Tiffany kept thinking that something was wrong. Why was this guy helping her? She stood up and suddenly felt the world around her spin. She must have drank too much just now and got dizzy. Jackson managed to catch her in time. Tiffany felt his soft palms and involuntarily leaned against him. Jackson felt something soft pressed up against his chest before a nice scent wafted into his nose.He took off his coat stiffly and put it around Tiffany. He only now knew what was in the black garment bag that she brought to work every day; it was the dress she was wearing now. It had quite a bold design and was very revealing.They went outside, and when the cold wind blew, Tiffany staggered to the side of the road and retched. Jackson handed her a tissue. “Are you alright? I saw you finish half a big bottle of pure vodka. You must be feeling really bad now…”Although Tiffany was dizzy, she wasn’t deaf. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier? I’ve never drank that kind of pure manly alcohol!”Jackso
Eric was intrigued when he noticed that Mark was catching up to him. Both of them started racing against each other until they parted ways at an intersection. Even then, Mark didn’t slow down. Arianne’s heart beat crazily as she clung to her seatbelt for dear life. “What are you doing? I’m scared…! The road is pretty dark and slippery, can you slow down?”Mark slammed on the brakes just as the car reached the luxury residential area. There weren’t many cars on this road at this hour and no cops would issue any tickets here. Arianne patted her chest for a long while to calm herself down. “Why did you decide to come pick me up? I can come back by myself…”“Come back by yourself? Do you mean getting Eric to send you home, instead?” There was jealousy in his tone.“I usually take a cab home by myself. Eric only gives me a ride on the days I work overtime. What’s wrong with that? You can just tell me directly if I’ve upset you in any way. Don’t use such an extreme method to frighten me.
Nina saw her rushing down the stairs with a flushed face and teased her with a smirk, “Seems like Mark was too excited… It hasn’t even been that long since you were discharged…”Arianne was so embarrassed that she wanted to die. “What are you talking about…? That’s not it… I’m exhausted. I’m just going to take a shower and sleep.”Mary glared at Nina. “Don’t poke your nose into other people’s business, young lady! Aren’t you ashamed of yourself? Mind your own business!”Nina disagreed with her. “We’re all adults here, what are you worried about? Given the sexual tension between them earlier, I thought they were going to do something. Seems like I got excited over nothing. Both of them usually just look so ‘sex depraved’. Aren’t you curious too on how their relationship will develop?”“It’s not like you don’t know that madam is in poor health. Sir is understanding toward her. You’re the only one making wild guesses here. I think you’re too bored out of your mind,” Mary brushed her o
“You say that nothing happened between us, but why were you sleeping in the same bed as me? Please use your brain even when you’re lying. I’m an adult and I can take responsibility for my own actions, but I just can’t stand looking at guys like you who wouldn’t take responsibility for yours!” Tiffany was extremely vexed. No matter how she looked at these details, it didn't seem like nothing had happened.“Excuse me? You were the one who didn’t want to go home or give me your home address. I had no choice but to bring you back here since I couldn’t send you home. I don’t have a bed prepared in the other rooms. This is the only room where we can sleep in this house and I’m not going to sleep on the sofa. Besides, I was dead exhausted from taking care of you the whole night. Where else would I sleep if not on the bed?” Jackson poked his head out of the bathroom while brushing his teeth as he complained to Tiffany about her over the top behavior.Regardless of whether Jackson was telling
It was almost lunch time when Jackson called the department of design. The supervisor shouted at the top of her lungs, “Tiffany Lane, Mr. West is looking for you! Hurry to his office!”Tiffany’s brain nearly exploded at the mention of Jackson’s name. “Got it!”On her way to the office, she kept thinking about what Jackson would do to her in the office. Could it be that he wanted to continue where they left off from last night? Otherwise, why would he suddenly look for her?She took her time walking to his office, then lifted her hand to knock on the door. She had already made up her mind. If Jackson was going to ask her for a favor, she would never agree. This wasn’t something a human with conscience could do...“Come in,” Jackson’s voice came from inside.Tiffany calmed herself down and pushed open the door. She kept a distance between them and stood at the door. “What’s the matter?”Jackson picked a document up without even lifting his head. “Send this to Glide. Since Arianne i
Tiffany was a little skeptical. “Really? Then why didn’t I feel anything?”Arianne was stunned for a good while before coming back to her senses. “You mean… you’re a…? Weren’t you dating Ethan for a long time and even occasionally stayed with him? Why are you asking me this kind of question? Shouldn’t you know this better than I do?”Tiffany’s eyes dimmed a little at the mention of Ethan. “Ethan and I… never got to that stage. He wanted to wait until we got married, but who knew… Hehe… He never even thought of marrying me in the first place. Now that I think about it, he’s a decent guy. At least he didn’t completely wreck me when he was using me.”From her statement, Arianne picked out a clue. “Since you’ve never done it with Ethan, then why are you suddenly asking me about it? Tiffie, tell me the truth.”Tiffany got so nervous that she emptied half a glass of water in one breath. “Stop asking me that, Ari. I can’t tell you… I’m alright. It was just a random question. Look at me, I
In a flash, the office turned into a mess, with blood staining the floor. Having never witnessed scenes like this, Arianne’s legs shook. She forced herself to pull the fighting men apart when she saw Eric being at a disadvantage. “Stop fighting! You’ll only hurt yourself like this! Can’t you guys talk about the issue instead?”Eric restrained himself from making too big a movement when he saw Arianne coming to them, but it gave the other party the chance to beat him up. With a hard punch, Eric fell to the floor. Screaming, Arianne grabbed a small cactus pot on the office table and smashed it on the man’s head. “Stop it!”Her slam knocked the man unconscious. It made her shudder, and she didn’t even notice that her palm was pricked by the cactus.Eric staggered up and guarded her behind him. “Call the police…”Arianne shook her head. “We can’t call the police… We’ve done this to him. We won’t get away if we call the police…”Eric was speechless. “He’s the one who came to my company look
Mark did not say anything, but seeing the insistence in his eyes, Arianne did not push it.On the way to the hospital, she could not help asking, “How many brothers are there in Eric’s family? Why have they gotten to this stage?”Mark tugged at his tie. “One elder sister and two elder brothers. He’s a late comer to the family… from his father’s third wife. He has a different mother from his elder siblings. It’s complicated. His old man doesn’t really regard him highly. It’s honestly not Eric’s fault. If it were me, I would have done much worse than he had.”Arianne also thought that things would not stop here if it were Mark.Arriving at the hospital, the doctor picked out the pricks in Arianne’s palm. When she saw her bloodied palm, she realized how hard she must have gone just now. After having her palm treated and bandaged, Mark wore a frown while looking at her hand. “Don’t go back to the office later. I’ll send you home.”Arianne was reluctant. “I’m fine. I still have unfinished t
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