It took her half a minute before she could return to her senses. In disbelief, she said, “Did… Mr. Smith help me get rid of Grant Jackson?” That was absurd. She didn’t know this Mr. Smith from Adam. Not only had he given her a bottle of liquor at the bar, but he was involving himself in her personal affairs. How did he find out about this? She felt as though she were being watched…The young man did not deny it. “This is Mr. Smith’s name card.”She accepted the name card. “Please thank him for me, and… Why did he help me? I don’t think we know each other.”The man simply smiled, got into his car, and left.She found it very strange. She stared at the namecard, feeling puzzled. Alejandro Smith, Executive President of Smith Enterprises. She had never heard of him before. However, the most important matter at hand was to console Lillian. She did not call to thank him immediately. Instead, she stuffed the name card into her bag.Lillian refused to open the door when Tiffany knocked on the
The Tremont Estate.Mark carefully helped Arianne into the car. He had to take her to the hospital for her prenatal check up today. As time passed, Arianne’s tummy gradually grew bigger, and he became increasingly worried.Brian, who was in the driver’s seat, started the car once they had both gotten in. “Are we going straight to the hospital, sir?”Mark nodded. “Mm.”Brian paused then said, “But… You have an important meeting this morning, it starts at 10:30AM. Perhaps I should take Mrs. Tremont instead?”“That’s fine too,” Arianne chimed in considerately. “Since you have a meeting, Brian can accompany me. You should go to work.”“No need,” Mark replied without hesitation. “The meeting can be delayed. I do not want to miss a single one of your prenatal check-ups. This is my responsibility.” His face displayed a gravity and solemnity that destroyed Arianne’s final point of defense against him. Perhaps his kindness towards her was never faked at all.Her heart softened. “Alright, then w
Tiffany yawned again. “Don’t even mention it. I haven’t slept the whole night. I can’t bring myself to do any serious work. Your visit has lifted my spirits.”Arianne sat down when the chair had been pulled up. “Where were you last night?” she asked. “Why didn’t you sleep?”Tiffany glanced around and lowered her voice as she answered, “I’ll tell you later. It’s inconvenient here.”Arianne didn’t ask any more questions. When she saw Tiffany scratching her head in front of her computer, she moved forward and said, “Let me help you. Hopefully, I haven’t forgotten the things I’ve learned. I think my basics might be stronger than yours.”Tiffany shielded her computer like a mother shielding her baby. “No way! If Mark found out, he’d think that I was abusing you. Even the idea of you walking around seems to tire you out in his opinion. How could I possibly let you help me in my work? I’d like to stay alive for a few more years!”Arianne shot her a weak glare. “Please! You know I can do it. I
Mark rushed over near 12PM and brought a few desserts to boot. “Are you okay? Do you feel uncomfortable in any way? Are you hungry? I’ve brought you something to eat. You can have a small bite first. I’ll take you for lunch at Jackson’s restaurant in awhile.”Arianne began to lose it. “Could you… not be so careful? I’m not going to get hungry at every turn, and I’m not going to be uncomfortable over every little thing. Relax.”Tiffany casually opened the box of desserts and munched on a large dessert, then gave one to Aye as well. “Your Ari might not be hungry, but her friends are. Based on how you’ve been feeding her, she’ll weigh 120 kilograms by the time the baby’s born. You’ll regret it.”“Don’t worry, I’ll love her even if she weighs 180 kilograms. But Jackson might not agree with me. You might want to consider eating a little less,” Mark teased in a rare moment of banter with Tiffany.Tiffany nearly choked. “Seriously… You know, I’ve realized that you’re either silent, or you say
Arianne’s view completely differed from his. “I thought men preferred thoughtful women, especially men like you. If you like showy displays and whiny affectionate women, isn’t Aery Kinsey the poster child?”Mark’s expression sank once she mentioned the past. Arianne was unperturbed. “Am I wrong?”“Okay, stop talking. Time to order.” Mark took a deep breath, feeling extremely dejected. She was still capable of choking him to death with just a few words.… Tiffany buried herself under the covers when they arrived home that night, completely ignoring dinner. She soon fell fast asleep. Jackson swallowed his advice for her to finish her dinner first before going to sleep when he saw her in that manner. Of course, he couldn’t ask her about the name card now.The next day, Tiffany woke up an hour earlier than usual. Jackson was still fast asleep. She was in a great mood after getting a good night’s rest last night. She planted a soft kiss on Jackson’s face and quietly climbed out of bed.She
Jackson soon arrived downstairs after washing up. He had put on some clothes first before coming downstairs, as Lillian was around. “Good morning, Mrs. Lane,” he said.Lillian curled her lips. “Tiffany calls your parents mom and dad, and you call me ‘Mrs. Lane’. How amusing.”Jackson immediately tensed. “Mom… It was only a slip of the tongue, just a slip of the tongue. I hope you don’t mind. What are you doing so early in the day?”Lillian was too embarrassed to reveal her rotten affair. “Nothing, just an impulse decision. Aren’t you busy? Hurry up and eat, then get to work. I’ll be going home soon.”Jackson wasn’t used to having one more person in the house. He finished his breakfast hesitantly, then threw the plates into the sink. “I’ll wash these when I get home. It’s almost time to go. Tiffie, you’d better hurry up and change.”Tiffany quickly ran upstairs. “Okay, I’ll be done in five minutes!”Lillian suddenly carried the airs of a housewife. She walked into the kitchen and washed
Tiffany stretched her hand out and pinched his cheek. “Are you jealous? You do know that he’s disabled. You’re a rich young man from the West family. Why would you be uncertain of yourself in front of a disabled person? I’m not blind. Certainly, I know that you’re the most handsome, considerate, and gentlest man ever. Why would I fall for another man and abandon you? Mr. Smith is nobody to me. Even if he’s extremely handsome, he’s still a disabled person. Besides, he only gave me a business card. What kind of nonsense are you talking about now?” Jackson remained quiet. He was thinking about the reason why Alejandro gave Tiffany his business card. Why would a person like him want to befriend Tiffany? Did he do that just to approach Jackson? It seemed quite ridiculous. If Alejandro wanted to expand his business, it would be easier for him to meet Jackson directly. Why did Alejandro have his mind on a woman instead? When they reached the company, they carried out their respective respon
Alejandro did not deny it. “It’s something like that. Please take your seat. Feel free to order anything you like to eat.”She glanced around. “I promised to treat you to a meal. Why does this place seem like your manor house? Are you treating me to a meal instead?” Alejandro gave her a meaningful glance with his deep-set eyes. “It doesn’t matter much as to who’s paying for this meal. I just want to have a meal with you. Now that I’ve gained what I want, it doesn’t matter much.” What he said made her slightly uncomfortable, especially the way he looked at her. She became nervous for an unknown reason. Why did he stare at her? To ease the tension, she took the initiative to start chatting with him. “Mr. Smith, may I have the liberty to ask why you helped me? We’re not from the same world. It seems unlikely that we’ll ever belong to the same world. You gained nothing by lending me a hand. Besides, you’re a businessman. Certainly, you wouldn’t do anything disadvantageous to you.” Aleja
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