Arianne pressed her lips together without saying anything. Fatigued, she gradually fell asleep.Not hearing a reply from her, Mary sighed and tucked her in.Almost as if he wanted to see her make a fool out of herself, Mark came home punctually each day after work and stayed in the living room longer than he usually would.In order to avoid seeing him, Arianne mostly stayed away from the living room and only worked in the kitchen and backyard. She would only clean the living room after he went upstairs. It felt nice to stay in each other’s lane without interference.…At the same time, Tiffany was rummaging through her room in her rented home anxiously. “Mom! Did you see my bankcard?”Lillian did not pay attention to her, as she was having snacks in the living room. “No… Find it on your own. You think I’m a thief?”Tiffany turned the whole house over, but she still did not see her bankcard. No one had come to visit them either. Other than Lillian, she had no other guesses. “Mom, be hon
Arianne looked at the rain through the kitchen’s glass. She could empathize with Tiffany. They were both driven to the end of their ropes…“Tiffie, where are you? I’ll come look for you now,” Arianne said as she left her chores and headed out with an umbrella.“I’m at the convenience store downstairs of my house. I came out with just my phone. I don’t even have a jacket on. It’s freezing… I don’t want to go back and see my mom. I can’t stand the sight of her face right now.” Tiffany’s voice was laced with a sob. Arianne, who had gone to the door, turned back promptly when she heard that Tiffany had no jacket on. “Okay. I’ll bring you some clothes. Stay there and wait for me. Don’t move!”Right as she said that, Arianne slipped and fell on the floor when she was going up the staircase. Her lower abdomen hit the step and her umbrella fell to one side.Despite the pain, she picked herself up, grabbed a jacket, and rushed out. The gale was strong, and it was raining cats and dogs. The low
“Ari, why are you bleeding?”Arianne followed Tiffany’s gaze downward, but her vision was already blurry and she was beginning to hear buzzing instead of voices.Vaguely aware of her surroundings, Tiffany hailed a cab and sent her to the hospital. A few medical staff appeared in front of her, looking anxious as they pushed her into the emergency ward.She was conscious, aware that she was being laid on the operation theater, but she felt no pain nor could she speak.Tiffany paced outside the emergency ward in a state of nerves. After a while, a nurse opened the door of the emergency ward and walked out. “Are you the patient’s family? The patient is over fatigued after her miscarriage and is now suffering from blood loss due to trauma. She needs surgery. Please put in your signature if you’re her family!”Tiffany was stupefied. “I… I’m her friend. I’m not a family member.”The nurse said hurriedly, “Then call her family! The surgery can only be done with a signature. She can’t wait any
“What’s the situation?” Mark asked.“We’re doing our best right now. When Mrs. Tremont was sent in… she was bleeding quite badly. It must have been severe. Don’t worry, Mr. Tremont, your wife will be fine.”The nurse spoke with caution. After all, the person standing in front of her was no ordinary man.“How did this happen?” The emotions that his tone contained were too complex, causing the nurse to blanch from fright.“I… I’m not sure… Doctor’s initial diagnosis is over fatigue after miscarriage and a trauma, causing heavy blood loss… Her doctor should have advised that a good rest is needed after the miscarriage, right? Why did…”Mark sank down on the chair limply. “Save… Saver her for me… As long as she lives, anything is fine…”He had only wanted her to give in. Why would she rather torment herself to this state and insist on fighting him?Tiffany thought that it was strange. “Over fatigue? Ari did work after a few days out of the hospital, but she was in the office and her job is
Mark took the check from Brian and threw it at the men. “Fill in however much you want.”The men were afraid at first, but when Mark told them to fill in whatever they wanted, they thought that he was a cowardly employer who used money to solve his problems. Pleased with themselves, they filled the check with what they thought was an astronomical sum of money. “We’re not cheating you,” they boasted, “Aside from damage costs, there are also fees for the mental damage on our end. It’s not an exaggeration.”Mark curved his lips into a smirk. “You should put in a higher sum because there’s also… medical fees. Put that in too.”Before the men could figure out what he had meant, they were dragged away by a bodyguard.Brian draped the coat that he had brought along around Mark’s body. “Sir, your car is damaged. I’ve had someone tow it away and brought another one for you.”Mark nodded. “I don’t know how many red lights I ran past, take care of it.”Brian glanced at the emergency room. “
It was morning the second day when Arianne woke up. Before she opened her eyes, she sensed someone’s presence by her bed. Fortunately, she remembered she had been admitted into the hospital last night. She thought it was Mary who had been watching over her so she said, “Mary, call in sick for me at work. I can’t go to work for now…”When there was no reply, Arianne slowly opened her eyes. Mark’s rather haggard face greeted her eyes. His attire of choice, loungewear, and his slightly unkempt hair startled her that her heart skipped a beat. She did not what happened during the surgery that it made someone like him, who cared about his image, look like this in a public place like the hospitalMark’s thin lips parted, saying words she did not understand. “What? Are you happy now? You win.”“What are you talking about?” She was baffled. Did he go mad again and decided to pick on her?Mark did not answer her. He rose to his feet before putting on his coat and headed to the door. “Mary will c
Seeing that Arianne was keeping quiet, Mary said with a smile. “Ah, you’re still young. You’ve been staying by sir’s side since you’re a little girl. You’re just like a carefully cared for rose that hasn’t seen much of the outside world. Once you go out into the world and see enough people and men, you’ll understand this. Sir might not be the nicest to women, but he’s certainly not mean to them. I can see there’s something going on with Aery and sir, but if Aery had met with an accident, I don’t think he would’ve rushed to the hospital and stayed the night.”Arianne did not want to speak about this so she quickly changed the topic. “Mary, did you arrange for someone to take care of Rice Ball on my behalf? It was raining so heavily last night, and the wind was so strong. It must have been terrified, being left in the backyard.”Mary slapped her leg. “Aiyah, I forgot! I was so worried about you all night and didn’t get a good sleep. I had a nagging feeling that I’ve forgotten something.
With what happened to Arianne last night, Tiffany did not get a good sleep. She had been yawning frequently while she was at work. She finally persevered until the end of office hours and was about to leave when she felt an oppressive force behind her. She whipped around and saw Jason who looked a lot taller than her now that he was looming over her while she sat.“Oh, always slacking during work hours but leaving as soon as work hours end, huh? I heard the supervisor said you made a mistake with an important document today. I was even notified about it. What do you think I should do?” Jackson said with a smirk.“I… I didn’t get a good rest last night. I’ve already rectified my mistakes. It’s a great virtue being able to admit to one’s mistake and rectify it. Don’t pick on me, okay?” Tiffany did not dare to show her dissatisfaction. After all, she should apologize since she was at fault.When Jackson saw her giving in, he could not help but continue to tease her. “Didn’t I tell you tha
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