After recomposing her thoughts, she changed her clothes and stepped out of her bedroom. Tanya had holed herself up in her own room, probably to avoid the commotion. She only ever showed her face when she stepped out to open the door for Jackson. Tiffany felt very awkward. She didn’t want to be left alone with Jackson!She secretly sent Tanya a message: ‘Get out here! What are you doing in the room? You know very well that my relationship with Jackson is at an awkward stage!’Tanya swiftly replied: ‘I am not coming out! I’ve heard what you were doing in the kitchen. It’d be awkward for me if I go out! I’m not going to be the third wheel! Pretend that I’m asleep. I can’t help you!’Tiffany was dejected. What a wonderful “friend” she was!Suddenly, Jackson’s voice called out from the kitchen, “Tiffany Lane, help me out here. Mark is rushing me.”She would endure this, for Arianne!She put on a poker face and walked in, refusing to look him in the eye. “What do you need?”Jackson pointed a
Tiffany felt something small and subtle deep down. For some strange reason, she was upset…It’s all his fault, he shouldn’t have annoyed her. Now she was all confused and anxious!… Having stayed at the hospital for almost a month, Arianne was certain that she would have to stay in the hospital until her due date. It was boring, but she had no choice.In order to whet her appetite, Mark made Jackson cook meals for her every day. Even though it was only one meal a day, she felt very apologetic about it.During Jackson’s most recent meal delivery, she couldn’t help asking, “Jackson, isn’t this too much trouble for you? You have work to do during the day, and now you have to cook and deliver my meals at night…”Jackson smirked. “Don’t be so modest. What’s a meal between Mark and I? This is a special circumstance. I’d stuff you with my cooking as long as you deliver the baby safely. You women go through such difficulties during your pregnancies. The very sight of you worries me too…”At t
As expected, Arianne enjoyed Jackson’s cooking. Most of her appetite had returned this month, and every meal Jackson delivered would be pretty much cleaned out. Her complexion had improved too.Jackson packed up the lunch box once he saw that she was pretty much done with her meal. “I’ll be on my way then. I’ll come again tomorrow.”Arianne nodded and carefully asked, “Have you contacted Tiffie lately?”Jackson was taken aback. Then, he curled his lips into a frivolous smile. “No. It’s not like you don’t know what she’s like. It’s not worth contacting her.”He hadn’t contacted her since that day and had not concocted new ways to run into her… Besides, he had already tried to set his ego aside. All he received was her rejection.Mark helped Arianne down to a lying position after Jackson had left. “Are you tired? You should go to sleep if you are.”Arianne shook her head. “I don’t feel like sleeping. I’m always sleeping, and I’m really not that tired. Jackson looked strange when I mentio
Helen finally nodded, thanks to Mary’s advice. “Okay… I’ll go and see her. I’ll leave straight away if I upset her.”Mary closed the door when Helen walked in, giving the mother and daughter some privacy.Arianne was still awake. She sat up when she saw Helen. “What are you doing here at this hour?”Helen approached her and propped up a pillow on her back. “I… I happened to have some business nearby, so I thought I’d drop by and see you. Have I disturbed your sleep? You don’t have to get up; you can lie down…”Although Arianne didn’t seem too amiable, she wasn’t scowling at her either. “It’s fine. I can’t sleep anyway, so I might as well get up and sit.”The pair didn’t have much to say to each other, so the atmosphere cooled.Helen stood for a while then pulled out two sparkling and translucent boxes of sour plums from her bag. “I don’t know if you like sour food, so I’ll just leave these here. You can have one or two from time to time. The Tremont household has everything, so I wasn’
Arianne truly had a talent in fashion design. Despite quitting the industry, her passion for it never diminished. When she saw the main theme for the competition — summer wear — she felt that it was an easy task. “Just do something trendy and you’ll stand a chance to win. Try to think out of the box. Check out a few physical stores; you can even check out a few trending textiles online. But don’t follow the crowd, and you must seem more avant garde than whatever’s in the market.”Tiffany was completely confused after receiving Arianne’s advice. “I know that fashion design requires innovation, but my brain… You know what it’s like. That’s why I’ve come to you. You’re not in the industry anymore any way. Could I maybe use your hand in bestowing some ‘glory’ upon myself? Please, bestie… I have a draft. Can’t you just tweak it a little for me? The sketch you fixed for me that one time at the office was amazing. Really!”Arianne surrendered. She stretched out her hand. “Let me see.”Tiffany
Arianne swelled with admiration when she saw how dedicated Tiffany was.Suddenly, the room door was pushed open, and Arianne realized that Jackson had arrived with her food delivery…Tiffany thought that Mark had arrived and did not react. She didn’t even lift her head until Mary spoke up, “You’re here, Jackson! Thank you so much.”Her entire body stiffened. She immediately put her sketch away. “I’ve got to go, Ari. I’ll see you tomorrow.”Arianne glanced at the blank expression on Jackson’s face. “Alright… Take care.”Tiffany let out a long sigh of relief once she entered the elevator. She was vexed. Why was she so afraid? That wasn’t her style at all…Her mind inadvertently remembered the question that Jackson had asked her, back in her condominium kitchen — “What if I told you that I never betrayed you? Would things go back to how they used to be?”. He had stopped looking for her ever since she gave him her definitive answer. They hadn’t seen each other in a long time, and when they
Ever since her run-in with Jackson at the hospital, Tiffany had deliberately staggered her visits. She would only visit Arianne after 8PM and leave at around 9:30PM. Jackson usually left after Arianne had finished eating, so they usually wouldn’t run into each other.A few days later, Arianne finally asked her, “Why are you avoiding Jackson? He’s not avoiding you. He comes by at his usual hour. There’s no need to go through such lengths, is there?”“Why do I feel as if it’s hard for you to speak out against other people who’ve done a few favors for you? He’s only made a few meals for you, and you’re already favoring him, an outsider! I just don’t want to see him…”“Your reaction doesn’t indicate that you ‘don’t want to see him’ but that you’re too afraid to. You’re avoiding him. When did you become such a scaredy cat?” Arianne pointed out candidly. “This isn’t like you. If you’re really over him, you’d treat him like a stranger and you wouldn’t care. Why are you hiding? There’s absolut
Tiffany was nervous. However, she dressed up early in the morning, putting on her most expensive clothes — last year’s spring formal wear. She curled her long hair into soft waves, making her look like one of the elites from the industry. It was a completely different feel from her usual look. She put on a pair of high stilettos, which made her legs look even longer and slimmer. Even Tanya was in awe. “I’ve never seen you dress like this before. You actually look good! You look capable and well-experienced. No one would suspect you of being a bimbo as long as you keep your mouth shut.”Tiffany rolled her eyes at her. “Don’t praise and insult me at the same time. The whole world knows how much of a bimbo I am. I’m going to join in the fun, whether I get in or not. If I don’t succeed this time, I’ll try again next time. The competition comes once every three years anyway. I’m going to work for it.”Tanya didn’t seem too confident in her entry. “I’ll just be there to keep you company. You
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