The shares were supposed to be Tremont Enterprises’ biggest hurdle. Now, Arianne had managed to get through it. He hated the Smiths, Larks, and Wests for helping Arianne out. Now, he had to wait for Tremont Enterprises to be at its weakest before dealing a final blow. Otherwise, all of his efforts would go to waste if he waited for Tremont Enterprises to recover under Arianne’s management.Seeing the gloomy look in his eyes, Aerse summoned his courage and asked, “Mr. Bart, is our previous agreement still valid? I’ve done everything you’ve asked. The final result has nothing to do with me.”Seaton stared at Aerse and icily said, “What agreement? 10% of Tremont Enterprises? Open your eyes, who’s controlling Tremont Enterprises now? Is it me? Where am I supposed to wrangle that 10% for you? Yes, we did have an agreement—that I would give you shares once I’d obtained Tremont Enterprises. However, I don’t have it, and you still have the nerve to ask?”Aerse immediately understood. He was
The corners of Arianne’s lips carried an easy-going smile. “It’s fine. This is how it should be. There’s 23% shares in total there. I’ve divided it according to the money that your family has given. Have a look and sign if everything looks alright to you. That way, only Charles has 2% of shares. Everything else belongs to us. Thank you for banding together and helping me when I needed it most. Tremont Enterprises would have been finished if it weren’t for you. I’d feel uneasy if you don’t agree to this. You deserve it. I’ll take good care of Tremont Enterprises. Thank you.”Jackson and Alejandro remained hesitant about signing the document. Only Melanie signed it first. “I can’t help it. I have to sign. You two think about it.”Alejandro looked at Jackson and said, “You sign. It doesn’t matter if you do. I can’t sign. If Mark finds out that part of Tremont Enterprises’ shares belong to me, he’ll haunt my dreams and kill me. I’ve said that I no longer want any part of Tremont Enterpri
Arianne asked nothing more. Some things were just meant to stay private.…Somewhere in a foreign country laid a hospital that housed a feeble man lying on his bed with his eyes trained on the little screen of his phone. There, shown in the tiny screen, was the dining hall within the Tremont Estate.A slight smile hung on his lips as his eyes lingered on Arianne and Smore with rapt attention.Henry, the butler, was massaging his legs. “Are you sure you want to keep your survival a secret from your wife, Mr. Tremont? We couldn’t tell her back then because you were in a coma and in a rather dire state. But now, you’ve passed the most critical phase. That’s a good cue to inform Madam, right?” he suggested. “She’s in a terrible mental shape, Mr. Tremont. She even contracted a serious case of migraine. It’s not at all surprising to find her sitting inside your study because she couldn’t sleep, and she’ll sit there and do nothing until the very next day. I’m just afraid that if this keep
Mark responded by regarding Alejandro silently, his mind whirling with thoughts foreign even to himself. For some reason, it suddenly occurred to him that Alejandro’s childhood was even worse than his own. He was a Tremont scion just as much as Mark was, yet they were not treated equally at all.This was a Tremont’s reparation, one that was a long-time coming and should have been done by his father. Mark decided that he was going to wipe off a debt his father left so that he no longer owed his unscrupulous, stonehearted half-brother anything.There was also another thought telling Mark that, supposedly, if his mother had not orchestrated that plane crash, Ethan might have been able to live more a bit better, too, even if he was still never going to be treated as a legitimate son of the Tremonts. In other words, Mark might not be so much as wiping his father’s debt clean, but atoning for his mother’s sin.Whatever the reasons were, they prompted Mark to grab hold of a piece of floati
Mark’s exclusive video interview became a viral internet sensation, yet Arianne knew nothing about it. Since morning, she had been so busy handling company affairs that she had no time to busy herself with such online clamors.However, her cluelessness was challenged when Sylvain burst through her office door. “Arianne—Arianne!”The woman in question looked up at him with a deadpanned expression, puzzled at the apparent jubilance he showed. “Why are you excited?”Sylvain’s hand, holding his phone, was slightly but visibly shaking. Suddenly, he realized he had no idea how to break one of the most astronomically-great news to the woman who needed it the most.Arianne gawked at him as her confusion intensified. “What… What’s going on?”Sylvain recomposed himself with incredible difficulty. He took a deep breath before starting, “I think you should steel yourself before I announce this bombshell.”His boast amused Arianne a little, but she obliged, putting her papers down and intentl
Mark appeared within the Tremont Tower a few moments later. From the entrance to the forty-sixth floor, his presence was marked by widened eyes upon widened eyes, as rapt attention was nailed to him while he sauntered through his office. Had it not been for Henry, his stalwart butler, following Mark’s movement, no one would have believed him to be the genuine article.Mark was surprised upon not finding Arianne, so he asked a dumbfounded Davy, “Where is she?”Davy was so overwhelmed that his answer came out as a stammer. “M-M-Madam, uh, she r-returned home, I think? Sylvain came to her excitedly, so she probably heard of your return from him… Um, Mr. Tremont, are you alright?”“Do I look otherwise?” Mark replied flatly.As he talked, he crossed the room and sat behind the desk. He could smell a whiff of fragrance, no doubt left by Arianne. He marveled at the fact that she had begun to use a perfume; it smelled soft and sweet, just like the woman herself.Mark looked at the pile of
Mary was the one who broke the silence. “Mr. Tremont, you really have come back!”It was the last confirmation Arianne needed to know that the man standing in front of her was real.It’s been a long, long time.She rushed forward and dove into the chest of the man she thought about in the day and dreamed about at night. She was acutely aware of how feeble and emaciated his body had become compared to the sturdy frame she remembered. He had stumbled a bit from the impact, but at the last step, he stood steady and locked his arms around her into a tight, unyielding embrace.Unfortunately, Arianne’s force was a little too much for his chest, and soon, his yet-fully-recovered lungs began to protest with a fit of coughs.Arianne refused to let go. “Where have you been? Why have you only come back now? I thought… I thought you were dead! I thought you were never coming back. Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to… to go through the motion over these few cursed months?”Mark ru
Arianne shyly stared into his eyes. “You’ve… lost weight. What have you been up to over the past few months?”Mark was different from her. He wasn’t shy, so he boldly stared at her, surveying her from head to toe. One look alone was not enough. “I was washed onto a nearby shore after the shipwreck. I drank too much seawater and it was too cold. I was dying, but a fisherman saved me. It was a small, poor little place. The family that took me in used primitive medication to save my life. Now that I’m mentioning it, it’s kind of funny. The people there had some strange beliefs. They even asked someone to perform a ritual. I guess it’s kind of like… witchcraft? This dragged out for a few months. I thought I was going to die from the delay. Thank goodness I managed to contact Henry. He took me to the hospital then. I was in bad shape. I don’t know if I would survive, so I didn’t dare tell you until I was sure that I could come back to you alive, then go straight to you. I was afraid that y
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