CHAPTER 154: CHAPTER 153: CHOICES

When Sienna Thornton came out, her expression wasn’t very good.

After sitting down, she gave Simon Forrester a complicated look, then turned to Ronan Grant and said, "Mr. Grant, my friend and I have an urgent matter to discuss, could you please wait here for a moment?"

Simon Forrester immediately grabbed her hand, speaking softly: "What happened?"

She withdrew her hand, her voice slightly heavy: "It’s nothing major, I just have something to say to Maeve."

After speaking, she turned and went back into the room with Maeve.

With the door closed, Maeve asked, "What happened?"

Sienna Thornton’s voice was calm: "That Mr. Grant is a frontman, the person funding the purchase of this guesthouse is Simon Forrester."

Maeve was also taken aback, recalling something, then suddenly realizing, "I knew something was off, it’s impossible to sell for that price with such a fuss."

Sienna Thornton sat down on a bench at the foot of the bed, conflicted: "What should we do now? Should we still sell it?"

Maeve shrugged: "I’m indifferent, it’s up to you." Saying this, she sat down beside Sienna Thornton.

Sienna Thornton turned to look at her, silently thinking for a while, and said, "If we don’t sell, we won’t get the more than twenty million. If we sell, I’ll feel guilty my whole life."

Maeve chuckled, simply saying, "Then let’s not sell it, who cares about that twenty million!"

"But..." Sienna Thornton hesitated.

If we don’t sell, the bank will take her house, and will also seize the land of the guesthouse. If the land is taken, the guesthouse will no longer be there.

Maeve: "If you can only keep either the land of the guesthouse or your house, which would you choose?"

Sienna Thornton didn’t need any thinking, resolutely said: "Definitely the land of the guesthouse! Houses can be bought again, if the land is seized by the bank, who knows what will happen to it..."

Maeve patted her shoulder: "I can barely manage the loan for the land, if your house is taken by the bank, just temporarily move in with me!"

"Alright."

After saying this, Sienna Thornton seemed deflated, her shoulders sagging.

The bank loan for July and August was covered by the over a million that Simon Forrester prepaid for the house, but now the loan for September was approaching and Sienna really didn’t have the capacity to pay.

Maeve might still have some money, but it’s a drop in the bucket.

They thought that finding a buyer for the guesthouse would solve all their problems, who knew it would end up back at square one.

After sitting silently for a while, Maeve asked, "How did you find out that Simon Forrester is the buyer behind it?"

Sienna Thornton showed her a message she had received earlier.

Maeve: "Do you know who sent it?"

Sienna Thornton shook her head: "I don’t recognize this number."

Maeve chuckled: "Looks like someone doesn’t want Simon Forrester spending money on you."

At this moment, a small yet curvaceous figure flashed across Sienna Thornton’s mind.

Could it be her?

*

Sienna Thornton and Maeve walked out together, and after sitting down, Maeve said, "Mr. Grant, sorry, but we’re not selling the guesthouse anymore."

Ronan Grant was taken aback, glancing at Simon Forrester.

The latter also looked at Sienna Thornton: "What happened?"

Sienna Thornton’s voice was low: "Suddenly, I can’t bear to part with it."

Simon Forrester pulled her aside and asked softly, "Then what about the loan?"

Sienna Thornton looked up at him, her expression complex, then looked away: "I’ll sell the house."

Simon Forrester suddenly didn’t know what to say.

She said she couldn’t bear to sell the guesthouse, so how could he force her to sell?

"Alright, then let’s not sell it."

*

On the way back, Sienna Thornton suddenly fell completely silent.

Simon Forrester felt a vague sense of worry, tentatively asking, "Why the sudden change of heart?"

Sienna Thornton looked out of the window: "I didn’t have a feeling for it before, but today when I suddenly came to see it, I realized I really can’t sell it."

As she spoke, her voice changed slightly.

She truly couldn’t bear to part with the guesthouse, and it was true she couldn’t bear to part with the house either.

And how could Simon Forrester bear to part with them, both places were where he and Sienna Thornton fell in love, filled with their sweet memories.

He raised his hand to gently caress the back of her neck, softly comforting her: "Don’t sell the house, I’ll lend you the loan money for now, and you can pay me back when you earn enough later."

Sienna Thornton continued looking out of the window, her face devoid of expression, and she didn’t immediately answer him, then after a moment, she bit her lip and said: "No need, I don’t even know when I can earn a few million to repay you. Moreover, I still owe you for the shares and the house money, how can it make sense to keep borrowing when I still owe you?"

Simon Forrester: "..."

The two of them didn’t speak for the rest of the journey, the atmosphere growing increasingly tense.

Simon Forrester was also feeling somewhat frustrated inside.

He really didn’t like her refusing to communicate like this, and he disliked even more her need to make everything clear and distinct between them.

They returned together to Sienna Thornton’s apartment, he escorted her upstairs, but she wouldn’t let him in, saying she was very tired and needed to rest.

He didn’t insist, watching her enter safely before heading back to his car.

As the car was leaving the community, he saw Maeve’s car pass by.

He immediately turned his car around and intercepted her before she entered the building.

She looked at him, expressionless.

He gritted his teeth, accusing, "Was it you who didn’t want to sell the guesthouse?"

"Why the guesthouse isn’t being sold, ask yourself." With that, Maeve went upstairs.

With her words, Simon Forrester understood.

Sienna Thornton must have found out that he was the buyer.

Once in his car, he immediately called Ronan Grant: "How many people did you tell about me buying the guesthouse?"

"I didn’t tell anyone," Ronan Grant explained innocently, "I didn’t even tell my brother!"

"I’d be a fool to believe you!"

Simon Forrester then checked Ronan Grant’s social media and found he had been at the guesthouse in the morning, posting several photos of the natural lake with the caption: "This fish pond is about to be mine!"

Simon Forrester: "..."

*

As the loan repayment deadline approached, so did the deadline for compensating the plaintiff in the guesthouse case. After Sienna Thornton and Maeve discussed it, they listed the house for sale on major real estate websites that night.

Due to urgency, the house originally worth six million was reduced by a full two hundred thousand and listed at five point eight million.

Soon, by the next evening, someone contacted her, expressing interest in the house and wanting to view it that night.

After dinner, a well-dressed middle-aged couple with a five or six-year-old, foreign-looking little girl came to see the house, seeming like a family.

They said they had other property in the Third Ring and were interested in Sienna Thornton’s house because they wanted their child to attend a nearby elementary school.

Sienna Thornton then remembered that there was indeed an established public elementary school nearby. When she bought the property, she hadn’t thought much, only considering its proximity to Vantage.

A time was soon set for signing the contract.

That night, Sienna Thornton drafted and printed the contract, in triplicate, and also asked Lawyer Yates from Vantage to come as a third-party witness.

Since she still owed the bank over four million in loans, after the contract was signed, she took the buyers to the bank to verify property ownership. The buyers generously paid five million upfront.

Settling the loan, retrieving the property certificate, paying the deed tax, transferring ownership, and settling the compensation at the South Bay Court took a full week.

Once everything was settled, Sienna Thornton suddenly realized it had been several days since Simon Forrester had contacted her.