Our Love Story: Hard to Guard Against the Sudden Love Strike-Chapter 451 - 429: Weighing the Balance

Returning to the home she had lived in for more than two years, Sienna Thornton felt her mood lift. Her face, which had looked a bit under the weather while staying in the dormitory, now appeared vibrant again.

She and Simon Forrester had a good rest overnight, and by almost noon the next day, Simon accompanied her to visit Melinda Linton.

Upon entering, Quentin Thorne was busy in the kitchen. Both Simon and Sienna were a bit taken aback, so they greeted him and Sienna called Auntie King into her room.

"When did my dad come? Why is he cooking in the kitchen?"

Auntie King smiled warmly, "Mr. Thorne arrived around eight this morning, bringing two slaughtered chickens, saying they were a gift from a rural friend, home-raised! He wants to personally stew them for Linton!"

"Does he come often?"

"He usually comes over to keep Linton company for meals and chats on weekends," Auntie King explained truthfully.

Last month, Sienna had been so busy, virtually working non-stop, that she hadn’t been back to Melinda Linton’s place for a month. She didn’t even realize that Quentin had started to frequent the place on weekends!

She was a bit worried that if the Grant Family found out, they might cause trouble for Melinda Linton. After pondering for a while, she awkwardly asked, "Has my dad... ever stayed overnight here?"

She felt quite embarrassed asking this question.

Auntie King quickly waved her hands, "No, not at all! He usually leaves around ten when Linton wants to rest!"

Sienna felt relieved and let Auntie King go back to her tasks.

She sat alone on the bench at the foot of the bed, deep in thought, until Simon walked in. Seeing her frowning and clearly distressed, he closed the door and sat down beside her, "What’s wrong?"

Sienna snapped out of her thoughts, hesitated for a moment, then said, "I want to ask you something. Please think and answer from a man’s perspective."

"Well, I can’t really think from a woman’s perspective anyway, given how straightforward I am..."

Seeing him act cheeky again, Sienna playfully punched him in the chest, "No joking around!"

He took the opportunity to grasp her soft hand, kissed it lightly, and smiled, "Okay, okay, go ahead, I’ll answer honestly."

Sienna organized her thoughts, feeling even more embarrassed. Discussing her parents’ matters with someone felt awkward, but considering Simon had been involved from the beginning, and they were soon to marry—making him half a son to her parents—she gritted her teeth.

"It’s just..." She paused, blushing and rubbing her cheek. "I asked Auntie, and it turns out that Thornton now spends almost every weekend here, arriving in the morning and leaving after ten at night. What do you think that means?"

This question puzzled Simon as well.

He took a deep breath, leaned back, propped up on his elbows on the mattress, and furrowed his brow as he pondered for a while, then said, "Thornton is a nice guy, very warm-hearted. Maybe he notices how busy you are and doesn’t want Auntie to feel lonely, so he spends his weekends here when he can. For him, reminiscing about the past in Wrayhaven with Auntie might also be a way to de-stress, especially since he might not have anyone to talk to at home."

After saying that, he gently patted Sienna’s hair, "Don’t overthink it. You know what kind of person Thornton is, right? He wouldn’t do anything wrong, would he?"

Sienna thought it over and agreed.

His consolation made Sienna feel much better, deciding to let it go and not overthink the matter.

A while later, Quentin came to call them for dinner.

With the intense work temporarily paused, and the whole family gathered together, Sienna felt quite good. During the meal, she reported to Quentin about the negotiation process in Valois this time.

She asked Quentin if they could expect a good result by next Wednesday. Quentin praised and acknowledged her efforts, saying the situation seemed optimistic, and that Sienna should prepare for praise from her workplace.

His words lifted her spirits even more. She was about to ask Simon to drive to a nearby mall to buy a bottle of red wine for celebration when Quentin mentioned they already had wine. With that, he familiarly fetched a corkscrew and the wine.

Sienna didn’t remember buying wine herself, and it was unlikely for Melinda or Auntie King to have bought any. The most likely scenario was that Quentin had brought it over.

She quietly observed a few subtle changes in the surroundings.

On the entryway cabinet lay Quentin’s car keys, the TV cabinet held a few hefty hardbound books, and the coffee table displayed an unfamiliar tea set she hadn’t seen before.

It seemed like over the past month, Quentin had moved quite a few things here.

Seeing her expression change slightly, Quentin explained with a smile, "The last time Rex gave me some red wine, I couldn’t finish it, so I brought a few cases here."

The wine Rex had given him were Château Latour’s high-alcohol content wines, which women typically can’t handle much of. Bringing the wine here clearly meant he intended for himself to enjoy it more frequently, claiming not to finish it was just an excuse.

Simon exchanged a glance with Sienna.

They both shared the same thought—Quentin bringing wine here indicated he indeed planned to frequent the place more often...

.

Before bed, Sienna and Simon discussed plans to take a vacation next week, tackle some mundane tasks, and then move to the Thorne Family residence. Moving there early not only had previous considerations but also added a critical reason—to prevent Quentin from visiting Melinda’s place often.

Simon didn’t oppose the idea. He completely understood Sienna’s concerns, having a clear understanding of Ian Grant’s character, and he also felt Quentin’s recent actions bordered on dangerous.

Initially, he resisted Sienna moving into the Thorne Family residence, but now, with things not unfolding as expected, he didn’t want to see Sienna and her mother troubled by the Grant Family, nor did he want Sienna fretting over such trivialities, so after weighing his options thoroughly, he supported Sienna’s decision to move into the Thorne Family residence ahead of schedule.

They stayed at Melinda Linton’s place that night, and the next day, Monday, Sienna went back to work, starting her holiday on Thursday.

Upon arriving at her office, Sienna was immediately summoned by Director-General Linton’s secretary. Walking in the door, she was met with generous praise from Director-General Linton.

Though Director-General Linton hadn’t attended the Valois negotiations personally, he had been monitoring the situation closely. He had come to appreciate Sienna’s impressive performance through meeting notes, as well as hearing praise from the WTO negotiating representative, making him more satisfied with Sienna, remarking repeatedly that he hadn’t misjudged her and she was indeed a rare talent.

Sienna felt a bit embarrassed, always fearing that if the result on Wednesday wasn’t good, Director-General Linton would be disappointed. However, he assured her that the result itself wouldn’t impact his assessment of her performance, as he knew she had done her best!

When she left Director-General Linton’s office, his secretary gave her a thumbs-up and quietly told her that if Director-General Linton was praising her, the outcome wouldn’t be disappointing!

Those few words made Sienna’s initially anxious mood settle quite a bit. Feeling incredibly uplifted, she returned to her office to start preparing for the next case.