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
Once she thought about Mark’s nonchalance when she met him in the office, Arianne felt unnerved. If she weren’t looking to make money, she would not have accepted his order. Not only had she wore herself out the whole afternoon, but she had the feeling that he was doing it on purpose to make her life hard.Not too long later, Naya returned to the shop after picking up her daughter from preschool. It seemed to be a common occurrence recently. Others might not discern anything, but Arianne could see through it. “Naya, don’t you have anyone at home who can help you look after the child? I don’t mean anything, I like Lulu, but I just think that… it’s too tiring for you. Can no one else pick her up for you?”Naya shook her head with a bitter smile. “No. My husband is weary from work. He’s a programmer and is always working late into the night from doing overtime. He can’t help with our kid; not like he has the time to. As for the elders at home… I married far from my home. My parents aren’t
The chauffeur asked carefully, “Then… what about you?”Mark’s patience had vanished. “Why are you asking about me? Who hired you? Did you take out your brain? Get me someone smarter!”…Downstairs of the apartment, Mark saw that the lights in Arianne’s unit were turned on as he stepped into the elevator. He could not wait to see her and speak to her, even if he ended up being scolded by her…He had thought about taking it slow, but after seeing her today, he could no longer hold back. The forced patience felt like he was being bitten by millions of ants. He had endured it for countless nights, especially when she had been afraid of going home alone at night. He wanted to charge up and tell her that he had always been there for her…Arriving at her door, Mark hesitated for a long time before knocking on it, but he received no response. The residential area was a decent one around, but the small scale of the apartment meant that the soundproofing was weaker. He could vaguely make out the
Arianne was shocked when she took in Mark’s state. “What happened to you? Who did this! Don’t you have bodyguards when you go out? Why are you out and about alone!”“Can I explain later?” Mark only wanted to go in and check what the dumb chauffeur had beaten him to.Arianne finally reacted and helped him in with all her might. After sitting Mark down on the couch, she frantically went to look for the first aid kit. However, upon finding it and opening it, she felt rather hopeless. “Tiffie and I never anticipated any accidents happening so we only prepared some antiseptic and band aids. Do you want to go to the hospital?”Mark’s goal here wasn’t to go to the hospital. “No need… it’s not a good idea either…”Arianne was surprised when she heard him. “Was it Ethan? Did he get someone to do it?”Mark did not deny it. It’s not like he could admit that he did it to himself. Let Ethan be the scapegoat; not many knew that he was dead anyway.Without questioning the incident further, Arianne be
Mark gave a slight nod while Arianne moved rather stiffly. She had not expected them to formally meet again under such circumstances. Despite her apprehensions, she could not chase him out now.Once Mark settled himself down in bed, Arianne turned to the living room after closing the door for him. Laying on the couch, she was hit with a flurry of thoughts and was unable to fall asleep. No matter what, they had an unbreakable line between them. Seeing him injured, of course she would be worried.Like her, Mark was also unable to fall asleep. He was on a video call with Jackson with a pair of Bluetooth earphones lest Arianne heard them.When Jackson saw the wound on his forehead, he was disdainful. “That’s all? And she let you in?”Mark’s exasperation was threatening to spill. “That’s all? My back’s looking like a beehive now; why else would she have let me in? Your idea isn’t all that mighty. I got in, but she’s sleeping on the couch. She didn’t even spare me an extra word. What do I do
Tiffany did not expect to trigger such a huge reaction from Jackson when she was just trying to leave him hanging to keep his interest. She took a peek downstairs but could not see anything since her new house was too high up. “Are you really downstairs? I… I can’t go down…”She could not come down? Jackson lost his cool. “Don’t tell me you have a man at home? Did your mom ask you to go on a blind date again? Hold on, I’m coming up right now!”Tiffany failed to remain firm, she hastily said, “Wait there! I’ll come down now.” After she hung up, she quickly changed her clothes and went out the door in a hurry. When Lillian asked where she was going, she only said she was meeting a friend and would be coming back shortly.Tiffany was slightly panting when she came down and ran to his car. “What’s up? You’re like a kid, doing whatever you want. Didn’t I say that I can’t come down? How can there possibly be another man at my house?”Jackson opened the passenger door with a glower on his fac
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