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
Mateo laughed at himself. “You’re right, this might seem silly to you, but I’ve been holding onto this for all these years. Sometimes, I hate myself for my character, how I keep holding onto a person without being able to forget them. I remember the first time I met you; we were at the art studio in school. At the time, everyone was resting while you were the only one sitting there, drawing with a serious expression on your face as you sat in the sun… I tried to get close to you, but you would always reject anyone from approaching you. Apart from Tiffany and Will, you weren’t able to accept anyone else in your circle. Plus, I was going to leave for overseas anyway, so I didn’t intentionally try to get close to you. After that, I kept on thinking, if I had put in a little more effort, would I have been able to be like Tiffany and Will… One of your friends? At least, I wouldn’t feel so regretful.”Being liked by someone wouldn’t make them hateful or antipathic. The same went for Arianne
Arianne regained her senses and hurriedly went forward to pull them apart. “Mark! It’s not what you think! Please let me explain!”Mark instantly pushed her away. “Fuck off!”Arianne wore high heels, so the grassland already made her footing unstable. But after being pushed by Mark, she instantly fell onto the ground and her palm struck a rock, drawing out a heartfelt cry of pain from her.Both Mateo’s nose and mouth were bleeding. He raised his hands to protect his face as he tried to explain. “Mr. Tremont, it’s not what you think. It’s fine if you misunderstand me; I don’t care how you deal with me. But you mustn’t misunderstand Arianne!”When such protective words went into Mark’s ears, he only felt that it was more evident that there was definitely something going on between Mateo and Arianne. Any explanation at that point would only make things look even more grim.Arianne did not know what to do since there wasn’t anyone around. ‘If this keeps up, Mark will beat Mateo to dea
Arianne never thought that she would behave so upright because of this matter. She had thought of explaining things to him properly and hoped that Mark would be able to understand her. However, not only did he refuse to listen to any explanation, he even hit Mateo and threw her onto the ground twice. Most importantly, she hated being watched by others and also being followed; she had hated that since the very beginning!‘He says he hates betrayal the most, but I’ve never even thought of betraying him. I shouldn’t be stingy about giving a hug to someone who has been remembering me for so many years, that’s all.‘I also said that I hated being watched and followed, but he keeps doing so…’When Arianne thought of how calm Mark was before she left, she found it to be such a joke. ‘He clearly knew that I was lying, yet he was still able to calmly pretend as if nothing was going on. Was he waiting for the moment to “catch me in the act”? In his eyes, am I that kind of woman?‘I didn’t wa
“Anyone at all?”Mark coldly flung Arianne’s hand away as he said those words.Arianne stood her ground. “It was just a hug, that’s a very normal thing to do. Why are you saying ‘anyone at all’?”Mark walked towards the roof-to-floor window before sitting down and lighting a cigarette. “There are tons of women who fancy me. Should I hug them all as well? If that were the case, I wouldn’t be doing anything else anymore. Why couldn’t you not give it to him? You’re already married, and you didn’t even ask me first. Do I not have the right to be angry at all? Is it that hard for you to even admit to your mistakes?”Arianne finally fell silent. ‘He’s right. He does have a reason and right to be angry at me.‘Why I agreed to Mateo’s request in the first place was because he has done so much for me and has been thinking of me all these years that I couldn’t help but feel a little ashamed and think of it as a burden that needed to be resolved as soon as possible.‘Further, he is Melanie’
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