CHAPTER 155: CHAPTER 154: VISITING RELATIVES (FIVE UPDATES)

Ever since the day the B&B couldn’t be sold, Simon Forrester has not proactively contacted Sienna Thornton.

At first, Sienna wasn’t bothered, rather it gave her a temporary ease as she didn’t know how to face him.

But after a few days, the house was sold, and while packing her things, she found several items left behind by Simon, only then realizing they hadn’t been in touch for quite some time.

At that moment, she did miss him a bit, and was expecting him to reach out to her eventually. Just like that, half a month had passed.

Everything was settled; the money from selling the house was used to pay off the bank, fines were paid at court, leaving Sienna with less than 500,000.

Thinking about the one hundred thousand Simon transferred to the B&B account, plus the more than twenty thousand he spent buying her a car, she calculated that giving him the fifty thousand she had, she would still owe him over eighty thousand.

Thinking now that the house was gone, and the money was gone, on top of owing him eighty thousand, Sienna felt so stressed her head was about to explode.

She immediately called the headhunter.

The person on the other end stammered over the phone and finally asked her if she was currently under investigation by the law association.

Sienna was stunned, stating she hadn’t received any notification, let alone knew about such an investigation. The other person kindly advised her to find someone familiar with the law association to inquire about the truth.

She immediately thought of Thomas Reed, disregarding the fact that it was midnight in Britione, and called him straight away.

But when Thomas answered the phone, he said he was at Vantage and asked if she was at home. Anxious to find out if she truly was being investigated by the law association, she asked Thomas Reed to come over.

Thomas arrived half an hour later, entering and going straight to the living room to sit.

Sienna went to the kitchen to brew a cup of tea, and upon coming out, hadn’t yet spoken when she noticed a scratch on Thomas’s cheek and was startled. She pointed to her own cheek and asked, "Master, what happened to you?"

Thomas’s face momentarily showed unease, replying that it was his dog that scratched him.

Sienna didn’t believe the excuse but didn’t ask further, instead, questioning him on what the law association’s investigation was about.

Thomas said, "Don’t look for a job for now. Wait until things calm down first."

Sienna was taken aback, "What do you mean? I haven’t done anything wrong, why is the law association investigating me?"

Thomas replied, "Yes, you haven’t done anything wrong, but isn’t the law association just left idle? They think the testimony of the witness who retracted the statement has issues. Although the court rejected her new testimony, they still want to investigate you supposedly instructing the witness to provide false testimony."

Sienna felt utterly exasperated!

She was angry and agitated, pacing in the living room, cursing, "For f**k’s sake! How could I possibly let two minors stay for a few hundred bucks? I owe the bank millions, what use is a few hundred bucks to me? F**k the law association, are their brains filled with sh*t?"

Thomas was initially stunned, then dryly added, "You’ve been with Jules for so long that even your choice of profanity is similar."

Saying this, he shifted his gaze to the boxes and bags piled up in the corner, asking, "Why is everything at your place packed up? Are you moving in with Jules?"

Sienna, angered by the law association investigating her for baseless reasons, answered petulantly, "I sold the house! Since the Brimfield legal circle can’t accommodate me, I’m going somewhere else!"

"Where to?"

"Anywhere! I’ve got hands and feet, I can live anywhere."

Naturally, Thomas could tell that a law association investigation wouldn’t make her so decisive, suspiciously asking, "Fighting with Jules?"

She didn’t answer.

"Broken up?"

"...No."

Thomas got up ready to leave, advising before he left, "If there’s any issue, speak properly, Jules is quite proud, if possible, just let him have his way."

Sienna: "..."

Where is he proud???

He’s a clingy jerk!

-

That night, Simon Forrester still didn’t reach out.

Sienna looked at their chat interface; the last conversation was kept from two weeks ago, Simon saying to her: "Good night, babe."

She was impulsively tempted to text him but couldn’t think of what to say and decided against it.

That night, she suffered from insomnia, thinking about many things.

She understood that her current situation was nearly akin to bankruptcy.

The house was gone, the money was gone, the worst was that in the Brimfield legal circles, she probably couldn’t manage to stay.

She didn’t understand how so many things could happen in less than three months.

It was as if an invisible force kept pushing everything in a bad direction...

Throughout the night, Sienna made two decisions: to visit her hometown, to accompany Melinda Linton, and to see if there were any opportunities in Z City.

If she planned to settle down and work in Z City, her relationship with Simon Forrester might have to end; long-distance relationships were impractical, especially since they had just started.

The thought of possibly breaking up with Simon made her a bit sad. But the joy of seeing Melinda Linton temporarily washed away the uneasiness of relationship troubles.

She packed a few clothes, took the gifts she bought last time in Norport, all her documents, and drove the car Simon bought her.

After over six hours of driving, it was past seven in the evening when she arrived in Wrayhaven.

Following the coordinates Jenna Raines sent, she found an apartment complex on the town’s street, wandered for a long time before finding a parking space.

The complex evidently was somewhat outdated, at least a decade old without property management, poor lighting, and with it being dark, Sienna took awhile to find the staircase, and climbed up.

Reaching the third floor, she stopped in front of a worn-out metal door, just about to call Jenna Raines when she heard Felix Raines loudly scolding Melinda Linton inside.

Knowing well that Melinda Linton shouldn’t be startled, Felix Raines still spoke loudly to her, firing up Sienna’s anger, making her bang on the metal door loudly.

A stout woman came out, chewing a cucumber, asking in Wrayhaven dialect, "Who are you looking for?"

"Open the door!" Sienna shouted.

The stout woman, chomping on the cucumber, raised her voice: "What are you screaming for, you little wench? Can you believe your husband will give you a beating?!"

"What the hell are you saying!" Sienna pushed the metal door again, causing it to clang loudly.

Jenna Raines ran out from inside, shouting, "Mom! Big sister’s back!" and hurriedly opened the door.

The stout woman retreated aside, staring Sienna down with a face of hostility, gnawing on the cucumber.

Sienna entered the apartment, giving the woman a cold look, then shifted her gaze to Jenna Raines: "Where’s Mom?"

At this moment, Melinda Linton ran out from the kitchen, wiping wet hands on her shabby apron cheerfully saying, "Annie, what brings you here?"

Sienna stepped forward to embrace Melinda.

Melinda looked toward the door, whispering, "Did you come back alone? Did your boyfriend come with you?"

Jenna also eagerly ran over to check the door: "Yes, did brother-in-law come with you?"

Sienna felt awkward, released Melinda, and whispered, "He didn’t come."

"You fought?" Melinda clutched her hand asking intently.

Sienna didn’t want to discuss Simon Forrester’s matters in front of The Raines Family, so she changed the topic: "Mom, how’s your health recently? The doctor instructed you to rest more, avoid heavy work, have you listened?"

Melinda awkwardly avoided her gaze, clearly having not followed the advice.

Sienna understood instantly, glaring frustratedly towards the living room where Felix Raines sat leisurely, munching on sunflower seeds. Just about to march up to argue with Felix, her phone vibrated in her pocket.

Looking at the screen, she saw it was Simon, hesitated for a few seconds, intending to hang up, but Jenna said excitedly, "It’s brother-in-law calling!"

Melinda too looked over expectantly.

Sienna couldn’t refuse such a look, walking aside to answer, "Hey?"

The man’s voice was low on the other end: "I saw your car, which building are you at? What’s the apartment number?"