CHAPTER 92: CHAPTER 91: THIS "PAIN" IS NOT THAT "PAIN

Sitting beside Nina Sinclair, Ada Payne suddenly asked, "How are you finding Lawyer Thornton’s room?"

Sienna Thornton replied politely, "Quite comfortable."

Ada smiled without saying anything.

Nina also asked, in a joking tone, "By the way, why did Lawyer Thornton come along this time? Is it that our company’s legal affairs will be handed over to Lawyer Thornton in the future?..."

Although SY Architectural Design Firm has a legal department, it mainly handles contracts, while litigation and legal disputes are generally handled by external lawyers. Therefore, the legal staff at SY are just regular employees, with a status even lower than the designers. Nina’s question was actually a sarcastic jab at Sienna Thornton’s abilities.

The other designers, understanding the implication in her words, cast enigmatic glances at Sienna. Simon Forrester, who was discussing matters with Harrison Rowe, also paused and coldly looked at Nina.

Harrison, noticing Simon’s displeasure, quickly interrupted, "Jane Sinclair! Stop making wild guesses. Lawyer Thornton is an external lawyer handling international trade disputes, not some junior legal assistant to help you with contracts!"

Seeing Harrison defending Sienna, everyone knowingly smiled, realizing Sienna’s importance. After all, a woman who caught Director Forrester’s eye was not just anyone.

Sienna was not unaware of Nina’s implied meaning, and she even suspected that Nina had a crush on Simon Forrester, which was why she considered Sienna a rival and kept belittling her.

She was too lazy to clarify her professional scope because it wasn’t impactful and showed a lack of confidence. A devastating blow to an enemy is to firmly control what the enemy cares about most.

The atmosphere was eerily silent, with everyone except Simon waiting for Sienna’s reaction.

Sienna picked up a napkin, wiped the corner of her lips, looked up at Nina, and sweetly smiled, "Jane Sinclair, you misunderstood. I’m just here for fun this time. With a leg injury, I was resting at home, but whenever your Director Forrester went on a business trip, I got bored and couldn’t even get a meal. So, to avoid starving, I had to tag along."

This statement was undoubtedly a bombshell, leaving Nina’s face white and blue with rage, while others watched with ambiguous glances. They had initially thought Simon was just pursuing Sienna but hadn’t expected the two were already living together.

Simon silently laughed and poured coconut juice into Sienna’s cup.

Sienna turned her face to look at him, knowing that even though he didn’t show it, he would surely reprimand her. So she got up, saying she needed to go to the bathroom, and he, understanding, followed, leaving together.

Once they left, the designers couldn’t contain their gossip.

Nina sat in silence, her hand clenching into a fist under the table.

Ada pressed Harrison, "What’s that woman’s relationship with the boss?"

Harrison didn’t truly know the current situation between Simon and Sienna, so he stumbled over his words, not daring to say.

Ada pushed further, "What’s her background?"

This time Harrison answered confidently, "A Harvard Law PhD, a third-level lawyer in Vantage’s international department! Impressive, right?"

Ada lifted the corner of her mouth, scoffing, "Is she really a Harvard graduate? Plenty of people flaunt fake degrees nowadays."

Harrison gave her a look like she was foolish, shaking his head, mocking, "Have you been scammed, or have you scammed others? Lawyer Thornton did her graduate studies at Braden University; you can post on the forums there and ask about her background."

Only then did Ada’s disdain on her face disappear; being a graduate student at Braden University made Harvard seem more plausible.

Nina sat silently on the side, her angry gaze fixed in the direction Sienna and Simon had left.

A male designer who hadn’t seen Sienna before joked, "It’s really hard to tell she’s a lawyer; I thought the boss picked up a young model from somewhere."

Harrison also chuckled, "You know the boss well, knowing he likes ’tall girls.’

"What’s so good about tall girls?" Ada wasn’t convinced, retorting, "They’re like lifeless posts, looking boring and dull."

Harrison remembered how, just a month ago, after meeting Simon for the third time, Sienna managed to break her leg in his bathroom, not only making Simon, who had no responsibility, willingly cover all her expenses but also turned the once hardly-at-home Simon into someone who stayed home every day, sent her back to Wrayhaven from afar, and spent hundreds of thousands to bring her back.

The previously extremely frugal Simon, who detested trouble and women, had broken many personal rules this month.

Harrison felt it was all magical.

If Sienna were really boring and dull, could she make Simon behave this way?

But he dared not say this, or Simon would strip his hide.

Seeing him silent, everyone assumed Sienna was just as Ada said, a dullard. Finally, Nina’s face looked a bit better, feeling Simon would eventually dump Sienna.

...

Elsewhere, Simon accompanied Sienna to the bathroom, waiting outside.

He walked to the window, lighting a cigarette, but didn’t smoke it, just holding it between his fingers. This was his ritual when contemplating a problem.

He had intended to discuss things with Sienna in the evening but didn’t expect Sienna to have moved her room today.

So, he had to change his plans—waiting until work was done, and everyone else returned home without interference, to properly talk with her.

"Click," the restroom door opened, and two silver crutches appeared first.

Through the swirling smoke, the woman’s pale, slender legs suddenly entered Simon’s sight. Cautious and careful, she looked weak and helpless like a little woman.

The thin smoke coupled with the fermenting alcohol within his system added a natural filter over Simon’s eyes.

This evening, Sienna was breathtakingly beautiful, capturing his heart. He swallowed hard, trying to suppress it, and extinguished his cigarette, moving toward her.

Wearing flat flip-flops, Sienna was a head shorter than him, looking up with her dark, bright eyes glistening, reminding him of the trembling little creature he held last night.

"Shall we go?" The little creature softly asked him.

The fire in his chest burned brighter, trying desperately to suppress it. After nodding, in a flash, he pinned the little creature against the wall.

The little creature frowned at him, "What are you doing?"

His eyes twinkled with a faint light, speaking softly, "Once this is over, we..."

"Mr. Forrester," Nina approached gracefully from outside, "the cake has arrived."

Simon released his hold on Sienna’s arms, stood upright, and with a displeased tone, said, "Got it."

Nina looked past his shoulder at Sienna, smiled at her, "Lawyer Thornton, shall we head out together?"

Sienna ignored her, looked up at Simon, "Let’s go out first."

She and Nina walked ahead, with Simon following behind. When they emerged, a simply decorated large cake was placed at the center of the long table, with a candle shaped as the number 32 inserted on top.

Sienna guessed it was Simon’s birthday.

After resuming their seats, she quietly asked Simon, "Is today your birthday?"

"Hm."

Just as she was about to mention not having prepared a gift, everyone started cheering for Simon to make a wish and blow out the candles.

Simon smiled, leaned over, and blew out the candles in one go.

Everyone brought their gifts over, piling them into a small mountain in front of Simon.

Simon frowned, his tone serious, "Anyone who gives me a gift again next year will have their annual leave canceled! Take them back!"

Everyone burst into laughter.

Harrison distributed the gift boxes one by one, then returned them to their original owners.

Afterwards, it was time to cut and eat the cake. Sienna liked sweets; not only did she finish her own slice, but she also ate Simon’s slice too.

"Lawyer Thornton, aren’t you afraid of gaining weight eating two big slices of cake so late?" Ada laughed across from her.

Sienna glanced at the arms and waistline clearly lacking in slenderness but still wearing tight clothes to appear slim of Nina and Ada, took another bite of the cream, and lightly laughed, "Someone said I have too little meat, my bones poked him painfully, suggested I gain some weight."

Simon, in the midst of drinking water, paused his movements, recalling how he had indeed told her the previous night that she was too skinny, holding her was painful.

He sighed with a wry smile, leaning in to whisper in her ear, "That kind of ’pain’ is different..."

"But it still is ’pain,’" Sienna also smiled, looking up at him, and changed the topic, "Sorry for not knowing today is your birthday; I’ll compensate tomorrow. What do you want?"

Simon didn’t answer, his eyes deep as if they held a universe lingered on her lips where a bit of white cream sat for a long pause before suddenly leaning forward and kissing away the bothersome cream...