Saoirse examined her freshly-made manicure nonchalantly. When she spoke, her tone was markedly devoid of the respect she used to reserve for Shelly. “Yea, I’ve talked to her. So? Listen, Mrs. Leigh, don’t ever call me about this ever again. Mr. Tremont never wanted to divorce Mrs. Tremont, did he? Which is why even now, they live as though the divorce never happened. They’re always meeting each other whenever they can. So, why did you ask me to stir up something to get Mrs. Tremont kicked out of the company? Were you trying to get me into trouble? No one crosses Mr. Tremont. What’s a quicker way to incur his wrath than to hurt his lady?“With all due respect, Mrs. Leigh, you’re completely on the wrong side of things here. You yourself knew better than to piss Mr. Tremont off, so you tried to sacrifice me instead. You only see me as a pawn, don’t you? And even if I manage to marry Mr. Tremont in the future, should I be expecting you to concoct some new schemes to kick me away if I don’
Arianne immediately paused in mid-action.“Are you for real? Do you only see with your eyes and avoid using your damn head?” she snapped. “Ever heard of two-faced fakers? Or are you doubting my character already? Or maybe you think I’m being overdramatic and raging over a nothingburger!”“What? No, man! That was a genuine question; c’mon, don’t be pissed, please,” he replied quickly. “It’s just that… what I saw from my interaction with her and what you told me combined show a downright terrifying character. She acts like she’s chummy with you in public, but in the shadows? She schemes against you and plots your doom! You know, before you came, she struck a conversation with me, and there wasn’t a single line throughout when she mentioned anything bad about you. It had been heaps of praises after praises, and at one point, she even lamented about the divorce between you and Mr. Tremont. She was acting so convincing that, I admit, I almost tipped over into believing her.”Arianne was
Arianne’s tone was as cold as steel. “‘Senior’? You mean the senior of the Tremont family, which by the way, I’m no longer a member of? What’s that got to do with me?” she sneered. “I had respected you and bent over backward for you on so many, many occasions back then that, now, if you’re trying to guilt-trip me on an imaginary inadequacy, you can call that off already. It’s not gonna work. Besides, if we’re tracking records, then you were the one who never cared for me at all, weren’t you? But, of course, we’re not in-laws anymore, so you should probably drop the whole ‘respect your elder!’ angle while we’re in a professional setting. Remember, this is a company gathering—it isn’t a private tea between you and me to air grievances. Let’s have some class, shall we, Mrs. Leigh?”Arianne was practically expelling breaths when she enunciated “Mrs. Leigh” for emphasis. Shelly had no interest in preserving Arianne’s dignity and reputation, so Arianne had no obligation to hold back punches
Arianne could not care less about what others thought, especially since she hardly interacted with her colleagues at work. The only two people whom she ever forged a friendly rapport with were Sylvain and Robin.Robin was the kind who could brook no bad talks made behind the subject’s back. Hearing unkind gossip about Arianne being made in her vicinity had spurred her into a few arguments with her coworkers in the department. Every time she recounted the content of the gossip in righteous indignation to Arianne, the latter would always flash her a slight smile. “It’s fine, just let them talk till their mouths fall off. I don’t care,” she said. “You should stop arguing with them, too. We can’t control what others think, and I’m really fine.”On a rainy weekend night, Arianne was awoken by the sound of her phone ringing incessantly. A casual glance at the screen revealed the caller as Mark, but she hesitated to answer.Ever since the fiasco of a lunch, Arianne and Mark’s relationship
Arianne’s thoughts were about to meander when suddenly, her phone beeped. A text.Spam messages did not usually make rounds at midnight, so with a frown, she unlocked her phone and peeked at the message sent from an unknown number.‘I know Mark’s with you again. He threw a big fit at me before running away. Oh, but don’t get cocky, deary; he only thinks of you when he’s in the dumps. That’s literally all this is. FYI, a man can have multiple women in his life, but he only has one mother.’Shelly-Ann Leigh. Arianne had blacklisted that woman’s number last time, and now she had returned with a new one to torment her. Arianne was not in the mood to respond, so she simply blacklisted the new number again.At the very least, Mark ended up on her bed. No matter how low in the dumps he was, he would never seek solace in the arms of any other woman.That, alone, was enough of an assurance.The next morning, Mark felt headaches assaulting him. In the midst of grogginess, he felt someone p
She yearned for a beautiful wedding with him. And then an exciting, fulfilling future. Right now, in a flight of her imagination, she could already see him in her mind’s eye, slipping their wedding ring through her finger in a church…Despite that, she smiled and feigned casualness in her tone. “What are you saying? Your foster mom went ahead with an outrageous and earth-shattering plan just for you, Mark. I know my dad was a victim of it and I probably shouldn’t even be saying these things, but… I don’t think you did wrong. No, seriously, I don’t. Don’t ever think I’m suffering some sort of wrong or whatever because of what’s happening right now, because frankly, I think you suffered way more than I did. As long as you’re okay with this, I’m okay, got it? This whole remarriage-wedding thing… It’s definitely not something you can just pull off. You know Shelly’s not gonna let us remarry, let alone allow a grand wedding between the two of us—so don’t. Don’t be reckless.”The convictio
Jackson had the same thought. “I’m thinking the same. I’ve been watching this space for a while now; just couldn’t plan anything with it because my company’s a bit short on funds lately. If you’re serious about this, though, may I propose a cooperation?”Capitalists always see business in anywhere they go—even during an outdoor picnic. These two were, in particular, pretty far-gone in this regard.Suddenly, on a decidedly bad timing, Mark’s phone rang.Traumatized by Shelly’s relentless, obsessive pursuits these days, Mark had become very allergic to phone calls in general. He dithered for a bit before finally fishing the phone out. Seeing that it was from the office instead, his grimace eased a little. “Yes?”No one could hear what was being said from the other side, but Mark’s face slowly crunched back into a slight scowl. He did not even say a word more before hanging it up, claiming, “I have an emergency at work requiring my immediate attention. You guys go ahead and enjoy your
Arianne did not keep him. “Be careful while driving.”“Huh? Oh, right. Yes, I will,” Mark fumbled in his reply, his mind still preoccupied with the plagiarism scandal. “You should head into the house now. Smore, say bye bye to Daddy.”An entire day of hijinks had taken most of the young boy’s energy out of his system. Now, he languidly hung from Arianne’s shoulder and waved half-heartedly, not having even enough strength to say goodbye.By the time Mark returned to the Tremont Estate, Shelly had already gone back to sleep. Curiously, she did not stay up to wait for him like she usually did.It was such a novel behavior for Shelly, but Mark ultimately judged it as a good thing. At the very least, he was clear from yet another fight with her for the night.The next day, as soon as Arianne stepped into the company, Robin pulled her into an empty corner in the building. “Trouble’s ahead, Arianne! Someone sued you for plagiarizing their work, and somehow this news has spread throughout