CHAPTER 126: CHAPTER 125: LIKE

Noticing her distancing and caution, Simon Forrester was both angry and helpless, suppressing a belly full of anger, he said, "Let’s put Zion Quincy’s matter aside for now. I came here today mainly for two reasons."

Sienna Thornton perfunctorily replied "Mm," without looking at him, her eyes staring blankly at the TV wall.

"I know Harrison Rowe approached you and made excessive demands. I’ve already beaten him up, so don’t worry about it. I’ll make him come and apologize to you someday." After a pause, he continued, "You’ve done a great job on the DK case, with great principles. I’m very pleased."

His tone didn’t fluctuate with the first sentence, as if he was verbally praising a subordinate. But by the latter sentence, his tone changed, like a father moved to see his mischievous child finally becoming independent.

Sienna Thornton understood and looked at him in surprise, "It wasn’t you who sent Harrison Rowe to contact me?"

Simon Forrester asked in retort, "If I had such demands, wouldn’t it be more effective to tell you personally?"

Sienna Thornton fell silent for a while.

He was right.

She leaned back and closed her eyes, sighing wearily, "What’s the other matter?"

Simon Forrester didn’t speak for a long time.

The spot next to her suddenly sank, and when she opened her eyes, Simon Forrester had unknowingly sat beside her. She instinctively moved away, but there was nowhere to retreat.

Simon Forrester stared at her, "Why are you avoiding me?"

His gaze was different from before, an almost raw gaze, combined with his sudden closeness, Sienna only felt he wanted to peel her skin.

An unusual feeling darted in her mind and heart, and her heartbeat inexplicably sped up. She clenched her fists, forcing herself to calm down, "I’m quitting an addiction."

"Quitting an addiction?"

She chuckled silently, self-mocking, "The only way not to become an addict is to force yourself to distance. The process of quitting is tough, but only by quitting can one be reborn."

Her words were cryptic, more like she was talking to herself, but Simon Forrester understood.

His eyes narrowed, voice husky, "I’ve always been here, what addiction are you quitting?" Saying this, ignoring her resistance, he lowered his head and kissed her...

The morning wind blew in from the balcony, carrying wisps of grass and wood fragrance.

The old 1990s apartment was outdated, peaceful, and blown by the wind, a faint musty smell hit the nose, yet such a smell wasn’t unpleasant. On the contrary, it had a nostalgic claustrophobic feeling.

Clearly familiar surroundings, yet Sienna Thornton was tense to the point of suffocation, sweat densely covering her forehead and back.

Summer had truly arrived.

Simon Forrester’s gaze deepened as he looked down at her.

Her eyes were red, seemingly wanting to cry, but she held back desperately.

He softly called, "Candy..."

In an instant, Sienna Thornton snapped back to reality, sharply pushed him away, suddenly sat up, clutched her chest, took a few breaths, and got up, running towards the main door.

Simon Forrester chased after her and grabbed her arm, "Can you calm down?"

She shook off his hand, momentarily too angry to speak.

He grabbed her hand again, his attitude slightly softened, "Forget about everything that happened before, let’s start fresh from this moment, okay?"

She paused, looked at him incredulously, and moments later burst into laughter, "What do you mean ’start fresh’?"

Suddenly he understood.

Smart as she was, she couldn’t possibly not know he liked her. She constantly resisted, avoided, simply because he hadn’t given her a commitment, a sense of ceremony.

But given the situation, how could he declare his love?

After a moment of silent standoff, watching her hand about to slip from his hold, he gritted his teeth, "I like you."

She stared at him in astonishment. They gazed at each other, silent, quiet.

After a moment of composure, she took a deep breath, released his hand, looked elsewhere, "I don’t like you!"

Simon Forrester’s pupils narrowed, his face changed completely, "I don’t believe it!"

"Don’t believe it, whatever!" Sienna Thornton ran towards the entrance, pulling the door open with a "click," "Go back, I don’t want to see you!"

Saying this, she no longer looked at him, her red eyes looking elsewhere.

Simon Forrester stood where he was, looking at her, teeth clenched tightly, staring into the void.

After a while, he suddenly strode into the bedroom, took two nearly empty bottles of men’s skincare products from the dresser, held them up in front of her, coldly questioning, "You don’t like me, what are these?"

Sienna Thornton’s mind went blank, reaching out to snatch them back.

Simon Forrester didn’t fight with her, letting her take the two bottles and angrily stuff them into the drawer of the entryway cabinet.

"You can’t think that hiding them makes your feelings for me disappear!"

With his words, her face turned from red to pale in anger, "I used to like you! So what? After half a year, I’ve long stopped liking you!"

Realizing that she genuinely wanted to sever ties, Simon Forrester felt a multitude of complex emotions boiling within.

And Sienna Thornton only felt that the torture of recent times had peaked, unable to endure anymore.

She forced herself to hold back tears, glaring at him resentfully, sharply retorting, "People like you always seem high and mighty! You said you liked me, have you ever confessed to me? Have you ever cared about my feelings? If you really liked me, how could you resort to prostitution? Someone with such chaotic relationships, it’s disgusting! Are you worth my affection?!"

Shouting this, she provocatively rubbed her lips hard with the back of her hand, as if it was disgraceful and filthy to have been kissed by him.

He also stared at her, furious to the extreme, "When the hell did I ever resort to prostitution? Clarify that!"

She bit her lip, unwilling to bring those matters up again.

"Say it," he stepped closer, eyes coldly staring down at her, "Where did I resort to prostitution?"

She forcefully shoved him away, eyes reddened again, "The night you met with DK’s Greater Coria director for reconciliation, you went to find women! If that’s not prostitution, what is it?!"

"..." Simon Forrester was utterly speechless.

The atmosphere dropped to freezing. Just moments ago, the heat of the confrontation, everything seemed lost with Sienna Thornton’s accusations.

She suddenly felt a bit frightened, an inexplicable fear.

Simon Forrester remained silent for a long time, looking at her again, full of disappointment, "Because of the DK case, you avoided meeting me, saying it was to prevent suspicion. Fine, I resolved the DK case, but then, based on some hearsay, you decided to give me a death sentence!"

At this point, he barely managed to recover his calmness, but it was all for nothing, saying at last, laughing in anger, "If it wasn’t to be with you sooner, you think DK can take advantage of me?"