Mark sat on the couch and fiddled with his laptop. After a few seconds, he spoke up, “You were sound asleep. In fact, you were snoring as well. How was I supposed to wake you?”She was snoring? Arianne was embarrassed. She had no idea that she snored, and he had listened to that the entire night? She cleared her throat before she said, “Thank you for last night. I won’t bother you any longer. Please excuse me.”She was left with no choice last night so she had come to the hotel. She would look like an ingrate if she was cold and distant toward him now.“Have a bite before you leave. I’ve ordered takeout. It’ll be here soon,” Mark replied simply.“No need. I’ll have something to eat when I get home.” Arianne instinctively rejected him.“Jackson hasn’t called yet,” Mark said as he closed his laptop. He rose to his feet and looked at her.Arianne hesitated. If Jackson had not called, it meant they had not left the condominium. It would be inappropriate for her to go home now. “Alrig
Tiffany looked like a reprimanded child. She nodded carefully and began stuffing the food into her mouth. She had a lot to drink last night and had puked everything out. She had slept all the way until noon and was already starving.She finally remembered Arianne when she finished eating, “Where’s Ari? Were you here the whole night? Where did she go?”Jackson gave a crooked smile, “I asked Mark to come take her. She’s probably still at the hotel.”Tiffany’s mind was still muddled, “Ari agreed to that?”Jackson shrugged, “I think she did. You tormented her until three in the morning. She was exhausted. Would sleeping in a hotel have been better, or in a small condo with mosquitoes all around? She’s not an idiot. She and Mark are probably awake now. Oh, I saw a water park nearby, and it’s hot. Wanna go? This city is nowhere near the sea, so a water park sounds pretty good. I think it’s pretty large, and the facilities are great too.”Eating, drinking and merry-making was very alluri
Mark didn’t say a word. He followed suit and headed towards the beach as well. Arianned heaved a sigh of relief and slowly followed from behind. She would lift her gaze and glance at Mark from time to time. She could only see his back, but it was clear that he had a really good figure — well-proportioned, firm muscles, and fair skin. Those long, muscular legs were really… attractive.Mark slowed down, probably because he sensed her staring at him. He turned around and looked at her, “Walk faster.”She fearfully turned away, “Got it…”The sun was just as hot as ever today, so hot that it was enough to fry a man into a crisp. Tiffany pulled out a tube of sunscreen and tossed it to Jackson when they arrived underneath a beach umbrella. Then, she lay down on a deck chair, “Put that on for me. Spread it out evenly. I’ll look ugly if I get sunburned.”Jackson, of course, was willing to bear the burden. He applied it meticulously on her. Tiffany noticed that Arianne was still standing in
How could Tiffany possibly let her off? She pushed her into Jackson’s arms, “You hold on to her so that she doesn’t get washed away. Hold on tight; the wave is coming again. You’ll enjoy it once you get used to it. It’s fun! I’ve heard Jackson mention that Mark is a pretty good swimmer. Why are you such a landlubber? You’re no different from someone who can’t swim at all.”Arianne and Jackson both felt awkward. Why was Tiffany so open-minded? Jackson was dressed in swim shorts, and Arianne was dressed in a skimpy bikini. Wasn’t it inappropriate for them to be hugging each other like that? Jackson did not dare say a word and was too afraid to reach out and hold her. Only Arianne awkwardly held onto his shoulders, “Tiffie! What are you doing? Why can’t I hold onto you?”Tiffany could see their embarrassment and giggled, “I think it’s fine. I can swim, you can’t. It’s not like you’ll lose a few pieces of yourselves by holding each other. Don’t worry, I trust you!”Jackson was crying in
Arianne nodded and led the way.The pair went back to the car after collecting the keys. Arianne knelt in the back seat as she focused on her search, completely unaware that Mark had gotten into the car as well and locked it. She thought that he had only gotten in to enjoy the air-conditioning.In the end, she couldn’t find the UV-protection wear. She felt slightly disappointed, “Forget it, I can’t find it. Let’s go find Tiffie and Jackson.”Mark stared intently at the perfect curves of her body. The thought of so many people staring at her in her bikini filled him with jealousy. Back in the pool, she clung onto him, and their bodies were pressed firmly against each other. It had been a while since he had felt this, and his urges crept up to him like vines, slowly spreading its stems and leaves… Until it filled him with need.He reached out and forcefully pulled her into his arms, and she landed onto his lap. Shocked, she frantically tried to struggle away, “What are you doing? We’
Arianne returned to the changing room with the medicine. Taking the medication, she took a shower in the public bathroom and changed back to her casual attire, no longer planning to play in the water anymore. After that, she looked for a milk tea shop to lounge around in for the air conditioning. It was too hot outside. She could still feel the heat on her skin from the short duration of exposing herself under the sun just now.Not too long later, Mark entered the milk tea shop as well and sat down opposite of her. When Arianne saw him, she turned her face away, still visibly angered.“It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have acted on impulse.”He didn’t notice when Arianne froze. Since when did this guy know how to own up to his mistake? Her flame of fury had been burning bright in her heart initially, but when he apologized like this, she swayed. Arianne sat herself upright and said faintly, “It’s not your fault. You’re right in everything you do. You’re Mark Tremont. You can do what you want
Mark did not deny it. To him, the environment here was horrible, but as long as Arianne was there with him, he could hang around anywhere.As they ate, Tiffany asked Jackson suddenly, “I heard that men grow fat when they reach their middle age. They get potbellies. Is that true? Will your abs disappear?”The corners of Jackson’s lips twitched. “If you keep feeding me things like this, maybe. Under normal circumstances, though, it’ll absolutely never happen to me.”Tiffany cackled. “Once I think about you becoming a bald greasy middle-aged man with a big pot belly, I can’t stand it. What should I do? Hahaha…”Jackson felt a headache. “You can’t stand it when you’re laughing like this? I’m going to resist the toll that time will take on me. Even when I’ve reached seventy or eighty years old, I’ll never turn into the image that you described. I’ll stay handsome, from infancy to old age, get that? You women, however, will experience irreversible change after you give birth. That’s not some
By the time they had gotten Eric to settle down in the hospital, it was past nine at night. With the drips, Eric’s gastritis did not hurt as much, but he looked like he had withered.It was not the first time Mark and Jackson had encountered this situation, so they were in the mood to joke. “You weren’t really here to eat with us, were you? You must have come to extort us.”Eric was pale, looking listless even when he laughed. “I’d love an extortion; are you giving me millions? I’m fine. I probably just need to be hospitalized for a few days. Help me out, get someone to take care of me. I’ll pay for the caretaker; I’m not extorting you guys.”Arianne and Tiffany thought of someone in unison when they heard that Eric was looking for a caretaker. Exchanging a look, they knew that they were thinking about the same person. Arianne suggested, “I have a hardworking girl in my shop, and she’s experienced in taking care of people. Do you want me to introduce her to you? Just take her as a norm
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