The commotion was sonorous enough that it attracted a doctor and a few nurses, but not one of them succeeded in de-escalation. The man was simply too drunk with the reciprocal, an-eye-for-an-eye justice that he ceased considering anything else.“If you want to slap someone so badly, then slap me! If you’ve got the balls to do that, then come on, show me what you got!” Arianne snapped at the man as her patience ended in distress. “But this better be the end of this stupid feud between the kids, you hear? Once you hit me, anything that comes afterward is strictly between us adults!”Tiffany swooped in and shielded Arianne. “What in actual hell! You trippin’, girl?! This guy you’re waving your red cloth at has the stature of a buffalo, for God’s sake! He can literally slap the living daylight out of you! Listen, hon, be patient; Jackson’s on the way. I’ve called him just now!”Meanwhile, Smore—who had lived three years without bending to anyone’s will—reacted to the threat hanging over
That single over-the-shoulder throw seemed to have thrown the father’s bravado out of his skull. He laid on the ground, stunned for a few seconds, before scrambling to his feet. “You… You f**king cheated! You snuck on me!”Jackson flicked a loose strand of his bangs away from his forehead, nonchalant. “Meh, you were just slow. You’re welcome to try pointing at me again if you don’t believe me. Personally? I maintain it’s best to talk this out, but hey, if you want a tussle, who am I to deny ya’? Honestly, Jackson West has never lost to anyone in a fight.”Jackson… West? A strange, foggy sense of familiarity surfaced in the father’s mind. He seized onto the vagueness and tried to conjure more details, but regrettably, the man turned out to have a skull several times too large for his brain. “Pahhh, you can be Jackie East or North or whatever for all I care! I can point at you however I want, man; what’re you gonna do about that?! It’s not like I’m desperate enough to be seduced by you
One of the few things in life that lit up Arianne’s fuse was seeing a man hit a woman. The very act of it stung her eyes and carved a frown on her face. “We’ll pay for your son’s medical bills, and that’s our last word on the matter. Excuse us, we’re not interested in your family’s internal debacle—and really, those things belong to the confines of your house, don’t you think? To bring it out on the streets like that—God, it’s just so embarrassing! Honestly, if we’re being strictly objective here, then everyone’s got fault in this. All of us need to go home and teach our children proper manners.”Unfortunately, Arianne’s plan was thwarted the moment they returned home—Smore had sprinted up the stairs to his room before bolting it shut from the inside. Arianne rapped on the door for a good few minutes, but the brat refused to answer. “Go away, Mom! I know you’re gonna beat me up. I’m not stupid enough to open the door!”Arianne could feel her hair bursting into flames of rage. This li
Arianne nodded. “The menu, please. Pass it to me.”The waitress asked offhandedly, “You’re here alone, hmm?”Arianne paused for a second. Honestly, she had always wanted to bring Mark along, but she never found the chance… And of course, they just had that blasted quarrel that weighed her heart down now that she remembered it. “Yeah… I guess I’ll be dining alone tonight. Simple dishes should suffice for someone who’s eating alone.”After picking her dishes, she asked casually, “So, is your boss around? Ever since the restaurant’s opening, he always seems to be around, huh? But he’s not around right now though… Why is that?”“He’s gone out around this afternoon,” the waitress answered with a smile. “Not sure if he’s gonna return at night, but if you’re looking for him right now, you could probably give him a ring.”Arianne flashed her a smile. “Oh, it’s nothing. I was just asking. Anyway, don’t let me keep you.”Service was fast; her awaited dishes were laid before her very soon.
Arianne sampled every single dish on the table. “No, honestly, I think they are all very good! Really, I’m not the type to lie if I can help it,” she remarked. “Your restaurant’s business is just… booming, man. Which is kinda surprising, don’t you think? Considering your family’s main venture is something else, wouldn’t your family have a bit of an opinion about you directing your focus into your restaurant?”Mateo's eyes cast down to the floor and shook his head. “They’ve always been respectful of my life choices. Anything I want to do doesn’t face opposition from my family—under most circumstances, anyway. Of course, I can’t abandon the family business, either, so I guess after a while I won’t be able to watch my restaurant as often as I’d like.”Arianne nodded. “I agree. I wouldn’t want you to spend too much of your time and focus on a single eatery, too. Your family’s main business should be the right way forward—especially when this restaurant’s significance hardly matches the g
Arianne was having a slight headache. “Stop crying for now and let me take a look at that! So, Chubby Chuck snatched Lil’ P’s toy and even pushed him, did he? You were right to protect your little brother, but you can’t just go up to him and swing a punch at him now, can you? What if you injured his eyes or somewhere important? We must be virtuous first; if we can’t get our logic across to them, then we tell the teachers. The teachers won’t be able to overlook the situation since it happened in school. Of course, I’m not asking you to keep it inside and not retaliate when you’re being bullied. You’re free to let it out if someone hits you first. You’ve got to be tough when you have to, but you have to weigh the severity of the situation first too.”The more Arianne spoke, the more aggrieved Smore became. He cried so much, he had trouble kneeling down. Arianne, no longer able to bear seeing him in this state, hugged him. “All right, stop crying now. It’s shameful for a man to cry so mu
Over the weekend, Melanie and Tiffany invited Arianne to meet up at Mateo’s restaurant, but she refused.Regardless of whether it was the strange feeling Mateo gave her previously or her lie being exposed by Mark, she did not have a reason to go there again. ‘The less trouble the better. I’ve never been able to beat Mark in mental games. I only feel like I’ve managed to tame him when he’s being docile, but the moment he bares his fangs, I won’t be able to control him anymore.’When they arrived at the restaurant, as she was ordering her food, Tiffany complained, “D*mn it, it’s such a rare opportunity for us to be able to come out and have fun over the weekend, yet Ari refuses to join in and leaves both of us to ourselves. Didn’t she say she was in love with the food in Mateo’s restaurant? Has she been secretly coming here behind our backs and is now tired of the food here?”Melanie was a little more meticulous than Tiffany. She had already thought things to a deeper level, but she
Arianne did not know whether she should go since nothing else was stated in the text message.‘Mark is home during the weekends, so I can’t come up with any reasonable excuse to go out tonight.’ At that thought, Arianne considered rejecting Mateo. However, before she could even finish typing a sentence, Mateo sent her another text message. ‘I know my request may be a little hard for you to accept, but this is a long time wish of mine and it took me a lot of courage to be able to ask you out privately. I’ve got so much to say to you; would you be able to complete my wish?’At that moment, Arianne confirmed that Melanie wasn’t the light of Mateo’s life—it was none other than her.‘I can’t for the life of me understand why someone would keep me in their heart for so many years. I’ve had an influence on Mateo for so long, yet I didn’t even know of him before. This has all been unfair for him since the beginning.’Ultimately, Arianne was still silently moved by his gesture and agreed to