Our Love Story: Hard to Guard Against the Sudden Love Strike-Chapter 209 - 207: Weighing the Pros and Cons

Simon Forrester indeed returned to the old mansion early the next day.

At around ten, while Sienna Thornton was busy, she received a call saying that Zane Forrester and his wife had taken an early morning flight back to Franland and couldn’t be seen.

Sienna Thornton secretly felt relieved and advised him to return to the design office early for work and not to be at odds with his parents again.

This episode just passed like that.

In the afternoon, Rochelle Linwood reported that she had already filtered out some problematic contracts and asked Sienna Thornton how to handle them.

They currently only had contract scans copied from the contract group, without official originals and related business attachments.

Sienna Thornton thought about it and decided to discuss with Simon Forrester at home that evening.

When leaving work, she took the contracts Rochelle Linwood had organized and printed home and called Simon Forrester, instructing him not to buy groceries for dinner but to eat casually at the downstairs mall.

The two then agreed to meet directly at the restaurant.

During dinner, Sienna Thornton briefly mentioned the situation to Simon Forrester: "We’ve found that over the past three years, The Forresters have been purchasing raw materials from certain vendors at prices fifteen percent higher than the steel market price during the same period, per ton."

"Fifteen percent?!" Hearing this percentage, Simon Forrester’s tone heightened, "That means, if a ton of steel is priced at three thousand five hundred yuan, The Forresters spent at least five hundred yuan more?"

Sienna Thornton nodded: "Whenever The Forresters need to transfer funds for materials, the procurement department first sends them to the group’s finance for verification, then to the legal department for approval, and finally to the financial director for disbursement. Typically, after these three review processes, such issues shouldn’t occur."

Simon Forrester’s expression turned serious: "Who usually signs for the legal department’s approval?"

"Steven Chapman."

"Alright," Simon Forrester took out his phone, "Give me those contracts later. I’m going to call the president’s office now, convene an urgent board meeting tomorrow morning, and immediately kick this person out of The Forresters."

Sienna Thornton held his hand, shook her head: "These contracts are just the tip of the iceberg, and we don’t have the originals or other attachments. Stirring up the board now is unwise and will alert them."

Simon Forrester put away his phone: "What do you have in mind?"

"My idea is: convince your grandfather to hire a third party for a ’due diligence’ under the guise of equity swap, using this opportunity to comprehensively investigate the situation with The Forresters!"

"Due diligence?" Simon Forrester raised his eyebrows, "But then the internal situation of The Forresters will be known by the third party? You know, my grandfather doesn’t even like to disclose financial reports, which is why The Forresters haven’t gone public yet."

Sienna Thornton smiled: "We can organize the third-party team ourselves. But persuading your grandfather is up to you."

Simon Forrester considered for a while and said straightforwardly: "Okay, I’ll take care of this. I’ll find time to return to the old mansion tomorrow."

-

After dinner, returning home, Sienna Thornton and Simon Forrester didn’t even have time to shower before diving into the study to examine the contracts.

Upon seeing the statistics report, The Forresters had spent tens of billions more on raw material purchases in the past three years. Simon Forrester was so enraged that he wanted to call Bianca Fordham on the spot.

Fortunately, Sienna Thornton calmed him down, comforted him with soothing words, but he was still distressed: "This concerns our family’s and our descendants’ money! Steven Chapman, you old thief, give it back!"

That night, Simon Forrester was so angry that he couldn’t sleep soundly. He even dreamed of scolding Steven Chapman in the middle of the night. The next morning, he skipped breakfast and immediately went to the old mansion.

Sienna Thornton continued with her usual routine of going to work and returning home, but upon seeing Steven Chapman, she suddenly understood why a senior lawyer with many years of experience would willingly accept only twenty thousand a month in salary at The Forresters.

Back then, she felt uneasy about her annual salary being only ten thousand less than Steven Chapman’s. Now, it seems Steven Chapman never cared about the salary The Forresters deposited into his account each month.

She remembered her civil litigation professor at Harvard once saying: People who study law are all pursuing justice as knights.

Yet now, it seems Steven Chapman has forgotten what justice and his original intentions mean.

This includes Thomas Reed, her mentor.

How ironic.

-

Simon Forrester didn’t return home for dinner that night, staying at the old mansion until late.

Sienna Thornton waited for him until her eyelids were heavy, ready to turn off the lights and sleep. Then he came in through the door.

She quickly got out of bed and followed him into the cloakroom: "Did your grandfather agree?"

Simon Forrester took off his suit jacket and hung it up, looking exhausted: "He wants us to first organize a third-party investigation team, then he’ll invite a fourth party to review whether this third party is suitable."

Sienna Thornton nodded: "I understand. Due diligence is not simple; for someone of your grandfather’s generation, it’s a bit hard to accept. This way is fine, we shouldn’t rush now. I’ll get this done tomorrow."

Simon Forrester finished hanging his clothes, walked over, embraced her waist, and kissed her smooth forehead, soft-spoken: "Move carefully, don’t let Steven Chapman know you’re involved in this. I’ll handle it; you can be my strategist behind the scenes."

Sienna Thornton wrapped her arms around him, raised her face, and kissed him: "Are you worried Steven Chapman might harm me?"

"Yes, this matter involves many people, not just Steven Chapman and Bianca Fordham. We don’t know how many more department people are involved. If you reveal yourself, I fear they’ll harm you. If necessary, you might have to find an excuse to resign from The Forresters before the due diligence starts."

"Alright, that’s fine, I have no problem."

Simon Forrester kissed her again, holding her while walking out, saying: "Money is a small matter; your safety is paramount."

"Okay."

Simon Forrester was about to go into the bathroom for a shower.

Sienna Thornton stopped him: "You’ve been exhausted all day, let me run a bath for you."

"Okay."

Sienna Thornton took off her robe, wearing only a nightdress, entered the bathroom, turned on the heater, rinsed the bathtub, and began filling it with water.

After a while, the water was set, and she retrieved some massage balm from the cabinet.

"I’ve filled the bath; come in soon."

"Okay."

Shortly, Simon Forrester entered the bathroom, took off his shirt and trousers, tossed them into the dirty laundry basket, and submerged himself in the bathtub.

During late autumn, body temperature was chilly, and Simon Forrester, having trudged back from outside, felt the comfort of soaking in the warm water and softly sighed.

Sienna Thornton picked up the dirty clothes to toss them into the washing machine, then brought a small stool, sat behind Simon Forrester.

With Simon Forrester leaning back with closed eyes, she applied massage balm to her hands, gently pressing his temples and forehead, asking: "Does it feel good?"

"It feels good."

"Should I press more?"

"Other places need pressing too..."