CHAPTER 148: CHAPTER 147: EX-LOVER (3 UPDATES)

The next day, Sienna Thornton got up fairly early, but Simon Forrester was even earlier. Before eight o’clock, he had already gone for a run and bought breakfast on the way back.

He was now standing in front of the wardrobe, freshly showered and looking for clothes.

Sienna lay in bed watching him, quietly calculating that they had been dating for two months. If things continued to go well for a few more months, she could take the next step.

The thought of taking a bite out of Tristan Thornton made her feel a vague sense of excitement.

Simon pulled out a white shirt, stood in front of the dressing mirror, and elegantly put it on, his deep-set eyes fixed intently on her reflection in the mirror. "I’m going to Vantage with you today," he said.

Sienna immediately sat up. "Why are you going to Vantage?"

He fastened his exquisite blue diamond cufflinks and replied, "You’re leaving your job. You must have a lot to take with you. I’ll help transport it back."

Sienna no longer had a car. The mini she had was taken back by Vantage when the contract ended.

"Sure, but I might need to hand over some things to the new lawyer, which could take some time. It’s not great for you to wait for me all day. I’ll call you when I’m done."

"Alright."

Simon finished buttoning his shirt, tucked the hem into his pants, fastened the waistband and zipped up, then buckled the belt Sienna had given him. Only then did he turn around to look at her sitting on the bed. "Then you need to get up and wash up. I’ll drop you off before I head to work."

"Okay, I was planning to leave with you anyway." Sienna jumped out of bed and went to the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face.

Simon went out for breakfast, sipping milk and eating toast, while reading the news on his tablet, maintaining an elegant demeanor.

Meanwhile, Sienna had to wash, do her makeup, get dressed, and eat breakfast within half an hour—rushing as if she were going into battle, and still had a piece of toast in her mouth as she left.

Simon thought to himself, not living together meant he didn’t really know how the outwardly graceful her indeed led such a rough and down-to-earth life.

Yet somehow, this real version of her was quite endearing.

The car was parked next to the basketball court in the neighborhood.

It was late August at that time, and the neighborhood kids were still on summer vacation. They got up early to play basketball every day, their youthful bodies leaping on the court, their faces beaming with unrestrained sunshine-filled smiles.

Sienna watched them for a few more moments. When she sat in the passenger seat, she noticed that someone’s face had darkened.

She chuckled, buckled her seatbelt, and didn’t ask him why.

The car drove out of the neighborhood and joined the morning rush hour traffic.

The traffic in Brimfield is notoriously bad during rush hour. Though Vantage is only a few kilometers from Sienna’s home in the old town district, the traffic and red lights could easily extend the drive to half an hour.

Simon furrowed his brow, waiting silently.

Sienna took out a Kindle from her bag and flipped to the page she was reading yesterday.

After reading a few pages, she suddenly heard Simon say, "When you’re done today, let’s go order a car."

Without raising her head, Sienna asked, "What car?"

"Didn’t your previous company car get taken back?"

"Yes," she said, scrolling through the Kindle as she thought aloud, "Let’s go order one."

The light turned green, Simon released the parking brake, turned the steering wheel half a circle, made a left turn, then drove a bit before asking, "Still a BMW?"

"No need, just a regular car for commuting." She looked around the interior of the car. "I’ve ridden in your car a lot; it’s quite nice. Why don’t you order a VOLVO for me?"

"Then order the same as mine, a white one."

"How much does your car cost?" she asked as she opened her phone to a car selection app.

"...I forgot."

It wasn’t that he forgot, but he worried Sienna might hesitate if she knew the price.

Without saying much else, she fiddled with her phone for a while, selected a compact model priced at around 200,000. She explained that traffic jams in Brimfield were common, so a hatchback would do.

With their business concluded, they arrived at Vantage. The car stopped at the entrance.

Sienna and Simon said their goodbyes. Just as she was about to leave the car, he held her hand.

She turned, and his hand gently cupped the back of her neck, drawing their bodies closer; he leaned in and kissed her cheek.

She playfully pushed him away. "Alright, I’m going up. I’ll call you later."

She opened the car door and got out. After walking a few steps, she glanced back to see Simon still sitting in the car watching her. She smiled and waved at him.

Inside the elevator, she looked at her reflection on the elevator wall, her face slightly uneasy.

The mistake with the homestay case wasn’t hers, but she still lost the case—a case involving her own family.

This case shattered the image she had built in the legal industry over two years.

She was no longer the Sienna Thornton with a one hundred percent success rate, nor the Sienna Thornton with a pristine background and an inspirational journey;

Although Paige Pemberton’s new testimony was dismissed by the court, rumors still spread, portraying her as greedy and devoid of morality and conscience.

While she hadn’t become a pariah, she guessed people in the legal profession viewed her with disdain.

With a "ding," the elevator arrived at the floor where Vantage was located.

Sienna took a deep breath, straightened her back, and walked out gracefully.

Receptionist: "Lawyer Thornton, what brings you here today?"

She smiled and greeted: "Came to handle the handover." With that, she walked straight inside.

Inside the foreign affairs department, everything was the same as it was two months ago, with constant phone rings and footsteps. Lawyer Chandler was standing at Rochelle Linwood’s desk, waving his hands and presumably exaggerating something.

Sienna curled her lips into a bright smile, walked over, and said, "Good morning, Lawyer Chandler!"

Hearing her, Lawyer Chandler turned his head, giving a smirk that didn’t reach his eyes, and said, "Oh, is that Lawyer Thornton! You’re just in time; we were just talking about you!"

Sienna dragged out an "Oh," still smiling. "What are you saying about me?"

"Saying you left without even doing a handover? Don’t you have any professional ethics? The new person has been here for two months, and because you didn’t do a timely handover, do you know how many things have been delayed?"

People say that once a person leaves, the tea cools down. Sienna hadn’t expected it to cool this much.

She gritted her teeth inwardly but outwardly feigned surprise, widening her eyes as she put on a convincing portrayal of innocence:

"I thought that Vantage’s rule was that if there wasn’t someone from before to lead a new hire, the deputy manager would step in? Besides, in early June, when you took over my major clients, I asked you in front of all the foreign department colleagues if you needed me to do a handover. You said it wasn’t necessary, that you knew my cases inside out!"

Lawyer Chandler was left speechless, glaring at her with his beady eyes for a while before shouting, "Who are you blaming?! Huh? You went off to privately deal with a sideline business, got into trouble, and ended up in jail, and didn’t have time for a handover. Who’s to blame for that?!"