“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
Arianne glared at her. “What nonsense are you spewing? What do you mean that I went out to meet Mateo alone late at night? You sound as though there really was something between me and him! Do you think Mark would hit me? How? Based on my understanding of him, he would rather die from anger than hit me. Pushing me twice was considered his limit already. What kind of best friend are you? Do you wish for me to get beaten? If he really did beat me, that would be the end of us already.”Tiffany pouted her lips. “I suppose you’re right, but I do think that Mark has a reason to be angry about this matter. If there were a change of characters and it was he who had gone out with another woman, would you be able to accept him so much as hugging her? Mateo is pretty tragic; to be able to be so persistent and let his feelings control him for all these years ain’t easy. However, you didn’t handle this matter particularly well either. Now you’ve offended Mark. If you were to reject Mateo, you’d be
Mark said, “She wants to borrow some money. There’s a chance that Aery’s going to recover, but it’s going to cost a fortune for her follow-up treatment, and it’s going to be a very long process. There seems to be some issues with her company at the moment and she’s having some trouble with her cash flow, so she has no choice but to ask me for it.”‘Borrow money, you say?’ Arianne felt a little embittered. ‘Helen would actually rather look for Mark instead of her own daughter?’Arianne bit her lip. “You’re the one she’s asking for, not me. So, do as you please. You don’t have to tell me.”Mark walked to Arianne’s side and sat down before reaching out his hand to grab onto her shoulder. “Why would she look for me? Wouldn’t it be because of our relationship? It’s all the same, whether she looks for me or you, so is there a need to differentiate so clearly? I’m telling you to ask for your opinion; the person who’s asking for a loan is your mom after all. I know you don’t like Aery, so i
Tiffany adjusted her posture so she could look at him, face to face, and display the full glory of her love-smitten grin.“Will I ever get enough of looking at you, hon? Nope! I will never! Ever! Be bored of your handsome face, puddin’! See, you’re that one precious starburst I’ve gone through loads of bullsh*t in life just to finally find and make mine; do you really think I’m gonna deny myself from staring at my husband, looking damn fine every single day, hmm? Ha! People say that marriage is how you break the spell of love, but not for me, man, not for me. Because every day I spend with you just makes me fall even more maddeningly in love! I love ya so hard! Purrrrrrrrr…”Jackson could see his skin crawling in real-time as she rambled on. “What the hell…just happened? You were never this… cringey back then, r-right? The hell knocked you on the head and changed you, babe?”Scarily, Tiffany did not seem at all offended by his reaction. Even scarier, she simply continued leveling hi
Summer, listening in from all the way back in the dining room, guffawed so hard she choked on her food. “Ha—uh, uh hem! Cough, cough, ptooey! Hahahahaha! Jesus Christ, Lil’ P! How old are you again? That little boombox of yours can really say the most outrageous things! If you were a few years older, your mom would have whacked you right now! C’mon, you rascal, your sister’s only gonna be ugly for now—when she grows older, she’s only gonna get better, you can bet on that! The tables might turn by then and she would be the one who doesn’t want to play with you anymore!”Tiffany thought of her daughter’s challenge in cognitive abilities and lowered her head as a sharp pang stabbed her chest. Every time Lil’ P started running his mouth and throwing all sorts of disparaging remarks at his sister, the anger that he fanned within Tiffany was genuine and real. Had Cynthia not suffered enough? Why must she still be treated with contempt?Tiffany knew Lil’ P was, at his core, just a little ki
Tiffany suddenly sat right up on her butt with her outstretched, slender fingers closing around Jackson’s collar. Her eyes were still wet with tears, but the glimmer had somehow been imbued with a new tinge of seduction. “You’re not going anyway tonight…”Jackson’s eyes darkened slightly. “Damn it. Took your bait.”Tiffany pursed. “As if I could ever create any scheme as good as yours! Really, are you not gonna take the lead?”Jackson’s heart was fluttering. The way she pitched her voice, the tone she used, and the look on her face… That woman’s seduction game was truly the pinnacle of all!…The next day in the Tremont Estate, Arianne and Mark’s return was greeted by Henry personally coming out of the door. “Welcome home, Mr. Tremont; Madam. You have a guest at home.”They halted in their steps. Neither of them expected company that day, though Mark nodded. “Mm, understood.”They strode into the living room, where Arianne instantly spied a familiar figure sitting on the couch;
Mark could not stand to watch their exchange anymore. He stood and tugged Arianne’s arm, suggesting, “All right, that’s enough. I recall Smore having some assignments from school today, and maybe you can check and see if he’s doing them. Let me handle this.”Arianne responded with a wordless, sullen sulk before turning her back from them and walking away.Her bravado took her as far as a corner, where no one else was present, before it crumbled and revealed her reddened eyes. The fact that Helen was borrowing a hefty sum from her was never what dismayed her—it was the revelation that after abandoning Arianne, Helen’s life did not improve at all. Seeing her going around, essentially begging for charity, was a sting to her heart, and she hated how that distress felt.Downstairs, Mark tried his best to comfort Helen. “It’s all right, I can assure you. I sincerely believe she doesn’t mean abuse when she said what she said. She concurred when I told her you needed monetary help. The most
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