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,
Mrs. Lark gradually opened her eyes. “Nik… Just let it be this time. Our luck ran out this time. Sign it and bail; I don’t ever want to see their faces again…” she breathed wispily. “Don’t ever show your faces again, Melanie, Alejandro!”Seeing his mother change her mind uneased Nikolai. “Mom, are you really going to let everything the Lark family has built up and worked on be handed to… that knave? We’ll be setting ourselves up as clowns for everyone to laugh at and mock… I can’t live like that!”Alejandro’s patience had run dry. In a fit, he walloped the contract on Nikolai’s face. “Boo-hoo-hoo, cry me a river! Find some way to cope with it, smartass, since you people brought this on yourselves. Anyway, time’s up; my time is too precious for you people to waste!”Bodyguards that had stood by immediately fanned out from behind Alejandro and surrounded Nikolai, who tripped and fell onto his bottom in terror. “What the hell are you people trying to do?! I-I-I’m warning you, d-don’t y