After admiring the view, he pulled out Tanya’s phone and found Tiffany’s number. Then, he sent her a message: ‘Confess that you’ve plagiarized if you want Tanya back alive. I want the answer in the news by tomorrow.’Tiffany leapt to her feet when she received the message. Alejandro stared at her calmly. “What’s wrong?”Tiffany looked a little pale. “I can’t really explain… I’m afraid I have to go. I’ll buy you a meal again next time. Sorry!”Alejandro frowned. “You can tell me, I’ll do my best to help you.”Tiffany shook her head. “It’s fine. I don’t want to trouble you. We’ll talk later. I’ve got to go!”She ran out of the restaurant, as swift as the wind. Alejandro shot Jett, who was next to him, a look. Jett understood and followed suit. “Miss Lane, I’ll drop you off!”Tiffany did not refuse the offer. She did not drive today, and hailing a cab would waste time. Having Jett made it a lot more convenient. She knew who sent that message. Beckett was once Jackson’s employee, and Jacks
After the call ended, a very panicked Tiffany began to pace in circles, as the wait tormented her.She did not know how long she had waited, but alas, Jackson’s car appeared within her field of vision. Quickly, she rushed toward it as the man pulled the car over. “Get in.”Tiffany yanked the door open frantically and claimed the passenger seat, urging, “Did you manage to contact Beckett? I don’t have his number, and Tan isn’t picking up, and — oh my God, I’m panicking right now!”Jackson massaged his forehead to soothe his growing headache. “First thing first: buckle up. I’m gonna give this Beckett a call right now.”Tiffany’s hands were shaking as she willed them to click the seatbelt shut. Tanya was already a lonely orphan with no surviving relatives. If anything were to happen to Tanya, Tiffany would carry that guilt to her grave, especially since this entire debacle was aimed at Tiffany herself.If worse came to worst, she would have to resort to his demand. She would have to admit
“You don’t happen to believe it’s more dangerous to stay at my place than to be kidnapped, do you?” Jackson quipped. “Look, I don’t want anything to happen to you before Tanya’s problem is solved, okay? Because the last thing I want is a double-whammy. If you’re that worried about what I might do, then fine; I’ll take you to my house and then spend the night in my office.”His explicit concession made it hard for Tiffany to reject his offer, mostly since she was, in truth, terrified of going home. If Beckett saw no problem doing things to Tanya, then he would have no problem ambushing Tiffany in her condominium too. And if he did get his hands on her… Even if she came out of his clutches alive, she would probably be in stitches.“W-well, if you insist… Then sorry for the inconvenience,” Tiffany relented.Jackson answered nothing. Tiffany had never referred to him in such a formal manner before, so he was having a difficult time adjusting to it now.The car stopped before the giant entr
A smile flitted through Jackson’s eyes. He rose and tailed Tiffany back into the bedroom.She took off her jacket, leaving her camisole and skinny jeans on, before climbing to bed. Meanwhile, Jackson, all dressed up in an actual nightie, looked at her and asked cryptically, “Well, aren’t you gonna take those jeans off? I’m not even gonna talk about how filthy it must be from wearing it the entire day. Instead, my question is, doesn't it feel stuffy and uncomfortable for sleep?”She shot him a glare. “Nice try, but I’m not taking it off! If you think it’s filthy, then don’t sleep with me!”Then, after remembering that this was, in fact, his home, an embarrassed Tiffany added after mustering enough sense of self-righteousness, “You’re the one who insisted that I come here!”Jackson went to his closet in mild annoyance and tossed one of his thin white sweaters at her. “What I meant was that you should change into something else that would make sleeping much more comfortable. Don’t worry —
Tanya frowned. “What did you… What did you do while I was drunk? I always thought you were a local in the Capital, but you aren’t at all? Look, I get it. You wanna succeed. I do, too, just as much — I want to take root in this city and grow. But I also know that you need to keep your feet on the ground first if you want to take roots! Whatever you’re planning right now — it’ll only ruin you!“You’re already a success story to me, Beckett. You own a car, a house, and a high-paying job. You’re smart, knowledgeable — educated! You’ve got all of these, so why do you still do this?”“That’s all an illusion! That house is rented! This car is bought through a loan! And my job might be high-paying, but ten years of it still won’t be enough to cover a mere down payment in this city!” Beckett fumed, gritting his teeth. “I can’t see my future, and I hate it! I hate that I don’t know when my life will finally turn around! But then there’s you… You’re a God-given ticket out of this, and I’m not let
Tanya was soft-hearted by nature, but it did not mean she was incapable of fury. “Oh, oh no, you didn’t do the worst to me, but aren’t you also denying me the freedom to leave this stinkin’ car, which constitutes unlawful detention? Huh? And boy, how about the fact that you threatened Tiffany by using me?!”Beckett immediately unlocked the door. “Well, let us all pretend that it was done in jest, okay? Just give a call to Tiffany right now and tell her you’re okay, all nice, no hair harmed. I’ll send you back right away, alright? Just pretend that this is all a big, fat baloney my drunken a** came up with, okay?“Come on, Tan. I’ve tried to make it big in the Capital for ten years. Ten frickin’ years! I was just upset, okay? Don’t hold that against me, please!” he dropped his voice into a plea. “If I ended up in prison, I’m doomed. My future is over! Please, my parents… My parents are still in my hometown, waiting for me to bring home fame and pride, yet I kept failing them. That’s why
Tanya was slightly puzzled. “Aren’t you at home?” Tiffany replied in a daze, “No, I’m at Jackson’s…”Tanya was slightly surprised. “Are you… staying with him again?” Tiffany could not bother to explain herself. “Oh, just resolve your own issue first. Go home immediately. Call me when you reach home! I’ll bring you to the police station to close the case.” After she hung up the phone, she noticed that it was not seven o’clock yet and she was quite sleepy. She returned to bed and laid down again. She wanted to sleep for another ten minutes, holding the phone in her hand, waiting for Tanya’s call when she reached home. Suddenly, Jackson put his hand around her waist. In her daze, she asked him not to mess around, without bothering about him. Then, Jackson moved his hand to her chest habitually. He even pinched her breast twice. Stunned, she turned around and looked at him. Noticing that he was still asleep, she suppressed her urge to slap him. She had no choice but to move his han
He lowered his head and gave her a striking love bite around her neck passionately. “If you don’t be frank with me, I won’t let you go. Besides… I’ll definitely go through with it this time. I’ll count to ten. If you don’t start speaking by then, I’ll start to… One, two, three…” When he reached nine, Tiffany could not hold herself back anymore. “I’ll speak! I… do indeed have no feelings for you now!” It was nothing but an utter lie. She could not reveal her disgusting and pathetic inner thoughts to him, including her low self-esteem, her desperation...Clearly, Jackson did not believe it. He stretched his hand out and conquered her last defence. At the same time, he lowered his body. She screamed and drew in a cold breath due to the pain. Even so… she still refused to tell him the truth. She decided to let it be...He used up all his force on her, enjoying every moment of it. He even placed soft kisses on her flushed cheeks. “Tell me the truth… Tell me now… Why? If you love me no
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