His silence prompted Arianne to question him with her red-rimmed eyes. “Why aren’t you speaking? Are you lying? You’re lying! How did Rice Ball die? It’s gone already, so can’t you just tell me the truth?”Mark snuffed out the cigarette then lifted his gaze. “I didn’t lie to you. Henry called me after you got out of the car. You can call him yourself if you don’t believe me. I have no reason to deceive you. I admit that I’m at fault for not taking care of it more meticulously.”Arianne stood leaning against the wall as tears tumbled down her cheeks, looking like a little girl who had just lost something beloved to her. Only crying could ease her emotions. “You never liked it from the beginning; you loathed it! It was your fault for not allowing me to take it away! Why do you have to deprive me of everything I like? It was only a cat! It may be a nasty cat in your eyes, but it was very important to me!”She didn’t notice that Mark, who hadn’t smoked in front of her for a long time, l
Dick never knew Ellie had such an opinion of Arianne. He didn’t dare to make any remarks too, however, since this was the boss’ private matter.Ellie looked down on Dick even more for being too timid to even speak his mind and just left with a glass of water.In the office, Mark gave Butler Henry a call and told him how to deal with Rice Ball’s funeral. He didn’t want this matter to create more trouble between him and Arianne, so he’d try his best to do whatever he could.In the apartment, Arianne heard a knock on the door as soon as she was woken up by the alarm clock. Her memory was fuzzy, and she couldn’t even remember how she went back to bed. When she passed by the living room, she noticed a neatly folded thin blanket on the sofa. Although it showed no signs of being used, she had a hunch that Mark didn’t leave last night.She opened the door, only to be greeted by a bouquet so huge that it nearly hid half of the delivery guy’s body behind it. The fragrance of flowers immediat
“That should have happened long ago. Your life must be going well, now that you have officially begun living as a family of three. Just ignore your mother-in-law and try to avoid interacting with her. I knew from my first glance of her that she wasn’t a nice person.” Naya smiled and said nothing. An intellectual and kind-hearted person like her would never speak ill of her mother-in-law behind her back, no matter how horrible the latter was. After the dessert shop closed for the evening, Arianne and Tiffany took a cab to the hospital. Jackson hadn’t shown up at all today, but they ended up meeting him at the hospital. Mark was there too. The ward instantly grew lively. Eric sat cross-legged on the bed, happily munching on an apple that Jackson had peeled for him. “How kind of you guys, but this isn’t the first time my problem has acted up. It’s nothing serious, so there’s no need for you guys to stay too long. The girl you introduced me to took really good care of me. I have to g
’Doesn’t Aery Kinsey count?’ — was what Arianne wanted to say but did not in the end. This had always plagued her. She really didn’t want to be reminded that her husband had once dated her own sister.Mark knew that she was overthinking again when she suddenly gave in. “What are you thinking about? Don’t hold it in, talk to me.”She curled her lips, “I just think that you’re too cruel. Aery once dated you, after all, but you personally sent her to jail. Her life is pretty much ruined now.”As she spoke, she inadvertently observed his expression, wanting to see how he would react.“It’s true that she and I used to date,” Mark replied calmly, “But I can’t tolerate anyone who’s hurt you.”Arianne wasn’t satisfied with his response. Didn’t he also hurt her, alongside Aery? Now he was washing his hands clean and pretty much admitting that something had happened between him and Aery?‘It’s true that she and I used to date’ — these words put a sour taste in her mouth. “You’ve both done
He steadied his emotions, ordered takeout, then walked out into the hallway and called the stranger’s number. The call was soon answered by a melodious female voice, “What do you want, Jackson? Our son is fussing. Can we talk later?”His frustrations doubled when he heard the child’s cries, “I just wanted to say, do not disturb me until the test results are out and don’t call me either. Once the results are out and it’s proven that the boy is mine, I will settle things with you. If not, stay away from me!”He ended the call immediately and secretly wiped off the cold sweat from his brow. Tiffany would check his phone from time to time. He shuddered to think of the consequences if she ever saw that message.After deleting all untoward messages, he went back to the room as if nothing had happened. Tiffany emerged from the bathroom soon after, with only a towel wrapped around her. Water was dripping from her dark hair. Her long, smooth legs were particularly enticing, but today, he was
Jackson let out a sigh of relief, but felt guilty at the same time. He never expected for things to turn out so serious when he brought her here. At the time, he simply received a call from that woman, saying that she had something important to tell him. He didn’t look too much into it but was afraid that Summer would find out about his past and nag him endlessly. So, he decided to come here, under the pretense that Mark needed his help at the company and set up a meeting with that woman in this city. Then, he brought Tiffany along to have fun with Arianne and cheer her up.He did not expect for this matter to spiral out of control. His emotional state fell into ruins when he discovered the child. He had just had a meeting with this woman today during the day and had gone to get tested first. He avoided contacting Tiffany because he was afraid that it would seem too obvious and that she would figure it out.The next day, Tiffany relayed her “discovery” from last night to Arianne when
Ellie was surprised. Mark had glanced at her meticulous outfit but showed no reaction. She felt mildly disappointed, “Okay… I’ll go right now.”She crossed the road under the hot sun to the café. Ellie let out a sigh of relief when the cool, refreshing air in the café hit her. She sauntered up to Naya and said, “Two cups of iced black tea, please.”Naya noticed Ellie’s outfit with a single glance. She was speechless. She had always been more modest, but she could accept dressing in spaghetti straps with hot pants or a mini skirt. However, Ellie’s getup was much more daring than a simple spaghetti strap top…“O-okay…”Naya felt slightly embarrassed. She was too embarrassed to stare at her for too long, even though they were both women.Tiffany, who was behind the counter, heard Ellie’s voice and turned around. She was immediately upset, “Your workwear certainly has personality. You’d fit right in as a stripper in a nightclub. Mark certainly has a special taste. Do all of the women
Ellie’s mind went momentarily blank, followed by a subtle wave of delight. It was probably because she’d performed outstandingly in every aspect, right? She reached up and tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear, and asked bashfully, “Why?”“Because in the past, you would put all of your focus into your job and would never try to seduce me.”Ellie’s expression immediately changed. She promptly straightened up, “I-I’m sorry…”Mark refused to give her a chance, “You may collect your pay from the financial department. Consider yourself fired. You’ll even receive a pretty good severance package.”Ellie couldn’t believe this. She had more to say, but she shut her mouth when she stared into Mark’s icy glare. Reality had finally struck her. She had managed to maintain this great job for many years because of her own professional capabilities, not her good looks. Giving in to devious intentions had not only caused her to lose her chance in achieving her goals, but she had also completely