Our Love Story: Hard to Guard Against the Sudden Love Strike-Chapter 177 - 175: Favoritism

After watching the military parade, Old Master Forrester, supported by Simon Forrester, moved with Matriarch Forrester, Thomas Reed, and his family to the dining room for a meal.

During the meal, Bianca Fordham persistently tried to persuade Old Master Forrester to agree to merge the group’s legal affairs with Vantage. Frustrated, Old Master Forrester shouted, "There’s no need to talk about this anymore! Besides, Jules has already found someone. You want him to break his promise now, how is he going to survive in the business world in the future?"

Upon hearing this, Thomas Reed and his family looked toward Simon Forrester.

Simon Forrester continued eating, occasionally serving Old Master Forrester some food. Old Master Forrester was glaring at Bianca Fordham, but when he saw his grandson serving him, his anger turned to joy.

Bianca Fordham: "Oh, so Jules found someone? Who is it?"

Simon Forrester smiled, "Yes, I found a lawyer who came back from the United States, very capable, and specializes in handling Zenith Tower disputes."

He stopped at that.

Bianca Fordham pursued, "The legal community in the United States, Leo is quite familiar with too, who exactly is it? Tell me, maybe it’s someone Leo knows."

Simon Forrester, who was smiling, suddenly put down his chopsticks, the smile on his face faded slightly, picked up a napkin to wipe his mouth, and seemed disinclined to eat.

Old Master Forrester quickly showed concern, "Hey, I say, are you not eating?"

Simon Forrester glanced at Bianca Fordham, then turned to Old Master Forrester and said, "Grandpa, you taught us from a young age not to talk during meals or bedtime. If Aunt wants to talk to me, naturally, I have to put down my chopsticks."

Old Master Forrester then glared at Bianca Fordham. Before he could say anything, Simon Forrester lightly added, "Besides, why does Aunt keep asking who I found? What’s the purpose?"

With those words, even Thomas Reed pressed Bianca Fordham’s hand under the table, signaling her to stop talking.

Bianca Fordham, unwilling to give up, glanced at Matriarch Forrester.

Matriarch Forrester, who had been mostly silent, looked at Simon Forrester. Her tone seemed gentle, but her gaze was sharp, "Jules, what position do you mainly want this lawyer to take in the group’s legal department?"

Simon Forrester looked at Matriarch Forrester casually, "I heard that the current deputy vice president of the legal department is a classmate of my cousin?"

Thomas Reed: "Yes."

Simon Forrester: "Then the position of Legal General Manager should go to my person."

Thomas Reed remained expressionless.

Bianca Fordham sneered, "Then Jules, can you tell us what background and ability this person you invited has? Can they really take on such a position?"

Simon Forrester did not respond.

Matriarch Forrester calmly said, "Since that’s the case, on the morning of the eighth, I’ll attend the interview with Bianca and Leo to see if this lawyer can really take on the role of Legal General Manager."

Upon hearing this, Old Master Forrester angrily put down his chopsticks and shouted sternly, "Isn’t it enough? Are you women deliberately trying to upset me? Jules invited a lawyer over, and all of you, the old ones and the young ones, want to see. Are you deliberately trying to embarrass me or Jules? Huh? You have so many opinions, why not let you be the chairman of the group?"

Seeing Old Master Forrester angered, Matriarch Forrester couldn’t say anything more, glanced resentfully at her husband, and patted Bianca Fordham’s hand.

Thomas Reed and his son remained silent throughout.

Regarding Forrester Family business and the Forrester Group matters, they’ve never had a say.

Simon Forrester lost his appetite throughout the meal and got up to smoke in the yard before the meal was over.

He was teasing Old Master Forrester’s parrot, and when a cigarette was handed over. He smirked sarcastically without accepting the cigarette or looking at the person.

"Is the lawyer you invited Sienna?" Thomas Reed asked, lighting a cigarette for himself.

Simon Forrester continued teasing the parrot, too lazy to respond.

Thomas Reed took a deep drag of the cigarette and laughed after exhaling, "You sure you want to drag Sienna into this Forrester whirlpool?"

"Whirlpool?" Simon Forrester chuckled indifferently, "Don’t worry, she’s just bored at home. I asked her to work at the Forrester Group temporarily. Once she’s tired of it, I’ll find another place for her to play... like starting a law firm."

Thomas Reed was suspicious, "Is that really the case?"

Simon Forrester retorted, "Your apprentice, don’t you know her practice direction?"

With that, Thomas Reed said nothing more and left.

After teasing the bird for a while, Simon Forrester returned to the north house living room.

Everyone was sitting in the living room watching TV, with Bianca Fordham and Matriarch Forrester sitting next to each other, Old Master Forrester sitting alone in the main seat, and Thomas Reed and his son on the other side.

Simon Forrester sat in a Ming dynasty circle chair at the back, booking hotel tickets and texting Sienna Thornton.

Sienna Thornton said she was taking Melinda Linton and Jenna Raines to tour The Imperial Palace, and Simon Forrester laughed at her for complaining about the holiday crowds earlier in the morning and now couldn’t wait to get out and squeeze with people.

Sienna Thornton sent a face-covering emoji.

Simon Forrester reminded her to be careful with the crowd and make sure the elderly don’t get lost, and then didn’t chat any further.

Seeing Thomas Reed’s family surrounding the two elders, Simon Forrester found it dull and went back to his old room for a nap.

Waking up in the evening, he thought about accompanying the two elders for dinner and then leaving at half past seven to pick up Sienna Thornton. At the thought of meeting Melinda Linton, he pondered bringing some gifts.

*

After dinner, Simon Forrester took a tour of the storeroom at the old residence and packed some bags of expensive dried goods and supplements, putting them in his trunk to bring them back for Melinda Linton.

Perhaps he was too conspicuous carrying things back and forth in the inner courtyard, and a servant secretly reported to Matriarch Forrester.

Encouraged by Bianca Fordham, when Simon Forrester returned to the north house, Matriarch Forrester asked, "Jules, you’re taking so many gifts from home, who are they for?"

Simon Forrester pretended to look at the north wind blowing outside, feigned being cold, "Isn’t winter coming soon? I always feel a little cold, so I thought I’d take some stuff back to nourish myself."

Matriarch Forrester knew he was kidding her, rolled her eyes in mock anger, unable to do much.

Meanwhile, Old Master Forrester was sincerely worried, coming forward to check Simon Forrester’s pulse and blood pressure, repeatedly saying, "I say, you child, you’ve gotten thinner the more you eat. Is the work in construction too tiring? Then stop doing it early! Come back to Forrester Group and take care of yourself..."

It’s hard to tell if he truly thought Simon Forrester was thin or just wanted to remind Bianca Fordham that everything in Forrester Group and the Forrester Family ultimately belongs to Simon Forrester.

Old Master Forrester was practically Simon Forrester’s greatest supporter. With the old man’s favoritism, Simon Forrester became increasingly bold and pestered Matriarch Forrester to open the safe when he was about to leave.

Matriarch Forrester, a descendant of The Eight Banners, was left with many valuable Qing era jewelry pieces by her ancestors, which she kept in her safe, claiming they would be left for her grandsons’ wives.

However, everyone knew the old lady’s heart was soft, and her beloved daughter, Bianca Fordham, had persuaded her to give away many items long ago.

Simon Forrester’s mother, whose career was in Franland, didn’t care about these antiques and had never yearned for her mother-in-law’s jewelry in the decades since marrying into the Forrester Family.

Simon Forrester used to not have a partner, so it didn’t matter, but now that he was with Sienna Thornton, he wanted to give Matriarch Forrester’s most valuable possessions to Sienna Thornton.