Arianne straightened her back and asked bluntly, “What do you hope to achieve by telling me all this? You’re only acquainted with Mark through both of your fathers. I don’t think it’s your place to say any of this. Our marriage doesn’t concern you. You are being too much of a busybody, Miss Moran.”Nina smiled then headed back to her room without saying another thing.Arianne pushed open the door and entered the bedroom. Mark seemed to be sound asleep so the room was quiet.She laid down quietly with a chaotic mind. Every time someone mentioned the plane crash, she would feel suffocated by an overwhelming pressure. It fanned her desire to find Mr. Sloane as soon as possible so that she could uncover the truth.Early next morning, Mark got ready to go out.Nina rushed out of her room in a hurry. “Mark, I’m going out too! Give me a ride! I’m too lazy to drive.”Arianne, when hearing this, reflexively jumped out of the bed and cracked the bedroom door open a bit to carefully observe
In the afternoon, Mark came back with Nina. Not only that, but they also came back earlier than usual. It wasn’t even the time for Mark to get off from work. Mark had always been meticulous at work; he would never come home early unless it was under special circumstances.Nina was carrying big and small bags of ingredients. Mark’s hands were full too. As soon Nina entered the door, she shouted for help. “Mary, come help take these things!”Mary slowly came out of the kitchen. When she saw the ingredients, she said, “We don’t lack these at home. Why did you buy so much?”Nina grinned at her. “I don’t wanna be a freeloader! I wouldn’t feel good doing that if I’m staying here long. These are all the things that Mark and I love, so just use the stuff I bought for dinner tonight.”Seeing that Mark didn’t say anything, Mary had no choice but to take all the stuff into the kitchen.Despite hearing the commotion downstairs, Arianne didn’t try to participate. She just continued reading her
Mark smiled faintly. “She isn’t in good health. Don’t worry about her, and let’s just eat by ourselves.”Nina scooped some food into Mark’s bowl. “Here, try this. You used to love eating this. I specifically requested your chef to make it. By the way, why is Arianne in poor health? She looks sickly, and I heard that she just got discharged from the hospital. What happened?”A conflicted look flashed across Mark’s face. “She was bleeding excessively after her miscarriage. It was negligence on my part. Fortunately, she’s fine now.”Nina stuck her tongue out. “Seems like I asked about something I shouldn’t have. I’m sorry. By the way, if I may ask, how did you end up marrying her? I heard from my dad that she’s the orphan you took in back then. It was her father’s mistake that led to a plane crash that killed your family. I’m just a bit curious… Why would you choose to be with her? I know that you’re a kind person, so there’s nothing wrong with taking her in. However, given your differ
Thinking that Nina had made this for Mark, Arianne got an inexplicable urge to clean the entire plate.She took the first bite, reviving her taste bud. It was a little spicy...She took the second bite and couldn’t help but draw a sharp breath. It was too spicy! She suspected that Nina was addicted to spiciness. Was this even made for humans? No wonder why it had barely been touched!“Ari, if you are free, then go prepare a cup of tea for sir…”Upon hearing Mary coming back, Arianne pretended that nothing had happened and slipped out of the kitchen. “Alright, alright, I’ll go do that!”Seeing Arianne sprinting away, Mary warned her. “Slow down! What if you fall down?”How could she dare to slow down? Her tongue was burning right now! She needed water!When she returned to her room, the heat in her mouth only gradually receded after she drank a full glass of water and a carton of milk.By the time she recovered, she remembered that she had to make tea for Mark. She quickly prepa
‘Knock, knock...’Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.Arianne opened the door, only to find Nina smiling at her. Without waiting for a reaction from Arianne, she entered the room.“Mark is busy and I’m bored, so I hope you don’t mind me coming here to have a chat with you!”Could Arianne say that she minded?“No, I don’t mind. Have a seat. I’m not feeling that well, so I’ll lie down first.”Nina watched Arianne return to the bed, then found a chair to sit down. “How did the miscarriage happen?”Arianne involuntarily stiffened as she forced a smile. “By accident.”Nina pursed her lips with what seemed like sympathy. “Accident? How… very careless. It’s a life, after all. The Tremont family lacks for nothing, except for Mark having a child at his age. What a pity to lose that baby.”Arianne had lost any desire to continue the conversation. “I would like to rest now.”Nina got up and walked to the door. “Have a good rest then. Take care of yourself. Otherwise, it’ll be borin
She picked up his wallet and opened it. There were at least a dozen cards inside. Since she remembered that he mentioned a black card last time, her eyes fell on one that matched the description with a gold inscription on it. All of a sudden, she caught a glimpse of a photo in the wallet. Whose photo would Mark keep in his wallet and carry around with him?Before she could see who was in the photo, Mark suddenly snatched the wallet away and took out the black card for her. “Go to sleep.”Arianne took the card, then asked, “Who is that in the photo? Your first love? I think it was a woman… but I couldn’t get a better look…” The photo was taken from a distance, so it was hard to tell who it was unless she took a closer look.He gave her an amused look and raised his eyebrow. “Yes, it’s my first love.”Arianne dropped the subject but secretly felt a little bothered. His first love was free and could love whoever she wanted, unlike her. Will was the only person she ever liked, but Ma
“Excuse me, Unc… I mean, you ugly toad. Where do you get your confidence? Back in the day, a guy like you wasn't even worthy enough to help me carry my shoes. Don’t go thinking you can do whatever you want here just because you have some stinking money. It probably took you a few years to gather up enough money to fully pay for a house, right? Fine, I’ll foot the bill since the food isn’t here yet and you haven’t taken even a bite. Don’t even think about eating anything, just leave. To retain my last shred of manners, I am not going to shout at you here. So would you please roll your round body through the exit over there?”The balding man stood up and glared at her. “What did you say? Why don’t you say that again? I can easily find women like you at those nightclubs I visit. Don’t go thinking you are all that! Why should I even put in efforts and empty out my wallet when I can just pay a $100 for a full package service from a woman of your quality?”Tiffany unceremoniously rolled he
“Tiffany Lane, an employee from my company,” Jackson replied very calmly, then looked at Tiffany. “What a coincidence. You came alone?”Tiffany felt quite awkward. “No… I came with a friend, but she left in advance.”Jackson smiled at her. “Well then, pay attention to the lunch break hours. I’m leaving first.”“Um…” Tiffany couldn’t speak. If Jackson really left, who would be able to help her out?“Hmm?” Jackson stopped to look at her.She summoned the courage and dragged him to the side. “Lend me some money and deduct it from my salary… I forgot to bring money,” she whispered.Jackson was amused and looked at her calmly. “How much?”“$6,600…” She forced herself to say the number.“Waiter, ring up table eight.” Jackson generously called the waiter to swipe his card.After picking up the bill, Jackson immediately left with the woman. Tiffany carried the packed leftovers and exited the restaurant with drooping shoulders. Today really wasn’t her day...As soon as she returned to
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