ebookslot Chapter 588 - 559: Los Angeles Trip (Part 5)
Chapter 588 - 559: Los Angeles Trip (Part 5)
The negotiation lasted the whole day.Simon Forrester lost his patience, and with a sullen face, he threw down some harsh words. The opposing CEO wasn’t pleased either and, with a snort, prepared to leave with his team.
Zane Forrester’s assistant quickly stepped in to smooth things over, temporarily appeasing the other party and then gave Sienna Thornton a meaningful look.
Sienna guessed he wanted her to persuade Simon, but before coming here, she had already told Simon that she wouldn’t intervene in this case unless he needed her help.
Sienna remained seated, not moving, leaving the assistant with no choice but to personally escort Simon out.
Inside the meeting room, the opposing executives were quietly discussing strategies with their lawyers. Sienna’s sharp ears caught one executive saying, "This guy is more resourceful than his father," but she couldn’t hear more as their voices quickly lowered again.
She then turned to observe Simon speaking outside.
Beyond the transparent glass wall, the corridor lighting was soft, spreading out like a net.
Simon stood with one hand in his pocket, tall, with a serious and aloof expression. The person standing next to him kept trying to persuade him about something. After a few sentences, Simon frowned slightly, appearing somewhat impatient.
In the corridor outside the meeting room, lawyers and clients bustled about, with people constantly passing by Simon. He whispered a few sentences to his assistant before reentering.
He undid one button of his suit with one hand, took a seat, and gestured for his assistant to hand over the previously drafted agreement. He quickly glanced through it and pushed the agreement in front of her, leaning over to whisper, "Now, I’m planning to negotiate with them to reduce the project payment to 80%, on the condition that it’s paid by tomorrow. See if there’s any issue with the agreement."
Sienna didn’t quite understand why he suddenly changed his strategy, but she still carefully reviewed the agreement for him.
...
"There are no issues with the agreement," Sienna said after reviewing it and pushed the complete copies in front of Simon.
Simon nodded toward his assistant, signaling him to distribute the agreement to the other party. The assistant took the agreement over and whispered with the opposing lawyers and executives.
Simon picked up the coat that Sienna had placed on the chair back and whispered, "Let’s go."
"Okay."
The two of them left the law firm, and it was almost dark.
January in Los Angeles isn’t considered cold, the coldest being only around ten degrees, similar to the climate in Norport.
Even so, from the moment they stepped out of the law firm’s door, Simon habitually draped his arm over Sienna’s shoulder, pulling most of her body to his side.
They took a cab to a nearby Chinatown and found a Fenwick hot pot restaurant to eat beef hot pot as their dinner gathering.
Before the dishes were served, Simon first asked if Sienna was feeling unwell or nauseous. Hearing that she wasn’t, he smiled and asked, "Have you been to Los Angeles before?"
"Yes, I have," Sienna smiled back, "I took the licensing exam in Pasadena eight years ago and came a few times, but only stayed in Los Angeles, didn’t visit cities like Portmere or Westwood."
"Once everything here is settled, let’s spend a few days visiting these cities in California before leaving."
"Okay."
Seeing that Simon still had the mind to plan such things, Sienna felt a bit relieved.
The hot pot base and utensils were brought over, Simon asked the staff for hot water to rinse the utensils, while Sienna headed to the self-service sauce station to prepare their dipping sauces.
When she came back with the sauce dishes, the food they ordered had already been served: various thinly-sliced beef cuts, dumplings, vegetables, meatballs, noodles, filling up the entire food cart.
The hot pot restaurant was filled with Chinese people with black hair and yellow skin, mostly families gathered around to eat hot pot, with elderly and children around. The steam from the mandarin duck pot on the tables rose up, full of that lively vibe.
Sienna looked around the bustling hot pot restaurant, placed a dish of sauce in front of Simon, and said with a smile, "Last time we came here, it was past eight in the evening, there weren’t many people, and many restaurants were already closed."
"That’s right," Simon ladled two dumplings into her bowl, "unless it’s a holiday, places here usually close early, normally it’s quite deserted after six in the evening." After serving the dumplings, he looked up at her, "You guys?"
Sienna, holding a dumpling and just about to dip it in soy sauce, paused for a moment before understanding what he meant: "It was with the Chinese classmates who came to take the exam together back then."
Simon smiled, understanding, and then asked, "Did you plan to stay in Los Angeles for work? Otherwise, why did you take the licensing exam in Pasadena?"
He poured her some oat milk while opening a bottle of beer for himself.
Before eating the dumplings, she had a sip of oat milk, the warm, thick liquid warming her insides.
"Yes, because the tertiary industry here is very developed, with many excellent and top-notch Chinese law firms, very suitable for Chinese lawyers to develop." Speaking of this, she smiled thankfully, "I initially planned that if I couldn’t find my dad in those years, or if he didn’t welcome my presence, I would go back to California to develop."
However, reality always deviates from expectations. Because she met Simon, she simply changed her path entirely. Fortunately, the path he offered led to Rome.
Remembering the experiences from these past years, Sienna was filled with emotion. Simon’s dedication to her all these years was something she had seen and remembered well. Now that he needed her, she would definitely do her best to help him.
She took the initiative to hold Simon’s hand resting on the table, "Don’t worry too much about your dad. As long as he didn’t do it, I have a way to exonerate him. If he did, we should still try our best. It might not be the worst outcome."
"If he did something, he should be punished."
When Simon said this, his face was calm, as if discussing something unrelated to him. But with Sienna holding his hand, she felt that his usually warm hand was very cold.
His state of mind must be very lost right now, but perhaps because he was afraid of affecting her, he never brought up Zane’s case on his own. When she mentioned it, he pretended nothing happened. For someone like Simon, who shoulders the responsibility of a whole family, how could he treat such matters so lightly?
Her heart ached tremendously for him.
He probably noticed it, snapped back to reality, and, turning his hand to hold hers, looked at her with clear eyes full of smiles, about to say something but stopped short. He just smiled, patted the back of her hand, and urged, "Your food will get cold, hurry and eat."
Leaving the hot pot restaurant, the street was empty, everyone had returned to their places to watch the Spring Festival Gala. Sienna and Simon went into a store to buy some "Fu" character stickers to paste on the hotel door and windows, to create a festive atmosphere.
While waiting for a car on the roadside, Simon suddenly said, "I regret it."
"Hmm?" Sienna turned to look at him, puzzled, "Regret what?"
Simon shook his head, "I shouldn’t have brought you here." He sighed, holding Sienna’s hand a bit tighter, "You’re pregnant now, and I still brought you to deal with this kind of thing. I really shouldn’t have. We’ll go back tomorrow."