CHAPTER 97: CHAPTER 96: EVEN HIS BREATHING SMELLS SWEET

Sienna Thornton wanted to ask more, but the plane took off just at that moment, roaring with noise, so she had to hold back her words and carefully consider Simon Forrester’s intentions.

The only thing she could think of was that Simon Forrester was determined to go to court against Mrs. Reed this time. This also meant that he would be in opposition to Thomas Reed and even Vantage. So, did he hope she would quit Vantage to avoid suspicion? After all, when the lawsuit reached the trial stage, it was very likely that she would need to testify.

She also remembered that she had promised Maeve earlier that the day the inn became profitable would be the day she resigned from Vantage. Since she would eventually leave Vantage, why not agree with Simon Forrester now? After all, with him as the chief designer of the inn, future profits would be quite stable...

The plane ascended into the stratosphere, and the surroundings quieted down.

Sienna Thornton unbuckled her seatbelt, leaned slightly towards Simon Forrester, stared at him for a moment, and said softly, "I agree with you."

"Agree with what?" Simon Forrester continued to look down at the documents.

Sienna Thornton said, "Leaving Vantage."

"Very good." Simon Forrester, who had been serious for most of the day, finally smiled slightly.

Having confirmed their cooperation, it was time to discuss the compensation.

Because Simon Forrester only expressed willingness to do the main design for the inn, there was no mention of whether he accepted Sienna Thornton’s previous proposal of offering a percentage of shares as compensation.

Sienna Thornton could only spell it out again: "So, shall we talk about your compensation now? As I said before, twenty percent of dry shares in return for your technical contribution, as your compensation for being the chief designer of the inn."

She sounded very sincere, her eyes were earnest, but Simon Forrester responded without any consideration, simply and directly saying, "No need."

His tone was calm with no trace of emotion, yet Sienna Thornton inexplicably felt that he was pessimistic about the inn’s profitability, holding a mindset of "There’s no dividend anyway, why need shares?"

Sienna Thornton felt her face heat up as if she’d been slapped in public. At this moment, she particularly wished she was a billionaire, tearing a million-dollar check right in front of Simon Forrester.

But returning to reality, she and Maeve currently indeed didn’t have the ability to pay him a substantial design fee.

What to do?

Sienna Thornton pondered for a while, took a notebook out of her bag, turned to a page, wrote a few lines with a flourish, signed it, and then tore it off to hand to Simon Forrester.

Simon Forrester glanced at it and chuckled: "What’s this?"

Sienna Thornton put down the pen, her tone quite proud: "My hourly rate isn’t cheap, you know, and most importantly, since I started practicing, I have a one-hundred-percent success rate!"

"So?"

Sienna Thornton took back the slip of paper from Simon Forrester’s hand, folded it and folded it again, making it into a small square. "Someday, if you have a challenging case, come to me with this, and I guarantee I won’t charge you a penny; I’ll definitely help you sort it out!"

Simon Forrester raised an eyebrow, resting his hand on her petite hand rifling through his jacket pocket, gently taking out the note, spreading it open to glance at it, and teased, "Aren’t you going to be an inn owner? Giving me this,is it an empty promise?"

"Not at all," Sienna Thornton tugged at her lips, a somewhat helpless smile, "If I planned to work full-time at the inn from the start, then why would I bother doing a Ph.D.? The inn will be managed by Maeve and my mom; I’ll only go whenever I have the time."

"So you’re running the inn just so your aunt has something to do?"

"That’s one reason," Sienna Thornton paused, pursed her lips, and said, "You’ve been to the Raines Family, you should know I wasn’t born to Felix Raines, the Raines family father and son can’t accommodate me, basically, I’m a person without a home. Of course, this ’home’ is in the narrow sense, referring to a unit of social life composed of blood-related members."

Her emotions were calm, logic clear, the tone was as ordinary as if she were talking about someone else’s matter.

Simon Forrester recalled everything in Wrayhaven, and could guess how much heartache and fear-filled, helpless nights she had endured to attain her current sense of clarity.

He concealed the emotions in his eyes, smiling lightly: "Narrowly defined’ home’, can also be meant as a’ person with no blood relation but with legal ties’. For instance, a married couple."

"That’s true," Sienna Thornton chuckled self-deprecatingly, "Except, I’m a non-marriage believer." Seeing Simon Forrester silent, she added: "So, the inn is still the place I’ll retire to in the future."

Simon Forrester fell into thought upon hearing this. After a moment of pondering, he asked, "Is Maeve also a non-marriage believer?"

"Yes."

...

At eight in the evening, the plane landed on time at the Capital Airport.

As soon as Sienna Thornton stepped out of the cabin, a strong wind forced her to step back.

She wore a knee-length shirtdress, and though she wore an overcoat, the piercing wind still slipped through her bare legs into her heart.

She glanced at the pitch-black sky, shivered, and remarked, "The cold air is here."

Just as she spoke, a sudden warmth enveloped her.

A long overcoat carrying a man’s body warmth was draped over her shoulders, immediately warming her heart and soul.

Men’s coats are longer than women’s, and with Simon Forrester being over 185cm tall, the coat he wore could cover two-thirds of Sienna Thornton’s calves. Although it wasn’t as warm as a long down jacket, it shielded her from the cold wind.

Sienna Thornton glanced gratefully at Simon Forrester, who wore only a suit, and softly said, "Thank you."

Simon Forrester held her as they exited the cabin and boarded the shuttle bus. The shuttle bus was crowded with people; he held onto the handrail with one hand while keeping her protected at his chest with the other.

She held her elbows, and in the shuttle bus’s forward momentum, her body easily lost balance, so she could only lightly lean against him.

Simon Forrester was nearly 20 cm taller than her; she wore flat shoes, and the two stood closely, her head only reached his chin, her gaze fell on his neatly fastened tie and shirt.

He looked pretty ascetic, honestly.

The shuttle bus swayed, causing her body to sway along with it.

In boredom, she lifted her face to look at him.

His jawline was taut, amber eyes deeply fixed ahead, featuring deeply attractive, handsome features— the kind whose sight couldn’t be forgotten after just one glance.

Sienna Thornton recalled their first meeting, and how she’d been captivated by his handsomeness back then.

A man with such looks was bound to have a cold, distant demeanor. Sure enough, during their second meeting, he was so cold it was as if she’d stepped into an ice cellar. Including many encounters after that, he always acted cold and indifferent.

She really couldn’t remember when exactly they moved from polite strangers to shameless affection; it just seemed to happen naturally.

This must be the magic of coexistence! Turning two strangers who had nothing for each other into something ambiguously undefined...

Sienna Thornton stared absentmindedly at the polka dots on Simon Forrester’s tie, and when someone bumped into her from behind, she had to lean closer to him.

Recalling that strawberry-flavored kiss, she sighed inwardly: Truly a man with even delicious breath!

Such a fragrant him, not at all like an ordinary guy with a nasty smoke-and-alcohol breath!

Sienna Thornton smirked secretly, yet in the next moment, she suddenly recalled that meeting at The Imperial Court, a room full of cigar smoke.

She knew Thomas Reed didn’t smoke cigars, so it could only have been Simon Forrester.

But living together for a month, she’d never seen him smoke at home, nor were there any ashtrays.

"Don’t you smoke cigars anymore?" she asked.

Hearing her question, he lowered his eyes to look at her, a faint smile on his lips, "I just don’t smoke in front of you."

"Why?" Sienna Thornton asked curiously.

He smiled: "Secondhand smoke, not good for you."