It took Melanie a moment before she remembered that Tiffany was with her. She hurriedly introduced them. “Bro, this is Tiffany. You should probably know her, since she’s a good friend of mine.”Nikolai squinted his eyes slightly as he sized up Tiffany for a moment. Then, he said with a casual expression, “Hello, my name is Nikolai.”Tiffany waved her hand. “Hey Nikolai, we’re all friends here, so there’s no need to be so formal.”The stairs were definitely not a good place to have a chat, so Melanie said, “Bro, why don’t we find somewhere to sit and chat? I haven’t been home for a very long time now, so I neither know how things are back at home, nor have I been in contact with Mom and Dad.”Nikolai nodded his head, but his gaze was still fixated on Tiffany. Tiffany was already standing below the pair and it was narrow on the stairs, so she definitely needed to turn around and walk down first. Suddenly, Nikolai pushed her from behind. Since she was heavier due to her pregnancy, t
‘The people who have attended tonight’s event are all businessmen, so how could there be a doctor present?’ When Melanie realized this, she borrowed a phone from one of the bystanders to call Arianne. ‘We need to get the cruise back to the coast now and send Tiffany to the hospital. Otherwise, her life is definitely going to be in danger!’When they received the news, Arianne and Mark swiftly rushed to the scene. When they saw how bad of a condition Tiffany was in, Arianne’s face instantly turned pale. “Tiffany!”Mark was still calm at that moment. “Turn the ship back now!”Soon, Jackson and Alejandro arrived on the scene as well. Jackson almost lost his footing the moment he saw Tiffany. “W… What happened? How did this happen?! What’s going on here?!”Alejandro’s first reaction was to rush towards Tiffany’s side. He gently slapped Tiffany’s cheeks as he growled with an urgent tone, “Can you hear me?! You have to stay awake, or the baby in your womb won’t make it!”Melanie, who wa
Mark broke the silence first and said, “What’s the situation?”Jackson helplessly shook his head and remained quiet.Melanie’s guilty conscience kicked in, and she went to the washroom to escape. She was finding it hard to even breath when she was in the crowd.As she stood in front of the basin, hatred began to well up inside of her when she looked at herself in the mirror. She had always been very upfront with her actions, but the incident had left a very sharp nail in her heart, relentlessly piercing her. ‘None of this would have happened if I had not gone and met my brother with Tiffany. I can’t say that it was Nikolai who did this. I’ll bear all the responsibilities for this incident.’When Melanie left the washroom, she could see that Alejandro was waiting for her through the corner of her eyes.She subconsciously averted her gaze and retreated.When Alejandro saw her reaction, a hint of disappointment flashed through his eyes. “Tell me the truth. Did you do this?”Melanie
Jackson waited until everyone had left before he turned to look at Melanie. “Did she fall down on her own?”Melanie locked eyes with Jackson but remained silent.Jackson’s eyes turned dark and he spoke no further. When Tiffany was pushed out by the nurses from the operating theatre, Jackson followed them to her ward.Tiffany gradually woke up when it was past 1 AM, and the first thing she did was to touch her belly. “Baby… Where’s the baby?!”Jackson gently held her hand. “It’s fine, the baby’s fine. She had to be placed in an incubator for a few days since she was born prematurely. You must have been shocked, haven’t you? It’s all fine now… Don’t be afraid…”Tiffany sighed in relief. Suddenly, she saw Melanie standing not too far away through the corner of her eyes and had an expression with mixed emotions on her face. “Jackson, could you leave us first? I would like to speak with Melanie for a moment.”Jackson turned his head to look at Melanie and said, “I’ll be outside. Call
Tiffany pretended to have a relaxed expression on her face. “How could it be her? You’re overthinking things. I just slipped and fell accidentally. It’s my fault for not listening to you. I just had to wear that dress with the long hem but couldn’t wear heels that were too high, so I ended up tripping… But you tell me the truth, is our child really fine? There was quite a distance from the cruise to the coast, so a long time must have passed. Our child must’ve been in danger, wasn’t she?”How could Jackson possibly tell the truth? He reached out his hand to tidy up Tiffany’s hair. “How could she be? We asked the cruise to turn back to land first thing. The ambulance arrived right on time as well, so you and our child are just fine. The baby just had to be placed under observation in an incubator due to premature birth, so stop thinking too much and scaring yourself. Just as you wished, it’s a girl. You must be happy, aren’t you? I heard from the doctor that she’s very cute…”Tiffany
Arianne combed through her thoughts for a second before concluding, “I don’t think Melanie did it. That wasn’t the first time Melanie and Tiffie were ever alone together—if harming Tiffie had always been her goal, then she would have done it long before our wedding day, right? Let’s just… ask Tiffie what really went down later when we see her.”Smore did not understand his parents’ conversation. He just wanted to visit the hospital as soon as possible, so he started wolfing and slurping down his food. Unthinkably, instead of chiding the child for his bad dinner behavior, Mark merely laughed.Arianne rolled her eyes. “If I ate like that in the past, you’d smite me in the head with a ladle or something! I call this the TDS—Tremont Double Standard!”Mark laughed even harder. “I did not hit you; that’s not true, that’s bunkum! I’ve never raised you like my daughter—I certainly never parented you like you were my daughter. The only difference between us is that I’m ten years your senior.
Arianne’s heart sank. The only reason why Tiffany could keep this promise she made with Melanie was because she thought her baby was okay. Should she know that the baby had not left critical condition, Tiffany’s charitable attitude might crack.“Okay, I got you. I’m not gonna tell anyone about it. God, Melanie’s also a victim, isn’t she? I mean, she and Alejandro’s relationship might be… affable, but it doesn’t mean he loves her. And Melanie knows it," Arianne remarked. “And her brother has doomed her with this. Alejandro’s wary nature will compel him to treat this incident as anything but an ‘accident’. I’ve got a bad feeling that the relationship between Melanie and Alejandro is unraveling.”The injustice Melanie suffered aggrieved Tiffany. “That sh*tbag can’t even see how good a wife she has been to him! Goddammit, does he even have half a brain?! But as long as I keep this a secret, their relationship will be safe, right? I mean, how is he supposed to blame it on Melanie without
Footsteps neared the door. Melissa was quick to recognize it as her father’s and sprung toward its direction in childlike blithe. Her tiny stature made it impossible for the kid to reach the doorknob, though it did not matter, as a second later, the door cracked open softly from outside, as though whoever was coming in predicted the little girl’s presence to stand behind it.Seeing little Millie, Alejandro bent down and carried the girl in his arms. “C’mon, standing behind the door again? You know someone might hit you with the door one day, and that’s not very nice, is it? Next time, stand farther away from the door, okay?” he admonished kindly. “Anyway, go play with your toys downstairs. Daddy needs to talk to Mommy for a bit, okay?”Melissa mimicked Melanie sniffling. “Daddy, Mommy cry, sniff-sniff, argh-argh…”Alejandro shot Melanie a complicated, indecipherable look and handed Melissa to her nanny.Alejandro closed the door and faced Melanie, who stood before the window twiddl
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