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 was speechless as she walked over to clean the mess. The takeout from two days ago smelled horrible, as if it had started to rot. Being more sensitive to smell now that she was pregnant, she couldn’t help but dry heave. Suddenly aware of the situation, Lillian exclaimed, “I forgot that you’re pregnant! Leave it, leave it, I’ll clean it up. Wash up and go rest! Do you want to eat anything? I can order takeout for you!”Shaking her head, Arianne held her breath and cleared garbage off of the coffee table. “Auntie Lane, Tiffie is tired from work too. You shouldn’t trouble her with minor tasks like these when you can handle them too. The other chores, like mopping the floor or cleaning the house, can be done over the weekends.”Lillian agreed but her eyes were glued to the television, obviously making perfunctory replies.Arianne did not have the heart to say anything else, taking her clothes and going for a shower. She got off work quite early today but still felt thoroughly exhau
His fixation? In Arianne’s life, she had never met anyone who had any sort of strange fixation, so it was hard for her to imagine.As if recalling something, Tiffany suddenly said, “You haven’t eaten, right? What do you feel like having? I’ll check the fridge to see what ingredients we have. Otherwise, we can only order takeout.”Tiffany rummaged through the fridge but could not even find a piece of green. “Ari, we have nothing. I’ll wake up earlier tomorrow to go to the market. What do you want for tonight?”Arianne was worried about the hygiene of takeout. In fact, a lot of shops had inferior cleanliness standards. No one was prepared for takeout either, hence she decided to eat out. “Can we go out for dinner? Anything is fine.”Lillian, who heard their conversation, was the first to express her ardent support. “Yeah, let’s eat out. We have nothing at home, let’s go, let’s go!”Tiffany sniffed the lingering scent in the air. “Mom, you’ve eaten, haven’t you? Can you still stomach more
She had gone slightly overboard with her words. The mother and daughter may bicker most of the time, but this time, Arianne sensed it, the atmosphere was different than usual. It was more sombre, nothing like the explosions that usually happened after a huge suppression.Tiffany did not yell at Lillian, but replied to her in a very calm voice instead, “Yes, I give you $2,000 a month. My pay is $12,000 a month. Once I exclude your $2,000, I have $6,000 to pay for rent. The remaining $4,000 has to be used for water, electricity and a month’s worth of living expenses. Your $2,000 isn’t calculated in the living expenses, and I’ve been paying for your takeout too. Sometimes, you ask me for extra allowance for mahjong games. Have you ever considered how I’ve been surviving?”Lillian did not seem guilty at all. The expression on her face was of fury and disdain.Arianne finally understood why Tiffany’s financial situation was so dire. Actually, when Tiffany and Lillian were the only ones l
She carried the thermal lunch box over to Jackson’s office, asking, “Do you really plan on bringing me lunch every day?” Jackson was in the middle of working on something, glancing over at her when he heard her voice. “Why? Does it taste bad?” Placing the lunch box on his desk, she said, “It’s not that, I just want to know why you’re doing this. Don’t give me any of that crap about a boss being concerned for his employee. There are plenty of pregnant ladies in this office and I’ve never seen you do anything like this for any of them. And don’t say that it’s because Ari is my friend, either, or that you’re doing this for Mark. That’s a lie and we all know it.” Jackson put down his work and stared at her, jokingly asking, “Come on, we’ve ‘slept’ together, haven’t we? After all that, you shouldn’t be concerned about a small matter like this, should you?” Tiffany was in no mood for jokes, continuing on, “You don’t possibly have feelings for me, do you?” Jackson was taken aback, s
Jackson heaved a sigh of relief. “That’s fine. Eat the food, since it’s already here. Next time, if I happen to wake up early and have some spare time, I can make you a meal and bring it over for you, since I’m already doing it. It’s only out of convenience, so you don’t have to feel burdened.”Tiffany heaved a sigh of relief as well. She took the thermal lunch box and left.Tremont Tower.Lillian fanned herself with a flyer while staring up at the large building. After a while, she walked in towards the front desk. “Miss, could you call your CEO for me? Tell him that I’m Tiffany Lane’s mother and that I have something to tell him. Your CEO’s wife is staying at my house.”The receptionist picked up the phone when she heard this, “Alright, please wait a moment.”The call was connected. The receptionist carefully said, “Mr. Tremont, there’s someone here to see you. She claims to be Tiffany Lane’s mother.”“Send her up,” Mark’s apathetic voice responded through the receiver.Once 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