Lisa acted as if nothing had happened when she arrived back at the beach. She continued talking and joking with Jackson. Realizing that Jackson was too busy barbecuing skewers to eat or drink, she took the initiative to feed him some barbecued meat skewers and some beer. She even remembered to glance provocatively at Tiffany from time to time.Tiffany was enraged, but her head was clearer thanks to the icy sea breeze. Why was she angry? Jackson could be nice to anyone to whatever degree he wanted, and it had nothing to do with her. However, why did she have to get involved? She had always had a bad impression of Lisa, even on the plane. Wasn’t Jackson to blame for causing all of this?Now that her mind was clear, she could no longer be bothered to compare herself with her. She concentrated on eating and drinking and would chat with Arianne from time to time.Tiffany and Arianne huddled together in a tent late at night, listening to the rolling tides and chatting softly. Tiffany sudd
Jackson and Tiffany’s seats happened to be next to each other during the return flight. The pair did not speak throughout the entire journey. The past few days seemed to have drained Tiffany. She put on an eye mask once she got onto the plane and fell asleep. Arianne was the one who woke her up when the plane landed.They went home on their own. It was past nine in the evening, and Arianne had just stepped through the door. Mark was behind, bringing the luggage. Initially, Henry wanted to send some staff members to greet them at the airport, but she refused, as she did not want to draw attention. If Henry were to do it, it would be a great display of extravagance.A Tremont Estate housemaid suddenly stepped forward to greet them, “Madam, someone’s sent something over, saying that it’s for you.”She wondered who it could be from, “What is it? Do you know who sent it?”The housemaid shook her head, “I don’t know, I’ve never seen them before. I think it’s a letter.”Then, the house
The housemaid shrunk into a corner, too afraid to speak. She had given her the letter but had not expected to cause such a commotion. Henry and Mary ran out to the living room and saw it happen. No one dared to say a word. Servants like them were not allowed to get involved in such matters.Mark slowly walked towards the sofa and sat down. His face was deathly still. He raised his trembling hands and placed them on his chest. He felt as if a thousand knives had pierced through his heart. The one thing that he had feared most of all had finally happened…Half an hour later, he forced himself to steady his breathing, “Have someone follow her, make sure that she’s safe…”Henry agreed, summoning a bodyguard and leaving quickly.Arianne was all on her own. Tiffany was the only person she could turn to. She walked to the intersection, flagged down a cab, and gave the address. She did not notice the black Rolls-Royce behind her.She sobbed as she banged on Tiffany’s door when she arrived
Tiffany had just bought some beer from a small shop and made her way onto the road. Suddenly, a van arrived and blocked her way. Before she could react, two burly men got down from the vehicle and covered her nose with a cloth soaked in chemicals. Then, they carried her into the vehicle. She dropped the plastic bag full of beer bottles onto the ground, causing the bottles to shatter. The last thing she felt was a splash of cold beer on her ankles.After some amount of time, she opened her blurry eyes and found herself in a completely unfamiliar place. It seemed to be an old shack. The ground was cold and damp and unbearably dirty. A group of men sat on one side, drinking beer and chatting with filthy speech.She had only moved a little when one man turned towards her, “Oh, the girl’s awake. Quick, ask them for instructions. I can’t stand it any longer.”She was gripped with fear. Based on her current observations, there were at least five men in front of her. Her hands were tied beh
Ethan. Not only was he the cause behind her family’s bankruptcy and her father’s early demise, but now, because of him, she was reduced to this state! She had initially thought that Aery was behind it all, but now it hit her. Aery’s family had gone bankrupt as well. She wouldn’t have the money to pay for this. It was Ethan all along!Slap!A loud slap was heard. Aery stared at the man in front of her in astonishment, “Why did you hit me?”She received another slap. The man’s chest was rising and falling rapidly from his extreme rage.Aery was too afraid to speak now. “What have you done to her?” the man asked in a grim voice.Aery avoided his gaze; she held her cheeks as she answered in a hushed voice, “It wasn’t me… It was them… They’d already started by the time I arrived. Wasn’t that part of your instructions? The picture you gave wasn’t clear enough. They’d gotten the wrong girl because they couldn’t get a clear view of Arianne’s face.”The man’s tone grew even colder, “Are y
She continued ringing the doorbell for about five minutes before the door finally opened. Jackson was dressed in his pajamas, staring drowsily at her, “What are you doing here?”She answered in a weepy voice, “Tiffie… Tiffie went out to buy some beer and hasn’t come home yet. I’ve been searching for a very long time, but I can’t find her… It’s been a few hours; I don’t know what to do. That’s why I’m here…”Jackson’s sleepiness immediately disappeared when he heard that Tiffany had gone missing, “Wait right here. I’ll grab my car keys!”The pair drove a few times around the roads near Tiffany’s home until it gradually turned to daylight. “Call the police,” Jackson finally suggested.Arianne was bawling her eyes out. Jackson had also realized that this matter wasn’t as simple as it seemed, “What on earth happened? Tell me everything.”She explained the matter in detail. Jackson pursed his lips and remained silent. He had long been aware of this, but he never imagined that Arianne w
Arianne was at a loss. She had suddenly left the Tremont Estate and was now unsure of where to go, “I… I don’t know what to do… Just drop me off at a hotel. I’ll grab my luggage bag from Tiffany’s and stay at a hotel for the time being.”Jackson pursed his lips. He paused in thought then suggested, “Stay at my place. It’ll be risky for you to stay in a hotel all by yourself. This doesn’t really seem appropriate either, but it’s the best idea we have, given the circumstances.”She nodded. She didn’t want to give Jackson any more trouble at a time like this. If anything were to happen to her in the hotel, Jackson would end up worrying about her too.In the Tremont Estate, Mark stood in front of the French windows in the living room, watching Arianne as she followed Jackson into his car then disappeared from view. His gaze lingered for a long time. At a time like this, he was the only one who wasn’t allowed to be near her…After a lengthy moment, he took out his phone and sent a messa
A middle-aged woman hurriedly came in and took away the bowl. Ethan lifted his arm to pat Tiffany’s back, but he put it down again and just moved the tissue box to a place within her reach. “That was Maria. She’ll be taking care of your daily needs from now on, so you can just tell her what you want to eat.”Tiffany currently had no appetite at all. It was only normal for her to be quite irritable. She ignored Ethan’s words and just prayed that he would leave soon. She didn’t want to see him or any other men right now!When Ethan came to see her the next day, she made a request to talk to Arianne. After all, Arianne must be panic-stricken by her disappearance. Since she still had to stay here for about two more weeks, she really didn’t want to make other people worried.Ethan looked like he had just rushed his way here. His forehead was beaded by sweat as he took off his suit jacket and draped it over the edge of the bed. “I’ve already contacted them and informed them that you’re wi
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