Our Love Story: Hard to Guard Against the Sudden Love Strike-Chapter 468 - 446: A Father’s Pride and Joy (8 Updates)

One day in early December, Ian Grant started getting busy, doing a thorough cleaning of the house and buying lots of good ingredients at the market.

Sienna Thornton thought it was because Mr. and Mrs. Sutton were coming over, but later heard from Quentin Thorne that it was Quentin’s birthday the next day. He planned to invite some friends over for dinner, so Ian was preparing for her husband’s birthday party as usual.

Since Sienna Thornton had to go on dates with Simon Forrester after work before heading home, Quentin Thorne specifically told her to come home early on his birthday.

She was thinking about what gift to get Quentin Thorne the night before, but couldn’t come up with any good ideas. While driving in the morning, she suddenly realized she had never seen Quentin wear sunglasses, so she took advantage of her lunch break to go to the mall across from her workplace and picked out a pair of sunglasses for him.

.

It was early winter, and it got dark early.

Before six o’clock, the entire old villa area was already enveloped in the embrace of night.

The driveway in front of the Thorne family villa was full of cars with government plates, some of which clearly belonged to people of high rank.

It wasn’t unusual to see government vehicles in this community, but such a scale at the Thorne family’s door was rather rare tonight.

Sienna Thornton got out of the car, pulled her coat closer around herself, and walked through the courtyard into the house. She was still standing in the hallway when she saw Ian busy in the kitchen, Mina Thorne helping with the table setting in the dining room, and Quentin Thorne entertaining guests in the living room.

The not-so-large living room was occupied by several high-ranking officials she had seen on the seven o’clock news, and a few she hadn’t seen before. The guests were sitting comfortably on the sofa, chatting warmly with Quentin Thorne.

They were dressed formally, most of their hair neatly combed, suggesting they had come straight from work after clocking out.

Sienna Thornton took a deep breath.

Even though she considered herself accustomed to grand occasions, she had never encountered so many big shots before. It would be a lie to say she wasn’t nervous.

She changed into slippers and planned to greet Quentin Thorne before heading back to her room. Unexpectedly, as Quentin, who was chatting and having tea with guests, saw her, he immediately waved and smiled, saying, "Annie, come and greet Dad’s friends."

The guest sitting next to him shared a mutual understanding and made room for her.

Sienna Thornton quickly suppressed her nervousness, raised a smile, walked over, and sat beside Quentin Thorne, greeting the guests, "Hello, uncles."

"Hello, hello, young lady!" The guests responded kindly, smiling warmly back at her.

She sat obediently next to Quentin Thorne, who introduced the guests’ positions and workplaces to her one by one. She greeted each guest in turn once more.

She was beautiful, had a sweet voice, and was graceful and polite. Adding to this, she was Quentin Thorne’s long-lost eldest daughter, so the guests took a keen interest in her. The conversation shifted to her, asking about her job and whether she had a boyfriend, with none of the authority or sternness they had when seen on television; it felt more like chatting with one of dad’s good friends.

One guest from the foreign affairs department, upon hearing that she worked in the Treaty and Law Department, suddenly asked Quentin Thorne, "Thornton, is the young lady the one who resolved the anti-dumping case on fasteners at the WTO last month as Director Thorne?"

They finally asked what Quentin Thorne wanted to hear all along.

Quentin Thorne laughed heartily, feigning modesty, "How could it be considered her achievement? It was all due to the collective efforts of the entire Treaty and Law Department!"

By saying this, he was implicitly acknowledging it.

The guests began to seriously take a closer look at the beautiful young lady before them.

"The case mainly targeted non-market economy countries. Not only have we frequently faced anti-dumping investigations, but other non-market economy countries are also in the same situation. The WTO conducts such negotiations daily, but perfect resolutions and victorious negotiations are few and far between!"

"Yes, I heard about that case a few days ago as well. I honestly didn’t expect it to be handled by such a young woman."

"Truly, the younger generations surpass us! We old folks should probably retire, we can’t keep up!"

Quentin Thorne, with one arm around his eldest daughter’s shoulder and holding a teacup in the other, took a sip of hot tea, turned to look at his slightly nervous daughter, and his gaze was filled with affection and pride.

He smiled and said, "I didn’t know anything about this case either; it was only when her mom and I accidentally saw the interview on the news that I called her to ask about it."

Guest C laughed, "I thought you might have given her some pointers on the case!"

Quentin Thorne chuckled, "How could I? I’m really not familiar with WTO rules. If she had asked me, I wouldn’t have been able to give her an adequate answer!"

The guest nodded, looking at Sienna Thornton, without sparing any words of praise, "In that case, young lady, you truly are very capable!"

Guest D also asked, "Thornton, are your daughters both graduates of Braden University? With the young lady handling such a case, she should make it to the honor roll of Braden University alumni, right?"

Although Sienna Thornton had recently gone viral across social networks, the guests present, being busy high-ranking officials, didn’t have the time to browse social media and were unaware of her background, which was understandable.

Every year, such young talents emerge in the country. In reality, it is impossible to pay attention to each one humanly. If it weren’t for them attending an old friend’s birthday party tonight, they probably wouldn’t have noticed Sienna Thornton.

And Braden University was the country’s top institution, with its law school being particularly renowned. Even Quentin Thorne himself was a Braden University Law PhD, so it was logical for the guest to assume Sienna Thornton was from Braden University.

Therefore, neither Quentin Thorne nor Sienna Thornton found it surprising when Guest D asked the question.

Sienna Thornton remained silent while Quentin Thorne proudly stated, "The younger daughter is indeed a Braden University Law School graduate. But the eldest, after two years of graduate studies at Braden University, went to Harvard and earned her PhD. She’s been studying from the age of six, totaling twenty years of education!"

The crowd suddenly realized.

Some highly praised Sienna Thornton’s hard work and diligence, while others mentioned their wayward children and expressed their envy towards Quentin Thorne.

Quentin Thorne tirelessly recounted Sienna Thornton’s distinguished academic and professional achievements, including her graduation as the valedictorian at Harvard Law School, holding attorney licenses in three places, excelling not only in international business law but also in criminal and civil law, founding her own law firm upon returning to the country, and serving as the Chief Legal Officer of Forrester Group. Anything commendable, he mentioned at least once.

He had a great sense of humor, and while recounting his daughter’s proud achievements, he didn’t come across as boastful at all. It felt like a casual chat at a regular friends’ gathering. After talking about his daughter, he asked about his friends’ children, allowing them to praise their own kids once in a while.