CHAPTER 112: CHAPTER 111: UNWRAPPING THE CANDY

When he didn’t see her, he could restrain himself, but once he saw her, even if she did nothing but stand there, his heart and mind would stir intensely because of her.

Still, he was willing to respect her.

He calmed himself a bit, his voice steady yet deep: "Sorry."

Sienna Thornton sat up, her face burning and tingling, as if countless thorns were buried under her skin, wanting to pierce through. She awkwardly gathered her long hair, thinking about how to respond, when suddenly there was a knock on the door.

She snapped back to reality, stood up, and went to open the door.

Not wanting anyone to see Simon Forrester lying on her bed, she only opened the door slightly and asked Harrison Rowe, who was standing outside, "What’s up?"

Harrison held a plastic bag in his hand, giving her a slightly peculiar look, trying hard to see inside through the crack in the door.

"Is Director Forrester... still here?" Harrison asked uncertainly.

Sienna instinctively replied, "He’s been in the bathroom since you left."

Harrison handed her the plastic bag, looking displeased: "Please tell Director Forrester, I did my best."

"Oh, okay." Sienna hurriedly took the bag and closed the door.

Turning around, her face flushed with embarrassment.

She tossed the bag to Simon Forrester, who was still lying on the bed, and ran to the bathroom to wash her hands.

When she came out ten minutes later, the poorly made, cheap casual pants were thrown on the floor. The dark blue tight-fitting T-shirt had half of its logo exposed, the other half still in the bag, seemingly pulled out halfway and then discarded, vaguely revealing the large logo which was several letters—Amani!

Still wearing a pink robe, Simon Forrester sat on the bed, rubbing his throbbing temples.

Sienna took a moment to compose herself, stepped forward, picked up the clothes, and tossed them onto the bench at the foot of the bed, her voice awkward: "Hurry up and change into the clothes."

Seeing Simon unmoved and knowing he disliked the clothes, wanting to get him out of her room quickly, Sienna suddenly had an idea and ran upstairs to find a set of men’s summer sportswear.

Seeing that it was his usual brand, Simon’s expression slightly improved. He wanted to change clothes right in front of her, making Sienna turn away shyly, wanting to escape outside the door.

The man stood arrogantly by the bed. After removing the robe, he glanced at her and chuckled, "It’s not the first time you’ve seen this, why so shy?"

"I haven’t seen you..." Sienna impulsively turned around, and the scene before her eyes overlapped with a certain memory she’d kept sealed away.

"Agh!" She covered her face and turned away, murmuring, "Do you remember that incident?!"

"What incident?"

Dressed now, Simon Forrester walked over, looking at her with a teasing smile. He bent down, whispering in her ear, "Was it when you brought the dog to my house, and saw the dog biting off my towel? Or... when I was drunk, and you took off my pants?"

Sienna: "..."

So he knew it all along, he remembered everything, he was just pretending to be clueless!

Sienna thought she was in a situation where even jumping into the Yellow River couldn’t cleanse her. If she’d known he remembered, she would’ve handled things differently.

Still better than this ambiguous situation, having the reputation but not enjoying the pleasures.

But he has a girlfriend now, so what’s the use of these thoughts? She can’t just sleep with someone else’s man!

Thinking of this, Sienna found the whole thing utterly boring and pointless.

She went to open the door.

Simon followed her, asking, "Why do you have men’s clothes?"

"They’re Zion’s. He’s about your height."

His face darkened, sounding ominous, "Zion Quincy stays here often?"

Sienna was too lazy to explain to him, opened the door, and went out.

The two stood by the door.

Harrison happened to walk by. Seeing his boss’ unpleasant expression, he quickly came over to express concern, "Mr. Forrester, how are you feeling? Are you uncomfortable anywhere?"

Simon Forrester looked uneasy, "How could I be uncomfortable?"

He’d just tasted some sweetness.

Harrison felt a kind of post-crisis relief, "Lucky it was just dirty water. If it had been acid, it would’ve been really troublesome..."

Simon Forrester’s face was expressionless, showing no reaction, but Sienna had a very complex feeling, both frustrated and upset.

She was fed up with Simon, so when Harrison asked if Simon wanted to go with him, she hurriedly urged Harrison to take him away.

As a result, Simon not only didn’t leave but also stayed!

Sienna didn’t know which room he was staying in and didn’t bother with him.

After dinner, Sienna was in her room reviewing an announcement sent by Maeve’s agent when she suddenly received a call from the front desk. A guest from "The Rockwell" complained that the shower wasn’t working. She noted the room number and prepared to check it out with a flashlight.

"Seaman’s Bistro" consists of nine sections.

Located in the center, "The Vinebrook" serves as the main lodge, with the first floor housing the reception, restaurant, kitchen, administrative office, and rooms for the two partners. The upper three floors are ordinary budget rooms, while the other eight mansions are built as Thai-style villas with two to three stories each, named after the eight major provinces of Tayavan, positioned as light luxury rooms.

Nine beautiful South Asian-style buildings are constructed along the lake, with balconies and windows opening to reveal close views of the stunning natural lake scenery and distant views of endless flower fields and a sky full of stars.

A fairytale-like place.

Sienna reflected as she walked. She knew that "Seaman’s Bistro" owed its success to Simon Forrester. Reflecting on the six months when the project was in progress, she and Maeve barely visited due to their busy schedules, leaving it mostly to the construction team.

During that time, Simon Forrester didn’t contact her, but according to Harrison, Simon went to The Northeast countless times and personally supervised the project.

Harrison also mentioned that if "Seaman’s Bistro" had been designed as separate units, it would have been much simpler and more cost-effective for both the designers and investors. But Simon insisted on designing it in a scattered manner. The result was excellent, but it extended the construction period. To complete the project in six months, including landscaping, Simon used all his connections and even paid extra for round-the-clock shifts to ensure continuous construction. In the later stages of decoration, top environmental materials were used to ensure air quality.

As Harrison put it, "Even an architect wouldn’t be so meticulous with his own home! I really don’t know why Director Forrester is so particular about a lodge..."

Sienna suddenly recalled that Simon had once said he would build his own house to marry into.

She wasn’t sure if Simon was just like that with his own or friends’ houses, always striving for perfection, or because he wanted to be with her at the time and put extra effort into this.

But in fact, he had already given up on her before the project started, hadn’t he?

Sienna kept wandering through her thoughts as she passed the gently flowing artificial waterfall, walked along the exquisitely beautiful pebble path, and arrived at the secluded "The Rockwell" mansion.

She curled her finger to knock twice on the intricate wooden door, got no response, knocked three more times, and the door opened.

The man had his hair sleek and wet, strands falling over his forehead. Water still dripped off his firm chest, with six perfectly defined abs taut and glistening. Below, a white towel was loosely tied around his sinewy waist and abdomen.

The scene from her memory replayed before her, giving Sienna a strange sense of time crossing.

Fearing what might come, eventually did.

Simon Forrester raised his brows slightly, a hint of amusement in his eyes as he scanned her flushed face a few times, then turned sideways, picking up a white towel to wipe his hair, asking, "Want to come in?"

"No," Sienna forced herself to maintain composure, keeping it short, "I heard the shower isn’t working, I’m here to check."

Simon pointed upstairs, "It’s the shower in the upstairs bathroom that’s not working, are you sure you want to stand here to inspect it?"