grandchildren in a few years.
The departure of the children made Sienna even more attached to Simon and more emotional, often cuddling with him while watching TV, and sotis crying in his arms at sad scenes.
Simon would stroke her hair, gently wiping away her tears with a smile, comforting and teasing her: "Even at the brink of being a grandma, you still love to cry; your grandkids will laugh at you."
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