Tiffany released a lifetime’s worth of swear words when she saw that report. How could so many people believe in such baseless accusations?Everyone was speculating over why Arianne wanted to be with the man who had killed her father. There was no other reason, except for revenge. They even said that she must have used unique methods in order to make Mark marry her.Soon, Tremont Estate was surrounded by reporters, 24/7, all vying to find out the truth from Arianne.Arianne couldn’t leave the house. She had no choice but to ask Summer to take care of the company for now. She had read through the report countless times and realized that something was amiss—the report accused Mark of being the murderer behind the plane crash, but she knew that it was Mark’s mother, not Mark himself. That meant that the person behind the report knew about the crash but didn’t know the internal specifics. Furthermore, there was nothing else on Alejandro, aside from the fact that he was a b*stard. It did
To Arianne, a question as direct as that was like a sharp knife stabbing through her heart. She took a deep breath and answered, “Yes, it’s a fact that the boat sank. However, it’s still too early to say if he’s actually in trouble or not. At least, there’s no… body... “The policewoman raised an eyebrow. “It’s pretty much confirmed that he’s in trouble given the circumstances. How much do you know about this incident?”Arianne, not liking how the policewoman was being so direct with her words, began to feel angry. She tonelessly said, “Only one person who was with Mark returned safely from the ship—the CEO of Smith Enterprises, Alejandro Smith. Alejandro said that the ship sank due to the storm. He found that all the life rafts had been destroyed deliberately when he was trying to flee.”The policewoman continued to question her. “So, it was no mere accident that the ship sank? What do you think about the news reports that have been going around on the internet?”Arianne answered
The policewoman did not know what she was thinking prior. She gave a sigh and said, “The police will arrange for Alejandro to go through a DNA test with regards to the rumors going on around the internet. If he is actually an illegitimate son of the Tremonts… things would become complicated, which I’m sure you are already well aware of.”Arianne did not say anything. Alejandro’s involvement would definitely complicate matters. However, aside from his true identity, the police would not be able to secure any other evidence, hence they would not be able to judge Alejandro, in the end. The fact was, Mark had gone out to sea with Alejandro and only the Smith’s ship had sunk. What was obvious was that the ship had not sunk by natural means, which was evident because of the sabotaged life raft that ultimately caused the demise of the passengers on the ship. The revelation of Alejandro’s identity would make her become the prime suspect. However, other than having to face the pressure from pu
Jackson found it a bit hard to bring the words to his mouth. “Cheer up, Arianne. We haven’t received any news about Mark’s death, so wouldn’t it be likely that he’s still alive? Also, I heard that you were taken to the police station along with Alejandro for questioning. How was it? Did they mistreat you? The person who posted the news was very careful, so I’m unable to pick up any useful information on him at the moment. I’ve even ruled out all the suspects, but I haven’t got any leads at the moment. The truth that Alejandro is Ethan must never be revealed now. It didn’t matter when it was revealed in the past, but now’s definitely not the time. It would be very troublesome and you will definitely be dragged into it. The whole world now thinks that you and the Tremonts’ illegitimate son are the ones who have killed Mark.”Arianne said in a daze, “Alejandro’s been taken by the police to get his DNA tested. I did not wait around for his results to be released.”Tiffany was shocked. “H
Tragedies and accidents are so common, they are happening at any moment and anywhere in the world. It’s easy to gloat and laugh at others when such incidents do not happen to oneself. However, when it does, the amount of despair and helplessness they have to suffer is very tortuous. Jackson, Sylvain, and Robin left together after staying until midnight, leaving Tiffany and Plato to accompany Arianne at the Tremont estate.The next day, Arianne had gone to the office. She could clearly feel the strange gazes the employees of the office gave her thanks to the news report, some even gazes of disgust. Given the chance, the latter ones would probably want to criticize and hit her badly, wouldn’t they? Humans are sometimes very foolish beings, choosing to believe such ungrounded rumors. There is a saying that some people just like to watch the world burn.Arianne ignored everything around her and headed towards Mark’s office directly, shutting herself in solitude. Summer had arrived at
Arianne clenched her fist and shook her head. “It’s fine, please brief me everything later since you’re able to understand. I’m having a bad… headache.”Summer nodded her head and looked at the screen, turning her focus to the meeting. However, Summer herself was having a hard time coping with the meeting as well, since she had not followed Mark’s management style previously. Further, Summer was too aged to be able to get used to such modern working styles. Summer was mentally exhausted from listening to the agendas of the meeting. Evidently, it was not only Arianne who was having a hard time, but Summer as well. Throughout the meeting, Summer only half understood everything that was discussed and needed to estimate what the employees had presented. Back at the office, both women went through each other’s notes of the meeting and managed to understand the majority of what had happened in the meeting.At night, Summer followed Arianne back to the Tremont Estate because she wanted to
Helen was good at hiding her emotions, just like Arianne. No matter how sad she was, she would be perfectly capable of acting as if nothing had happened. Arianne had already sobbed herself into a puddle of tears. If Helen were to burst into tears now, it would only make the situation even sadder. Helen could only play the part of a listener and consoler.This time, Helen did not leave so soon after her return. She decided to stay in Tremont Estate for a while. Arianne needed her now.Life has a cruel way of making people face reality. In the third month after the shipwreck, Arianne was still in pain over Mark’s death. She now completely believed that he was not coming home anymore. He couldn’t bear making her and Aristotle wait for so long, if he were still alive…On a day when it wasn’t snowing, a moderately sunny afternoon, she locked everything related to Mark into a lonely room. She needed to move on from this trauma with Aristotle and face the future. For example, if she didn’t
Seaton nodded. “That’s good… I thought that a lonely little woman like yourself would be helpless. You’ve really impressed me. I’ve read the comments about you on the internet. Don’t mind them. Just don’t look at them. What you don’t see won’t hurt you.”“I know, I can’t be bothered to read them,” Arianne replied courteously. “It’s all just slander with different names. Not enough to make me hit the ceiling.”“Those rumors on the internet… They’re fake, aren’t they?” Seaton suddenly asked in a careful tone.Arianne stared at Seaton for a few seconds. “You can’t possibly think that they’re real, could you?”Seaton smiled. “Why would I? I’m just asking. I’d never believe that you’d do such a thing. I’m just suspicious of Alejandro’s identity. The Alejandro I knew was a cripple. The current Alejandro has a good pair of legs. Is he really not the Tremonts’ b*stard? I’m merely curious. Mark and I used to talk about everything, but he hadn’t been able to update me on much, due to our dis
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