Arianne shook her head. “I’m not going in. It’s awkward to meet. Return it for me. I’ll be going now.”Mary called out hastily, “What are you doing? It’s so hot. Look how red your face is from the heat. How can your skin take this? Moreover, what if you get a heatstroke? Heatstroke can kill as well! You can stay away from him, but don’t you want to see me? Come in. You can cool down in my room!”After a moment of hesitation, Arianne followed Mary to the housekeeper’s room. Everyone was working at this hour so no one was in the room. Although the room housed four people, it had everything and was very spacious. There were even an individual washroom and a kitchen.Mary returned from upstairs briefly and returned the card to her. “I told you, sir isn’t so petty. He doesn’t want it and asked me to return it to you. He said to keep it for emergencies.”Arianne was startled. “Really? Did he say anything else?”Mary shook her head. “Nothing else. He just asked if you’re back. I told him yes,
Arianne did not really feel like moving out. “Tiffie, I understand what you mean, but I moved here because I don’t want to stay alone. We can do this. I’ll save some for Rice Ball and my personal expenditure when I get my salary each month. I’ll pass everything else to you for food, rent, utility bills, and whatnot. I won’t have anything to give your mom when she asks for it since my money is with you.”Tiffany could only agree. “I guess that’s all we can do. Don’t worry. You don’t usually eat at home, only during weekends. You don’t have to bear the living cost. After dividing the rent, utility bill, and everything else, I’ll save what’s left for you. I won’t spend it on nothing. Just don’t let my mom see that we have any money.”Just as Arianne lay down, Tiffany suddenly exclaimed, “Ari, look! Someone took photos of us buying the Chinese-style omelet wraps! There are even photos of us coming home. Rumors are spreading that you’ve divorced Mark and moved out of the Tremont Estate. It’
After Tiffany bought the pregnancy test kits, Arianne tested it instantly and received the result in less than five minutes. Two bars. She did not dare to believe it and decided to test it again tomorrow morning. The results would be more accurate in the morning.When morning came the next day, she was in despair. She was really pregnant. Calculating the time, it must be around three months now. It was then she realized how long it had been since she had left the Tremont’s. It felt surreal.After Arianne confirmed the results, Tiffany asked, “What’s your plan? The baby is Mark’s, right?”There was a momentary silence from Arianne before she answered, “Both Will and I were unconscious that day, it’s nearly impossible for anything to happen. It can only be Mark’s. However, he definitely won’t believe it. He didn’t believe it the first time, he definitely won’t believe it this time. I genuinely can’t stand how he questioned me about the baby’s father with his cold and indifferent tone at
Looking around at the pregnant ladies accompanied by their husbands, Arianne felt slightly gloomy. When it was finally her turn, Tiffany went in with her. After a blood draw and an ultrasound scan, the doctor looked at the results and said, “Baby is 12 weeks old and is quite healthy. This is your first checkup? You shouldn’t be so careless. Have your file documented and come back punctually for your checkups.”It was already past two in the afternoon when they left the hospital so they headed to a nearby restaurant for lunch. Tiffany had two big servings since she was extremely hungry. “It’s so troublesome to do a checkup. One full day is gone. There are too many people in the public hospital. Why don’t we go to a decent private one? Otherwise, I’ll suffer and you’ll suffer even more each time.”Arianne stroked her belly. It was slightly protruding, and she could feel a tiny bump. She could not help but smile. “Yeah, let’s go to a private hospital next time. I know of one.”When they r
Lillian agreed easily and showed Arianne her loving side. She reminded her what to watch out for and what to eat during her pregnancy, citing herself as an experienced person. However, in Tiffany’s words, Lillian’s experience was only limited to being pregnant and giving birth. She did not know anything else. Her daily meals were prepared by nutritionists, so Lillian actually knew nothing.Early the next day, Tiffany went downstairs to queue up for some Chinese-style omelet wraps. She was reluctant to see Arianne line up with a baby bump. Her line of vision involuntarily traveled to the front of the line. It had been a while since Ethan showed up. Was he tired of the dish or was it his current partner who was tired of it? He probably wouldn’t be coming anymore…Realizing that her thoughts had gone astray, Tiffany shook her head. That man was not worthy of her longing anymore.As she bought the breakfast, Arianne came out with her purse as well. Tiffany passed her the steaming omelet wr
While she had time, Tiffany downloaded a maternal and child health app onto her phone and filled in the information according to Arianne’s current state. She recorded everything that she needed to take note of, including what Arianne could and could not have. Engrossed in her phone, she didn’t notice a large hand knocking at her desk. “Are you ever going to stop slacking off like this during work?”Tiffany looked up at Jackson before returning back to her phone. “I don’t have any tasks now. Are you assigning something to me? I’ll do it right away if you are.”Noticing that she was focused on her phone, Jackson couldn’t help his curiosity and decided to take a glance. He was stunned when he saw the maternal and child health app. He blurted out, “Who’s pregnant?”Tiffany was taken back. “I… I am… Aren’t you getting a bit too personal as my boss?” She couldn’t give away Arianne, for if Jackson knew that the latter was pregnant, that meant that Mark would know too. Panicking, she was unabl
Tiffany’s heart rate sped up. She didn’t have any man around her usually and she wasn’t close to her colleagues, so there was hardly anyone to show concern for her. She did not expect Jackson to believe her casual lie and actually take responsibility for it!“There’s no need for that… Don’t worry about me, I can handle it by myself,” Tiffany rejected kindly, the offer very nice for a pregnancy that didn’t exist in the first place. She would expose herself if the topic continued to be discussed.“It’s better to have the abortion as early as possible, since dragging it out won’t be good to you. That aside, from now on, I’ll pack you lunch every day. You need to stop eating at the office’s cafeteria. The food there is decent, but the meals don’t exactly maintain the balanced diet a pregnant woman needs. We’ll make do with the White Waters Bay Restaurant for today.” Jackson was composed, perfecting his plans for Tiffany within minutes.Tiffany would feel worse and worse if she continued ly
When office hours were ending, Jackson texted Tiffany. “I’ve got a dinner to attend tonight so I can’t watch over you. Remember, don’t eat what you shouldn’t.”Tiffany felt bewildered reading the text. Why was the man being so nice? It was as if the baby was his. A sense of frustration clawed at her as she went home after work without replying.Upon arriving home, she found Lillian having fruits on the couch. “Tiffie, I don’t have any more cash. Auntie Renee invited me for mahjong tomorrow. Give me three hundred dollars.”“Three hundred? Just sell me off, okay? Are you still eating? Still turning the AC on? You always lose but you keep going at it. I have nothing to say.” Tiffany changed out of her shoes and went back to her room.Lillian’s face fell as she said in a louder tone, “If that’s the case, do you think Mark will thank me and offer me some reward if I tell him that Arianne is pregnant? I’ve got no choice but to ‘make’ money on my own if you refuse to give me some. Say, he’ll
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