Mark knew she was right, but did that mean his heart would listen to reason right now? No, his heart continued to believe that he was losing Arianne forever, that she was never coming back, and his body answered his heart by hugging her even more tightly without showing signs of letting go.Not knowing what to do, Arianne gave up and let him do whatever he wanted. A while later, however, they both heard a series of impatient rapping on the door to the bathroom and Smore’s voice exclaiming, “Mommy, Daddy! What are you two doing in there? Smore wants to bathe too!”Arianne quickly shoved Mark away from her and opened the door, letting Smore in. “You’ll give him his bath later, alright? I’m close to finishing mine. Oh, and you’re completely wet, Mark. Take care not to catch a cold like this.”Mark crouched to Smore’s height and looked at him carefully. “Smore, my little man, now that you’re gonna live with just Mommy… know that Daddy will continue to see you often,” he cooed gently. “D
Shelly whipped her face to Mary’s direction and glowered at her. “And who the hell are you to talk? And who made you think you could talk to me at all, huh? I might not outlive Arianne, but I know for sure I can easily live longer than you. I won’t die before you do, so maybe you should pray for your own long life instead.”Mary rolled her eyes. “I’ve lost no limbs, my legs are fine, and every year my body check-up shows that I’m normally healthy. We’ll see who gets to laugh last.”…Despite having moved every suitcases and box into her new home, Arianne decided not to go to the office with Mark today. “I’m gonna accompany Smore today,” she decided. “These things need to be unpacked and arranged—looks like I’ve got my work cut out for today. You know, I’ve been meaning to bring Mary over with me, but I haven’t gotten the time to discuss it with you. May I?”Mark caressed her cheeks gently. “Why not? I’ll have her come over by this afternoon, then, so that you have someone to tidy u
Tiffany blew up in an instant. “What the hell?! So, that’s why you’ve suddenly moved. It’s because of that godawful Karen, after all! Is Mark braindead or what? I can’t believe he’d let you move out of a place you should belong!”Arianne smiled. “Will you believe me if I say Mark’s gonna come here every single night without fail? I think it’ll be way more bizarre if he keeps going back to the estate and stares at Shelly-Ann Leigh’s face all night long.”Tiffany understood her immediately. “Aha! So it turns out nothing’s changed even after you moved out, after all. You three happy family are just changed into a new home, which is awesome, ‘cause we’re all leaving that old b*tch alone.”Smore, who was standing before the French window and looking outside, suddenly cried out in excitement, “Mommy, look, a bird!”This kid had never been to a building that was rather tall, so now, everything was so cool and exciting to him. Arianne hummed absent-mindedly at the child’s exclamation befor
Smore pointed at the window and exclaimed, “I like it here, there are so many little birds. They go cuckoo-cuckoo-cuckoo-cuckoo!”Smore was talking about the pigeons that frequented a nearby plaza. The flock sometimes took off into the air simultaneously, resulting in a magnificent, eye-catching spectacle.Mark spent his time after dinner watching TV with Smore on his lap. Arianne seized the chance to ask, “So, what time are you going back?”He turned toward her, displeasure shadowing his frown. “You want me to go already? Well, I’m not going anywhere. In fact, I’ve asked Mary to pack some of my clothes and put them here. From now on, this is where I live.”Arianne had long expected him to do that. “I’m being serious here, Mark. You gotta go back there from time to time, ya’ know. Wouldn’t want a certain someone to pick a fight with me over this.”Mark might have said something to the effect of “yes”, but it was obvious he did not mean a single word of it. Knowing that he had retr
Shelly ignored Tiffany altogether and trained her attention on Arianne. She was not going to leave here empty-handed and without a shred of advantage earned.“Arianne Wynn, let me be very clear to you. If Mark stays over at your place tonight, I’ll spread every atrocity his foster mother had done to the public as well as let the whole world know that he’s actually my son,” she declared. “You know damn well that this is the last thing he wants. If your motive is to see him suffer, then by all means, continue clinging to him. I don’t care what you people think of me. I’m clearly the villain to all of you already, and I’m not afraid to play the role to its logical extreme. Besides, I know he’ll one day wake up and feel grateful to me—one day, he’ll be grateful that I’ve taken the necessary step to make him leave you.“If you truly care about him, then don’t let his worst nightmare come true,” she finished. “Don’t force my hand.”Coercion was Shelly’s most adept gambit. All she needed w
Mark strutted to the dining table and stared for a beat, not taking his seat.Then, with one furious swing, he swept every single dish on the table to the floor. Amid the cacophonic clamor, he bellowed, “How could you?! I don’t give a f**k if you threaten me, but why must you do the same to Arianne?!”Shelly was so taken aback by his sudden outburst that she gave up looking for her cane, opting to rise as steadily as she could with the help of her chair. “M-Mark, my dear! W-What have you done?! I’ve poured my heart over that for the entire evening… I… It’s Arianne, isn’t it? She told you, didn’t she? That little snitch!”Mark whipped his face to Shelly’s direction, his eyes as cutting and deadly as knives. “What in hell do you want from me? You bereft me of my wife and son, and now you’re explicitly denying me whatever little chances I have left to see my family? She is the love of my life, and he the fruit of my loins! How could you? How could you be so inhumane? You’ve lived a cra
Henry sighed in resignation. “Whatever floats your boat, I suppose. In all honesty, I watched Madam’s growth from a little girl to who she is today, just as Mr. Tremont had. She has always been under his constant scrutiny all these years. Who are you to judge her character and nature? Overt willfulness can only be your own undoing,” he said. “Compare now to the Tremont Estate before your return. Everything was serene and happy. But now, the house is enveloped by a bedeviling miasma. If you keep this up, this household will implode. Is that what you want to see?”Shelly cracked a bitter smile. “Please, the only thing this household has lost is Arianne Wynn. So what? She’s just another one of the dime-a-dozen women. Mark will move on someday; his so-called devotion will someday change target too. There is no such thing as a devoted, eternal love.”She had all the examples she needed: Mark’s father came to love someone else other than his wife, to the point of siring a bastard son. Her
Smore placed a few of his cookies into an empty plate. “I’m leaving some of these for Daddy. He hasn’t eaten what Mommy made yet.”Was Smore insensitive and inconsiderate? If he were, he would not have cared if his father had gotten to taste his mother’s cookies. Was Smore sensitive and sweet, then? Well, he did just twist the knife in his mother’s heart, right where it hurt…Mary, at the very least, was amused by the little boy’s antic. “Aww, isn’t our Smore just the most precious, sweetest thing?” she praised. “Your daddy puts on an icy exterior all the time, too, but boy, he’s always the nicest gentleman to his lady. The apple doesn’t fall too far from its tree; I know for sure that you’ll grow up to be just as much of a loving man.”Meanwhile in the Tremont Estate, sitting across from each at the dining table, were Mark and Shelly gawking at one another in tense silence.The clamor of fireworks outside was all the presence Christmas’s Eve amounted to within the walls of the Tre