Our Love Story: Hard to Guard Against the Sudden Love Strike-Chapter 257 - 254: Women’s Rights

Sienna Thornton’s facial features are more striking and refined than most girls, with a high nose bridge and a delicately structured, petite oval face, so she never needs contouring products. Generally, she just needs a base to even out her skin tone, a bit of eyeliner, a casual orange-pink eyeshadow, some lipstick, and she doesn’t even need to do her eyebrows—it’s stunning enough.

She is the kind who looks pure and innocent like a young girl when barefaced, and alluring like a fairy with makeup on.

Ingrid stood up, carefully observing her features, and clucked her tongue in admiration: "Naturally gifted is different indeed, look at this nose bridge, this nose tip, these jawlines, those lip contours, all so exquisite as if crafted meticulously by God, truly beautiful."

Sienna smiled and was doing the final setting on her face, about to fix her hair, when Ingrid stopped her, saying, "Don’t rush the hairstyle, I’ll go check with the wardrobe department to see what outfits they have arranged for you."

Before long, Ingrid returned, holding two sets of incredibly tacky suits.

Sienna felt a headache coming on.

Ingrid said, "Lawyer Thornton, see which one you like, take your pick?"

Sienna pressed her forehead: "Can I wear the one I’m wearing now?"

To be safe, she wore the same black tight-fitting blazer with a gold-embroidered hollow belt around the waist that she had worn to Simon Forrester’s birthday party at the Forrester Family’s old residence last year.

Looking at her current outfit and then at the two tacky and shapeless suits Ingrid was holding, Sienna was at a loss.

"No way, this is the sponsor’s apparel, you must wear it; otherwise, you can’t participate in the show’s formal recording." Ingrid held up a black suit, "I think this one is about the same as yours."

Sienna: "..."

She was still hesitating when the stage manager came over and asked, "Is everyone almost ready? If so, go outside and prepare."

Ingrid looked at the time and urged, "Lawyer Thornton, hurry up, it’s past four, change your clothes and come out, I’ve found another stylist to do your hair."

With that, she shoved the black suit into Sienna’s hands and pushed her into the changing room.

-

Sienna changed and came out, and Ingrid met her with a smile, "Not bad, not too ugly."

Sienna had a slimmer figure, so wearing a fitted style would look better, showcasing her good figure, tall stature, and vitality.

But the current suit was clearly a European style design, looking a bit loose on her, failing to show her professionalism.

It naturally wasn’t ugly, being brand apparel, but compared to her own set costing hundreds of thousands in Hong Kong dollars, tailored to her size, the current set seemed impossible to look at.

Fortunately, the white blouse and the pencil skirt fit well.

Sienna had an idea and took off the jacket, leaving just the well-fitted white blouse and black pencil skirt, spun around in the mirror, and asked, "Ingrid, can I not wear the jacket?"

"I will go ask." With that, Ingrid ran out, and upon returning, she said it was fine, and she brought along a guy who was supposedly a stylist to do her hair.

Sienna’s hairstyle was quickly done.

Her long hair was tied into a slightly loose Korean-style ponytail, and one side of her bangs was delicately styled, making her face look smaller and more photogenic.

Standing beside her, Ingrid complimented, "You look really great! Like a big star!"

Sienna was quite satisfied herself and touched up her lipstick before preparing to head out.

The other male lawyers were already in their positions, and she took her script, did a final check with the other two associate lawyers on their lines, ensuring everything was in order, then prepared to take her place.

The audience seats were already fully occupied, and the site was orderly.

She slightly tilted her head to look at the audience, trying to determine the age group of the voters so she could decide the stance to take later. As her gaze swept across the audience, it abruptly halted, caught by a tall and fresh figure.

Simon Forrester, in a black trench coat and a black and white striped knit, was seated in the audience, waving at her with a smile.

Sienna was stunned, hurriedly pulled out her phone, dialed a number, and watched as Simon answered, saying in surprise, "What are you doing here?"

Simon smiled, "Came to see how you perform."

Sienna looked at him, her tone unintentionally coquettish, softly saying, "Why didn’t you tell me beforehand you were coming to be an audience member?"

"To surprise you. I’ll definitely vote for your side later."

Just as Sienna was about to say that would be cheating, the director called for everyone to get ready.

Sienna hurriedly hung up and returned to her seat.

With the director’s command, the cameras officially rolled, and everything went just like the rehearsal, including the host’s and the judge’s lines being the same as before.

The trial proceedings were intense, the lawyers were more passionate than in rehearsals, while Sienna maintained a gentle tone, narrating eloquently to the audience and the opposing lawyer.

She didn’t have an aggressive, lecturing stance; she gently drew everyone into her meticulous logic. Whether it was from the perspective of defense, depth of case understanding, or the viewpoints derived from the case, they were remarkably profound and captivating.

On the extension of this case, she said, "Women not only fulfill more obligations in caring for and nurturing children, but pregnancy, childbirth, and breastfeeding cannot be replaced by men, entailing hardships and risks borne solely by women. In today’s increasingly competitive environment, pregnancy, childbirth, and nursing may mean job loss and missed career opportunities. Therefore, empowering women more is both a humanitarian concern and special protection for the subjects of childbirth—women—and a manifestation of legal fairness and justice!"

The conflict of reproductive rights between a couple is both a conflict between the husband’s and wife’s reproductive rights and between the husband’s reproductive rights and the wife’s personal freedom, bodily autonomy, and health rights. Resolving rights conflicts requires weighing interests and deciding which interests deserve the most protection. Generally, since exercising and realizing men’s reproductive rights utilize women’s bodies, women’s personal freedom, bodily autonomy, and health rights should be respected more. Between the weighing of both rights, women’s rights over men’s reproductive rights should presumably take precedence. Therefore, I request the court to dismiss the plaintiff, Mr. Everett’s, lawsuit!"

Sienna’s speech was logically impeccable, with full value output. Despite lacking a strong entertainment appeal, her perfect empathetic appeal led to immediate, enthusiastic applause from the audience once she finished speaking.

She returned to her seat, slightly out of breath, secretly glanced back at Simon Forrester in the right rear.

He was also looking at her and gave her a thumbs up, offering his praise.