Arianne had never doubted Mary’s intention so she obediently carried her book upstairs. “Sure. It’s dark here, be careful when you guys remove the lights.”Mary grinned in delight. Mark hardly came back early. She would not allow Arianne to waste this opportunity.When Mark returned to the room, he sat in front of the French window, flipping through a book. The books that he read were different from Arianne’s. They were all in a foreign language. Arianne was not good in foreign languages, and she would have a headache when she thought about deciphering them.Since it was only nine pm, she lay down on the bed and continued reading. Before she even finished reading a sentence, Mark reprimanded her, “Who’s taught you to read lying down? Are you planning on ruining your eyes? Sit up and read it if you want, otherwise, go to sleep.”His tone was like that of a parent educating his child. She had long gotten used to it. Putting her book aside, she listened to him and tried to sleep.The room
Arianne did not realize that she sounded like a child showing off, but Tiffany could clearly see it. “Oh, oh, oh, look at you! And you were just telling me that you want a divorce, how you can’t stand him anymore… You’re so lovey-dovey now, aren’t you? I think a divorce is impossible after you’ve spent so many years with him. There’s still familial love even without romantic love. I really envy you guys for stepping right into familial love, passing the romance. No matter how bad things get, you’ll reconcile in a blink of an eye. Other people break up so easily and get a divorce with just a snap of fingers.”The hint of a smile on the corners of Arianne’s lips grew deeper. “Knock it off! You must be free in the afternoon since you’re not working anymore. Let’s go out for tea? I can finally go out freely now. I’m dying of boredom!”Tiffany could not wait until afternoon. “Come out right now. I have something to tell you. My mind is in a mess…”Arianne caught a whiff of gossip from her w
“Oh, yeah, the money and property that you gave me, I don’t want them. I didn’t bring them out today. I’ll return them to you the next time,” Arianne said calmly, distancing herself from Helen.Helen’s smile froze. “It’s been so long. You should just accept them. To be honest, Aery is freeloading in my house now. Whatever she has and uses are all mine, she asks for allowances from me too. If you return the house and money to me, she’ll take them. I’ve provided more than enough for her, that’s why she has the habit of asking for things. I won’t give her anything anymore, just keep them.”Arianne did not imagine Aery would be such a leech. She was already an adult, but she was acting like a big baby staying in her divorced mother’s house. She could not help feeling Helen was biased. Now that the Kinseys had gone bankrupt, Aery could not possibly be the only one freeloading in Helen’s home. Jean must be there as well.Arianne took a sip of her juice. “I’ll take care of them for you then.
Mark took a big puff of his cigarette before putting it out immediately. “It’s… it’s okay… Make me tea, make it richer…” Could someone tell him why the odd taste was still lingering in his mouth? Even the cigarettes could not get rid of the taste. Hopefully, the tea would be able to wash it away.After Arianne skipped upstairs and handed the black tea to Mark, he blew on it carelessly before drinking a big gulp. It was not a wise move. He would never forget how the combination of the tea and the odd taste in his mouth tasted like. He did not have dinner that night since he had to go to the toilet for a total of 18 times. He could not endure it and finally went to the hospital early the next morning.Arianne who had been busy the entire afternoon slept soundly, unaware of the torture Mark went through. She only noticed that he got out of bed frequently throughout the night. When she did not see him the next morning during breakfast, she thought he had gone to the office.However, Mary c
Arianne rarely took the initiative to talk to him, but they had been interacting a lot recently, much more than the first half of their lives. Mark answered her question to the best of his ability, “It’s Jackson. His photos at the nightclub were taken and posted online. It’s nothing serious.”Arianne’s eyes widened. “Risqué photos? Weren’t you together with Jackson and Eric at those places last time? Have people taken photos of you?”Mark glared at her and said huffily, “I went there for the ambiance. They went there for the fun. It’s not the same. Even if they took photos of me, it won’t be interesting.”After dinner, Mark returned to the room and texted Ethan. “It was you, right?”He got a reply swiftly. “Tell me that when you have proof.”The matter was not severe so it was unnecessary to pursue it. However, it was likely that Ethan was the culprit. After all, he considered Jackson his love rival. In the end, Mark only warned Ethan. “Stop laying your fingers on people around me.”Wh
“Don’t… Stop it…”Her rejection was soft, unaggressive, causing Mark to disregard it. With a simple flip of their bodies, he caged her under him and pinned her struggling arms. Her wrists were thin, both of them fitting in only one of his hands.Realizing what was about to happen, Arianne panicked. “Mark! Please don’t!” She was subconsciously repelling the act, an indescribable feeling coming over her.Losing himself in the heat of the moment, Mark littered kisses around her lips and asked, “Why?”Why? Arianne didn’t know why either. How was she supposed to answer him? They were lawfully married, husband and wife. Something like this was normal, expected even, but she was subconsciously resisting. So why? She thought about his past with Aery and her three babies, none of them able to greet this world. The torment that she had gone through in the hospital was a neverending nightmare.There was also her past, which she had sealed away, regarding Will and regarding the absent Sivans. All
Tiffany flatly denied, “I’m not worried. It’s a roast, get it? A roast! Speaking of, what happened to that desert you made? I’ve heard that Mark nearly lost his life after consuming it. And that he’s even had to go to the hospital for an IV?”Arianne felt depressed at the very mention of this matter, “No improvements. If I could make the exterior of the desert look good, that would already be an achievement, but it just won’t taste good. Not even Rice Ball wants to eat it. Now, every time anyone at home sees me in the kitchen, they tremble with fear. I’m so worried.”Tiffany burst into laughter but did not go overboard with teasing her. She stopped at just the right time, “Ari, would you like to come look at houses with me? My mother wants to move, and I’m afraid that she might nitpick. Come and help me convince her so that once it’s nearly done, we can just decide. At least, I won’t have to deal with her walking around the entire day and still feeling unsatisfied.”Arianne agreed.
They arrived at a tea shop near the shopping mall. Arianne was melting from the heat and had just managed to cool down after having a seat, when Tiffany’s phone rang.They initially thought that it was a call from Lillian. Tiffany did not plan on answering it at first. However, she glanced at the call notification screen on the phone and found that it was Ethan.Ethan would usually be at the office at this time and wouldn’t contact her. She pressed the call answering button, “Hello? What’s up?”“Come into the shopping mall. I’ve got a surprise for you,” Ethan sounded mysterious on the other end.The shopping mall was right next door. The pair waited for their milk tea before slowly walking over. A sea of pink balloons came into view from the moment they entered the shopping mall. Arianne let out a girlish giggle, “What’s going on in the mall today? Look at all of these balloons; they’re so pretty!”Tiffany’s brain circuitry had always been different from the average person’s, “Pre
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