Time flew. Onward came the night before Easter — a time when some families gather for a lovely, hearty meal. At Arianne’s insistence, Henry the butler and Mary sat around the table for dinner together with her and Mark.It was important to Arianne. They were her family, people who had raised her since childhood.As usual, she also received a sum of money from Helen as a gift and some well-wishes under the backdrop of distant church hymns and occasional fireworks. With a pang, she realized that Easter this year was different from its previous iterations. She could not pinpoint the exact differences, but she wondered if it was because the festival felt homelier than it used to be.After replying to Helen’s text, she looked up and considered Mark. “I wonder how Granny iss doing,” she wondered out loud. “I haven’t been able to contact her for such a long time that I’m starting to worry. There’s no way Zoey and the rest could keep that act for this long, but somehow they pull it off this ti
A short while after Easter, Mark decided to travel overseas. It was a somewhat surprising departure from his typical habit; every overseas business was always handed down to his inferiors if he could help it. This time, however, he was left no choice, so he expected to be separated from his wife for about half a month.The day of his flight began with him reciting a long, drawn-out list of instructions to Mary and Henry, encompassing diverse domains including Arianne’s daily life schedule and dietary plans to her sleeping and workout hours. One would begin to wonder if an apocalyptic event was going to befall him after he left, especially after one looked at the palpable trepidation all over his face. Had Henry not reminded him that the plane was going to take off soon, the man’s incessant nagging might never stop.Arianne sent him off by the gate, where the poor man could not stroll toward the car without looking back every three steps or so.“Okay, there’s enough; just stay there. Ye
The only one who wanted to break up had been her. Her alone.The top notification bar, displaying an incoming call, suddenly slid down and blocked her face from Jackson’s view. A little peeved, he answered the call snippily, “Yes?”A sickly-sweet, coy voice struck his ear. “Hello, Mr. West. Fancy meeting us old friends tonight? News of your recent ‘emancipation’ has been going around, so — tee hee — congrats!”Jackson’s automatic response was a firm no; however, before the word left his tongue, he stopped himself. This was his past catching up to him. When was the last time he had allowed himself to indulge? He almost forgot how liberating his old lifestyle was.“Sure,” he said.The woman did not attempt to hide her excitement. “Oh. My. God! This is great! Don’t keep us waiting, Handsome.”Since Jackson was not the type to enjoy a good night without bringing his best friend along, he texted Eric immediately after the call. ‘You, me, party tonight.’Just the thought of alcohol made Eric
Eric, too, thought it would be a waste not to drink. “Oh, yeah? Then pour me a full one, and I’ll stop when I’m near death!”The corner of Jackson’s lips curled. Despite being surrounded by women doing their best, his eyes reflected a sober mind. “Hey, no dying, please. Don’t make me lug your corpse around.”Eric drank in one finish and placed it down with a look of one not yet satisfied. “I haven’t had alcohol for so long; Lord knows how good it feels! Don’t fret, Jackson, I won’t fall dead. I ate something on my way here, so it’s gotta help mitigate some of this beer. What’s more interesting is you, though! Suddenly struck by the mood to go out and play, are we? And here I thought you were content to be a good boy who doesn’t swing around now.”Jackson said nothing, but the smile on his lips faded.A voluptuous woman with a face that might have undergone a fair bit too much plastic surgery suddenly rose with her phone in hand. “Mr. West, I’ve brought one of my friends for the night!
Sasha’s hands stiffened for a second, shame halting her. Nevertheless, she answered candidly, “Yes, Sir.”Jackson batted her hand away from him. “Take a shower and then lie down on the bed.”A shade of pink rose to Sasha’s nodding face. Obediently, she went for a quick shower before exiting with only a towel around her. She checked Jackson for any response while lying down on the bed as he had instructed her.Jackson watched her movement with a poker face and tidied his tie. “Put on some clothes, please. I’m not doing anything tonight. Just want you sleeping next to me.”Sasha was taken aback. “W-wha—?”Jackson, however, did not repeat himself. What he desired was not sex but sleep — since Tiffany left him, he had not enjoyed the respite of the night.Eric returned home to find Tanya, not in her room sleeping, but waiting in the living room with a tummy-warming soup she had made for him. Knowing Eric could not resist drinking if he went out, she had prepared the soup for his possible s
“The only thing that will ever be appropriate between us is to go out and have fun. There’s no need to come to my office or anything like that from now on. There are too many people around, and there will certainly be gossip, which will affect me, understand? You’re my lover, not my girlfriend. You’re certainly not going to be my wife. That’s not your place.”Sasha was stunned. She simply thought he was different from what Desdemona and everyone else had described him to be. He did not touch her last night, but he gave her money all the same. She thought he was a pretty good guy, that was why she wanted to get to know him. Perhaps, they could start a relationship. She did not expect him to figuratively pour a bucket of cold water on her, revealing the harsh reality. Their relationship had always been a ‘secret’. “I understand. I’ll leave right now… Will you call me?”Jackson did not reply.Sasha was too afraid of lingering. She left very quickly.Aye stopped her when she was at the ele
Eric was surprised. “You… Won’t it be an inconvenience? It’s fine. I can wait for them to send it over… No need to force yourself.”She shrugged nonchalantly. “It’s fine, it’s only a breakup. It’s not like we’ve turned into enemies. Why would this trouble me? I’m not worried. Don’t worry, I guarantee to finish the job. You’re the boss, you make the decision.”Tiffany might have sounded confident when she said those words, but when she arrived at the ground floor of Jackson’s office, she could not help but feel apprehensive. How was she going to face him? She looked at the time on her watch. There was half an hour left until the second half of the working day. Jackson should not be around at this hour so she still had time to mentally prepare herself. She took a deep breath and walked in. Things were not going as smoothly as she liked them to be. The elevator was still on the twenty-fifth floor so she had to wait a while.She pulled out her phone and fiddled with it while waiting for th
Her temper had never been even, and she would not let herself be beaten even if she was upset. She stepped on the sensor of the elevator and put her hands on her hips. “No signature, no meeting. I’m just an employee, I have loads of time.”Jackson looked at her calmly. His eyes glinted with some indecipherable emotion. “Shouldn’t you be begging me? Is this how you ask for a favor? I have the right to refuse to sign that document.”She was rendered momentarily speechless. Before she could figure out a retort, someone pushed her out of the way, and the elevator finally closed.Her temper rose. Since he wanted to be like that, she would oblige. Anything he could do, she could do better!...In the elevator.Jackson’s expression darkened. “Who told you to push her?”The expression of the person who had pushed Tiffany changed. “B-but… We won’t be able to leave if I didn’t push her away…”Jackson fixed his tie in frustration. “Couldn’t you be a little gentler?”The employee was speechless..
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