Tiffany Lane was still a vulnerable girl despite her carefree attitude. Having no experience in such a thing, she panicked a little. With her shaky hand, she rang Ethan’s number on her cell phone.Ethan just had to keep his phone turned off at a moment like this. She redialed to John Lane, her father. Fortunately, the call went through. But before she could even speak, John quickly answered with “I’m in a meeting” and hung up.She pounded on her steering wheel in anger when the call hung up. In a fleeting glimpse, she spotted the entrance to a basement parking lot and drove in without a second thought. It was dim inside so it was very difficult for people to drive around if they weren’t familiar with the place.Tiffany didn’t dare to drive very fast in here. She was taking a gamble to see if she was lucky enough to find an elevator if she had to abandon her car.As expected, the car behind her followed her into the parking lot. Up close now, she realized that it was a van. That mea
Jackson West didn’t seem to panic at all. He took off his black trench coat, as it restricted his movement, revealing the well-tailored suit he was wearing underneath it. He raised one leg and, without a beat, sent the big guy nearest to him flying with a kick.Tiffany was so anxious that her palm began to sweat. It was one up against so many people. Now that Jackson and her were in the same boat, both of them were done for if things went south. Although the guy had crazy long legs and seemed to be quite a fighter, she was still worried...To her surprise, all the big guys were down on the ground in just less than five minutes. Jackson didn’t even have to use his fists. If it weren’t for the fact that she already had Ethan, she would have fallen head over heels for him.After making sure that the big guys would no longer pose a threat to her, Tiffany tapped on the window and gestured for Jackson to unlock the door for her.Jackson picked up his trench coat from the ground, then dis
Just as Tiffany was about to leave, her gaze landed on Ethan as he nonchalantly turned on his computer again. He didn’t even bother to look at her or send her to the door.She took a deep breath after shutting the door. This was not the first time that she felt tired. This time, the feeling was much stronger than usual.…At the Tremont Estate, Arianne was completely unaware of whatever happened to Tiffany. She went straight back into the art studio after purchasing supplies. She only cleaned up and went downstairs when Mary called her down for dinner at night.She realized that every time Mary called her “Madam”, it meant that Mark was home.As expected, she found Mark sitting on the sofa, flipping through a magazine when she arrived downstairs.“Time for dinner,” Arianne reminded him.Mark closed his magazine and walked to the dining room. He didn’t show much of a reaction or look at her.This was strange to her. They were fine during their dinner at White Water Bay Café. Why
Arianne’s heart raced involuntarily. His scent overwhelmed her senses with every breath she took. It was faintly sweet with hints of his unique masculine essence, mixed with bits of boozy intoxication. This made her breathing quicken as well.Mark drew his slightly damp body, fresh out from the shower, closer to her. Then, he stretched out his arm and wrapped it around her waist. Arianne’s breathing went into disarray. Realizing that she wasn’t asleep, he flipped over and climbed on top of her. Then, he accurately found her soft lips...She remembered the pain from the other night, and the smell of alcohol on him further terrified her. She pressed her hands against his chest. “You’re drunk…!”He held her shoulders down and replied in a deep, husky voice. “Fulfill your wifely duties!”She didn’t say anything more. She was too afraid to close her eyes. As she watched the devastating figure on top of her, Arianne frowned from the discomfort. She gritted her teeth and endured it, until
She didn’t say too much, knowing that he liked peace and quiet during meals. Extra conversations were mood-killing noises to him.At ten in the morning, Brian delivered her formal dress, heels, and jewellery. Arianne hurried upstairs to dress up. She tried styling her hair into an updo for the first time. This would make her look slightly maturer; her features always seemed young and puerile. The formal dress fitted her surprisingly well. It was a tube dress, which she didn’t like. It was white in color, although not garish. The dress’ hemline covered precisely half of her heels.Mark reminded her that it was an outdoor venue so that she would put on a thick coat as well. Despite the lack of snow over the past few days, it was still particularly cold. When she peered into the mirror, she realized that her neck displayed a string of hickeys. She blushed as she tried to hide them with a concealer but to no avail. Traces of them could still be seen.At this time, Mark had returned to
Tiffany grabbed her wrist. “Come, let’s get away from this place!”Arianne couldn’t understand this. “You have to explain this to me… I can’t leave. Mark would get upset if I leave…”“He doesn’t even care if you live or die. Why should you care if he gets angry? I can practically see through him. He doesn’t love you, he’s torturing you! He wants to take your life!” Tiffany was close to losing it. Her expression was a horrific sight.Arianne was at a loss from her reaction. “Tiffie… What are you saying?”Tiffany was now flustered and exasperated. “Do you know whose engagement party this is? Will Sivan’s! I didn’t want to tell you. I found out about it when I spoke to Will yesterday. How could Mark possibly not know this? He knowingly brought you here. Does he want to see you in pain? Or to provoke Will? I don’t know if you love Will or not, but Will loves you. He’s agreed to this arranged marriage by his family, just so that he could come back to the country and be a little closer t
Not only did Arianne manage to hold back her tears, she even managed a smile. She was afraid that her tears might bring bad luck to Will’s engagement party. Hence, she tried her best to smile…At least his fiancée was very pretty. She was an appropriate match for the Sivan family. She hoped that he would live a happy life.As if drawn by some sort of invisible force, Will’s gaze landed on Arianne. His smile instantly faded. The starry sparkle in his eyes was immediately awashed with sadness.They locked eyes for two seconds before Arianne hurriedly looked elsewhere. She didn’t have the courage to look him in the eye.“Ari,” Tiffany gritted her teeth angrily, “Unless I’m mistaken, the bridal gown on Will’s fiancée… is one of your designs. Mark Tremont is just… too cruel!”Arianne finally noticed this once she pointed it out. It was true. She had initially thought that Mark had purely brought her to the fashion show because her design would be on display. Incidentally, he brought he
Mark was unexpectedly calm, but Jackson was flustered instead. He pulled Tiffany away. “You better shut up, little girl. This doesn’t concern you. Let’s go!”No matter how much Tiffany struggled, Jackson still dragged her away by force. The price he had to pay for doing this was getting bitten on his wrist so hard that blood was drawn.He was both angry and amused at the same time. “What are you? A dog?”Tiffany glared at him. “I’m not a dog, but I don’t mind being one whenever I see you. You are a bastard like Mark Tremont!”Jackson felt wronged but couldn’t defend himself anyway. “Alright, alright. You can think however you want as long it makes you happy.”Arianne showed neither dissatisfaction nor anger toward Mark and grabbed his arm on her own accord. “I want to go home now. Should we leave together? Or maybe I can go first while you stay here with Aery?”Mark looked into her eyes. For the first time, he was unable to read her emotions. “Let’s go.”Arianne put some distanc
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