Right when he stepped into the condo, he received a bolster that was flung at his face. The old woman reclined on the couch, railing at him, “If you can’t take care of me, why did you ask me to stay?”Mark’s gaze sank as he internally recited a mantra: ‘No matter what happens, this is Arianne’s grandmother.’He had to address her as “grandmother” too. He had to contain his temper…He picked up the bolster and walked towards the couch, “I’ll help you to the toilet.”The old woman casually locked her arms around his neck and hung off his body, “You’re pretty solid, kid. I thought you and Arianne had a divorce? Why are you still trying to gain brownie points?”Mark’s mind was buzzing, “We did not get a divorce… She’s still my wife. I did something bad, so she’s angry with me.”The old woman shot him an irritable glare, “What did you do? Did you have an affair? You rich men are all the same. You can’t even handle your own shit; why are you concerning yourself with me? I’ve been coope
Tiffany couldn’t stand it any longer. She pulled off her eye-mask, “Come on, speak a little louder. I can’t hear you. I was only carrying a bag worth more than $10,000, right? Does that give you the license to talk about me for more than half a day out of jealousy? Your salaries might not be much, but you should be able to afford it if you saved for two years, right? There’s no need to be jealous. By the way, I bought this bag on my own. It wasn’t a gift from some man. I have a huge pile of handbags that I bought a few years ago. Altogether, they’d cost enough for a good few years of your salaries. There’s no use in being jealous. Stop for a while. Otherwise, how am I supposed to run errands for you if I’m too tired?”Henrietta mockingly said, “Since your family is so rich, why not stay home and enjoy your life of luxury. Why are you running errands? You can’t even do your errands right. Aren’t you just giving us more work?”Tiffany’s small universe was close to exploding. She was here
Jackson took a deep breath. His woman had been suffering under someone else’s hands and was driven to tears. Aside from heartache, he felt enraged as well, “Alright, alright. Don’t cry. Where are you? I’ll come over and pick you up right now. Stay right where you are and don’t move, okay? What kind of a horrible company are they? Don’t be angry, forget them!”Tiffany sniffed, told him where she was, and waited for him at the side of the road. The weather was gradually turning cold and it wasn’t hot anymore. Sometimes, a gentle breeze would pass and put her emotions slightly more at ease.Soon, Jackson’s luxurious sports car stopped at the side of the road. When she got into the car and saw him, she broke down again. She leaned against his shoulder and sobbed, “I feel so useless, I’ve been fired… I’m so pissed…”Jackson patted her on the back soothingly as he turned towards the office floor, not too far away. That company wasn’t even fit to lick his boots, yet they’d brought grief up
Tiffany blurrily grunted a reply and ended the video call. Arianne irritably threw the phone aside.At past 8 pm, the old lady called Arianne. Based on her tone, she seemed to be in a good mood, “I’m at the Tremont Estate, and everything here is great. Much better than that bird cage of yours, around the same size as our old home. It’s comfortable, living here. You don’t have to worry about me. Mark is here.”Then, she hung up. It was done very neat and tidily.A shiver ran across Arianne's heart. The old lady was not easy to deal with. How did Mark manage to familiarize himself with her in such a short time, then persuade her to go back to the capital? Something must be wrong… Mark had never met the old woman prior to this. She checked through her call records and found that the old woman had actually called while she was asleep in Mark’s hotel room. Of course, she wasn’t the one who answered the call, which could only mean that Mark had gone back to the condo to help the old wom
As Jackson walked past her office desk, he purposefully tapped on it and said, “Hey, newbie, do your best.”Holding back the urge to burst out laughing, Tiffany nodded and bowed, “I will, Mr. West. I’ll do my best!”The corners of Jackson’s lips tilted upwards slightly. He walked into his office. Less than two minutes later, Tiffany received a text message from him: ‘How dare you address me as “Mr. West”.’She replied to him with a “playful” emoji and put her phone into her bag. She was in the middle of working hours now, and it was inadvisable for her to be fiddling with her phone.The environment in this big company was a stark contrast to her previously smaller company. Aside from its fast-paced environment, there wasn’t a lot of in-fighting at play.Unbeknownst to her, the human resource manager had slipped into Jackson’s office. Jackson was in a particularly good mood and was smiling radiantly, “She doesn’t suspect anything, does she?”The human resource manager quickly repl
Tiffany scratched her hair, completely unfazed by this. After all, Jackson never complained whenever she stood in front of him or rode on him. “Got it, thanks…” she replied absent-mindedly.At around 3PM or so, Tiffany began to feel sleepy. Suddenly, she heard Summer’s voice, “Tiffie, are you working with us now? Jackson was just talking about how reluctant you were. Looks like you’ve finally thought things through. It’s like I’ve said, how can someone else’s land be better than ours? When did you get here? Would you like me to…”Before she could finish, Tiffany jumped up, reached out, and covered her mouth.Both women were in shock. Tiffany broke out into cold sweat. What had she done? Covered her future mother-in-law’s lipstick-lined lips with her hand! She could feel the lipstick on her hand, which must be very red by now. She was finished…“Mrs. West… It’s fine,” she said, trembling fearfully, “I’ve spoken to Mr. West. There’s no need to do anything for me. I can do this on my
A smile shadowed Summer’s lips. “I knew you still cared about your mommy, which, by the way, you should, since I’ve hauled my bum just to rear you to the fine young man that you are today. This is why Mom would like you to do something for her,” she said sincerely. “Please, don’t give you dad your nasty grimaces, okay? He’s got a thin skin much like yourself, you know. Anyway! About your engagement with Tiffany, should you need my help, just ask. You know I don’t have much to occupy my time these days.”Jackson nodded in understanding and responded with his own advice, “When you see Tiffie, make sure you don’t leave any hint that you know, okay? She will kill me if she finds out about my goof.”Summer gave a sprightly okay and left. Passing by the cubicles, she greeted Tiffany as she usually would, “I’ll be off. Godspeed in your work.”Tiffany rose from her seat and watched Summer leave. “Thank you, Auntie. Take care.”Evening came. Jackson picked Tiffany up by the curb after work and
The duo’s arrival at the West family residence was immediately welcomed by a banquet-sized feast that almost exclusively served Tiffany’s favorite dishes.As Tiffany’s eyes took in the food laid before her, she realized how much she enjoyed being cared for by someone. The notion of being seen as important warmed her heart.Time passed, but Atticus West continued to be absent. Knowing Jackson was avoiding the question, Tiffany took it upon herself to ask Summer, “Where’s Uncle Atticus, Auntie Summer? I don’t see him.”Summer snuck a glance at her son. “Oh, he’s around alright… All cooped up in his study upstairs. He’s concerned that Jackson might be upset if he shows up, so that stubborn old man has shut himself in after ignoring my advice. Well, Tiffie dear, would you take Jackson with you and invite him over for dinner?”Jackson did not attempt to hide his repulsion. “Nope, no can do. I’m not gonna beg him to eat with us. To eat or not to eat — it’s none of my concern.”Tiffany jabbed