Arianne Wynn stood up with an icy expression. “What did you say?”Aery Kinsey was still yelling with her shrill voice, “Am I wrong? The whole city knows about your scandal with the Sivan’s third son, Will Sivan, three years ago. How do you have the face to stay around Mark? If I were you, I’d have killed myself a long time ago! I was still wondering who it was that had come in between me and my dearest Mark, only to find out that it was you! Disgusting!”The watching crowd broke out with whispers when the incident three years ago was mentioned.“It was her, huh… that’s why I thought she looked familiar. I didn’t expect a quiet person like her to turn out to be someone like this. You really can’t judge a book by its cover… She was nonchalant when Simon was courting her earlier, they were probably onto it behind our backs huh? Yet she’s acting like she’s all high and mighty.”“Exactly. Mr. Nathaniel sacks Simon right away. Maybe she’s with Mr. Nathaniel now. Tsch, tsch, being young and p
Eric Nathaniel frowned the moment he entered the restaurant. It was lower-class and cheap, somewhere he never would dine in. Especially upon noticing the grease on the table, Eric was fueled by the impulse to turn on his heel and leave. However, thinking about Mark Tremont’s favor, he swallowed his compulsion.“Ari, here!” Tiffany Lane saw Arianne right away, standing up to wave without shame.A beaming smile finally broke out of Arianne Wynn’s face as she hurried over. Tiffany acted just as she would have three years ago, not changing a single bit, just like Arianne had imagined her to be.Tiffany did not come alone. There was also Ethan Connor. Compared to three years ago, he looked much more mature, but his playful appearance of the past had transformed into a mysterious front. His eyes were smiling but they looked like two voids.Tiffany was surprised when she saw Eric Nathaniel. “This is…”“I’m Eric Nathaniel.” Eric was easy going as he introduced himself.Tiffany Lane did not pur
Arianne was caught off guard against Tiffany’s flurry of questions.“No, no, I hurt myself accidentally. He’s never hit me. Don’t be suspicious. He’s quite nice to me, really. He always has been.”The bruise on her forehead was caused by Aery Kinsey in the morning, however the situation was too complicated to explain.Tiffany sighed and exclaimed, “Actually… Mark Tremont is pretty good too. He’s handsome and he’s rich, and you guys have been together for so many years. As long as you like him, I’ll support you regardless. I’m forever on your side.”Arianne was moved. One of the best fortunes of life was to have someone who supported you unconditionally.Soon, the dishes were served. When Tiffany Lane saw that Eric Nathaniel was not eating, she was discontent. She came from a wealthy household as well but she despised dramatic, hypocritical, and contentious people. To cause mischief, she scooped some food onto Eric’s plate.“Eric, eat up. Being Ari’s friend, you’re my friend too. No nee
Arianne was quite lost.“I don’t know… I had his clothes on when I woke up… I drank too much that day, plus it’s been too long... I don’t remember a thing. I think… that’s all, I supposed what's done cannot be undone. Forget it, I still have to go back to work after this. Oh, and Eric wasn’t being a hypocrite. His stomach is really delicate. He’s absent today and he’s my boss. I’ll be out of a job if you knock him out again. Be nicer.”Tiffany Lane was nonchalant. “It wouldn’t kill him would it? Plus, I was being considerate for Ethan. He liked that restaurant from last time. The general hygiene is bad, but he enjoys the atmosphere. His family isn’t doing well and he always wears a long face when I take him to more expensive places, making both of us unhappy. It doesn’t bother me anyway. What does Eric have to do with you? He’s never been around you in the past.”Arianne then identified Eric Nathaniel. “He’s Mark Tremont’s friend. You can think of him as keeping an eye on me for Mark T
“Arianne Wynn and her friend,” Eric Nathaniel answered with a slight smile.Aery Kinsey froze and shut her mouth, carefully observing Mark Tremont’s expression. When she saw he did not bat an eye for Arianne Wynn, she could not help feeling victorious. She was dying for the latter to catch sight of her and Mark together.Eric Nathaniel was nettled by Mark Tremont’s feigned indifference and purposely continued to explain. “Her friend mocked me out of nowhere, asking me to extend the company’s lunch hour to two hours at the very least, otherwise Arianne Wynn needs to rush through her meals. I’m bewildered. Lunchtime has always been sufficient and it’s not even time yet. There’s enough time for another lunch… they looked like they were in a hurry though…”Mark Tremont stiffened while his gaze darkened abruptly too, though it was unnoticeable.Eric shut his mouth contently after taking in the former’s reaction.When lunch was served, Mark Tremont suddenly got up with his coat and headed ou
Returning from work, Arianne took a hot shower. She then had a sip of black tea that Mary passed her.“Thank you, Mama Mary!”Mary watched her lovingly. “Ari, you’ve become sweeter with your words recently huh. You used to be too shy. It’s true that people do change finishing school and enter into the working world. You should try to talk to sir more too. Usually he’s not one to speak. How are you supposed to spend time together if both of you keep to yourselves?”The fact that Mark Tremont was mentioned, gave Arianne Wynn a smile but she did not comment.Butler Henry’s voice suddenly boomed from the doors. “Sir!”Seeing that Mark Tremont was home, Mary scooted into the kitchen to urge the chef’s to prepare dinner.Arianne took the black tea and sat on the couch, appearing to mind her own business. However, her mind automatically replayed the scene where Aery Kinsey entered the restaurant whilst hooking arms with Mark Tremont. She could not pinpoint what she was feeling, but it was lik
“Cough, cough…”The sound came from Mark Tremont all of a sudden.Mary grumbled softly as she walked to the kitchen. “Sir’s been sleeping in the study room recently. I think he’s caught a cold. I’ll go get a glass. Madam, bring him some medicine later.”Arianne cleared her head and followed Mary into the kitchen. Fetching some warm water and took the medication along to the living room.“Take some medicine.”Mark Tremont wore a slight scowl, ignoring her.Arianne stubbornly pushed the water and medicine to him. “You’ll feel better after taking it.”Finally, he lost his patience. “Take it away.”After a standstill, Arianne put both items down and went to the dining table. Looking at her breakfast, she did not have the appetite.Sometime later, Mark Tremont headed upstairs for a change of clothes and was prepared to head out. Arianne picked up the glass and medicine over to him once again.“Mary made me give it to you.”Mark Tremont did not refuse anymore and took the medicine with a fro
Eric glared at him, pretending not to care as his gaze dulled. “I’m happy being free. They can do whatever they like. You and Mark are both the only sons of your family, so no one is fighting over family assets. What a delight! It’s different for me. Danger lurks everywhere!”Jackson diverted the topic as he went over the latest industry news. “There’s some issue over at Mark’s. There’s an accident with his partnering jewelry manufacturer. Someone embezzled the raw materials, costing nearly fifteen million. It’s a regular factory. I don’t think the manufacturer will be able to survive this. He’s probably done for.” Eric sniffed and talked through his blocked nose, “It’s only fifteen million. Mark can take it. It’s the little factory that got unlucky.”Simultaneously, Arianne saw the news. Her heart sank when she saw the name of the manufacturer, ‘Hoyle-Roy’. That was Tiffany’s family run workshop!She called said girl in a haste, but an automated machine-voice message told her that he
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