“Wow, he’s back. He immediately made huge donations to the prominent art schools in the capital too. It’s great being rich, isn’t it!”“I’ve heard that he’s our alumni, having graduated from the Southline University. That explains his generous donations. Plus, he’s the richest man in the city after all. More importantly, he’s so charming… practically the whole nation’s ideal man - rich, handsome, and down to earth. There’s no one else like him in this world!”The entirety of Southline University Art Institute was engrossed with news regarding Mark Tremont’s return, except for Arianne Wynn who stood out like a sore thumb.Seated at the stairway, she was munching on a stale bun which had long lost its warmth. Downing the otherwise hard to swallow baked good with just plain water felt equally as cold as the winter season.Mark Tremont. He’s back again after three years…“Ari, why are you eating buns again? Come on, I’ll buy you a good meal!”Tiffany Lane plopped herself down carelessly be
Arianne was too scared to resist. This had happened countless times in the past.“Sir, it’s meal time.”Butler Henry’s voice rang from outside the room, sounding like a savior that had just come from the heavens to rescue Arianne.Butler Henry had served the Tremonts for decades and had watched Mark Tremont grow up, thus Butler Henry carried some significance to the latter.“I see,” Mark Tremont replied casually.Arianne Wynn opened the door immediately, fleeing for her life. Mark’s words still echoing in her mind.“You’re turning eighteen in another half of a month?”His question shattered the peace within her. She was well aware of what turning eighteen meant.Mark Tremont left the house after the meal, giving Arianne a sense of relief as she drifted to sleep on the small bed in the storeroom. She had lived here in the storeroom for ten years. To a certain extent, the Tremont Estate was her second ‘home’.Her slumber tonight was not in repose. She asked her father repeatedly in her d
Two minutes later, Mark Tremont’s car drove away. Arianne released a breath that she was unaware of holding, wondering what he was doing when the car was stationary.“Sir… It’s snowing. Are you really not letting miss in the car? Should we wait a bit more? Or shall I call her?” The driver, Brian Pearce, was rather worried.“Busybody...” Mark Tremont looked at the delicate silhouette from the rearview mirror, feeling inexplicably annoyed. He waited for two minutes and had given her the chance.When Arianne arrived at school, Tiffany Lane was baffled by her soaked state.“What do you think you’re doing? Did you cycle here in the snow? Are you crazy? Come on, breakfast is still warm. Eat up quickly!”Arianne accepted the milk and bun that Tiffany passed her with a smile, a dash of red appeared from her cracked lips.Tiffany sucked in a deep breath. “Do your parents not care about you? They don’t worry about your meals or clothes and aren’t concerned about you attending art school. Did the
The dean beside him grinned. “Mr. Tremont, are you referring to… Will Sivan? You’ve probably heard of him, one of the three young masters of the Sivan family. He’s in his junior year now. The three of them are usually together.”“Next time, I don’t want to see him again at Southline University. No, in the whole capital,” Mark Tremont said emotionlessly as he turned to leave.A few steps later, he halted. “And I’ll fully sponsor Arianne Wynn, anonymously.”The dean bowed his head quickly.“Of course, of course. Have a good day.”…After classes, Arianne Wynn dragged her lethargic self as she pushed her bicycle to the campus gate, standing to wait for Will Sivan to return his scarf.“Ari, are you waiting for Will? He went home at noon, he said he has some family matters.”Tiffany Lane walked to her and took out a small bag from her purse.“Here you go, cold medicine, he asked me to give you this. Medication for fevers is also inside. Remember to take it.”Arianne looked at the bag of med
A pair of arms surrounded her suddenly and pulled her back. Arianne could almost feel the dampness from his fresh shower and smelt the fragrance of body wash.Her hands supported herself on his chest, unknowingly they were shaking.The arms that were wrapped around her waist let go abruptly.“Get lost.”For some reason, his voice was a little raspy. Arianne had no idea how she had upset him again so she scurried off at once.It was when she returned to the storeroom that she had regrets. She had forgotten to ask him about Will Sivan. Recalling what happened just now, however, the courage to seek him again slipped away from her.When morning came the next day, Mary came into the storeroom with a glass of water.“C’mon, Ari. Here’s some cold medicine.”Arianne Wynn was puzzled. Mary did not know she caught a cold. Furthermore, how would Mary dare give her medication without Mark Tremont’s permission?As if dismissing Arianne’s doubt, Mary sat down on the edge of her bed with a smile.“Si
There was a fleeting moment when Arianne saw Will’s shadow behind Tiffany. The three of them knew each other so well that Tiffany Lane had his tone and expression down impeccably.Arianne’s heart skipped a beat. Her lips parted open, not sure of how to reply.Tiffany waved at her with a grin.“Alright, my mission is done. Whatever you have to say, tell Will yourself! Take care on your way home, see you tomorrow!”She got into her car and left afterward, leaving Arianne stunned on the spot for a long time, what Tiffany had said just now kept replaying in her mind…When Arianne arrived at the Tremont Estate, it had already past eight o’clock at night. She carefully opened the gift box to see that Tiffany had bought her a necklace, while Will had given her a bracelet. In Will’s gift box there was a note which wrote ‘Hand in hand, with you I shall grow old’.Blushing, Arianne hid the gifts in a cardboard box under her bed. Mark Tremont would never agree to the presence of such things, so s
Arianne Wynn’s eyes widened in trepidation. It was only then that she realized that before she came, he had consumed a fair amount of liquor. The small sip just now could not sum up to the scent of alcohol wading from him right now.Mark Tremont’s kiss was commanding and predatory, swallowing Arianne’s breath bit by bit. When she was about to struggle for air, he finally pulled away.“The dinner is getting cold!” Arianne cried out in panic.Mark Tremont was a different person when he was drunk, compared to when he was sober. When he drank, he gradually let his true self out, but while sober he was everyone’s gentleman.Arianne was well aware of this. She was terrified and trembling, while the message Will Sivan entrusted to Tiffany Lane kept looping in her mind – ‘I like you. Wait for my return. You’ve got to wait for me.’Mark Tremont pushed her down onto the large bed behind her.“Two more hours. What a waste to spend it on dinner.”He was facing away from the light. Arianne was unab
Arianne’s hand flew up to her neck, wearing a frown. She vaguely remembered that Mark Tremont had kissed her there, he must have left a mark.Unlike Arianne’s flustered state, Mary was delighted.“Ari, just be with sir if he really likes you. You’ll have your favorite buttered bread for life and he’s good looking too. I don’t think there’s anything you’d disapprove of, seeming you’ve spent ten years with him after all.”Arianne shied away from discussing the topic as she cut Mary off. “Mama Mary, I’m gonna be late for class. Bye!”She fled out of the door as if she was running for her life.Become Mark Tremont’s other half? If she was bored to death, sure.When Arianne got to school, Tiffany Lane scooted to her and toyed with her scarf.“Babe, what unique taste you’ve got there. Why does it feel so 70’s? But Ari always looks the best anyway. You look good, maybe even better if you wore a janitor’s uniform. Especially with your eyes, take a look at them… ah! You’re so captivating…”Her
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