CHAPTER 129: CHAPTER 128: MOVING ON (THIRD UPDATE)

Simon Forrester looked at her conflicted expression, and said calmly, "I’ve thought it through, the most straightforward way is to have that blabbermouth DK testify for me, right? But is that what you want? If you do, I can call him right now."

As he said this, he fixed his eyes on Sienna Thornton. Seeing a barely noticeable trace of regret on her face, he knew this matter could be put to rest. But to remove the thorn in her heart, he was still willing to coax her.

He took out his phone from his pocket, pressed a few buttons, and handed it to her, reminding, "Pay attention to the time in the upper right corner."

Sienna Thornton moved her gaze to look.

These were clips of surveillance footage, with the Arabic numerals in the upper right corner clearly showing the time, on a night in late May and early the next morning.

At 7:55 PM, Simon Forrester entered a private room at The Imperial Court Club, and shortly after, people from DK came in too. During this time, besides the normal in and out of male staff from The Imperial Court Club, no one else entered or exited;

At 2:30 AM, Simon Forrester left the room;

At 2:37 AM, his S90 left The Imperial Court Club;

At 3:13 AM, the car entered the apartment garage;

At 3:20 AM, he entered his home;

He left home at 8:30 in the morning;

He arrived at the design office by 8:50.

Sienna Thornton recognized his outfit; it was the dark blue double-breasted suit he wore on the day he went with Attorney Lowe to Vantage for reconciliation talks. He must have arranged to meet with DK’s people that night, which is why these video clips exist.

Judging from the time in the video, he talked with DK’s people for over six hours, presumably drank a lot, and when he left, he didn’t look well. A designated driver from The Imperial Court drove him to the apartment and left, and he entered his home slightly wobbly.

The timing was very tight; he didn’t have time to go out and look for women in between.

Sienna Thornton felt complicated, reflecting on the situation as quickly as possible.

She overreacted and acted inappropriately in this matter, too impulsive, jumping to conclusions that Simon Forrester was fooling around with women based on a few words from others.

She always demanded herself to remain calm first when encountering things, but repeatedly broke her principles when it came to Simon Forrester’s affairs.

She felt remorseful and guilty, yet didn’t know how to clear things up with Simon Forrester.

This wasn’t work, not a case; she couldn’t think rationally. She had countless words to say to him but didn’t know where to start.

Simon Forrester, seeing her silent for a long time, thought she was still doubtful about the footage, so he added, "These videos were edited, but if you want to see the original files, you can request them directly from the relevant units. I can make a call."

Finally, he muttered to himself, "With such a packed schedule, where would I find time to visit a brothel? Have a mental brothel visit?"

His tone was relaxed with a hint of self-deprecation, rapidly thawing the icy atmosphere.

Sienna Thornton felt most of her anger dissipate and her expression softened a bit. She glanced at him with a hint of reproach, handing back the phone. As he took back the phone, he held onto her hand tightly.

She tried to pull her hand free but couldn’t, silently glanced at the corner’s surveillance, and said softly, "You should go back first. I’ll talk to you after I’m done."

He still didn’t let go, "I’ll head back to the room to take a shower first. Will you come over later?" As if worried she might not come around, he added, "Solving the problem all in one go, that wouldn’t be fun."

She didn’t like it either, but the morning argument still lingered, inevitably making her feel embarrassed, as she also suffered from his unwarranted accusations.

Indeed, this matter should be put to rest.

She calmed her complex emotions, saying, "Alright, I’ll come to find you at ten."

...

After Simon Forrester left, Sienna Thornton handled some matters at the front desk, glanced at the time, it was 9:30, so she went to knock on Maeve’s door to wake her up, "I need to talk to Simon Forrester about something. Can you watch the front desk for a bit? I’ll be back shortly."

Not knowing Simon Forrester was there, Maeve seemed a bit puzzled, "Are you going back to the city?"

"No, he’s staying here for three days."

Maeve nodded understandingly, not stopping her, only saying, "Go ahead, call me if anything comes up." Then she took her phone back to the front desk.

Sienna Thornton went back to take a shower, changed into clean clothes, and set off for The Rockwell at ten.

Walking on the path in the area, she ran into Harrison Rowe and a few SY designers, who asked her if there was anything fun nearby. She stood and chatted with them for a while, and by the time she reached The Rockwell, it was already a quarter past ten.

She pressed the doorbell. In that short moment the door hadn’t opened, her heart inexplicably sped up, and her limbs felt a bit weak.

She was quite nervous, fearing that once the door opened, she’d again be faced with Simon Forrester wearing just a bath towel.

She kept taking deep breaths to compose herself until Simon Forrester opened the door.

He was dressed casually in light gray cotton and linen pants and a white V-neck T-shirt. The brown hair, usually combed back, now fell smoothly by his forehead.

He looked clean and fresh.

"Come in," he said, looking straight into her eyes.

She nodded and followed him inside, sitting in a corner of the couch.

He stood looking at her, his gaze briefly scanning her from head to toe; jeans, T-shirt, flip-flops, a bun, no makeup, not even lipstick—she looked as if she had just come down to take out the trash casually.

It seemed she really came to talk business.

Remembering half a year ago, when they watched the first snow together, she had specifically put on a beautifully subtle makeup. She already liked him then, just like she said this morning, but why hadn’t he persisted a little longer at that time?

Simon Forrester felt regret, but it didn’t affect his resolve at the moment.

After a day of calming down, along with Simon Forrester’s earlier evidence and explanations, Sienna Thornton’s emotions had also eased a lot. She had already thought about what to say on her way there.

So as soon as Simon Forrester sat down, she immediately got to the point, "You said this morning that my relationships aren’t that great either—"

"Hold it!" Simon Forrester cut her off before she could finish.

Afraid she’d bring up that matter again, he apologized once more, "I’m sorry."

He said, "I was really mad this morning when I said those things, please don’t take them to heart."

"I accept your apology," Sienna Thornton said calmly, "but you can’t prove your innocence without giving others a chance to clear things up."

"Yes, yes," Simon Forrester responded sincerely, "go ahead, I’m listening carefully."

"You said my relationships aren’t that great, and you mentioned Zion spending the night at my place, taking a shower there, which is totally unfair! On what grounds could you say that about me?"