Tiffany made no mention of anything she assumed Alejandro had not told Melanie about, for she felt that his reservation was likely due to personal reasons. Hence, she could not betray his secret against his consent. “Uh, yeah. It’s a pity. I mean, he’s a good guy with pretty handsome features whose only flaw is, well, his disability. It’s alright, though, I mean—you agreed to marry him, so I know you don’t mind it.”Melanie felt a little more confident. “No, of course not. I love him,” she replied. “Anyway, I shouldn’t keep both of you any longer. I’ll be off.”It was then that Jackson came out of the kitchen with glasses of fresh orange juice in his hands. Melanie eyed the juice and added implicatively, “Oh, I guess I’ll have to skip the juice. You can enjoy mine, Miss Lane. It’s your favorite drink, isn’t it?”Before Tiffany could ask Melanie about how she knew that, the woman was already gone. So, instead, she took the juice from Jackson’s hand and drained half of the glass in on
It took Melanie almost two hours to find her way back to the Smith Estate.The trip inspired quite a rant about the estate’s unnecessarily inaccessible location and how it made a simple visit to Tiffany’s an exercise that consumed hours.She had not even finished complaining to herself when Jett suddenly approached her with his unemotive, mechanical tone. “Madam, Mr. Smith would like to speak to you in the bedroom. He’s waiting for you.”Melanie’s heart skipped a beat, the implication behind Alejandro’s invitation dawning onto her. Her husband would usually do everything he could to avoid her, but this was the first time he was proactively seeking her. She gave Jett a hum to show that she understood before starting toward the stairs.Jett abruptly stepped forward again and advised her. “Madam, please don’t do anything that could get on his bad side. Be careful with your words.”Melanie was so close to countering him with a ‘seriously?’. He made Alejandro sound like a man-eating og
Passion came and passed. Melanie rested on Alejandro’s chest.“Hey, why don’t you let Jett take a few days off? He has his wife and kid to attend to too, you know. Let him have the chance to be with them…. And let me fill his shoes for a few days. I want to know you better,” she breathed tenderly. “You know, I’ve been thinking about how things turned out, and it still amazes me. I’d only seen you a few days before our marriage! And still, I’ve fallen deeply in love with you. Could this be love at first sight? Regrettably, I don’t know you enough yet—but I want to. I want to be the one who knows you the most.”Alejandro remained nonchalant. “‘Love at first sight?’ Hmph. I’m more inclined to believe it’s lust, or maybe you loved how we f**ked.”The darker he sounded, the more entranced Melanie was. “Aww, don’t be so crass! It could be lust, for all I care, but I love you. I love to f**k you, Alex. You’re not escaping me. I want to be with you forever, till death.”Alejandro espied th
The first thing that leaped into Tiffany’s sight was the very dastardly-handsome face that haunted her dreams, and immediately, a wide grin crept onto her face. “A-ha! So you haven’t slept, have you? Look at you, lying down on your bed with that sad-puppy look. Are you tired, or did you just realize that life turns meaningless because I’m not beside you for these two days, huh?”Jackson considered her features through his phone and replied, “Hmm, maybe both. I mean, you’d requested leave for our wedding, but I haven’t done that myself, so I still need to work on the day… By the by, tomorrow’s the day we get our license. Thrilled yet?”“Hmm, not really,” Tiffany fibbed, belying her true feelings. “I think I’m more thrilled to see you. You know what they say—absence makes the heart grow fonder.”It was likely out of genuine tiredness that Jackson’s eyes closed. “Ditto on that. Natch, I wanna see you too, as soon as possible. Oh, but I still need to inspect our wedding venue after we r
Alejandro, in a state of intoxication, yanked open Lynn’s clothes and peered at the snow white skin underneath. “No man can resist a woman’s body,” he gibed. “And yet, despite what you have, you cower. I now see, I’ve given you far more chances than you deserve.”Lynn dared not struggle, nor did she cover herself. And so she stood, naked, vulnerable and trembling in fear. She could not tell what would happen to her given Alejandro’s current drunken, testy state.That was when the door opened, and Melanie strode into the bedroom.An unreadable expression shadowed her mien as soon as her eyes fell onto them. “Alex, what… what are you doing?”Alejandro released his grip from Lynn’s hand, and the latter instantly took a step back and tidied herself up. “I’ll take my leave.”Melanie shot her a snide sidelong glance before marching toward Alejandro, her voice raising several bars higher. “I said—what are you doing!?”Alejandro finished the wine in his glass and leaned back onto his cha
As soon as Melanie left the room, she ended up face to face with the Smith family butler. She lowered her head and concealed her feelings. She held her right hand firmly over her left to cover it more. “What is it?”“Don Smith is waiting for you,” the butler replied in a professional manner.She nodded and followed him to the courtyard. Don Smith did not seem to plan on going to sleep. It was already so late, yet he was still drinking tea. The type of tea he drank helps keep people awake, so it certainly does not help with sleep, especially for old people at his age.“Grandfather,” she greeted dutifully.The old man waved his hand, beckoning for her to sit down. There were only street lamps in the courtyard, so it wasn’t that bright. Hence, she didn’t need to conceal her wounded left hand.The old man looked far into the night sky for a very long time, then suddenly spoke up, “Do you have any questions for me? You’ve just joined the family not too long ago. You must feel apprehens
Don Smith praised her generously, “Looks like I’ve made the right choice. You just need to be a good wife and take good care of Ale. Leave the rest to me. Go back and take care of him. He’s had a lot to drink. He’ll need someone to care for him.”Melanie got up. “Okay. Please excuse me. You should get a good night’s sleep too, grandfather.”By the time Melanie arrived back at the room, she suddenly realized. Was Don Smith implying something? What did he mean when he said that she didn’t need to worry and to leave it to him? He wasn’t going to do anything to Tiffany, was he?She had never experienced these kinds of things before, and didn’t dare overthink it. However, she still felt very uneasy.The next morning, Jackson drove to the civil affairs office straight away. He saw that Tiffany’s car hadn’t arrived, and wanted to call to hasten her. However, he was worried about her bad driving skills and thought that a call might distract her, so he had no choice but to wait for her pati
Alejandro opened his eyes and looked at her, probably because he had heard her voice. Then, he passed out again.Tiffany followed the ambulance taking him to the hospital. Alejandro and the van driver were pushed into the emergency room. Only then did Tiffany return to her senses and call Jackson. “You should go home for now. I can’t come. Something happened while I was on the way!”Jackson did not expect this to happen. He sounded dismayed. “What happened? Where are you? You’re not only late for such an important thing, you’re not coming at all…”Tiffany did not plan on telling him about Alejandro’s involvement in the accident, but she was afraid of inciting antagonism by keeping it from him, so she decided to be honest about the accident.“I’m coming to the hospital to get you. You’re coming home with me at once!” Jackson ordered after hearing her explanation, to her surprise.She hesitated. “But Alejandro’s family members aren’t here yet. I can’t leave. You should go. I’ll be f
Arianne had not heard that name for so long, she had to reel back in bemusement for a few seconds before finally remembering her face.Shelly-Ann Leigh… She must have spent all those years in the mental institution, right? God knows if the woman’s hair was now grey and white all over.When someone was near death, one could stand to forgive all of the history between them—even the dark ones, even if the ledger was brimming—for good. So, Arianne replied, “I’ll go with you. No matter what happened, she’s still your mother.”Mark did not expect that answer from her at all. In his surprise, he bent down and left a kiss on her lips. “I knew I picked the right woman as my wife. I thought you wouldn’t agree to let me accompany her for the last of her days…”Arianne replied nothing. She was not so obtuse that she would try to win over a woman whose days were numbered. No matter how much of an a**hole Shelly was, Arianne was still the one who came out on top. That victory was all she needed.
Arianne sneered. “You confused, little thing. I wouldn’t be daft enough to anger the mother of the man I like if I were you, girl. I would especially not say anything as low IQ as that, too. Let me be completely frank with you: no one who bears the surname of Leigh will ever get the better of me—the last one failed. Hard. I can guarantee that you’ll leave us in the span of three days. If I lose, you can stay here forever. Wanna bet? I dare you.”She left her threat hanging at that and turned her wheelchair away, leaving the scorned young woman behind.Rage came out of Raven as waves of quakes all over her body. She was lurching close to hyperventilation, but right before it became impossible to stop, she came around and battled herself to calm down. She had a feeling that even if she fainted right there and then, no one would discover her, would they?Now that Arianne and Mark had returned, the Tremont Estate had recovered its vivacity and life. It had become merry.And Raven Leigh
Melissa was the type who always pushed things to go as festive as logically possible. She leaped to her feet and raised her cup, “Yo, everyone! Let’s toast to Cindy becoming my cousin-in-law!”The crowd answered enthusiastically with their cups in the air and a roar—except Raven, who remained seated. “I have a sickly constitution. I can’t drink. I’m sorry.”Her smile was so mechanical, her face too ashen. Something flickered in Arianne’s eyes before she replied, “Sure.”After the revelry faded, Arianne steered her wheelchair to the courtyard. The outward appearance of the Tremont Estate seemed to have frozen in time, which was why being here made her feel so… safe.Of course, that was despite Henry and Mary’s passing. In the end, time passed and things changed, characters and objects came and went, and all these missing years left lingering regrets in their wake.Arianne espied the silhouette standing alone at a distance and approached her, sighing, “Nothing beats being home.”Ra
Arianne grabbed the two beauties by the hands and smiled. “Thank you! Gosh, to me… it’s like you two have grown older in the blink of an eye! How gorgeous the two of you are! Cindy, where’s your brother? Plato hasn’t come home yet?”Mentioning the name of her dear brother made Cynthia pout. “He said he was coming home half a month ago—that’s what he said. Who knows what he’s actually doing, though? Anyway, who cares about that no-good. He’s always like this anyway. Oh, um, the weather is quite hot. We should probably get inside.”Arianne nodded and shot a brief, uneasy look at Aristotle. Not once did he look like he wanted to talk to her… Could the boy be counting his grievances in his mind? Mark and Arianne had stayed in Switzerland for so long; life must have been hard for him all alone.It took until she reached the living room to finally notice Raven. “Millie, is this your younger sister?”Melissa quickly sprung to correct her. “What? Noooo. This is Ares’ classmate or something
Aristotle’s entire being stilled.He had waited for this news for nineteen years. As time passed, the flames died little by little, the heart grew more numb, until the very thought of it was no different from a pipe dream. But today, news of it coming true reached him and plunged him into a torrent of feelings.A long while later, he finally muttered under his breath, “When… When will they be back?”Jackson closed the distance between them and gave the young man a light, comforting pat on the shoulders. “Not so soon, I bet; not when your mother has just woken up and is in need of some time to recover. She did sleep for nineteen years, you know. So maybe after she’s recuperated enough for a while…” he answered. “We’ve waited for nineteen years for this, right? What’s waiting for just a little bit more compared to that? The most important thing for you to do is to manage the company to the best of your abilities. That’s the way to not disappoint your father’s expectation.”Aristotle
Cynthia had never had a relationship before, so she did not know what love was. However, one thing was for certain. She loved the feeling of being with Aristotle and how he had protected her since they were kids. Even though Aristotle had become a little domineering and “naughty”, she was not taken aback by him. Instead, she even felt a little moved, which was amazing.It wasn’t known how they ended up in bed, with their breaths synchronized. Apart from the final step, they had done just about everything else that could be done.Just as they were about to hit the final step, Aristotle suddenly stopped and helped pull the covers over Cynthia. “Let’s sleep, good night.”Cynthia was still lost in a daze from before. She did not know why Aristotle had suddenly stopped, nor did she have the courage to ask him. She had struggled for so long before having persuaded herself to go with the flow…The next day, when Cynthia woke up, Aristotle had already long gone to his company.She took a
Cynthia heard what Aristotle said, but her hands did not stop doing what they were doing. Her head was in a complete mess. “There’s no… no need. I’ll be able to be done with these now. Go ahead and get some sleep first. By the way, where am I sleeping tonight? There are so many rooms here, I’ll ask Agnes to help me clear one up.”Aristotle walked up to her and squatted. He grabbed onto her arm with one hand while the other closed the luggage. “Just sleep with me here and stop tidying already.”Cynthia suspected that she might have misheard. She took a look at the big bed behind him in a daze and suddenly felt her palm, which was held by him, burning up. “Y… You’re kidding, aren’t you, Ares? Although we used to sleep with each other a lot when we were kids, we’re all grown ups now, so wouldn’t that be a little inappropriate?”Aristotle said with a straight face, “I wasn't joking.”Cynthia panicked a little and recalled Melissa’s words once again. ‘Would Ares, whom I’ve known for so
Melissa knew that Aristotle had kissed Cynthia, so she knew what was going on. Hence, she very naturally boasted, “Of course, they’ve been engaged to each other since they were born. Coincidentally, the both of them felt the same way about each other as they grew up, so wouldn’t this make it even better? From the way I see it, your illness isn’t going to recover for the rest of your life and the both of them are probably going to have to wait until Cindy graduates before they get married. So, you’d be better off moving back to France as early as possible. Don’t worry, you’ve saved Aristotle’s life before, so he wouldn’t be stingy with you financially.”Raven wanted to control the unhappiness she had in her heart very much, but her emotions refused to follow her will. Hence, she fiercely struggled to wring free from Melissa’s grasp. Melissa was startled for a moment. “Are you crazy?”After that, Raven regained her senses and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry… I was a little unwell just n
‘You’re not that worried?’ Melissa was so furious that she laughed. “Am I the only one who’s being worried for nothing? I thought you loved my brother, didn’t you? The man you’ve been dreaming of every day has returned from France but brought a woman with him, yet you’re actually not that worried? Let’s put aside your parents’ intentions for a moment. Do you dare to say that you don’t love him? I’m only helping you because you’re my best friend, so could you not be so relaxed, as if I’m helping you for no reason?”Cynthia shook her head and lowered her volume as she said, “He… might have confessed to me. We also… did that already. So, I think he doesn’t feel that way towards Raven. It’s purely because she saved his life once. I trust that Ares will be able to handle the situation properly.”Melissa’s eyes opened wide. “What? He’s only returned for a few days, yet the two of you have already had sex? That fast?! I never knew it, but you’ve really got it in you!”Cynthia’s face flushe