Our Love Story: Hard to Guard Against the Sudden Love Strike-Chapter 279 - 276: Household Expenses

The call was from Thomas Reed.

"Jules, your mom somehow heard about the rumors between me and Sienna, and it already reached Grandpa yesterday."

Simon Forrester felt a headache at this, rubbed his temples, and asked, "What did you say?"

"I said we’ll talk when I get back. What do you want me to say?"

Hearing Thomas’ sarcastic tone, as if there really was something between him and Hilary Thornton, Simon Forrester burned with anger and gruffly asked, "What do you mean ’What do you want me to say?’ Just tell the truth! What else would you say?"

Thomas Reed laughed on the other end, "Alright! I’ll stick to the truth then!"

Simon Forrester hung up the phone, took a deep breath, and was about to call Sylvia Langley to scold her when he saw Sienna Thornton coming out with a bag.

"Whose call was that?"

Simon Forrester put away his phone, instinctively took the bag from her hand, and smiled, "Thomas Reed, nothing major."

"Okay!" Sienna Thornton slipped a card into his pocket, "I spent over two hundred thousand; does your heart ache?"

Simon Forrester took the card out again, put it back in her hand, hugged her slender shoulders with his free hand, kissed her forehead, and laughed, "Not at all. My heart is yours, what’s two hundred thousand? Keep the card, it’s for household expenses."

"Ha?" Sienna Thornton walked while holding up the gold debit card in her hand, "How much is in this card?"

Simon Forrester thought for a while, uncertainly, "A few ten million should be there. I have several accounts; I really haven’t noticed."

Sienna Thornton smiled, "You give so much for household use, I’ll feel pressured to cook for you, so..." She put the card back into Simon Forrester’s pocket.

Simon Forrester, helpless, walked with her a bit and asked, "After we get married, who manages the money?"

He thought she would say "each manage their own," but instead, she seriously said, "Of course, I’ll manage the money! When we register for marriage, have all your companies, invested companies, bank accounts, and company public accounts organized, as well as financial statements for the past three years."

"Oh?" Simon Forrester sneered, "Does our Lawyer Thornton know how to read financial statements?"

Lawyer Thornton hummed, "I have a degree in economics. Is it strange that I can read financial statements? Not only can I read them, but I can also prepare them!" She joked about also being the financial officer at her law firm.

Simon Forrester was amused by her jokes, outwardly regretting that her partner was like a bun, letting one of the partners take such an important financial position, but secretly amazed at her being a treasure girl, knowing so much and being skilled in what she knows.

-

Meanwhile, in the northern city of Brimfield.

Old Master Forrester was in the park amusing birds, seeing the sky darken, preparing to take the birdcage home, when he saw Quentin Thorne walking towards him.

Guessing why Quentin Thorne had come, Old Master Forrester furrowed his brow, took a deep breath, and walked toward Quentin Thorne with a stern demeanor.

Quentin Thorne was still brimming with smiles, "Uncle Forrester, do you have time? Could we speak somewhere privately?"

After the Ian Grant incident, Old Master Forrester’s face was not pleasant, he couldn’t smile, "Let’s go to the teahouse!"

They went to the "Chinatown Teahouse" where Sienna Thornton and Quentin Thorne had been last time, and found a quiet private room to sit in.

Quentin Thorne always showed humility and courtesy towards elders, and at this moment, he attentively cleaned the tea set.

Old Master Forrester hung his birdcage on the window frame, amused the birds for a moment, and teased, "Thorne, if your wife catches us having tea today, will you be in trouble when you get back?"

Understanding that Old Master Forrester wasn’t averse to discussing Ian Grant causing a ruckus at the Forrester family, Quentin Thorne didn’t hide anything, getting straight to the point, "Uncle Forrester, those photos from last time with Ian Grant are baseless, please don’t misunderstand Annie."

Old Master Forrester lifted his eyelids to look over, his sharp eyes piercing through Quentin Thorne’s glasses with a smile in his eyes, "Annie?"

Quentin Thorne then realized his slip of the tongue, seemingly afraid Old Master Forrester would misunderstand further, he steeled himself and straightforwardly said, "Annie is my long-lost eldest daughter. I couldn’t let Ian Grant know of her existence, which caused this misunderstanding."

Old Master Forrester was shocked, forgetting about amusing the birds, sat upright, and responded with surprise and astonishment, "What? Thornton is the child you had in the countryside?"

Quentin Thorne nodded, "Yes. Before getting engaged to Ian Grant, I had a girlfriend in the countryside, who is Annie’s mother. Annie is seven or eight months older than Mina."

Even at over fifty, his face reddened upon admitting a youthful romance.

Old Master Forrester was still unable to come out of his shock, paused for a while, closely observed Quentin Thorne’s features before incredulously saying, "No wonder I said, Thornton looks particularly familiar and amiable. I liked her the first time I saw her."

Quentin Thorne gratefully glanced over, "Annie also told me that Uncle Forrester always supported her, I thank you for that!"

Despite his words, Old Master Forrester remained deeply shocked, and upon recalling something, suddenly asked, "Wait, why is your daughter’s surname ’Thornton’ instead of ’Thorne’? Is she taking her mother’s surname? Or her stepfather’s?"

In fact, Quentin Thorne hadn’t asked Simon Forrester or Hilary Thornton about this.

"Her mother’s last name is ’Li’, her stepfather’s last name is ’Ruan’. Her surname being ’Thornton’ might be because in the Wrayhaven dialect, ’Thorne’ and ’Thornton’ are homophones. Her mother couldn’t write, didn’t know how to write my surname, and probably when registering her household, verbally asked the agent, who recorded it as ’Thornton’."

Old Master Forrester said nothing more, remaining in shock.

Finally, Quentin Thorne added, "Annie’s name should be ’Sienna Thorne’."

Old Master Forrester snapped back, instinctively said, "If she changes her name, everyone will know she’s your daughter." Then asked, "When do you plan to acknowledge her?"

"Once things are settled with Ian Grant, I’ll quickly let Annie acknowledge her ancestry," Quentin Thorne pursed his lips, his eyes slightly red, "She’s grown up; it’s time for her to marry and have children. I hope I can walk her down the aisle. I’ve owed her too much, I can’t leave regrets about this."

Perhaps knowing the hardships Sienna Thornton faced since childhood, Old Master Forrester was deeply touched by Quentin Thorne’s words. Being easily emotional at his age, his eyes also reddened, nodding, and saying, "I’ve always been fond of Thornton, but..."

Hearing an underlying message in the elder’s words, Quentin Thorne asked, "But what?"

Old Master Forrester shook his head, putting away the sadness on his face, comfortingly said, "You never know with young people. Your eldest daughter is outstanding, and if she weren’t with my Jules, she would still have a chance to find a great partner."