When she arrived at her desk, Arianne sat down and took a deep breath to calm her nerves. She still had quite a lot of outstanding tasks to be completed.Sylvain had arrived earlier than her and was already buried in his work. Arianne casually asked, “How have you been recently? Has your mom not made you break down yet?”Sylvain gave a wry laugh and said, “I’m doing alright, but I can’t seem to understand why Robin’s mom dislikes me and my mom dislikes Robin like they’re born to be mortal enemies. I put in so much effort and finally began to make progress with getting Robin’s mom to like me, then my mom suddenly jumps out and makes my life even more difficult. Everytime I think of how Robin and I still aren’t living together despite being married for so long, I can’t even begin to imagine when we’re going to be able to begin making plans for having a baby. I’ve got a really bad headache at the moment because of this. You’re a woman, I’m sure you’re more experienced with dealing with
Arriane only shook her head, not wishing to speak.Sylvain was slightly surprised. “Is she dead?”Arianne rolled her eyes at him. “What’re you talking about? I just don’t know how she’s doing! When I arrived there, she was still in the emergency treatment room, so I don’t know the details. I came back because Mark told me not to stay there.”Sylvain patted his chest. “You gave me a fright there. I thought that things were really bad. We don’t know how she’s doing yet, so there’s no need for you to pull such an expression, is there? She should be fine.”Arianne grabbed her hair in frustration. “I’m not like this because of Mrs. Leigh. It’s because I don’t understand why Mark asked me to come back. Isn’t his aunt my aunt too? I feel so uncomfortable with the dark expression he gave me when he asked me to come back. It’s not like I’m the one who caused his aunt to run into an accident. I know that he’s in a bad mood, but he doesn’t have to vent it out at me…”Sylvain was speechless a
After Arianne was done feeding Shelly, the latter suddenly said, “Mark, you’ve been looking after me tirelessly the whole night. You should go home and get some rest. I’ll be fine here, but I’ll need your help with arranging someone to take care of me for the next few days, since I can’t move around by myself.”Mark pulled up her blanket and tucked her in. “It’s fine, Aunt Shelly. I can’t be at ease if someone else takes care of you. I’ll let Arianne accompany you for the time being while I go home to get changed. I’ll be back later.”Arianne suddenly said, “If you’re worried about someone else taking care of her, why don’t you let me do it then? I’m sure you’d be at ease if it were me, wouldn’t you? You can’t be away from Tremont Enterprise for too long, so you should leave the errands in the hospital to me.”Mark swiftly scanned Arianne’s face and casually said, “It’s fine, I’ll do it.”Arianne trembled—was he being defensive of her? Was he afraid that she would mistreat his Aunt
Shelly was silent for a moment, showing confusion when she answered. “How is that a big deal? I’m even willing to sacrifice my life if I have to…”Arianne found her words to be quite strange. She thought that the feelings Shelly had for Mark exceeded that of an aunt who had not contacted her nephew for many years. It was normal for a senior to show love and care for the juniors, but it was really strange for her to show that many feelings for Mark. It was as if she treated Mark as her own flesh and blood.Arianne had her suspicions but did not dwell further on them, since she was in no position to go wild with her imagination. Later in the day, Mark returned to the hospital to visit. However, Shelly felt sorry for him and asked him to leave the ward after a short while. Arianne stayed at the hospital to accompany Shelly throughout the night. She might have felt tired, but Arianne knew that if she had not done it, Mark would be the one who would be tired instead. How could she let h
Shelly sighed in relief. “That’s fine then.”It was past 2 AM, but Shelly could not go back to sleep. Hence, Arianne stayed up and the two of them talked to each other for a moment before Arianne slept away due to the amount of fatigue she had. The next day, when Arianne woke up, Shelly was still awake. Shelly looked very pale because she was not able to get a good night’s sleep the night before. It seemed like she was really having a hard time sleeping properly.Shelly had been given a sleeping pill that day in addition to her usual medication. Based on the situation she was in, it would not be helpful for her recovery if she was not able to get enough rest. After taking the sleeping pill, she dozed off into a deep sleep without talking in her sleep again.When Arianne recalled what she had heard the night before, her mind was filled with curiosity. She was curious about what had actually happened between Mark’s mom and Shelly for the latter to be stuck in such a deep abyss. Did sh
After a while, Shelly regained her composure. Mark carried her downstairs on his back, and they had dinner as though nothing had happened.Mary intentionally avoided Shelly and did not dine with them on the table. She also secretly complained to Arianne and told her that Shelly was definitely insane. Arianne felt helpless and had no idea how she could resolve the situation. During dinner, Shelly answered a phone call but did not leave the table due to her leg. When she picked up the phone, the expression on her face immediately changed and both Arianne and Mark could clearly see the changes. The couple looked at each other and took a deep breath—they had just gone through an argument; anyone in their right mind would break down if another argument ensued. It was unknown as to who had called Shelly or what had been discussed. All that was known was that Shelly had hung up the phone in a hurry without saying a word.Very soon, that person called again, but Shelly immediately switch
At that moment, Arianne had a serious thought as to what would happen in the future. In the past, when Shelly was still healthy, it was very likely for her to move out and live elsewhere. However, now that she’d lost her mobility and was most likely going to be a cripple forever, without any hope of recovery, it was very likely that she would have to live in Tremon Estate forever.Arianne was in no position to object. Shelly was in that situation because she had saved Mark. She had just joined Tremont Enterprises not too long ago but was already in such a situation. It would be impossible for her to continue working there when she was unable to move with one leg. Mark owed it to her, so he should naturally take care of her.At midnight, Arianne set her alarm to wake up later in the night to check and see if Shelly needed any assistance.As she walked to Shelly’s room in a daze later, right before she was about to knock on the door, she suddenly heard Shelly’s voice from inside the r
Shelly muttered something very softly and Arianne could not make out what she was saying. Just when she wanted to ask in more detail, Shelly had already passed out on the floor and was completely drunk.Arianne had to put in a lot of effort to try and put her to bed. When she returned to her bedroom, she had a very hard time keeping her eyes open and dozed off to sleep very quickly.The next day, when Arianne woke up, Mark was already gone. She looked at the time and realized that it was past 10 AM. Arianne thought that she might as well lay down for a while longer and procrastinate since she was late for work anyway. Arianne had not been able to get to work on time since Shelly’s incident.When she walked downstairs, she saw that Shelly had a children’s storybook in her hands and was reading to Smore. Shelly seemed much kinder whenever she was with either Mark or Smore. Smore seemed to like her company as well, since he could sit quietly beside her and listen to her story intently.
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