Arianne had completely lost the will to laugh at this point. “Alright, alright. Next time, if you have anything you want to eat, just let me know. I’ll take you there. I have to go home now. Mark’s going to nitpick at me if I get home too late.”Tiffany noticed a taxi driving towards them from not too far away and raised her hand to flag it down. “Go on. You go on ahead.”…White Water Bay Villa. Mark was smoking out of frustration, finishing his cigarettes one after another as if he had no intention of stopping.Jackson couldn’t resist opening a window for ventilation. “Alright. What’s going on?”Mark pulled out a file from his briefcase. “Have a look. Someone’s setting me up.”Jackson lit up a cigarette as well then skimmed through the file. “F*ck!” he exclaimed, unable to resist blurting out a swear word, “Who’d have the balls? His objective is pretty clear; he’s after you. He’s managed to sway a few of your long-term partners in just two short months. This guy’s definitely
Early in the morning, the very next day, Mark had disappeared. Arianne was feeling listless because of George Levin. When she went downstairs for breakfast, Mary stepped forward and began nagging. “Ari, have you been fighting with Mr. Tremont again? He just returned from his business trip last night, and he looked upset when he left this morning. You looked gloomy as well.”Arianne shook her head, “I didn’t quarrel with him. I don’t know what’s up with him either. I’m just in a bad mood, but it has nothing to do with him. Don’t worry, Mary. I’ve been busy lately. I’ll have to work overtime over the next few days since I haven’t been working overtime lately. Please do me a favor and watch over Rice Ball.”Mary heaved a sigh of relief. “I’m glad you haven’t been fighting. Don’t worry. Rice Ball eats better than I do. I’ve let it try every delicious thing in the house that it likes. It’s all fat now, and its tummy is nearly sweeping the ground when it walks.”Arianne naturally trusted
Eric’s father brandished his walking stick forcefully. “Are you giving me parenting advice? Eric, you shouldn’t bring your disreputable friends into the company. You won’t be able to manage it that way. I’ve made my decision. I’ll give you a week to hand Glide Designs over to your second brother!”Eric balled his hands into fists. “On what grounds?”“Because I am your father! Whatever I say, goes. Do as I say. If you’re not happy, you can leave the Nathaniel family home!” Mr. Nathaniel was extremely enraged, his wizened face was completely red from anger.Arianne was suddenly reminded of Helen. While Helen was not openly hostile, she had chosen Jean and Aery and abandoned her. Aery enjoyed everything that she did not have. She hated parents like these. Her heart burned with rage as she said, “Mr. Nathaniel, are you saying that my husband, Mark Tremont, is a disreputable friend? The Nathaniel family certainly has high standards. Us Tremonts are certainly unworthy of you. Even your ow
Eric suddenly laughed. “Alright. From now on, I have nothing to do with the Nathaniels. I’ve heard that my oldest brother has been trying to convince Mark to work with him. Do you know that Mark hasn’t agreed to it? Since Mark’s wife is here today, let me make this clear to you; you can all forget about establishing a relationship with Mark Tremont. As long as I am around, it’ll never happen! Profits may be important to Mark, but it’s not as important as friendship. If you don’t believe me, give it a try!”Mr. Nathaniel stared at Eric before shifting his gaze to Arianne. No one could tell what he was thinking. In the end, he stayed silent and left. Arianne heaved a sigh of relief. She was really afraid. She was afraid that not only would Mr. Nathaniel beat Eric, but he would beat her as well. That was why she had mentioned Mark in the beginning. It seemed like Mark’s name was very effective. Moreover, Mr. Nathaniel seemed to be unaware that Eric was such good friends with Mark. In a
The Nathaniel family home.Mr. Nathaniel called for a family meeting when he arrived home. Naturally, Eric was not invited.All those who wanted to benefit from Mr. Nathaniel, naturally, had to pander to him before he took his last breath.His eldest and second sons had arrived. The two brothers had dragged their family members along as well. Only his daughter who had been married off did not attend the meeting.“Why did you call us here so urgently, dad?” His second son was slightly upset because the meeting had interrupted his fun. However, he did not show his displeasure.Mr. Nathaniel replied grimly, “I didn’t expect Eric to be affiliated with Mark Tremont. Moreover, they’re good friends. Mark’s wife is a designer in the company as well. I’ve miscalculated this time. I don’t know if he’s trying to trick us, but if it’s true, we can forget about establishing a connection with Mark.”Mr. Nathaniel’s second son was not bothered at all. When things got rough, he would push his re
No one understood what she meant. The eldest son’s wife could not stand her sister-in-law’s despicable methods and said disdainfully, “Don’t drag your unsightly affairs into this. Lest we end up penny-wise and pound-foolish.”The second son’s wife glared at her, “What are you saying? What unsightly affairs? I’m suggesting we convince Mark’s wife to betray Eric. At that time, Eric would definitely sever ties with Mark. If Eric has a problem with Mark’s wife, Mark will certainly have a problem with him. At that time, we can take advantage of it to smooth things over and lure Mark to our side. I’m sure Mark won’t mind working with us to seek revenge from Eric!”The eldest son’s eyes lit up. “Dad, I don’t think that’s a bad idea. Lily is still in Glide. I’ll have a talk with her so we can start our plan from there. Mark’s wife might not betray Eric, but Lily can do it on her behalf. What do you think?”Mr. Nathaniel nodded heavily after some thought. “That’s the only way now. I’ll leave
At this very moment, it hit her that Mark had grown important to her like a family member. Whenever he was around, the Tremont mansion would come alive. She did not like coming home to a lifeless house. This made her already tiring day even more exhausting.Rice Ball mewled and pounced into her arms. She smiled and carried it upstairs. “I’m going upstairs to shower and sleep. I’ve been really busy lately. I’m sorry that I haven’t been able to take care of you.”Rice Ball responded to her, seemingly sympathetically, and whimpered pitifully.By the time she came out from the shower, Rice Ball had already fallen asleep on the blanket at the corner of the bed. She could not bear waking it up so she let it be. She gently slipped into the blanket and fell asleep.After some time had passed, she awoke from her dreams to Rice Ball’s sudden yelp. She turned on the lights in a panic. Both Mark and Rice Ball were clearly surprised by this.Rice Ball shrunk into the foot of the bed, widening
Arianne rushed back to her desk to find the documents in her hands, but despite her best efforts, she could not find them at all! She returned to Eric’s office with a pale face. “No… The document I have has gone missing. How can the client be so contradictory? The contract has clearly been signed. This is too much!”Eric lowered his voice as he said, “Due to my current situation, setting aside my broken ties with the Nathaniel family, Glide is only a mid-sized company so I can’t give them too much profits. We can’t let our competitors find out about this. If news of this gets out, my competitors will swoop down and give our clients higher profits. At that time, contract cancellations like this would be normal. It’s not that I can’t afford it, it’s just not necessary for me to fork out that kind of money. Understand?”Arianne felt mildly vexed. “I really don’t know what happened. I’m the designer, I shouldn’t have accepted such an important role. Now that something has happened, I don