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
She stopped walking and looked toward where Lynn was. At the same time, Lynn walked toward her too. The last time she met Lynn was at the dessert shop. She didn't even know where she had gone. Surprisingly, she met Lynn here. Lynn threw her a glance calmly before continuing her work. Alejandro asked, “Are you acquainted with each other?” Tiffany nodded. “Yes. We were colleagues once. I still need to get to work in the afternoon. I need to excuse myself now. Thank you for your hospitality.” Alejandro did not try to detain her. “Alright. See you around. Let Lynn see you off to the door since you know each other.” Then, he addressed Lynn. “Lynnie, see the guest out.” Lynn stopped her work and walked toward Tiffany, who did not linger there for long. She then walked toward the entrance of the manor house directly. When they were alone, she asked Lynn, “Are you working as a bodyguard for Alejandro?” Lynn said without any facial expression, “What? Are you such a busybody?” Tiffany cou
Tiffany became slightly anxious now. “No… I just felt that it was quite embarrassing. That’s why I didn’t tell you about it. I thought that I would be able to resolve it by myself, but it never occurred to me that Alejandro would help me… I didn’t even have any contact with him; he only gave me the business card after he resolved that issue for me. I certainly had to take the business card from him under such circumstances. I wasn’t thinking about what his intention was. I just wanted to return him the favor and be done with it. We won’t have any contact with each other from now on, so…” When she said those things, she asked him, “Did Lynn contact you? She’s working for Alejandro now. I ran into her there…” Jackson walked toward the window and turned away from her. He sounded cold. “So you’re allowed to have a meal with another man, but I’m prohibited from receiving a call from another woman?” She felt like she was being treated unfairly. “Didn’t you claim that you’re no longer keepi
Just the reminder of how Lynn had bedeviled her caused Tiffany’s flames to flare. “Frickin’ Lynn Brooks! According to Jackson, all they ever had was sex. God knows if they were ever beyond physical.”Mark looked a little stunned because admittedly, he did not know Lynn quite well. “I don’t really know much about this,” he said. “You should probably chat with Ari instead.”Mark retreated to his study unprompted after dinner, tacitly providing the girls with their space. Immediately after he left, Tiffany was like a stuffed box kicked open — nothing, from Grant’s issue to Alejandro Smith’s dramatic debut, was left out. When her account arrived at the part involving Lynn, Tiffany was evidently gritting her teeth. “Sh*ts between me and Jackson have never blown out to this proportion before! He frickin’ smashed things! The tone he used in the office, Ari, you have no idea just how… how much it stung. I was so — so angry that I could almost burst into tears right there! And then he gotta’ ru
Mark hung up the phone and ordered Mary to prepare the guest room. By this point, he was fairly sure that Tiffany was not going away tonight. It was nearing eleven, yet his Arianne did not look at all like she was packing up for bed.He stood on the end of the stairs and called out, “Ari, it’s getting late. Time for bed, yes?”Arianne eyed the clock on the living room wall. “It really is late. Why don’t we head to bed, Tiffie?”A veil of moroseness still hung over Tiffany, who found it hard to smile when she remembered that Jackson had not given her a call or text even now. “Okay. But… I don’t wanna sleep alone. Sleep with me?”Mark almost choked himself on how accurate his prediction was. He knew it; Tiffany would definitely dish out this card — it was always moments like these when he was forced to reckon with the women’s creed of “sistahs before mistahs.”Surprising absolutely no one, Arianne said yes without batting an eyelash. “You got it, sis. Come, I’m gonna show you to the gues
Mark’s breath seemed to halt for a second before he lurched, his lips closing onto hers.Arianne welcomed him. Her fingers changed position and dexterously laced around his neck.When their breathings started to race, Mark stopped himself and released her from his grip. “I know Tiffany’s still waiting for your company, so go. I’m satisfied with this.”Arianne lowered her head with a soft chuckle. “Right. Nighty-night.”She had always known the wiles to endear herself to him, or exactly what to do to please him. In the past, her goal was to ingratiate on him. But now, these little things had become bona fide seasonings in a relationship.After all, a genuine bond between two people required both sides to be pleased and to be willing to practice endearment.Tiffany spent her weekend cooped up with Arianne in the Tremont Estate. After days of bad weather, the sky finally turned blue today.Unfortunately, a snowstorm was waging in Tiffany’s chest. This would mark the first time the rhubarb
Jackson was silent for two whole seconds before answering, “Home. Was asleep. What?”Tiffany turned red right there and then. It was only nine at night — since when did Jackson West ever go to sleep this early?! He was either working overtime or goofing around, having his fun. He never slept this early!The worst offender, however, was that Tiffany’s implicative absence did not at all worry him — to the point that he found no problem slumbering!Even Arianne found words failing her. After a brief albeit glaring silence, Jackson’s nonchalant voice came. “If it’s nothing important, I’m hanging up.”And he hung up without waiting a second more.Tiffany bit her lips. Tears broke out of her eyes and wetted her cheeks like a deluge from two broken levees. Nothing Arianne said soothed her, so she ran upstairs and went to the one person she hoped could help. “Mark! I called Jackson for Tiffie’s sake, and Jackson was sleeping, and he just hung up the phone without even asking how Tiffie’s doing
Tiffany’s resolve began to waver. In truth, she very much wanted to go home. She was just looking for a way to admit it without losing her face.Catching the hesitance in her friend, Arianne pressed on. “You are his fiancée, not his mistress. What’s wrong with you going back to his place and shoving your worst grimace at him every day? None whatsoever. Now, if you still can’t take it, or if he continues to sting you with his pigheadedness, well! You could always pack up your clothes and move back to your mom’s. Let’s see if he stops you. If he doesn’t, you go, free and guiltless. If he stops you? Mission accomplished. So here’s what you should do: you’re gonna leave your car at my place and I’ll have Mark send you home. If you decided to move out, you won’t have a car to take you, which means he — if he’s man enough — has to yield and be your driver. He can’t let poor Tiffany go to her mom’s all alone in the middle of the night, can he?”While Tiffany nodded vigorously, Mark sank into
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