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
Arianne took a deep breath. “Thank you, I understand. I didn’t lose my personal belongings. I lost something confidential from the company.”Her neighbor sighed. A fearful expression could be seen on her face as she said, “It has nothing to do with me!”Arianne did not reply. She did not want to suspect Lily, but the time was too coincidental. Eric believed he had managed to get Lily to work for him, he would be very disappointed if he found out Lily was behind this.Arianne rose to her feet and called Lily to the pantry.Lily said impatiently, “What is it? It’s working hours. If you have something to say, do it when we’re off the clock.”Arianne went straight to the point. “I know the document was stolen by you. You used to work for the Nathaniels so I can understand if you gave it to them. Why did you do it?”Lily’s expression sank. “It’s your mistake. Why are you pushing this on me? I’m not going to take the blame for someone else’s mistake. This has nothing to do with me.”A
Lily glanced at Arianne. No one knew what was going through her mind at this moment. “You managed to discover the truth so easily because I didn’t do a clean job.” She looked at Eric, “I didn’t want to do it either, but your eldest brother made me do it. I asked him why, but he didn’t give me a reason. It wasn’t easy for me to find a footing in the capital. The Nathaniels gave me a lot of opportunities. My family isn’t doing too well, and I don’t want to lose my job. My mother would kill me if we lose our financial resources. Your eldest brother only needs to say the word, and I’d have to leave. I have no choice…”The disappointment in Eric’s eyes was clear. “Did you think that I’ve become a stray dog, unable to fend for himself, and that I won’t be able to take care of you? Do you think I’m unreliable? Fine. That’s fine. I had intended to take you with me when I start my own company after leaving Glide. However, it seems like our objectives are not aligned. Let’s just hope my brother
Eric made an ‘okay’ sign as he said, “Have a good rest this weekend and report for duty at my company on Monday. Your pay remains the same. Don’t worry, I won’t treat you unfairly. I’ll send you the address later.There was no need for overtime today so Arianne was very relaxed. She returned to the Tremont Estate as soon as work ended. The weather was getting warmer lately so she felt a little hot. She changed into a pair of pajamas made from thinner material after her shower. Then, she went to the kitchen to lend Mary a hand.Mary’s heart ached seeing this since it was rare for Arianne to come home early. “You don’t have to help me. Go and relax. You’re tired enough from work.”“I’m not tired,” Arianne replied with a grin, “Let me help you. I’m all fired up today. Usually, I’d be too lazy to move.”Mary noticed that Arianne was pretty good at selecting vegetables. She sighed as she shook her head. “Mr. Tremont won’t be back for dinner today either. He’s extremely busy lately. How
Lillian glared at Tiffany. “You won’t even eat what you’ve made, and you want me to eat it? It tastes horrible… You get to dine in a restaurant, but you want to leave me at home? I thought about you every time I had something good to eat in the past, wishing that you’d get to taste it too. You ungrateful brat. Arianne, don’t you think so?”Arianne had an awkward smile on her face. “It’s okay, Auntie Lane. Order what you want.”Lillian smiled contentedly. “Arianne’s more sensible. Marrying a good husband, not having to worry about food and clothes. Her bread is already buttered in life. Tiffie, learn from Arianne. Look at the kind of boyfriend you found for yourself. I get angry whenever I think about Ethan. Forget how much we lost because of him, but what about your youth? In the end, we didn’t get anything.”Tiffany pulled a long face. “Mom, you didn’t use to speak so uncouthly. Even if we’re poor now, you’re Mrs. Lane. Can you watch your words? Eat if you want. Ari is my best friend,
Mark mostly wore suits. Let alone his other garments, just his suits alone were countless.After leaving the wardrobe and texting Eric, Arianne heard Mark’s approaching footsteps. There was a sense of weight in his soft and slow pace. After listening to it for so many years, it was already familiar to her.When Mark entered the room, he saw Arianne looking at him from the bed. He concealed the exhaustion on his face and asked, “Still awake? I’m going to take a shower and will be in the study later for some matters. Rest early.”Arianne nodded and lay down but was unable to fall asleep. Her eyes were glued to the bathroom door. After some time, the sound of water flowing stopped before Mark who was clad in a bathrobe came out.“Why aren’t you asleep yet?”Arianne looked away. “Why are you so busy recently? You’re even busier than usual. It’s Friday, and you still have to work even though it’s already so late. Are you going to work on the weekends too?”Mark stared at her in amusement. “
In the West Mansion, Jackson was eating with his mother, Summer, when his phone dinged. He was in no hurry to check it but Summer could not help reminding him, “Son, are you not going to take a look? What if it’s something to do with the company?”It was only then that Jackson fished out his phone and was greeted with Tiffany’s resignation email. Faced with the table of delicacies, he suddenly lost his appetite. He did not reply to the email either, merely chucking his phone aside.Summer registered the changes in her son’s expression. “Is it something difficult? You’re still young, there’s a lot in business that you don’t know about. You can ask mom. It’s not a shameful thing to ask for advice.”Jackson remained silent for a moment before he said, “I have an employee resigning, but I don’t really want to let the employee go. What should I do?”Summer mulled over Jackson’s question before she replied, “Well, find out the reason for the resignation. If the person is unhappy with their c