CHAPTER 157: CHAPTER 156: GENDER EQUALITY (SECOND UPDATE)

"Break up? You say it’s over, just like that?" Simon Forrester chuckled, his gaze cool as he looked at her.

That look pierced her, reminding her of the time they argued over the DK case, and he looked at her the same way.

That gaze meant he was very disappointed in her, but he didn’t want to let her go so easily.

She withdrew her gaze, looking elsewhere, forcing herself not to care about the emotions in his eyes.

For her, emotions are black or white—either you love or you don’t. Not like now, where you don’t love anymore but won’t let go due to other desires, torturing each other.

Suppressing the discontent in her heart, after a moment of calm, she pretended to be nonchalant, "Anyway, you don’t like me, so let’s just break up. If you feel like me mentioning it first makes you lose face, then let’s just say you were the one to say it."

As she spoke, she didn’t dare to look at him at all, her eyes fixed straight on the windshield outside.

Yet out of the corner of her eye, she couldn’t help but pay attention to his every move.

At that moment, the automatic lights in the car had already gone out, only occasionally an electric scooter outside passed by, with occasional beams of light shining in, casting shifting shadows on Simon Forrester’s face.

He smiled faintly, sarcastically, "So I don’t like you? Are you numb to perception, or do you want more?"

She was provoked by his "do you want more," jumping up instantly, sharply saying, "What do you mean by ’do you want more’? What kind of person do you think I am?"

"Don’t you know what kind of person I think you are?"

"Know what? Know that you secretly made people buy my inn? Know that you take me for a fool to deceive me? Know that you gave me the silent treatment for half a month for no reason?"

Simon Forrester looked at her quietly, silent for a long while, his attitude softening, "I planned to tell you about buying the inn after some time, never intended to keep it from you forever."

He wasn’t too surprised that she brought up the inn at this time. On the way over, he had anticipated that, given her temper, she would surely bring this up to confront him, so he was prepared.

Seeing her biting her lip in silence, he further explained, "I knew long ago that you were having financial issues, wanted to weather through the tough times with you, but anticipated you wouldn’t want to accept my financial assistance, so I thought by taking over the inn, I could help you resolve the loan issue."

Sienna Thornton’s fingers twisted together tightly, her eyes red-rimmed, her tone completely altered:

"Why do you think I can’t handle it myself? Why every time I run into a problem, you want to solve it with your money? I know you’re very wealthy, tossing out tens of millions without blinking! But have you thought that your kind help in this relationship, how am I supposed to conduct myself in the future?"

Simon Forrester remained silent, quietly watching her.

She poured out all her dissatisfaction of the past half month: "I already feel awful owing you hundreds of thousands, and now you want me to owe you tens of millions! Do you want me to live all my life in the shadow of being indebted to you, the creditor of my debt? Whenever we have conflicts, I’ll think, I owe you tens of millions, you’ve done such great favors for me before, I can’t lose my temper, I must go along with you! Do you know what kind of pressure that is?"

Simon Forrester: "..."

Sienna Thornton sniffed, "I want to be an independent person, to interact with you with an independent character, not to become a parasite accustomed to depending on you, always having you ready to clean up my mess!"

Simon Forrester looked at her with a complex expression, asking, "The things you’re saying, can I interpret them as ’gender equality’?"

Sienna Thornton affirmed, "Exactly gender equality!"

Simon Forrester replied with an "Oh," then lightly asked, "Got it, from now on I’ll keep those words in mind. So, are we done arguing for today? All settled?"

"Everything’s clear," Sienna Thornton said as she turned and went to unlock the car door, "Drive, I want to get out! We’re broken up! I don’t want to stay in your car!"

Simon Forrester: "We can break up, give me a reason, if I accept it, we’ll break up."

Sienna Thornton didn’t turn to look at him, unaware of his expression at the moment, also not knowing what reason he wanted, the only reason she could think of was—

"We’re not compatible, and I’ve already decided to leave Brimfield, we can’t continue, let’s just break up."

Simon Forrester was silent for a long time before asking, "Where are you going?"

"None of your business!"

Simon Forrester: "What if I say I love you, can I make it my business?"

Sienna Thornton was shocked.

Her body stiffened for a moment, her limbs felt weak, and that feeling of being on cloud nine came over her again.

However, she didn’t turn back, as if resolved, shaking her head, "No!"

Saying this, she went to unlock the car door again, but it still wouldn’t open.

Furiously, she turned, and at the same time, Simon Forrester stretched his arm out, pulling her into his embrace.

He lowered his head, kissing her hair, sighing, "Can you save me some trouble?"

She struggled, protesting, "You don’t like me! Don’t lie to yourself!"

Simon Forrester too was out of patience from her antics, countering, "Go ahead and tell me, how do I not like you?"

"Not contacting me for half a month, is that what you call liking?"

"Didn’t you also not contact me?"

Sienna Thornton pushed him away, breaking free from his embrace, glaring at him with resentment, "You’re the man, can’t you be a bit more proactive?"

"Weren’t you just emphasizing the benefits of gender equality to me earlier? Why now must the man be the one to take the initiative?"

Sienna Thornton: "..." Dumbfounded, she was pulled back into Simon Forrester’s embrace.

He looked down at her, "Done talking? Is it my turn to speak now?"

She didn’t make a sound.

"Do you want to know why I didn’t contact you for half a month?"

The head in his embrace nodded.

Simon Forrester chuckled, that smile showing defeat.

"I found out long ago that you’re not invested in me, it’s always been me reaching out to you, but I thought that was because I liked you more, plus you were really going through things at the time, so I didn’t mind. Until you seemed keen to send me home, I realized something was wrong. And when the inn sale fell through, you discussed it first with Maeve; when the funding fell short, you strategized with her; even when selling the house, all these significant events in an everyday person’s life, you discussed with Maeve, not once with me, your boyfriend. In those moments, I felt lost, not knowing what I meant to you, what my role was. So I intentionally went cold on you, to see if you’d seek me out, and the result... well. While you believed you were enduring my cold shoulder, you were, in turn, giving me the same treatment."

Sienna Thornton was speechless, completely at a loss for words.

She hadn’t realized that seemingly open-minded Simon Forrester noted so many minor details.

There were many things she didn’t even find inappropriate, but hearing him say it, guilt welled up within her, frowning, "It’s not that I’m not invested in you, it’s just that I haven’t been in a relationship before, I didn’t know what the interaction frequency between a man and a woman should be like. Initially, you approached me first, and gradually I got used to your initiative. I’m sorry."

Simon Forrester was initially still angry, but hearing her say this, the discontent in his heart vanished completely.

But he remained silent, curious to see how introspective she could be.