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
Tiffany gave Arianne an address, and she quickly changed her clothes upstairs. Just when she was about to leave, Butler Henry stood in her way. “Madam, sir has instructed that you are not to go anywhere until he comes back.”Arianne bit her lip and held her ground stubbornly. She was Mark Tremont’s wife, not some canary in a cage. She had the right to go and meet whoever she pleased. No one shall deny her freedom!“Uncle Henry, I’m only going out to meet a female friend. I’ll be back soon, don’t tell Mark. Even if he finds out, I shall bear the consequences myself,” she said with a pleading tone.Uncle Henry wavered slightly. He had watched over Arianne and Mark since they were children. Sometimes, it was better for him to be less strict on her. “Then… come back as soon as you can. Sir may call to inquire later and I’ll be put in a difficult position.”Arianne was slightly moved. “Thank you, Uncle Henry…”Butler Henry had served the Tremont family for his entire life. It was usual
Arienna guessed that Mark had rushed home because she had rebelled by sneaking out of the house until late night.She straightened her clothes and stepped in, prepared to take the storm head on.When she entered, none of the servants in Tremont Estate were resting. Butler Henry, Mary, and the other servants were all standing in one line in the living room. Butler Henry looked at Arianne, then sighed and said nothing.She took a deep breath and said, “It’s alright, I’ll explain it to him.”“Sir isn’t in a good mood after drinking. You better take it easy…” Mary warned her.Arienna smiled and went upstairs. The bedroom door was ajar. Mark Tremont sat on the chair in front of the French window with a cigarette lit between his fingers. Smoke veiled the room, and his figure looked slightly hazy.He was still in his suit, which meant he had just come back not long ago. Arienna approached him and offered him a cup of tea to sober him up. “Tiffie was in a bad mood and drunk. I came back
Arianne offered Mark the millet porridge. “Here, have some porridge. It's good for the stomach.”Mark didn’t look at her. “Get out.”She didn’t budge an inch. “Uncle Henry is packing as we speak. Is there really no room to talk this out?”Mark massaged the place between his eyes, and his voice filled with impatience, “Don’t make me repeat myself.”Arianne silenced herself but didn’t leave.Mark directly ignored her and got up to change his clothes. It was then that Arianne felt pressed. “Mark, the case revolving around Tiffie’s family has been solved. The person who took away the jewelry’s raw materials is dead, and there’s no way the materials can be recovered again. Tiffie was upset by the turn of events. I only went out to comfort her! It was me who insisted on going. This has nothing to do with Uncle Henry! You can direct your anger at me.”Mark put on his suit and his watch, then conveniently glanced at the time. “I’ll give you two minutes. If you fail to convince me, then t