Mark seemed to sense her doubt. He explained, “If I didn’t go with you, would you be able to stay calm? Now that we’re done, you can stop and rest now. Just go to bed.” Arianne climbed to the other side of the bed and lay down. She watched him take off his clothes, he was slowly unbuttoning his light grey silk pajamas. His muscular upper body was slowly exposed before her. She was so stunned by the sight that she did not avert her gaze until he had completely taken his top off.“Are you sure you’re going to watch me until the end?” He was clearly teasing her.“Can’t you wear your pajamas to sleep?” She hid her face under the blanket as she blushed.“No,” he said firmly. After taking off his pajamas, he slid into bed after switching off the light.She was really having a difficult time at this moment. She knew he had a habit of sleeping naked, but she was not used to it. In fact, she did not think she would be able to get used to it for the rest of her life. Before she could ca
She quickly got up and cleaned herself before she went downstairs for breakfast. However, she did not see Mark. She only saw the cutleries he left behind after his meal. She was afraid he might leave without her so she decided not to have breakfast. She quickly grabbed her bag and prepared to rush out.When Mary saw this, she quickly stopped her. “What are you doing? You haven’t eaten breakfast yet! Sit down and have your breakfast!”Arianne put on her shoes as she looked outside. “I’m running out of time. Has Mark left yet? I’m busy now. I’ll have something to eat later.” Mary was amused by her. “He hasn’t left. He said that he’s going to turn on the air conditioner in the car first. Otherwise, you’ll feel the heat when you get into the car later. He’s afraid that you might feel uncomfortable. Don’t worry. Just eat your breakfast. Brian is not here today. Mister is being extremely nice toward you.” She was stunned. She stopped wearing her shoes. She asked Mary casually, to hide
Arianne instinctively glanced at Mark as she asked, “Can we search for it now? We need it urgently!”“Of course!” Lilian answered excitedly as though she was high on drugs, “It’ll be good if you can find it as we’re in need of money now. The land is like an umbrella on a rainy day since it’s so valuable! You’re like a lucky star to me, Ari! I don’t even know we have a piece of land. It definitely belongs to us mother and daughter since my father-in-law and Tiffie’s father have passed away. There’s no doubt about it! Hurry up, help me find it!” Mark rose from his seat since they were ready to depart. However, the phone on his desk suddenly rang. He heard Ethan’s voice at the end of the line before he even managed to speak. “I guess you’re heading to Lilian’s house to find the certificate of the land, aren’t you? Well, I have something to tell you before you leave.”Mark asked with a frown, “What are you trying to do?”Ethan chuckled coldly, “I found an unsent letter when I was goin
Panic filled his eyes as he cut the call. After a short pause, he said, “I think this isn’t a good time to tell Tiffany. I’ll talk to Ethan. Just leave it to me.”She could not understand his actions. However, she chose to trust him. “Alright, please try your best to sort it out. I truly don’t want Tiffie to go through another hard time, please?” He nodded stiffly before he returned Arianne’s phone. “Remember, don’t tell Tiffany about it. Let me handle it.”She agreed. “I got it. Go get busy then, I’ll head back home.”Mark made a sound of acknowledgment as he stood at the same spot. He had no intention of sending her off right now.Arianne did not think much of it and left the office obediently. She was not completely obtuse, she had noticed the drastic change in Mark after receiving that phone call....Mark drove to the hospital where Ethan was staying during lunchtime. Surprisingly, Ethan did not escape but waited for him patiently.Ethan absolutely did not look like a vic
Suddenly, Ethan got agitated, “Why should I feel guilty about it? I did in the beginning, but not anymore. No, not at all. After all, not only was he a watchdog for your family that couldn’t change his habit of being loyal, but he also made me your scapegoat for so many years! I honestly would have thought that our plan succeeded if I hadn’t found the unsent letter he left for you.“The reason he decided to hide it from me until he passed away was to protect you, isn’t it? Apparently, the grace of the Tremont family was so great, to the extent that he was willing to be a loyal servant. By the way, I’m really curious about what made you kill your family members.”Mark remained silent but tried his very best to suppress his urge to kill someone. His hands shook more vigorously at the mention of his ultimate secret, which he hadn’t wanted to remember about. Mark’s father called him into the study the night before the air crash.He entered with a heavy heart. While an 18 years old ric
After listening to Ethan’s words, Mark discovered the lengths Mr. Sloane had gone to conceal Ethan’s involvement in the plane crash. He even chose to shoulder the burden alone.Ethan was only about ten years old, and yet, he already harbored such intense malice and hatred. It was no surprise that such a boy would rise to this position today by leaving a trail of blood in his wake.The most ironic thing, however, was that George was wrong. He knew about Mark’s conversation with his father in the latter’s study, but he had no inkling of what came after; the young boy had gone to his mother’s room immediately later. It was that fateful night that Mark Tremont had to discard his innocence. It was that night when he finally understood how bitter reality was.He had gone to his mother’s bedroom straight from his father’s study because his poor mother had become so bedridden that it was a toil for her to walk. He did not expect his mother was already aware of her husband’s illegitimate son. S
Ethan relished in the ecstasy of revenge as he watched the conflicting emotions dancing on Mark’s face. “If you don’t want this letter to fall on Arianne’s lap, then, stay out of my business. That land is mine and no one else. If you so much as let Tiffany know what I’ve done, you can bet Arianne will know about your matter as well.”Mark closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, steeling himself against the emotions rioting in his chest. He would never reveal the truth regarding the plane crash. He would rather shoulder it alone than to expose his mother. After all, his fervid impression of his mother being a reasonable and kind woman lay in the depth of his heart. He would not taint one of the last few pure impressions he had of her.“What happens after you get that land and Tiffany? How long are you going to hold that letter against me?”Ethan sneered. “Would you believe me if I say this will end with both of us enjoying our life peacefully with our most treasured women by our sides as we
Mark extended his hand in her direction and beckoned her over. “Come here.”Arianne obeyed him obediently. It felt as though all the barriers between them had disappeared.He pulled her to him, seating her on his lap before he rested his chin on her shoulders. He inhaled her scent, allowing it to soothe the turmoil in his mind. “Ari, do you truly wish to leave me?”This was the first time Arianne had heard him referring to her as Ari while he was sober. It made her nervous for some reason. Her palms began to sweat, and her body stiffened. She stammered, “W-w-why are you asking me that right now? Y-you’re acting really weird!”He responded by tightening his arms around her, it was almost as though he was worried she would run away. “I want to know.”Arianne turned the question over and over in her head. She had always wanted to leave him, right? However, why was it so difficult for her to answer the question now?As though he could sense Arianne’s dilemma, he did not persist with the qu
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