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

Chapter 598 - 569: Taking a Gamble

In the darkness, the blue light of the phone screen was particularly glaring."Who is it?" Sienna woke up.

Simon Forrester gently patted her back a few times: "You go back to sleep, I’ll go take a call outside."

He picked up the phone and went out, while Sienna lay on the bed in a daze for a while, then got up, put on a robe, and followed him out.

In the living room, only a floor lamp was on, casting a dim and faint light. Simon Forrester stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, bare-chested and muscular. The night view of Los Angeles outside the window resembled an upturned galaxy, the colorful starlight reflected on his resolute and profound face, making his serious expression even more obscure.

At this moment, he had one hand pressed against the glass, the other holding the phone, his thick eyebrows furrowed, quietly listening to the call.

Sienna walked over lightly and sat down on the sofa.

The voice on the other end of the line spoke for a long time. Simon Forrester didn’t make a sound and finally hung up the phone, standing there silently thinking for a moment. But he quickly came to his senses, walked over to the sofa, lifted Sienna up, and kissed her on the head: "Let’s sleep."

Sienna looked up at him, noticing he appeared even more serious, whereas his mood had been quite good when he came back that night.

She pressed her face back against his chest, wrapping her arms around his waist, and let out a barely audible sigh.

They lay back in bed, neither able to sleep again.

Sienna nestled in Simon Forrester’s arms, holding him. He had one arm around her body and the other under his own head, staring into space thinking about things.

Before Sienna could ask, he started to speak on his own: "I found out who the woman in my dad’s room was."

"Ah?" Sienna was startled, lifting her head from his embrace, "The night of the incident?"

Simon Forrester closed his eyes and nodded.

Sienna saw his exhaustion and carefully asked, "...Who is it?"

"The ambassador’s wife."

Sienna was momentarily speechless and no longer wanted to snuggle with Simon Forrester for warmth, sitting up quickly.

Simon Forrester helped her pull up the pillow behind her and tucked it at her lower back, then sat closer to her, pulling her back into his arms.

"No wonder your dad would rather risk it than tell who the woman was, refusing to let us get the other party to testify in court." Sienna still found it unbelievable to this day, "Because that person could never testify for him."

But she then thought about how after today’s trial, Zane Forrester told her there were things that Simon Forrester and Sylvia Langley should not know. It seemed more like preventing a third party from testifying, just for the sake of family integrity...

What Zane Forrester was really thinking, Sienna wasn’t very clear on either.

She held Simon Forrester, thinking about how to comfort him. No matter how she thought about it, she couldn’t find a way to guide him through such a thing, so she asked, "The ambassador shouldn’t know about this, right?"

Simon Forrester shook his head: "Probably not. I heard that my dad’s interactions with the other party’s wife were very discreet. For example, this time they specifically chose a hotel to rendezvous."

"How did your dad come to know the ambassador’s wife?"

"My dad and the ambassador are friends."

"A friend’s wife..." Sienna didn’t continue.

Simon Forrester remained silent.

Sienna didn’t pursue how Simon Forrester found out about this. She thought Simon Forrester would have his ways of finding out certain things.

She actually had many questions in her heart, like why Zane Forrester arranged to meet the ambassador’s wife in the room that evening, and at eight o’clock, he was still being intimate with the victim in the men’s restroom?

Zane Forrester this time had an affair with two people, not just one. It was terrifying just thinking about it. If Sylvia Langley knew, who knows how she would react...

...

Early the next morning, Sienna went with the lead attorney to see Zane Forrester, asking him if he would accept the prosecutor’s suggestion to plead guilty in exchange for a lighter sentence. Zane Forrester instead asked them what their chances of winning were.

"50%," Sienna said, "The jury’s thoughts are uncontrollable. We’ve done our best during the trial, and what’s left can only be left to luck."

Zane Forrester nodded: "Then I’ll take a gamble!"

As they still had to go to the prosecutor’s office, Sienna and her team soon left. After negotiating with the prosecutor, the prosecutor was responsible for notifying the judge, and the afternoon trial continued.

The defense applied to summon the victim’s ex-boyfriend to the stand, who was also the current boyfriend of the victim’s roommate.

The prosecution opposed summoning this witness, arguing it was irrelevant to the case, but the defense submitted screenshots of video showing the victim’s ex-boyfriend entering and leaving the hotel on the night of the incident, and the judge agreed.

The witness took the witness stand.

Sienna carefully observed the other party, a tall and strong European-looking individual, currently staring at Zane Forrester with a very indignant expression.

No matter how she looked, she felt this person’s eyes were fierce.

After the routine questioning by the prosecution, the defense questioned the witness.

Sienna stood up, walked to the witness, her face devoid of a smile, and questioned coldly: "Where were you from 9 p.m. on January 17, 2023, to 2 a.m.?"

Witness: "I forgot."

The judge glanced at the witness, his tone serious: "Witness, please answer!"

Sienna repeated the question once more.

The witness said this time: "At home sleeping."

Sienna picked up a remote, played a video clip on the electronic screen, and reminded the witness to watch. The witness was unwilling to turn his head to look at the screen, only staring at Zane Forrester.

Sienna: "Witness, is the person entering the hotel entrance at 9 p.m. on the night of the incident you?"

The witness said nothing.

The judge reminded the witness to answer.

Witness: "...I went to Carly to get something and left the hotel quickly."

Sienna: "What time did you leave the hotel?"

Witness: "...9:30."

The electronic screen displayed another video clip, showing the correct time of him leaving the hotel should be 2:10 a.m.

Sienna: "Can the witness tell everyone what you were doing in the hotel during the four hours when the victim in this case was tormented?"

The audience was in an uproar.

The witness said nothing.

Sienna emphasized again, words resonant: "On the night of the incident, during the four hours when the victim in this case was brutally assaulted, the witness was in the hotel! And in yesterday’s trial, it was proven that the victim could not have entered the defendant’s room at the time of the incident, the so-called crime scene! Who did the victim really meet during those four hours, who inflicted her injuries, and where is the real crime scene? We hope the prosecution, after re-investigating and gathering evidence, can provide us with answers!"

The jurors lowered their heads and took notes.

Sienna returned to her seat, and the witness was escorted out of the courtroom, where police officers were already waiting for him outside.

The judge struck the gavel and announced the closing arguments from both sides.

The closing argument was delivered by the lead attorney, and Sienna listened quietly.

Finally, the jurors left the courtroom to deliberate, Zane Forrester was taken away again, and Sienna and the lead attorney returned to the law firm to wait for the result.

Everyone at the firm was waiting nervously, silently praying that the jury’s verdict wouldn’t come out too quickly because the faster the verdict, the higher the likelihood of being found guilty, and vice versa.

In the evening, the court called, saying the jury had reached a verdict.