Arianne gave Tiffany a pinch to signal her to stop blabbering. The latter shut her mouth reluctantly but observed Mark’s expression.Mark’s gaze remained on the monitor all this while even when he said, “Sure. The car is yours then, I’m not used to that model.”Tiffany did not expect to pick up a bonanza. “For real? But I don’t really need a car. It’s so new, and I’ve only driven it for a few days. If you’re really giving it to me, can I sell it? I’m super poor, poor people aren’t worthy to have a car…”Since Mark had said that he was giving away the car, he did not mind what would happen to it. “It’s up to you.”Tiffany replied in understanding, “Then I’ll make a move first. My mom’s still waiting for me to serve her. Leave together, you two. Ari still has a little one inside her. Make sure she eats on time; that’s two being hungry if she starves! Oh yeah, her checkup is coming up, go with her too!”Arianne did not expect Tiffany to ‘sell’ her off like that. Mark was still working and
Fine? Arianne was disturbed. Although she knew that Mark had gone back on his word after promising her that he would not contact Aery, it was better not to think about some things. She was not in the place to say anything. Even if it was not her intention, she had still lain on the same bed with Will and was caught in that spot by Mark. There was nothing she could do.Mark was irritated by the heatwave going on outside. “You didn’t hear it wrong. I’m not saying it because of anyone. Don’t look for me in the company. I’ve told you that we’re not contacting each other anymore. Did you think that I was just joking?”Aery had thought that she had won. He did say not to contact him anymore, but he obviously did not hate her presence after what happened with Arianne and Will. They had been fine. Shouldn’t what he’d said previously be ignored? She was unwilling to face this reality. “Mark, dear… don’t be like this! I’ll be good. I won’t pester you when you aren’t looking for me…”Mark said no
Speechless, Arianne turned to go to the bedroom in a fit of anger. She wanted to close the door but she was worried about him not getting any air conditioning.Soon enough, Brian sent them their dinner. A quick look at the packaging told them their dinner was from White Waters Bay Restaurant. After Brian left, Mark called out toward the bedroom, “Dinner’s here.”Arianne did not reply, pretending that she did not hear him.Although he only had a towel on, Mark felt hot. The frustration was grating on his nerves. “Are you eating or not? I’ll throw it if you aren’t!”Arianne remained silent. She couldn’t help but feel that he was here just to make her mad. They were just not meant to get along!Mark got up to go to the bedroom and carried her to the couch in the living room in a swift move. “I don’t have a good temper. Have your dinner!”Arianne opened the takeout silently and ate it. The bedroom’s air conditioning could not cover the entire living room, so she soon felt hot. She did not
She woke up from the heat the next morning. Mark’s arm was draped across her chest, making it very difficult for her to breathe. She was so hot that her hair was sticking onto her face.He was breathing into her neck, and he wasn’t covered by the blanket at all. He slept with his entire head on top of her body and it was impossible for her not to feel hot!She really disliked feeling sweaty. She struggled away from the confines of him and the quilt, got up and took a shower. When she emerged from the bathroom, she felt much more refreshed. She suddenly noticed that Rice Ball wasn’t asleep in its nest. She called out to it, and Rice Ball jumped off the sofa and gracefully walked towards her. It had only been a few short days but the fat cat had already lost a lot of weight. However, it was still recovering from its illness. Previously, Rice Ball had lost its energy. At least it could walk now. That was a good thing.Just as she was about to pick Rice Ball into her arms out of pity, M
Arianne handed her a glass of ice water. “Drink some water. It’ll be more refreshing. Of course I’d invite you whenever there’s something good to eat, just like how you’d think of me every time.”Tiffany chuckled, feeling embarrassed, “You make it sound so… embarrassing. Alright. How are things between you and Mark? I tried every trick I had to help you stop Aery from getting into the office the last time. I really can’t stand that woman. She’s so shameless!”Arianne was moved. “I know… Thank you, Tiffie. However… Mark and I are just the same. He’s been staying at my place over the past few days, helping me take care of Rice Ball. Sometimes, we still bicker. I suspect that we’re born opposites. Our personalities don’t match. It’s probably because the generation gap is too wide. He is ten years older than me, after all.”Tiffany waved her hand. “What do you mean? Generation gap, incompatible personalities? Forget about that. Aery is much younger than you are. Why is she so fixated on
Jackson cocked his brow and said, “He’s never had any other woman for more than ten years. Isn’t that devoted enough? I’ve never had a woman for more than half a year. The longest for me is half a year. Mark is devoted enough.”Tiffany refused to blindly agree with his thoughts. “What do you mean ‘more than ten years’? Wasn’t Ari very young at the time? Didn’t Mark have an affair in the end? Devoted my as*. Do you men think that devotion is defined by not casting the woman aside? Devotion means giving your body and heart wholly to one person, not a single aspect should be left…” She sensed her impropriety before she finished her sentence. “I’m sorry, Ari… I misspoke…”Arianne seemed unperturbed. “It’s fine. It’s about his relationship with Aery, right? I don’t mind you two talking about it. It’s alright, really.”Despite her saying this, Jackson and Tiffany immediately cut the topic of conversation off. After all, no one here had a habit of using someone else’s pain as a topic for c
Confirming their relationship, just like that? Tiffany found this to be way too sudden and fast. “That’s too fast, isn’t it? I think we can still talk a little more…”Ken denied her suggestion. “We’re all adults here. We’ll know if we’re suitable for each other at first glance. Are you free tonight? Would you do me the honor of having dinner with me?”Tiffany had clearly lost her right to take the initiative and replied, “Okay…”Suddenly, her phone rang. She stood up apologetically and answered the call, “Hello?”“There’s a letter for you. I left it at the security office downstairs. Don’t forget to collect it.”A letter? Her first guess was that George Levin had sent another letter. This was extremely important to Arianne, so of course it was important to her too. She ended the call and said to Ken, “I have to leave, I've got something urgent. We’ll play by ear tonight. Sorry!” She left the café before Ken could respond.She was overjoyed when she collected the letter. It really
Of course, Arianne sang praises. “Not bad, in all aspects, best to go with how you feel.”Mark finally realized that Tiffany was here as well. It seemed like she was on a date. He nodded at her, which could be considered as a greeting.Suddenly, a few customers scrambled out from the washroom. Then, a few staff members rushed inside all at once. It was easy to tell that something had happened. Tiffany did not see Ken coming out, and felt worried. Remembering that it was a male toilet, and it would be inconvenient for her to go in, she turned her attention to Mark, “Mark, can you help me find out what’s happened? Ken’s been inside for a while now and hasn’t come out. I think something may have happened.”Initially, Mark had no intention of going in. However, when he saw Arianne staring expectantly at him, he got up and headed to the washroom with a grim look on his face. He weaved himself through the crowd and saw blood stains all over the floor. Jackson had pinned Ken down onto the
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