Our Love Story: Hard to Guard Against the Sudden Love Strike

Chapter 599 - 570: Luck Returns

(Monthly Ticket Additional Chapter 12)Sienna Thornton and her group hurried back to the courtroom.

Zane Forrester also came over, glanced behind and didn’t see his son, and asked, "Jules didn’t come?"

Sienna whispered, "He has work to do today."

Zane nodded, saying nothing more.

The judge and jury took their seats, and the judge struck the gavel, "Does the jury have a verdict?"

The foreman of the jury stood up, "Yes, Your Honor." He handed over a yellow note, which the bailiff presented to the judge.

The judge opened the note and, before announcing the verdict, glanced at Zane, then looked back at the note.

This glance made Sienna and the others feel anxious.

Judge: "Due to insufficient evidence in this case, the jury unanimously voted for acquittal!"

The judge struck the gavel again and declared: "The defendant is released in court!"

Sienna felt relieved and turned to Zane, saying, "Congratulations!"

Zane patted her shoulder, gratitude showing on his face after surviving a catastrophe: "Annie, it’s all thanks to you this time! Thank you!"

Sienna smiled.

Zane adjusted his suit and went over to the chief lawyer to shake hands and talk.

Sienna went to the side to call Simon Forrester.

Upon hearing that Zane was acquitted, Simon did not express much but said, "I’m almost at the courthouse, wait for me, I’ll come and pick you up for dinner."

After hanging up, Zane walked over, smiling, "Is Jules coming over?"

Sienna replied with a "Hmm": "We’re staying at a hotel now, planning to go back together."

"That’s good," Zane said, "I’ll tidy up tonight, and you can stay at the house tomorrow."

"Okay."

Soon, Zane left with his assistant. The chief lawyer went to handle other follow-up matters, while Sienna packed her things and waited for Simon at the courthouse entrance.

Once she got in the car and fastened her seatbelt, she said, "Your dad wants us to move into his place tomorrow."

"We’re going back to the United States tomorrow, don’t delay your work."

Sienna was slightly surprised, "So soon?"

"Yes, if there’s no problem on your end, I’ll book the tickets later."

Sienna suddenly remembered the judge invited her for a meal after the case and mentioned it to Simon. Simon thought for a moment and asked, "How about we have the meal next time we come?"

"It’s okay, it’s not a big deal," Sienna smiled, "When we came, you said after the case, you’d take me to the nearby cities."

"This afternoon, Elder Forrester called to ask about the case status. I told him it should be fine. He urged you to hurry back, saying the Treaty and Law Department will announce the Deputy Director-General candidate this Friday. We return tomorrow, and you can report on Thursday afternoon, only one night before the announcement. It’s worth a try."

Sienna wasn’t aware of this, Quentin Thorne didn’t mention it. Thinking about it, he was probably worried about her mental stress and didn’t want to push her to make choices.

This is the difference between one’s family and in-laws.

Her family would consider everything for her, while her in-laws think it’s her duty to help, never considering the sacrifices she has to make, only offering a "thank you" after seeing satisfactory results.

Luckily, Simon has always been aware of her sacrifices and her contributions to the Forrester Family; otherwise, it would have been meaningless to her.

She didn’t want Simon to worry any more about her and obediently said, "Alright, book the tickets, and we’ll head back tomorrow."

...

That night, Sienna was already asleep, but Simon received two calls from domestic numbers.

The people back home had already heard about Zane’s situation.

One call was from Old Master Forrester, who immediately asked Simon about Zane’s status, whether he was still in custody or not. Hearing he was released this afternoon, the old man quickly told him to inform Zane not to return to the country for now, as Sylvia Langley’s brothers had stormed the old house and were threatening to kill Zane.

Simon felt a headache coming on, both angry and helpless. After calming the eighty-year-old on one end, another call came from Sylvia’s elder brother, "Where is Zane? Why isn’t he answering the phone?"

Simon didn’t know what to say for a moment and remained silent. On the other end, more loud complaints came through: "Zane dared to fool around with another woman?! If he doesn’t end up in a US prison, he’ll come back and end up in a coffin!"

Sylvia’s elder brother finished his rant, and then it was time for the second brother to howl, each of the brothers took turns bombarding. Across the ocean, they were clamoring that if Zane dared to return, they would kill him!

After hanging up, Simon checked the time; it was past one in the morning.

He sat back on the sofa, leaned his head back, closed his eyes, and gently massaged his aching temples.

After a while, he heard the sound of slippers dragging on the floor, coming from the room.

Sienna had awakened.

He quickly grabbed his phone and returned to the room, pulling her back under the covers.

She nestled in his arms, asking softly, "Whose call was it?"

He didn’t answer but instead asked, "When did you wake up?"

"Just now," she said with a smile, finding a comfortable position in his embrace, "I don’t sleep well without you here at night."

His heart ached, and he held her tighter, kissing her forehead and lips.

"Go to sleep, baby."

"Honey..."

"Hmm?"

"I love you."

"I love you too, love you very, very much."

...

They returned to the United States on Thursday. Once off the plane, Sienna didn’t even go home and hurried to the department to report her leave.

Director-General Linton was surprised to see her return in just a week but more delighted, quickly calling her into the office for a chat.

"Not leaving again, are you?"

Sienna smiled, "Not leaving, but I will go on maternity leave starting in August."

Director-General Linton laughed heartily, "No problem, encouraging childbirth is important! The country is even encouraging three children now! You go ahead and give birth, and I’ll take care of work for you!"

Then, remembering the current half-year maternity leave, he hesitated, carefully probing, "You’re still young, how soon after can you return to work?"

Sienna smiled, "How long would you like me to rest after childbirth?"

Director-General Linton hesitated for a moment, holding up three fingers: "Three months?"

Sienna calculated, meaning she would have two more months after confinement and agreed, "Alright, I’ll take the leave from August to October and be back in November in time to lead the team to Valois."

Director-General Linton laughed, "By then you’ll be a deputy director, still thinking about leading the team to Valois?"

Upon hearing this, Sienna’s heart raced and her face flushed.

She nodded, biting her lip, "Never forget where I came from."

Director-General Linton, appreciating her spirit, patted her shoulder, smiling, "I knew I didn’t misjudge you."

Leaving the director’s office, Sienna’s face was still warm, her heart excited and uplifted. She understood from his words that the deputy director position was still hers.

Good fortune seemed not to have abandoned her, just took a short break.

——

Shadowsweet had a major push today, two updates. This one makes up for last month’s overdue monthly ticket update, finally clearing all debts! Happy!

And now it’s the end of the month, time to start voting for monthly ticket updates again!

Shadowsweet is at 330 votes now, we still offer 30 additional tickets for each new update (of 2000 words).

If you have monthly tickets, feel free to vote for Shadowsweet; the more you vote, the more updates we’ll add!