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 instantly froze and did not dare to move again. ‘We’ve only just had a big fight, yet he’s able to act all leisurely now. People have said that as long as men still breath, their brains are definitely filled with all kinds of inappropriate stuff. It seems like they aren’t wrong.’Suddenly, Arianne’s phone rang.Mark’s expression turned serious as he raised his eyes to stare at her. Obviously, he wanted to watch her answer the phone call himself. ‘I suppose Mateo’s the only person who would call at this hour, wouldn’t he?’Arianne felt a little frustrated. ‘What if Mateo’s really calling me out of concern? I’ve had to go through so much before finally being able to calm him down. I can’t stop him if he goes on another rampage.’After pondering for a moment, Arianne reluctantly picked up her phone. When she saw that it was Melanie who was calling her, she gently heaved a sigh of relief. “Melanie? What’s the matter?”On the other end, Melanie’s voice was very soft as she tent