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
Jackson clicked his tongue. “Your face is ruined. He’s too harsh.”Not used to a table full of men and not being able to chat along as the only woman, Arianne took a few bites and stood up. “I’m full. You guys enjoy the meal.”Mark nodded. She went to sit down on the couch at the living room while Rice Ball snuggled into her embrace naturally.Jackson was slightly surprised by the scene. “That cat is pretty fat…”Mark sighed without saying anything, but Jackson caught the oddity. “Tsk, tsk, I didn’t expect this. You were the most afraid of furry animals in the past and now you have one at home. Looks like someone’s influence on you is quite strong, eh?”Still not saying anything, Mark glared at him but with upturned lips. His gaze involuntarily fleeted to the living room.When they were done with the meal, it was nearly ten at night. Jackson and Eric were tipsy when they left, and Mark was in a no better state. This was Arianne’s first time feeling that the huge Tremont Estate felt som
Arianne’s phone rang out of the blue. Escaping his grip, she picked up the device on the bed and saw that Tiffany’s name was blinking as the caller ID. It was necessary to pick up the call, and Arianne, without a doubt, thought that Mark would stop until she was done with the call.Without worrying, she connected the call. The moment Tiffany’s voice was heard, Mark gave her neck a soft bite. Arianne froze before turning to jelly and could only talk through a tough front, “Tiffie… It’s not a good time to talk now. I’ll call you later.”Perplexed, Tiffany asked, “What’s wrong, Ari? Why would it be inconvenient right now? I have something serious to tell you. It’s Mr.—” Arianne hung up directly before Tiffany could finish her words.Her heartbeat pumped incredibly fast. Tiffany had nearly said “Mr. Sloane”. Before she found out the truth, she must not let Mark know about it. He was so close to her right now, he could hear Tiffany…Fortunately, Mark was drunk and did not question it. His f
Tiffany huffily pushed the glass of water to the man’s lips. “Drink up. I still have a bunch of chores to do and no time to chat. You’ve only asked me to clean your house and prepare your meals. You didn’t ask me to serve you. That requires a higher rate!”Jackson emptied the glass and fished out a stack of banknotes from his wallet. “Sure… As high as you’d like. I have a tiny request. Sleep… with me. You can state the price.”Tiffany was about to explode from this madness. “Jackson West, what did you just say?”Jackson tugged his shirt button open and exposed his muscular chest. “Sleep with me…”Unable to hold back, Tiffany pushed herself forward and slapped him. “Screw yourself! I’ll hit you to death if you continue to act like this!”She did not actually land a harsh blow. Tiffany loved beautiful things. When Jackson tugged his shirt open, she nearly lost her composure. If Jackson weren’t so handsome, she would have beat him up until she incapacitated him! Because he was drunk, she
Half a minute later, Jackson got off of her. Tiffany got up and straightened her clothes, feeling slightly out of breath. “Umm… It’s getting late. I’ll come back early tomorrow morning and clean. You go to sleep first, I’m leaving!”Jackson sat on the edge of the bed with his back facing her, so Tiffany couldn’t see the expression on his face. Since he didn’t say anything, she took it as a silent approval and left quickly.She didn’t expect to encounter this kind of situation in her normal part time job. Nevertheless, it wasn’t hard to understand. A guy like Jackson was probably used to things like this. Maybe another woman would come here as soon as she left.The next day at the Tremont Estate…Arianne got up early. Mark and Nina were still asleep. She returned the call she got from Tiffany, who was still muddle-headed from her sleep. Basically, the person they hired found out that Mr. Sloane was taken away by someone from the mailing address and he had fallen sick at the time. Th
After everyone else left, Will walked toward the lounge. “Ari.”Arianne stood up and smiled at him. “What a coincidence, I didn’t know you were coming to the meeting too. I came with Mark here to relieve my boredom… How’s your leg?”Will didn’t point out her anxiety but smiled warmly. “It's fine now. It just feels a bit funny when I walk, but it will get better in time. I see that Mark treats you well. I just hope he wasn’t putting on an act for others.”Arianne didn’t carry on the conversation and instead changed the topic. “Um… Would you like to drink something? I can make coffee.”Will pondered for a moment then said, “Sure, sorry for the trouble.”Arianne smiled at him then went into Mark’s office to make two cups of coffee since his office had more stuff than in the pantry. Two minutes after she came back to the lounge with coffee, the conference room’s door opened and Mark came out. “Ari, what are you doing?”Arianne tried her best to speak calmly. “Just chatting with Will.
Arianne thought she was running as swiftly as the wind, but she unexpectedly got caught by Mark before she even ran out of the lobby on the ground floor. “Oh, seems like you’re getting bolder if you’re now stepping on my foot. Great. I’ll make sure to teach you a lesson later.”She surrendered and allowed herself to be dragged back to the car dejectedly. Brian noticed both of them panting as though they just finished exercising and couldn’t hold himself back from commenting. “What’s going on here? Did you two just finish running a hundred meter sprint?”Mark seemed to be in a great mood and replied to his question. “Something like that, except it was over before we even ran a hundred meters. Let’s go to White Water Bay Café.”White Water Bay Café...Arianne recalled her last visit with Mark to that café, but of course, it couldn’t be considered a wonderful memory. She couldn’t understand her current state of mind. Rather than saying that they had changed their way of getting along,
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