At this point, she no longer dared to make a mistake. She feigned a calm outlook and wept pretentiously, “Do you really think that I want to stay here and suffer your humiliation? If you think that I like money that much, then just give it to me. I’ll leave at once. Like you, I don’t want to wait any longer either! Our son isn’t used to this place, and he’s sick. I’m hurting more than anyone else. If that’s how it’s going to be, I might as well speak to your girlfriend myself!”Before Jackson could retort, the emergency room doctor walked out, “I’m looking for this baby’s parents?”Georgina wiped off her tears and walked up to the doctor, “I’m his mother. How is my son? Is he alright?”“He’s suffering from acute gastroenteritis. It’s not too severe, but he’ll have to stay in the hospital for observation over the next two days. Pay close attention to his food intake and avoid solid food. Try to give him milk for now, no more solids,” the doctor explained to her in a formal manner.S
She waited for her son’s IV transfusion to complete, then carried him off, hailed a cab, and made her way to Arianne’s dessert shop. She had done her research long beforehand. As the ancient Chinese General Sun Tzu would say, know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated. She recognized Tiffany straight away from the moment she walked into the café. Women had accurate intuitions. In fact, her intuition was so accurate that she could pinpoint Jackson’s current girlfriend, simply based on intuition. She did not kick up a fuss all at once. Instead, she carried her child, found a table, and sat down. The baby was not feeling well, so he bawled the entire time. Naya had experience in child rearing, so she approached her and asked, “Need some help?”Georgina deliberately put on a weak and fragile expression on her face. She curled her lips in a frail manner, “I… It’s too hot outside… I just wanted to come inside to have a seat. My baby is sick, he’s so upset. I’m not h
Mark smirked, “Heh… You’re afraid that you might not get a single cent once the results are out, aren’t you?” A wave of panic flashed across Georgina’s eyes. She put on a calm facade and said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I never intended on making Jackson take responsibility, but reality has dealt me with a heavy blow. I’m a single mother, raising a child with no income. I have nowhere to go. I don’t want to disrupt his life either. He has refused to marry me and accept me and my baby, so money is the only thing I can get. I know that you’re both very powerful men, but you don’t have to push a weak woman like me around, right?”A thoughtful glint flashed across Mark’s eyes, “We don’t have to, and we won’t. Knowing Jackson, he would have been very generous with the child’s medical fees. You can leave with your son. Once the paternity results are released, you will be compensated appropriately, with not a single cent less. A word of advice — don’t ever show your face in f
Tiffany couldn’t shake the feeling that Jackson was lying to her, “You’re covering up for him. What do you mean by ‘you were not aware’? I’m sure you knew about this. Ari, get a divorce, right now. You can’t get past this!”Arianne nodded in agreement, “I kind of agree. Let’s just get a divorce…”Jackson was lamenting internally, “Enough. Both of you. Don’t start. I’ll speak to Mark myself. Don’t you need to manage your business? You two, stay right here!”“I’m sorry, Ari…” Naya apologized timidly after Jackson had left, “I had no idea that that woman was acquainted with your husband… I even helped carry her baby…”Arianne was feeling strangely delighted over having Mark take all of the blame. She was in a particularly good mood now, “It’s fine. Go back to work. I’m going back to the kitchen…” she replied in a sing-song voice. Naya was under the impression that she was simply putting on a brave front and that deep down, she was feeling extremely hurt. She furrowed her brows and f
Tiffany glared at Mark. Feeling a gaze on him, Mark looked up just as Arianne quickly pushed Tiffany into the kitchen. “Go help out!”Suddenly, Jackson’s phone, which was on the living room’s coffee table, rang. Mark picked it up for him; Summer’s loud voice came through the speaker. “You brat, what did you do with $150,000? I didn’t hear about the company needing funds recently, what did you spend it on? You aren’t up to no good, are you?”Mark pulled the device away from his ear, feeling his eardrums crying a little. “Mrs. West, it’s me, Mark. Jackson’s busy. I know about this. He isn’t spending it unnecessarily, so don’t you worry. He’s not a kid either, and $150,000’s not a lot.”When Summer heard Mark’s voice, her tone became much gentler. “Oh, it’s you, Mark… Sure, I’m at ease with you watching out for him. Isn’t he with Tiffany now? I’m just worried that he’s out with questionable women again. I can’t keep my rein on him usually. You’re his bro, help me out. You’re already marri
Upon receiving the text, Mark deleted it after reading it. Something improper like that did not have a place in his phone…He rolled up his sleeves to help Arianne with the dinnerware. When Arianne saw that he was actually getting to work, she quickly stopped him. “No need to help me. It’s just washing the dishes. You don’t know how to anyway…”Mark spoke seriously, “I can learn. I’m not that dumb. Just leave them to me.”Giving him the benefit of doubt, Arianne allowed him into the kitchen alone, checking in on him occasionally out of worry to make sure that he could really do a good job.The floral fragrance from the shelf spread into the house from the air conditioning. Looking at the overflowing roses at home, Arianne felt speechless. Mark had not listened to her; she had asked him not to send her flowers anymore, but he still sent her a bouquet every day. If this went on, she would run out of space at home to keep them, and the shop did not need that many flowers too.Mark’s phone
Her voice was muted by him.Arianne was unable to get herself out of his grasp. When Mark’s kisses moved to her ear, she blurted, “Are you sure you love me? Or do you just want to do it? Mark, if you really wanted to be together with me, you’d give me time to accept you and accept the past, not force me to do this all the time! For now, I can’t accept that I’m together with someone who caused my dad’s death!”Mark froze. “Will you accept me if I give you time then?”Arianne did not know the answer. If he gave her enough time, would she really be able to accept him and what had happened in the past? She thought that she was most likely unable to do it because every time she saw him, she thought about her father’s wronged death and found it difficult to let go. The person whom she had once thought of as the most important person became the person who caused her to lose everything. How could she let it past?Her silence unnerved Mark. “Speak up! Will you try to accept me if I give you tim
As if seeing through her mind, Mark said, “I can give you time, but not so that you could dismiss me and drag my time along. You have to consider our relationship seriously. If you can’t do it, I’ll just take you back. Don’t ask me to give you up, I can’t.”Arianne felt like something was not right here. She frowned. “This isn’t fair. Either I agree to be with you in the end, or I’ll be forced to go back with you. Don’t I have the right to refuse? If I still can’t do it after consideration, I’ll have to go back with you, regardless—then what was the point of giving me time? To let me persuade myself to be with you? Don’t you think that your request is unreasonable? Normally, shouldn’t it be you giving me time to consider, and if I can’t get it past myself, we’ll go our separate ways?”Mark looked at her and pronounced each word clearly. “That’s right. Me giving you time is only for you to get used to it, to recognize the fact that you won’t be able to leave me. Ever. It’s not for you t
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