Arianne found it both frustrating and funny. She had been wondering what had happened between her and Smore—so Mark had been the problem all along. She seemed to recall that she had not fed Smore his milk last night. Mark had secretly used the reserved milk to feed Smore, right? How did he not find it tedious! Smore had been brainwashed by his father’s nonsense!She furiously stormed into the room. Smore was shocked by the sudden loud noise. His eyes stared at her innocently, his lips curved. Arianne did not have the time to care for Smore and immediately rushed up and grabbed a pillow before slamming it onto Mark. “How could you! I knew I shouldn’t have left Smore with you for the night! I had never known you to be so cunning?!” she said.Mark saw that he had been exposed and said with a straight face, “I’m just worried that he’s too attached to you, and you’d be exhausted because of it. My methods may not have been right, but at least the result’s the same, right? Look, I’m putting
She grumbled, “Who’s going to be your partner for the day? Can you tell me? Since she’s going to be your partner, you will definitely have to have some form of body contact, holding onto your arm, to say the least… So I should have the right to ask, right?”Mark helplessly said, “Isn’t it manners to hold onto our arms? Relax, I will do my best to avoid any form of body contact. I’m not sure who my partner is since I’ve left it to Jackson to arrange. My guess is that she’s probably a university student hoping to earn some cash as part-time, so it should be a simple case of trading. There’s really nothing for me to tell you because I don’t know her. Jackson has always been the one who is most familiar with women.”Arianne snorted without saying anything else.Mark had dropped her off at their house door before driving off. The time was a little past three, and she was thinking if she should give Tiffany a call when Mary suddenly showed up to welcome her. “Madam, your mother is here. S
Arianne asked, “Did she actually mention it?”Helen did not conceal the truth and said, “Yes, that’s why I’m reminding you. Whatever it is, she’s my daughter. But she’s got nothing to do with you, so you don’t have to go soft on her.”To be honest, Arianne liked Helen’s character, not everyone was able to break down all aspects of a situation as clearly as she did. Helen had many merits that not many people would have apart from being a strong, independent, and beautiful woman, and those outstanding traits had made her very attractive. Otherwise, her father would not have been infatuated by her.At Mark’s side, it was past six in the evening. Mark arrived at the luxurious ball event, which was a front for a big party organized by familiar faces, the only difference was that everyone was dressed gentlemanly and more elegantly. Of course, the elegance was just on the surface, as there were a lot of dark shenanigans at play there. Mark had never liked to attend events like these. The m
After receiving the private room number? Jackson eagerly abandoned Janice and rushed right over. At the same time, he informed Mark via text message.Alejandro had been recuperating at home due to his leg wound, so he had no chance to approach him. This time, he wasn’t going to let him slip away!He pushed the door open, and the room went silent. Aside from Alejandro and a fat, oily man, there were two bodyguards and a few scantily-clad women. Jackson eyed Alejandro. “Tell everyone to leave, or else.”Alejandro stared at him calmly. He waved his hand, and the bodyguards and women got up and left. The fat old man tactfully left when he saw this as well.“Your information network is efficient. You’ve been waiting for me, haven’t you? Is Tiffany aware that you’ve brought a date?” Alejandro poured himself a glass of wine, completely calm.Jackson balled his hands into fists. “You knew that I’d find you here, so why come? Lynn didn’t fall to her death because she lost her footing. You
“Your precious woman was once hopelessly in love with me for three years,” Alejandro replied calmly. “I had her too. Before you did. Once upon a time, I was the only one in her eyes. But now, you’re the only one in her eyes. I just couldn’t accept it. I was young and foolish, and revenge was the only thing I could think about. I didn’t really pay attention to the woman who shared my bed. Blame it on regret. There’s nothing wrong in wanting to make up for it, right?”The words “woman who shared my bed” brought Jackson’s ire once again. Wasn’t he straight-up telling him that someone else had slept with his wife before? It would have been fine if the matter hadn’t been brought up, but it was sickening to hear it. “Make up for it? Hah! Do you think you deserve that? She and I might never have gotten involved if you hadn’t destroyed her family and killed her father. To her, it would be best if you never showed your face in front of her again. And yet you’re naive enough to think of making
Alejandro pulled out an empty wine glass and poured a glass for Mark. “Have a seat.”Mark glanced at Jackson and walked over to take a seat with an expressionless look on his face. “Mark, he’s Ethan. He’s confessed. He killed Lynn too,” Jackso said.Alejandro couldn’t be bothered to explain too much. Besides, it didn’t matter if he killed Lynn or if Don Smith did it. It wasn’t a big difference. “Are you two here on a crusade against me?”“You’re extremely lucky, Ethan,” Mark calmly said. “You’re quite bold too. Since you’re alive, you should tuck your tail away and stay off the grid. Why are you back? Would you like to die again? Or did you think that I’d be helpless against you, now that you have the Smiths as insurance?”Alejandro snorted. “I’ve never thought of it that way. However, Alejandro’s identity has made everything much easier for me and prevented you two from doing whatever you want to me. Isn’t that right? I didn’t come back for you, Mark. It would have been fine if I
Mark could see through Alejandro’s determination. His heart sank. “I can’t possibly stay away. Jackson is my best friend. I won’t stand idly by when it involves him. Since that’s the case, don’t blame me. I will defeat you with Arianne’s approval.”The party wasn’t over, but Jackson and Mark left anyway. They gave Janice and the other woman some money, then told them to take a cab home on their own.It wasn’t a completely fruitless endeavor this time. At least, they had managed to confirm that Alejandro was Ethan. Unfortunately, Alejandro had been well-prepared, so they had failed to obtain any substantial evidence to publicize his identity and send him to jail. This was going to be a long battle, and it was only just beginning.Jackson was at the height of his temper. “What the hell does he want? Does he want to take my woman away from me? Forget it!”Mark sighed. “He won’t do anything until Tiffany gives birth. You should calm down for now. It’s getting late. You should go home.
Arianne was aware of tonight’s party. However, as Helen had just left, she hadn’t had the time to think of anything else. She was still quite calm before she saw that picture, but when she saw the picture of Mark holding Janice, she stiffened. She wasn’t aware that Mark’s date for the night would turn out to be Janice. Based on the picture, they were at the top of the staircase in a secluded corner. They were all alone, and their stance seemed so intimate…She continuously consoled herself that she had to trust Mark. He had told her about this earlier on, hadn’t he? She shouldn’t doubt him… But why Janice of all people? She had a rough idea of Janice’s background. She was born from a poor family and had just stepped out into society. However, the clothes on Janice were not considered cheap. She couldn’t have afforded them, based on her financial state. She was uneasy.Regardless, Tiffany was pregnant, so she had to calm Tiffany down and act as if nothing was wrong. “Tiffie, we can’t
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