novellhall Chapter 689 - 660: The Forrester Family’s Little Devil
Chapter 689 - 660: The Forrester Family’s Little Devil
In early December 2025, young Victor once again traveled to Valois with his parents on a Thursday for two weeks.This was Sienna Thornton’s last time leading a team for the WTO. Regardless of the outcome, she would be promoted to Director of the Z City Economic Committee after the new year.
This career path was set for her by Julian Shepard and Tobias Blackwood. She had once been torn about whether the known future career path would take away the sense of accomplishment that comes with conquering a career.
She believed that her efforts and talent were worth all of this, but everything had gone too smoothly, inevitably leading to some uncertainty.
In mid-December, good news came from Valois. Sienna Thornton had a massive victory on her last case with the Treaty and Law Department.
She was the only female director in the Treaty and Law Department who had won cases for five consecutive years, with the involved amounts exceeding trillions.
She was etched into the annals of the Treaty and Law Department.
Due to the extremely high amounts involved in this case, which affected the interests of hundreds of thousands of enterprises and millions of families, the team received widespread national attention. The official media interviews alone lasted a full month, and Sienna Thornton was not only given an audience and commendation by the president on behalf of her team but was also named one of the top ten outstanding youths a month later.
Before the Lunar New Year 2026, clips of Sienna Thornton being interviewed were everywhere on TV news, official newspapers, and short video accounts of official media.
A reporter asked her, as an outstanding student from Harvard Law School, why she was willing to take on such a high-intensity, high-pressure job with relatively low pay?
She smiled at the camera and answered gracefully: "Twenty years ago, I went to Z City No. 1 High School from a poor county with the thirty dollars my family gave me, the last bit of money for my schooling. For someone like me to be able to graduate from Harvard, it was all because of the state’s nurturing. I am willing to selflessly contribute my small efforts for the country and its people. So far, two-thirds of my life has been spent in extreme poverty. I have no particularly strong desire for material things; being able to eat well and sleep well is enough."
Her response drew waves of applause from the audience. Official media described her as a genuine, grateful, and upright youth, who drinks water remembering the source.
Reporters asked her, since the public is very unfamiliar with the work of the Treaty and Law Department, they only know you represent the country in negotiations. Do you have anything to share with everyone?
She said: "Our work is very niche, each case takes a very long time, requiring a significant amount of effort to handle numerous legal documents and English materials. Every case is like a war without smoke, yet behind it lies billions and trillions of trade interests and important rule interests for our country. It directly affects the survival of tens of thousands of enterprises and the employment of millions of people. Behind those millions of people are millions of families, millions of children, and millions of elderly. All of this, in the end, someone has to protect. Today it is my colleagues and me in the department, tomorrow, I hope it will be you watching this news. I hope more and more students or lawyer friends interested in our work will pay attention. If you are interested and confident you can do this job well, feel free to contact us."
She placed the country’s love in the foreground and subtly indicated that she might leave the Treaty and Law Department, encouraging aspiring youth to work there.
Shortly after the interview aired, the official media announced that Sienna Thornton would be promoted to Director of the Z City Economic Committee after the new year.
Due to Sienna Thornton’s impressive achievements over the past five years and the groundwork laid in the past month, everyone was optimistic about Sienna Thornton’s appointment.
Because of his granddaughter-in-law’s high-profile promotion, Old Master Forrester was extremely proud. The old mansion’s nearby neighbors were all former or current high-ranking officials, most of whom were well-versed in officialdom and understood the significance of Sienna Thornton’s critical promotion. Everyone was envious of Old Master Forrester and took the opportunity to bring their young ones to the Forrester Family, hoping to establish some connection.
Compared to the bustling Forrester household, the neighboring Grant Family was as quiet as ever.
Since Zachary Grant was transferred to the Western Army, his jurisdiction now far west, he no longer had any say in the city. Former subordinates either pledged loyalty to Kevin Chaucer’s father or found new patronage. And Quentin Thorne, true to his word, distanced himself from the Grants. Except for occasionally meeting the Grant Family at Mina Thorne’s child’s full month and first-year banquets, he no longer interacted with them.
The old neighbors who attended the Grant Family’s feast for Sienna Thornton, knowing her identity, all remarked that the fortunes of the Grant and Forrester Families had reversed over the decades, warning the younger generations at home to use this as a cautionary tale: one must not be too domineering, knowing when to stop, or else they will end up with nothing.
Fearing his days were numbered at the age of ninety, Old Master Forrester had requested Simon Forrester and his wife to have the nanny bring young Victor to the old mansion during the day.
At two and a half years old, Victor was much taller than children his age, with rosy lips and white teeth, big and bright eyes. When he didn’t speak, he was sternly cool, exactly like Simon Forrester when he was young.
Plus, with his parents’ good taste, he was dressed in neat and handsome sports attire. His hairstyle was done up, making him a proper little charmer.
This child happened to be articulate, every time he saw his mother on TV, he proudly pounded his chest: "That’s my mom, her name’s Sienna Thorne, she’s the Deputy Director of the Treaty and Law Department. She’s very capable, she goes to Alpenberg’s Valois every year to negotiate with foreigners, and she wins every time! My mom is amazing!"
Old Master Forrester always responded: "What’s the use of your mom being amazing outside? It would be better if she gives you two little brothers, staying home to look after them, that would be amazing!"
"That’s not amazing at all! My mom is a PhD! She’s a talent bringing glory to the country, not a housewife! Why should she stay home to look after brothers? I don’t want brothers!"
Old Master Forrester felt this was Sienna Thornton teaching the child to retort to him, somewhat angrily asked: "Did your mom teach you to say this?"
Victor, hands on his hips, retorted: "The TV said so! Didn’t you hear, great-grandfather? Are your ears not working?"
Old Master Forrester was about to be infuriated by this little rascal. His sharp-tongued manner was exactly like Simon’s.
The old man, thinking of the family’s desire to continue the lineage, scoffed and tried to intimidate Victor: "Go and tell your mom that she has to give you a brother next year, or great-grandfather will be unhappy!"
He counted on this little rascal to go relay this message back to Sienna Thornton, but Victor gave an evil smile: "I’m not going to tell my mom! I’ll tell my dad!"
Old Master Forrester hurriedly covered the little rascal’s mouth, pleading: "Okay, okay, my little ancestor, no more brothers, and don’t tell your dad. If your dad knows, he’ll come argue with great-grandfather."
Victor pulled Old Master Forrester’s hands off, jumped on the sofa, hands on hips, and huffed: "Great-grandfather, you’re bad! You bully my mom because she won’t argue with you, so you want to force her to have brothers!"