Lily nodded slightly. “I’ll take my leave now, if there’s nothing else.”As soon as she returned to the office, everyone in the department of design flocked to her. “How did it go, Miss Pierre? Did he approve it?”Lily went straight into the CEO’s office and only spoke when she saw Eric. “It has been approved, Mr. Nathaniel.”Eric didn’t seem surprised at all. “Okay, get the janitor to clean up the office. You may all get off work early today.”The entire department of design cheered as soon as the news got out. Everyone except for Arianne, who was still seated at her desk.She quietly packed up her things and went to the bathroom. In front of the mirror, she reapplied her lipstick to cover up her pale lips. She didn’t want Mark to be upset when he saw her at home.All of a sudden, she heard someone speaking inside one of the toilet cubicles. “I think Arianne is the one who forced Mark Tremont to make their marriage public. He's always kept their relationship under wraps and even
Mark was slightly taken aback but then curiously took a small sip. The rich sweetness of the milk tea immediately exploded in his mouth, causing him to frown even more. For someone like him who didn’t fancy sweets since he was a child, this was pure torture.Arianne suddenly snapped back to her senses. What had she just done? Why did she give him the milk tea she had drunk? Did he actually just drink it?!Arianne jolted when she saw the lipstick mark she left on the straw. She held the cup close to her chest and looked out the window. Although she pretended that nothing had happened, she was panicking on the inside. Should she still drink the remaining milk tea?Mark didn’t know what was going on through her mind at the moment, but he was amused by the way she tightly held her drink. He had only taken a small sip, why did her heart ache this much over a beverage?When they were approaching the Tremont Estate, Mark’s cell phone suddenly rang.He took a glimpse at the screen and ins
Mary shuffled forward, took out his shoes and put them down neatly. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure that Mrs. Tremont eats once she wakes up.”Mark did not deign to reply, pursing his lips instead. As his car drove away from the Tremont Estate, Arianne woke up sheepishly. She pulled out her phone and checked the time. “Mary… Why didn’t you wake me?” she grumbled.“Mr. Tremont told me not to,” Mary replied, stepping forward with a smile. “He wanted you to rest more. You’ve been exhausting yourself over the past few days. I’ve warmed up your meal and brought it over. You must eat before going back to sleep, no matter how tired you are. By the way, Mr. Tremont just left.”“Mm,” Arianne replied, still in a blur. She got up and sat at the dining table before noticing that Mark had left his phone behind. She had not intended on concerning herself with it, but it rang. Furthermore, the screen indicated that Aery Kinsey was on the other end…Mary looked at her and said, “Answer it for him, Mr
”I’ll pick you up. Give me your address. I’ll be over in a minute,” Ethan said.Half an hour later, Ethan’s car arrived outside the gates of the Tremont Estate. Arianne wrapped her coat tightly around herself and quickly ducked into the car. The late night temperature was freezing.The security guard on night shift at the gate noticed that Arianne had entered a car that was not Mark’s and prudently wrote down the car plate number.Arianne wasn’t in the mood to venture too far off, so she told Ethan to stop at the intersection. “Let’s talk in the car. It’s really, really late.”Ethan looked exhausted. “I’m too tired today. Come to my hotel. I’ll call a cab for you when we’ve finished discussing. There are a lot of details to go over, and I don’t want to be thrown off my game when I do this. You’re Tiffie’s only best friend, and I don’t know who else to turn to for help. Just this once, okay?”Arianne couldn’t bring herself to reject him, so she followed Ethan back to his hotel.Th
Unfortunately, Ethan couldn’t hear her and continued showering; most likely, the bathroom was sound proof.Soon, the bodyguard snatched the room card from Tiffany and unlocked the door. Arianne was now face to face with Mark—it was like looking at a field of snow. The look in his eyes made her feel very guilty, even though she hadn’t done anything wrong. She timidly backed away...Tiffany struggled out of the bodyguard’s restraints, rushed forward, and shielded Arianne. “Mark Tremont, if you have something to say, be civilized about it. I’m just as anxious as you are! However, can we wait for Ethan to come out of the bathroom before straightening this out? I’m certain that Ari isn’t that kind of a person, and neither is Ethan!”Ethan finally noticed that something wasn’t right outside. He put on his bathrobe and walked out, only to find a large group in his room. “What’s going on?” he asked, taken aback.Mark’s gaze turned cold. Tiffany snapped irritably, “You’re asking me? How sho
Arianne didn’t respond and simply tightened her grip on the towel around her. She shut her eyes, refusing to look at him. Perhaps she wouldn’t feel so afraid if she avoided looking at him…Mark’s gaze landed on the scar on her shoulder. She was left with this scar because of him… But now, he saw it as a mockery. “You disgust me!”Mark left and didn’t do anything else to her. This was different from his usual way of dealing with things.The bedroom door slammed shut. Arianne sat stiffly on the bedside like a soulless puppet.She stayed up the entire night, and no one called her to collect a dead-drunk Mark Tremont. He wouldn’t turn into a completely different person in his drunken state and paw at her neck like a cat, either...At eight in the morning, Mary knocked on the door. “Ari, are you up? Would you like something to eat? What happened… between you and Mr. Tremont?”Arianne huddled further under the covers. “I’m not eating. And it’s nothing.”Mary sighed and didn’t ask any
Arianne didn’t reply. How could Mark Tremont possibly trust her? He’s never trusted her…Mary’s heart ached at the sight of her looking like this. However, she was powerless too.That night, at Arianne’s insistence, Mary went home to rest. There was no need to stay with her at the hospital; she’d simply caught a cold and could take care of herself. At most, she would have to stay in the hospital for one day under observation. She would be discharged the very next day.She couldn’t seem to fall asleep, probably because she had too much sleep in the day. She shut her eyes and lay on the hospital bed, a myriad of thoughts plaguing her mind.“What are you doing?!” someone outside the ward cried out all of a sudden.Arianne jumped in fright. She opened her eyes to catch a quick glimpse of a man’s face disappearing from the small window above the door. Who was spying on her in the dead of the night?!She was too frightened to stay any longer. She packed up her things and left the hospi
Arianne gently stirred a bowl of steaming porridge with a spoon; she didn’t respond to Mary’s suggestion.Did Mark go looking for her for so long last night because he felt responsible? She never felt that she could influence his behavior. If Mark wasn’t willing to come home, then he would only feel disgusted even if she got on her knees and begged him.The news continued brewing on the Internet, but Mark never directly responded to it. He even donated to an elementary school on New Year’s Eve.Arianne accidentally discovered the latest article while she was flipping through the news. It was a photo that was taken secretly when she was in the hospital. She was lying on the bed, looking pale and lifeless. The content of the article was questioning whether she had been hospitalized due to domestic violence and if Mark Tremont’s gentle nature was nothing more than a facade. Now that she thought about it, the person outside the hospital ward must’ve been the one who snuck a shot of her.
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