The commotion woke Tiffany from her afternoon nap.When Tiffany came out and saw Arianne and Aery’s expressions, she knew everything had been exposed. “Ari…”Arianne’s lips moved, but no words left her mouth. Her eyes seemed as though they would bore holes into Aery who was lying on the floor. She bit her lips before mustering all her strength to kick Aery as hard as she possibly could. “Die! Why don’t you kill yourself? You’re nothing but trouble for living in this world! You killed my children, and you harmed Tiffie. I shouldn’t have put up with you for so long!”Tanya and Naya who had heard Aery’s words kicked Aery as well.Crying, Tiffany pulled Arianne who seemed to have gone berserk. “Ari, don’t be like this! It’s enough! You’re going to kill her! Jackson knows what happened to me, and he doesn’t mind. I’m living well. I can start a new life. I’m really okay. Don’t be like this for my sake…”Arianne’s tears streamed down her face. “I want to kill her…” This was the first time she
The next day, the dessert shop operated as usual under Tiffany’s request. She made everyone forget about what happened yesterday, including Arianne, but Arianne was still rather down, not as motivated in her preparation of the sweet treats as usual.Around ten in the morning, Jean charged into the shop angrily with Aery in tow. Seeing that there were still other patrons in the shop, Naya remained polite. “Is there something you need?”Jean pulled Aery who was injured all over to the front. “Did all of you hit my daughter? Assaulting her alone when in a group, I’ll call the police!”Naya frowned. “Why don’t you ask your daughter what she did?”“Do you have proof?” Aery smirked.Naya was speechless from her rage. “Stop making a fuss here!”Jean only thought about avenging his daughter as he announced to the shop’s customers, “This is a thug’s shop. My daughter came here to buy desserts yesterday and got beaten up by them. They even closed the shop to beat her up. How dare all of you patr
There was no doubt that Jean was behind this. The crux of the matter was it was done so fast. Unlike how easy it was for them to catch Regina previously, they had no evidence that this was Jean’s doing!After they calmed down, Arianne called Helen. The call rang for a while before it connected. Helen’s drowsy voice sounded from the other end of the line, “Arianne? What’s the matter? It’s so late now, did something happen?”Looking at the mess that was her shop, Arianne said, “Aery came looking for trouble in my shop, and I beat her up. She brought her father here to settle scores with me today, but I chased them away with a few words. Before Jean left, he threatened me, asking me to wait for it. Tonight... Actually, it just happened, a group of people wrecked the door and walls of my shop. Who do you think did it?”Helen woke up instantly. “What did you say?! How could Jean do that?”Arianne replied lightly, “He’s the man you chose, shouldn’t you know what he’s like? Women love bad boy
The next day, Arianne called for someone to put up a new door and windows. By afternoon, it was finally done, and they could continue with business.She knew that Helen had already spoken to Aery and Jean Kinsey. However, knowing Helen, the most she could do was completely cut ties with the father and daughter. She could not possibly limit their movements. She was not sure if Jean would continue to look for trouble with her, she had to take appropriate measures according to the situation. As long as she managed to get evidence on Jean, he would be sent to jail!Realizing that the date for her return to the capital was drawing near, Tiffany grew anxious. “Ari, how about I talk to Jackson about staying here a little longer? I’m really worried about leaving you here at a time like this”Arianne stubbornly shook her head. “I can take care of this. You should go. I owe you too much. I don’t want you to sacrifice yourself for me anymore. Listen to me this time, Tiffie. Jean and Aery aren’
Jean walked to the door and looked through the peephole. It was pitch-black outside, he could not see anything at all. It seemed like someone had covered the peephole. He began to feel nervous so he made himself sound gruff and fierce as he said, “Who is it?”A few seconds later, a male voice rang indifferently from the other side of the door. “There’s a problem with the electricity in your home. I’m here to fix it.”The lights in the condominium immediately went out, as though working in tandem with the man’s answer.Aery jumped in fright. “Dad, get them to come and fix this. Something’s wrong. It’s too dark!”Jean believed this matter was not as simple as it seemed. The lights were still on when the man knocked on the door, and they only went out after the man spoke. He did not let down his guard. “The electrical boxes are outside, right next to you. You’ll have to get a key from security downstairs. It’s locked so I can’t help you!”“I have the keys,” the man outside replied, “
Henry was unmoved. “Mr. Tremont has made it very clear, both of you will have to go. Mr. Kinsey, your only crime is hiring thugs to vandalize personal property and issuing threats. Your sentence will probably be quite light. However, your daughter deliberately rammed her car into someone else’s car, causing the victim to miscarry and unable to have children so I’m not too certain about her. Will your daughter give up the people who helped her cover up? Well, that all depends on her.”Jean widened his eyes. “Didn’t Mark cover up for her as well?”Henry furrowed his brows. “Mr. Tremont is a kind man. His kindness simply stems from the fact that your daughter is slightly related to Mrs. Tremont. Mr. Tremont is a victim after all. Your five minutes are up. Would you like to go to the police station or shall we settle this here?”Aery was completely terrified at this point. Without any hesitation, she screamed, “The police! Let’s surrender ourselves to the police!” She would much rather
Arianne glanced at the passed-out Tiffany, smiled, and nodded. Once she turned around, her tears that she had been holding back for a long time finally streamed down her face.She did not call for a cab and decided to walk home along the empty streets. Every step felt fleeting to her. Her past experiences began to flash in her mind. The highs and the lows of her life felt like a blur to her. Perhaps, she would be able to forget them all soon, forget all her experiences and all those people… Suddenly, she heard footsteps closing in on her and trembled. She was too afraid to turn back and look so she quickened her pace. Unfortunately, her alcohol-muddled brain and limbs refused to cooperate so she stumbled a few times. Only a small sliver of sobriety warned her of the dangers of walking alone at night. She arrived home with great difficulty and broke out into cold sweat. Her hands were shaking when she pulled out her key to unlock the door, refusing to comply with the instructions f
However, that didn’t seem possible. He was in the capital. How could he possibly be here and doing such ridiculous things? Besides, he never replied to her message when she asked him to take Lynn away. It would seem that he had truly given up on her, so he certainly wouldn’t do such a thing. She must be overanalyzing.Tiffany may be gone, but it was still business as usual; life went on. The weather today seemed pretty good, as if it was meant to cheer Arianne up. It was slightly breezy, not too humid or too hot. The sun was just warm enough, and business was good.Just as noon arrived, Naya suddenly cried out in surprise, “Ari, we’ve received a huge order from a finance company in the office across the street. I think it’s from your… husband’s company? A hundred desserts and cups of americano. Americanos are easy to make but making those desserts might exhaust you… Was that your husband’s Rolls-Royce this morning? Only a company boss would treat his employees to these desserts. I me
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