Granted, Tiffany knew she was in the wrong. “Urgh! I knew telling you would only complicate things… Look at me, hey! I’m fine, aren’t it? Isn’t that good enough? Besides, Melanie suffered enough already, don’cha think? I get that her brother’s the perp and that means she’s somewhat connected to this whole thing, but she’s innocent, you know? So can we please, please-please-please, just drop this?”Jackson’s eyes reddened in furious frenzy. “Even if she deserves pity, so what? Does that mean our daughter doesn’t?! Our little angel can’t even leave her incubator!” he bristled. “You chill the eff out, Tiffie. I know who wronged us. I know Melanie isn’t one of those bastards and I’m not the type to drag an innocent person into my revenge. But those real culprits—those mother**kers are gonna pay for what they f**king did! I have no qualms leaving Melanie out of this since her brother was the one who pushed you, but that’s all. The rest of the Larks have got hell to pay, and come hell or hi
Mrs. Lark came to the Capital from Ayashe the very next day. Alejandro was not at home, leaving only Melanie, along with her daughter, waiting by the entrance to greet her.Melanie could tell what awaited, yet a large part of her refused to believe it or accept it as reality. How could she, when she remembered how vehemently her mother had objected to her daughter marrying a disabled man? She would not have cared so much if she saw Melanie as a mere pawn, right?But then Melanie watched how fury oozed from every movement her mother made since disembarking from her car, and her heart sank. Fear began to claim her, and she stumbled a few steps back from the incoming presence. “Mom, I…”Mrs. Lark scowled with daggers in her eyes. “Don’t you dare! I am not your mother… I don’t recall having a selfish excuse as my daughter!”Selfish?!At that moment, Melanie felt every drop of blood in her body gel. It was early summer, yet she felt cold, nipping steel in her veins.“Me… selfish? Did
Alejandro picked the little girl up and cooed, “There, there; okay. Go play with your toys. Daddy will be with you after he’s done with some unfinished business, okay?”Melissa, already in a mood to report the bad guy, sniffled before complaining in her squeaky voice, “That grandma hit M-M-Mommy! She hit Mommy!”Alejandro pinched her cheek. “Aww, got it. Daddy knows.”Seeing how kindly Alejandro treated Melissa drew doubts in Mrs. Lark’s heart. How could an esteemed family of their standing, which traditionally demanded an heir rather than an heiress, see any need to dote on a girl? What kind of powerful family would ever be fine with not having a son?The nanny dutifully approached him to take Melissa away. Melanie, meanwhile, looked positively embarrassed. “I’m sorry, Alejandro. This… this is an altercation between my mother and me. It doesn’t concern you.”Alejandro narrowed his eyes slightly. “Yes, I agree. It’s none of my business. But you’re having your silly spat on my prop
Mrs. Lark sneered. “You want a divorce? Okay, I’ll get out of your way, but only if you know how to settle those properties—if you’re thinking about leaving my daughter anything less than she’s due, you can kiss your divorce goodbye! I know your reputation for underhanded trickeries, Alejandro, but I’m not intimidated by you at all! We Larks are not some doormats for you to walk all over!”Even when she was apparently fighting for her daughter’s share, it was really just for the family—none of it was for Melanie’s benefits. Once this realization set in, Melanie could not brook any more of her mother’s squalls. “Leave, Mom! Leave us be right now! This is none of your business!”Mrs. Lark stomped toward the door, the racket of furiously clicking heels trailing her. Shortly after she left, she had the temerity to text Melanie, ‘Alejandro still doesn’t know this is your big brother’s doing, does he? If you snitch, I’ll kill you.’Melanie deleted the message the instant she finished it.
Melanie waited until Alejandro put his pen down before signing her name with equal resolute. She ended it with a print of her thumb, asking, “So, when do we begin the legal procedures?”Alejandro didn’t answer her. Instead, he stormed out of the house and slammed the door.Melanie’s knees buckled and she crashed onto the couch, her strength leaving her body. Tears broke out from the corner of her eyes and traced an invisible path down her face, its salty liquid stinging the painful heat that had yet left her cheek. A while later she rose to her feet and went into the bathroom.She stared at her reflection in the mirror and suddenly felt a thick, awful lump furling in her chest. Mrs. Lark had put in more force than she expected, causing her cheek to swell even more than she had imagined. When Alejandro looked at her just now—she must have been a hideous sight to him, wasn’t she? He had never liked her, but after all of this, after Tiffany… He must hate her even more, did he not?The
“Where are you?”Alejandro asked to the beep of a terminated call.Instead of putting down his phone, he simply stayed in his posture, his mind churning unfathomable thoughts.A while later, he finally put his phone down before gingerly placing Melissa back onto her bed. Perhaps something was wrong with the way he lowered her—either way, the feel of his movement was too dissimilar with Melanie’s that Melissa woke up before screaming for her mommy again.Alejandro had lost his patience. Exasperated, he decided to let the child bawl and shriek to her heart’s content until Jett, who heard her from outside, knocked on the door. “Mr. Smith? Would you like me to help?”Alejandro sat on the edge of the bed, defeated. “Yes, just coax her to sleep. I’m done.”Jett pushed open the door. He adroitly brought Melissa up in his arms before gently rocking her. “Hush, hush. It’s alright, don’t you cry… Mommy will be back very soon.”Melissa would not listen. She knew her mother was not around.
Alejandro frowned. “What—why? Why would the West family have beef with the Larks?”Because Melanie pushed Tiffany? But if Jackson knew that, then should his target not be Melanie—or hell, Alejandro himself? Why would he take out his anger on the Larks?The man on the other side of the phone was just as clueless. “I have no idea. Thought it was kinda weird myself.”After the call ended, Alejandro paused for a minute before calling Arianne. It would be impossible for him to ask Jackson directly; he was sure the latter would hang up his call as soon as the man’s brain recognized Alejandro’s voice.As soon as she picked up, Alejandro went straight to the chase. “Why is West Industries flipping the Larks off?”Instead of answering him immediately, Arianne rejoined with a question of her own. “What? Can’t bear to see someone taking on your in-laws? Itching to hit back, aren’t you? Here’s a piece of advice: don’t. Stay out of it.”Alejandro fell silent for a beat before stating, “Melani
While Jett was still scrambling for the right response, Melanie shut the door in his face.He knew what his boss was like, so Jett eschewed returning to the Smith Estate right away and opted to call Alejandro instead. Hearing about Melanie’s rejection, Alejandro immediately supplied, “Tell her it’s because Millie has fallen ill—as in, super-seriously-ill. I know for sh*t she doesn’t have it in her to turn away from that. Then tell her that if she’s not coming back, I’m not taking the kid to the hospital.”That was a bit too much for a lie, was it not? At the very least, it made Jett hesitate, but not enough to make him object. Shortly after the call, he knocked on Melanie’s door again.She opened it with a face written with helplessness. “Jett, I’ve made myself very clear. I’m not going back. Unless this is regarding the divorce’s official procedures, I don’t have any reason to see Alejandro again.”Jett steeled himself. “Uh, you see… Actually, Little Miss… she’s, uh, sick. And Mr.
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