Having more people occupying the Tremont Estate did not turn the spacious house more vivacious. Instead, it seemed to have sucked out all of the life in the area.Tiffany, who was firmly on Tanya’s side, did not attempt to hide her animosity toward Vicky. Throw Jackosn’s presence into the mix, and it was as though dangerous undercurrents were charging through the air.Vicky was not the least perturbed. Instead, she freely dove into the men’s group and chatted away, making herself look like the sun while the others were orbiting planets.A woman who acted as though she knew everyone, strangers and friends alike, would always draw ire from some people, but Vicky became particularly egregious when she kept ordering Mary, who was taking care of Aristotle, around like she was the mistress of the house. “Excuse me, Mary, but could you please make me a glass of juice or something? I don’t like tea.”Mary tolerated her only because she respected Eric. “My hands are tied with the baby, dear. Th
Tiffany turned away as her eyes brimmed with tears. Jackson had been ignoring her from the very beginning, acting very intimate with his best friend’s girlfriend instead! A few seconds later, she grabbed her handbag and said to Arianne, “Ari, we’ve still got some time before dinner. The weather is great today. Shall we go shopping? Mary can take care of the baby. You’ve prepared breast milk already anyway.”All women enjoyed shopping, and Arianne was no different. She easily agreed. “Good idea; you invite Tan. Let’s go together. Didn’t you drive today? Let’s take your car…” Before she could finish speaking, Tiffany stiffly corrected her. “That’s not my car. It’s about time I return it to its actual owner. Let me drive one of your husband's cars.”Jackson’s smile faltered. Having dated Tiffany for a long time, he was still keenly aware of whenever Tiffany was angry with him. She had been driving his car for a while and now suddenly insisted on returning it to him. That certainly did
Tiffany gave an “okay” sign. “No problem. Your son’s nickname shall be ‘Smore’! It’s pretty cute.”Smore, Rice Ball. A baby and a cat. Both little ones were Arianne’s saviors. The dreamcatcher with Rice Ball’s ashes had been protecting her from all nightmares. Smore was probably just as gentle.The women wasted no time at the mall, buying whatever they liked. Soon after, the trio’s hands were full of shopping bags.Suddenly, Tiffany’s phone rang. She strained to answer it with one arm. “Hello?”“Shopping?” Alejandro’s distinctively hoarse voice answered. “Do you have eyes on me or something?” Tiffany asked in alarm.Alejandro chuckled, “Hehe… Not exactly. Jett was making some purchases for me and saw you in the shopping mall. I got word that your friend has just had her baby’s one-month old celebration, so I sent a gift in your name. You don’t mind, do you?”Tiffany was surprised. “You’re giving presents again? But I didn’t see you. Were you there?”“No, I wasn't there,” Aleja
Upon entering the baby’s room, Arianne spotted a dreamcatcher hanging over Aristotle’s little cot. She was surprised that Mark had put a dream catcher there. The man could be quite a softie sometimes...The little one was fast asleep, smacking his tiny lips from time to time. It looked so cute. His two little hands were balled into fists, curled on his sides. His arms had grown so chubby that there was a slit in between. It would seem that he did not suffer during his time in the hospital. The milk that she had been sending over to him was just enough. The little guy was pretty good looking. She carefully slipped out after checking on the baby. She arrived downstairs to find Tiffany opening up her spoils from her shopping trip today. “I wasn’t planning on using Jackson’s car anymore, but it looks like I’ll have to for today. I’ve bought too many things. I’ll give it back to him personally after using it. Consider it an end to everything that’s happened between us. Besides, he person
Jackson finally moved their makeout session to the couch when her legs began to give way. Her hands finally freed, she immediately gave him a slap.He was taken aback for a second before he pinned her arms above the top of her head and sunk his hips into her, kissing her.The bloody and sweet fragrance frightened Tiffany into submission. A drunk man should not be trifled with — she was beginning to comprehend this. She shouldn’t have come to return the car!After a certain amount of time, just as she was growing woozy, Jackson growled into her ear with a voice that was both enticing and mixed with rage. “Is he better than me? Have you f*cked him? Answer me!”The only thing Tiffany felt was that the ceiling was moving. His thrusts were incomparably forceful, rendering her completely incapable of formulating complete sentences. Every time she opened her mouth, she would cry out in a voice that could make anyone blush. Her energy levels paled in comparison to his exuberance, and she s
Just as Mark was about to leave, Arianne smilingly carried little Smore towards him. “Say bye bye to daddy.”Mark stared at the traces of milk on the corners of his son’s lips, and his jealousy grew. He never would have expected to be defeated by such a small thing in the end. “I’m coming home early for dinner tonight.”Arianne detected the hidden meaning behind his words and blushed. “Hurry. Brian’s been waiting for a very long time.”Mark stared challengingly at Aristotle before he left, kissing Arianne on the cheek as if showing off. Almost as if he knew what his father had meant, Aristotle turned around and tried to suckle on his mother’s breast. Mark’s face immediately blackened. He turned around and left, refusing to look back. He would make his son pay for his first-ever attack!White Water Bay Villa.Tiffany woke up from the sound of her phone ringing. She opened her eyes and found that it was past ten in the morning. She forced herself to sit up, feeling an intense sorene
She grabbed the bedsheets, losing control. “H-how should I know? He never discussed it with me. How would I know what goes on in his mind?”Jackson’s eyes held no desire as he stared at her blurry eyes and blushing cheeks. He knew that women never lied during times like this.He got up and flashed a smile. “At least, you’re honest.”Tiffany was both embarrassed and frustrated. “Jackson West! You’ve crossed a line! What do you think we are? You toy with me when you want to and discard me when it suits you? Am I no different from other women? Get this right — I am not your toy!”He was taken aback. He realized that he had really crossed a line. “I did not…”He did not? Tiffany refused to believe him at this moment. He clearly did. He had pursued her relentlessly and then suddenly ignored her. Now, he was coming at her again for some strange reason. She felt completely insulted!She gritted her teeth and got off the bed, picking up her clothes and rushing into the bathroom. In order
She stiffened, then turned around to find Jackson holding her set of keys. She had bought the keychain herself, so of course, she recognized it at first glance. She did not expect him to resort to this. “You…”Jackson only had a small towel wrapped around his waist, leaving a clear view of the muscles on the top half of his body. The water droplets on the tips of his damp hair slid down onto his body. He emitted the fragrant smell of body wash and looked like a walking sex god. The sight of it sent Tiffany’s blood pumping into her veins.However, she managed to keep a hold on the situation and did not completely become enthralled by his beauty. She snatched the keys away and stuffed a key into the keyhole.Jackson didn’t stop her. Instead, he quietly watched her open the door. As she stepped out, he reminded her, “The weather’s pretty hot today. Are you sure you want to walk out of the neighbourhood and hail a cab? Won’t you consider waiting for me? I happen to be going out, so I ca
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