Our Love Story: Hard to Guard Against the Sudden Love Strike-Chapter 231 - 228: Only Get So Nervous You Can’t Speak in Front of One Person

Chapter 231: Chapter 228: Only Get So Nervous You Can’t Speak in Front of One Person

Sienna Thornton finished her speech and smiled at the Operations President in the audience.

The entire room was in an uproar, with some lawyers already rolling up their bidding documents and whispering complaints, "If that’s the case, why did they even invite us here? Waste of time!"

The Operations President’s face darkened, and he looked displeased.

Sienna Thornton bowed to the audience and gracefully stepped down from the stage.

Next up was the representative lawyer from Vantage, who surprisingly wasn’t from their international department but another senior partner. This person emphasized that Vantage, an internationally integrated firm with over twenty-five years and multiple overseas branches, not only had dedicated departments and professional teams to handle corporate legal outsourcing services, but several of their lawyers from the international department had assisted the Ministry of Commerce in dealing with multiple negotiation cases with the World Trade Organization, obtaining fair results.

This statement clearly conveyed to everyone—what Sienna Thornton can do, we can do too; but what we have, Cognitas might not necessarily have.

Rhonda Wagner glanced at Sienna Thornton and shook her head. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Sienna Thornton couldn’t make sense of the situation either.

There were still a few more law firms to present, but she wasn’t in the mood to listen. Just as she was about to tell Aurora Buckley that she needed some fresh air, out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a tall figure entering through the back door of the venue.

Simon Forrester, clad in a dark grey suit, walked in, sat in the last row, and amidst the bustling crowd, pinpointed Sienna Thornton, giving her a smile.

Sienna Thornton bit her lip and turned around, sitting upright, eyes forward.

The bidding session ended, exceeding lunchtime, and the entire venue emptied quickly.

Aurora Buckley and Rhonda Wagner also noticed Simon Forrester sitting at the back. After greeting Sienna Thornton, they headed back to the law firm first.

While packing, Simon Forrester stepped down towards her, "I arrived just in time to see you speaking, so I stood at the back and watched for a bit."

"Hmm," Sienna Thornton didn’t show much interest, "What did you think?"

Simon Forrester took her laptop bag from her hand with a smile, "Other firms had one person speaking for five minutes each, but you two spoke for ten minutes together, that’s five minutes more than others, so the impression is definitely better."

Sienna Thornton took a deep breath, pouting at him: "It was that Operations President who specifically asked for me to go up, I hadn’t even prepared a script, it was all impromptu and off the cuff."

"Not many people can improvise so adeptly, your remarks, both gentle and firm, should have won your firm the spot!"

While saying this, Simon Forrester wrapped an arm around her and led her out of the venue. Once in the elevator, he asked, "Care to join me for lunch at the downstairs restaurant before heading off?"

"Sure."

Reaching the staff restaurant on the second floor, both Simon Forrester and Sienna Thornton picked up their meals. As they were about to sit by the window, they ran into the Operations President who had also come down for lunch.

The Operations President noticed Simon Forrester first, eagerly coming over to greet him with a warm attitude. The next moment, seeing Sienna Thornton standing beside Simon Forrester, with a woman’s laptop bag in his hand, it became obvious what was happening.

The Operations President showed a hint of awkwardness but quickly regained composure, smiling, "Isn’t this Lawyer Thornton from Cognitas Law?"

Sienna Thornton smiled and nodded: "Yes, hello, nice to meet you again."

At this moment, Simon Forrester abruptly blurted out, "Lawyer Thornton is my fiancée."

Sienna Thornton turned to look at him, momentarily unsure of what to say.

The Operations President was taken aback, looking at Sienna Thornton, seemingly not expecting her to be the future mistress of the Forrester Group, but being worldly, he quickly regained his courteous demeanor: "Hello, hello, my surname is Jenner, Nolan Jenner."

"Nathan Rivers?"

"It’s the ’Jiang’ in ’Ginger’ (生姜)."

"I see," Sienna Thornton smiled, "Mr. Jenner, nice to meet you."

-

With their meal trays in hand, Simon Forrester and Sienna Thornton found a seat by the window. Shortly afterward, Nolan Jenner came up, politely asking if he could join them.

Simon Forrester warmly invited him to sit.

Sienna Thornton remained silent throughout, quietly eating while Simon Forrester and Nolan Jenner engaged in a lively conversation. They discussed topics related to the group’s operations, with Nolan Jenner revealing his professionalism, even touching on some legal aspects.

Furthermore, Sienna Thornton noted that Nolan Jenner showed Simon Forrester an extraordinary degree of warmth, skillfully keeping it from seeming ingratiating or sycophantic. Moreover, Nolan Jenner’s words were fair, concise, and clear. Overall, he didn’t come across as someone just coasting along, but someone dedicated to serious work.

This was Sienna Thornton’s initial impression of Nolan Jenner.

After Nolan left, Sienna Thornton nudged Simon Forrester’s foot under the table and asked, "Are you and Mr. Jenner close?"

"My dad was the previous president of The Arcadia Company, and a fellow alumnus," Simon replied.

"HKU? Braden University? Harvard?" As Sienna Thornton said this, she suddenly sighed, "I’ve attended so many schools! Others might go straight from undergraduate to PhD at one university, but I’ve been hopping from one to another like a guerrilla fighter."

Simon Forrester glanced at her, "Being able to hop to Harvard is impressive enough, no wonder you didn’t get nervous improvising your speech onstage."

"That’s not quite true," Sienna Thornton sipped her lemon tea, "I don’t get nervous because I’m well-prepared, my mind remains calm, processing various information and speaking in an organized manner. This ensures that my speech is smooth and the audience can understand it clearly. That’s why I say I don’t like speaking nonsense on stage, because once I do, the structure I’ve organized in my mind gets disrupted."

While she was speaking, Simon Forrester watched her intently, studying her for a moment before suddenly saying seriously, "Knowing you for so long, I’ve found there’s only one person who can make you so nervous you can’t speak a word."

"Who?"

"Dean Thorne."

Sienna Thornton rolled her eyes, "Seems like it. It’s strange; why do I automatically get nervous every time I see him? So odd."

"Your surname and Dean Thorne’s..." Simon Forrester started, but suddenly fell silent.

Sienna Thornton glanced at him, "What about our surname?"

Simon Forrester snapped back to reality, "Nothing."

Sienna Thornton didn’t take it seriously and mused, "Many major law firms participated today. I don’t think our firm stands as much of a chance. I wasn’t quite sure why until I overheard you and Mr. Jenner. I’m guessing Mr. Jenner is probably trying to select the most suitable law firm, then report to your father and grandfather for the final decision. If he’s a graduate of Harvard Business School, he probably wouldn’t just casually decide to outsource the legal department’s work to us just on Grandpa’s word alone."

Simon Forrester seemed lost in thought before casually asking, "How did you know Nolan is a Harvard Business School graduate?"

Sienna Thornton smiled, stirring her lemon tea, "Did you think I was just listening to you two chat for nothing?"

"Since he gave you those extra five minutes to speak, naturally he’ll consider your firm seriously," Simon Forrester reassured her, though somewhat preoccupied, "Nolan isn’t one to be rigid; he knows how to handle things, so don’t worry unnecessarily. Just wait for the results."

"Hmm, that’s all we can do. It doesn’t matter if we’re not chosen."

Sienna Thornton didn’t say any more. She knew well that in this bidding event by the Forrester Group, given the current size of Cognitas, they weren’t yet truly capable of competing with the other firms, but she still secretly hoped they could secure Forrester as a client, as the firm wasn’t solely hers—she had two other partners.

-

After lunch, Simon Forrester mentioned he had an urgent matter to attend to and arranged to meet Sienna Thornton after work to shop for groceries and cook dinner at home. After he left, Sienna Thornton returned to the firm on her own.

They hadn’t cooked at home for quite some time, with Sienna Thornton being busy setting up the firm and Simon Forrester’s design firm dealing with a surge of post-New Year projects, leaving them both working overtime, often settling for quick work meals.

It was rare for them to unwind tonight, revisiting the light-hearted, joyful moments of their past two-person world.