Arianne’s laughter could be heard throughout the entire building till even Brian could hear it as well. He mumbled unhappily, “I’m a disgrace to mankind, not being able to marry even at the age of thirty…”During the journey, Arianne took out a mirror from her bag to tidy up her makeup. She had done her makeup in a hurry; since she had to leave suddenly, her lipstick was slightly crooked.Just as she was done tidying up, Mark reached out and turned her face towards him. His fingers rubbed against her lips. “I’ve told you not to use such a red shade already. I’ll throw away all those lipsticks one of these days.”She slapped his hand away. “You’re really asking for me to hit you. I’ve just put this on! How is this red? I’ve already chosen the lightest shade they have. My lips have always been this red naturally, alright? You chauvinistic man, you’re hopeless!”Mark saw that she did not dare take out her lipstick to put it on again and grinned.After being angry for half an hour, Ar
It was Lynn. She always lingered around him. Every time he blocked a number, she would come back with another one. Jackson had begun to think about changing his own number. However, he thought about it deeper. He had not been able to confirm whether Alejandro was actually Ethan or not. Could Lynn be of use since she was working under Alejandro?The thought did cross Jackson’s mind a while ago, but he did not execute the plan since it may get others involved unnecessarily. Now that Lynn had said that she no longer wanted to work for Alejandro, he began to hesitate a little. What if it was true? He and Lynn went way back. They just weren’t able to develop their relationship to the extent that others might have imagined.As he thought of this, he swiftly replied to her message. ‘Will contact you at three in the afternoon.’After finishing lunch with Tiffany, he sent her back to the office to have an afternoon nap. He kept looking at his watch for the time, and as Tiffany began to fall
Lynn drew a quick breath. “I’ll help you. I owe you my life, so what’s this to me? I’ll contact you when I’ve gotten it, so you should head back first in case Tiffany finds out you’re meeting me. Remember to delete any traces of me contacting you.”When she finished, she immediately got up and walked off. The waiter returned to their table with a fresh cup of hot coffee and placed it on the table of an empty seat. Jackson looked at the cup of coffee and went deep into thought. His heart felt a little uneasy. He was not worried about Lynn’s capability in completing the job, but he knew that there were risks involved with this task and he secretly regretted asking her to do it since he was not used to asking women to do things for him. However, he knew that he had no choice since Tiffany was involved in this.During the winter, night came earlier. Jackson was driving Tiffany back to White Water Bay Villa. Normally, he would be very careful as he drove, yet on that day, he seemed to be
He got up and headed to the kitchen. “The baby’s being curious. It’s not that he doesn’t like me.”At the Smiths’ private manor.Alejandro, Melanie, and Don Smith were eating in the dining room. It was mostly Melanie and Don Smith talking to each other, as Alejandro kept quiet without interrupting then.As they spoke more excitedly, Don Smith suddenly asked, “Melanie, how is it that you’re so into meat these two days? In the past, you would rant on and on about losing weight, and you would only eat a tiny bit everyday during meals because you were afraid of gaining weight. Now that you’re eating more for the past two days, you seem to look much better. You should maintain this lifestyle. Health is the most important thing to have.”Melanie looked at Alejandro and saw that his body had frozen. She immediately said, “My doctor has said that my anemia is getting a little serious, and he advised me not to go on a diet. I don’t seem to be able to stop the moment I begin to eat freely.”
He pursed his lips and called Jett. “Look at the surveillance cameras. Did anyone enter my room while I was eating.”Jett was curious. “There are no cameras in the room. There are never cameras in the bedroom, only the areas outside.”He looked at Jett and gave him a meaningful look as he said, “There is a surveillance camera just outside my room that is aimed directly at my bedroom. You aren’t aware of it because Don Smith had it installed. Look for his men to check the records—there’s no need to do it in secret.”Jett cautiously nodded his head. “Alright, I’ll get right on it.”Five minutes later, Jett returned and said, “Sir, it’s Lynn! She had looked around outside your door before and entered only when she confirmed no one was looking. It’s unknown why she had entered your room, but she looked normal when she left and it didn’t seem like she took anything with her. Have you lost something? She had come to me to hand me her resignation today and asked me to inform you on her be
Lynn paused. She picked up her phone and stared at Jackson’s number. Her tears landed on the screen. She was scared. She was afraid of death. Regardless of how strong she was, she was still a woman, and she wanted to live. Oh, how she wished for someone to come and save her. In the past, the first person she would turn to in her time of peril would be Jackson. Now, she had lost the right to do so.She called him in the end. She knew that Jackson wasn’t going to answer. He must be taking meticulous care of his pregnant wife, Tiffany, right now…However, unexpectedly, the call connected.She burst into tears at that very moment. Her body was trembling ceaselessly. She tried her best to hold back her sobs and control her urge to call for help. “Jack, I’ve used up a lifetime’s worth of fortune in meeting you. Let’s end it here,” She ended the call after saying her piece. She hadn’t managed to hear Jackson’s voice. She didn’t even know if he had heard her at all.Alejandro watched the
Meanwhile, Jackson was staring at his phone screen with a complicated look on his face. Why did Lynn call him all of a sudden? It was as if… That was her final goodbye. So does that mean that something happened while retrieving the specimen? This was expected, but if it really happened, Alejandro would never let Lynn walk out alive…He pulled off his apron at the thought of this and grabbed his car keys. “Tiffie, I’m going out. You enjoy your meal and go straight to bed after. I’ll be back soon.”“Where are you going?” Tiffany asked with a frown. “Dinner’s ready. Why aren’t you having dinner first? You have to have something to eat regardless of how busy you are, right?”He wasn’t used to lying to her. He instinctively averted her gaze. “Well… There’s been an emergency at the company that I have to take care of first. It’s fine. I have to provide for our family. I have you and the baby now. I can’t do it all alone now. Earning money is important.”Despite her displeasure, Tiffany
Jackson punched his steering wheel and stared at the Smiths’ courtyard through his windshield. He was sorely tempted to burst in, but he knew that he couldn’t. Otherwise, the headlines tomorrow would be filled with news of him breaking into private property, and would surely include some unnecessary gossip about him. He wouldn’t be able to keep anything from Tiffany once that happened. This was only one of the possibilities. Another was that once he went in, he would never be able to get out.However, could he afford to sit idly by? Lynn was in trouble because of him. He was now regretting asking her for help. If he hadn’t met her or asked, they could remain completely unrelated, and this would never have happened.Since he had no way of solving this, he had no choice but to turn to Mark.He called Mark and heard Aristotle’s childish babbling as he learned how to talk and Arianne’s giggling. He was instantly unsure of what to say, he felt as if he shouldn’t be interrupting Mark’s li
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