When Melanie saw Alejandro approaching her, she instinctively avoided him just as she felt his breath on her lips. “I’m tired, I would like to get some sleep. You’ve probably got a lot to do in the office tomorrow as well, don’t you? Get some rest.”Alejandro lowered his raised hand. “Fine…”He had never liked to fulfill his urges by force.When Arianne arrived at her office on Monday, she received Sylvain’s invitation. He and Robin were going to be married soon. Just as Arianne received the invitation, Sylvain emphasized as he said, “I was already planning to do this, not trying to rush behind you and Mr. Tremont. Whatever happened at your wedding was purely an accident… Don’t take it to heart.”Arianne glared at Sylvain. “Do I seem like the kind who would overthink things? I think my wedding with Mark was rather perfect; there’s nothing for me to regret about since he put in his all. As for Tiffany's accident, it doesn’t matter to me in the slightest. Relax, I’ll definitely be th
Helpless, Arianne relented and accepted her mission.It was time for lunch. She declined Mark’s invitation and dragged Robin to a cozy little Chinese restaurant for the break.After taking their seats and making their orders, Arianne feigned her tone to be non-committal as she asked, “So… How come you and Sylvain haven’t tried adding members to the family yet? He’s more than old enough to be a father while you’re just the right age. You know what it’s like: better have children early while the body’s at its prime than to wait until you’re thirty-odd years old and life’s fraught with uncertainties. By then, your body’s state might not be as optimum for childbearing, too.”Robin was a little skeptical of her intention. “Hey… Wait a minute. This isn’t because Sylvain’s asking, is it?”Arianne’s mind scrambled in slight panic, but outwardly, she doubled down on her pretense of casualness. “Wha-wha-what? Oh, nooooo. Why would he make me ask you something like that? Noooo way. I was just
Sylvain sank into silence. He had thought that giving Ursula a separate place to stay, away from his family, would help circumvent many of these problems, but now, it seemed that his hope to escape was premature. He knew the exact opinions and thoughts Ursula harbored toward the Coxes. This was why, in the past, Sylvain had been adamant that a relationship, an affair between two persons, would ultimately need to subsist on the blessings of those around the couple. To marry without other people’s blessings was to unite against all odds—especially the most difficult ones.Sylvain made his choice long ago. And come hell or high water, he was not going to bend his knee.Arianne patted his shoulder good-naturedly, hoping to give him comfort and a morale boost. Unfortunately, before her hand left him, Mark—who just stepped inside the office at that moment—caught her.One could almost see lightning flashing on his stormy expression. “Arianne Wynn. My office, now!”Sylvain was pulled back
A certain someone stepped inside with a bouquet of flaming red roses. He placed them on the table in front of her and announced, “Someone gave this to me. Frankly, I have no love for it, so it’s yours now.”Arianne spied the bouquet with a side-eye. The flowers’ freshness was so overwhelming and evident that there was no way he did not buy it for her. Yet, the same man wanted to pretend otherwise just to save his thin skin!“Urgh, I don’t like it. Throw it away.”Mark turned exasperated. “Why you—don’t step out of line!”She scowled at him. “Hey, hey, hey! You said ‘someone’ gave you this bouquet, and you only gave it to me because you yourself don’t want it. And now I’m telling you I don’t want it either—how’s that ‘stepping out of line’, huh? If anything, you’re stepping out of your line by giving away a beautiful gift someone clearly took pains to give you! Though I have to wonder… Which young lady dares present you such bright red roses, hmm? They’re so fiery red, I can see the
Back in the Smith Estate, Melanie was feeding her daughter dinner. Alejandro would not be having his dinner at home today, which was hardly surprising.Him calling Melanie in advance about it, though, was incredibly abnormal.Truthfully, Melanie was cognizant of the aberration underpinning their interactions lately, and—to her dismay—it was rendering her closer to vacillating about the divorce she had so wanted to see through.It was at this moment that the nanny suddenly hurriedly came to her. “Madam? Your family is outside the gate. They say they are here to see you, but… should we let them in?”Melanie could see more than an air of urgency from the nanny. There was fear thrown into it. She rose, shot a quick glance out of the window, and found herself staring at not only her mother, but also the rest of the family: her father, her two older brothers, and other relatives who were shareholders of the Larks’ company. There were at least a dozen people in the mob.Melanie held no d
Nikolai spat at the ground. “Get out of our way, or don’t blame me for extending my courtesy to you, Dad! Don’t squawk about disrespect by then!”Mr. Lark’s eyes widened in lividity. “You dare lay your hands on your old man?! I'm still your goddamn Pa! You may have your harpy of a mother cheering you on for being a paragon of jacka**es, but don’t mistake that as authority to do anything you like, you insolent brat! Christ, you’re a carbon copy of your mother! I shouldn’t be surprised though; a child takes after the parent who raises them, after all, and right now, you’re an embarrassment and I wish you were never born!”Nikolai clenched his teeth, his hateful eyes zeroing in on Melanie. In his mind, he had already equated every fault as her doing. One look at Nikolai’s face was enough to tell anyone that he wanted to tear her into pieces with his bare hands.Finally, Melanie’s second eldest brother, Miklan, yanked his big brother by his shoulder. “Nikolai, snap out of it. This is yo
On the other end of the phone, Alejandro was rushing home as he yelled, “Don’t listen to her; tell the guards to do their thing! I’m rushing home already!”Alejandro’s words were the shot of confidence the nanny needed. She immediately pushed open the window and yelled, “Protect Madam! Retaliate against whoever hit her—this is our boss’s order! He is coming home as we speak!”The guards acted instantly. They swarmed toward the mob-surrounded Melanie and liberated her, who was already covered by battered marks and bruises. Mr. Lark, who had thrown himself forward to protect her, looked no better.On a distant end, neither Nikolai nor Miklan had emerged victorious in their fight. Mrs. Lark just could not break them up.The Larks and the guards resigned into a shouting Mexican standoff for about fifteen minutes before the shrieks of tires on brakes scraped against the atmosphere. Alejandro’s car had screeched into a stop right outside the gate. There was a very evident dent on its bum
Melanie’s uncles, after going through the worst of the guards’ retaliatory fisticuffs, were quick to succumb. Slowly but surely, only Mrs. Lark and Nikolai remained silent.Alejandro chuckled. “Oho, looks like we’ve got ourselves some tough cookies! Tough, and a sore to virtually everyone around them… You, Nikolai Lark! You’re the jacka** who pushed Tiffany down the stairs and made Melanie bear your blame, aren’t you? Meanwhile, your mommy supports everything her precious little baby does. Well, let me tell you, I consider everyone else involved in this fight today to be even—except the two of you. The rest of you may go after signing your names on the contract. But you two? You two get an extended stay… We have much to discuss.”Mrs. Lark was frightful at her core, but she was not about to admit that. “W-What are you gonna do to us, huh?! You think you’re above the law, huh, hotshot? I’m calling 911!”Alejandro remained unperturbed as he fiddled with the lighter in his hand. “911,
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