Jackson was rendered speechless. Why wasn’t anyone asking for his opinion? Was he invisible?After dinner, Jackson sent Tiffany and Tanya home. The trio had agreed to leave together tomorrow.…The next morning, at the Tremont Estate.Arianne changed into a black outfit, ready to go to the cemetery.Aristotle was still too small and had caught a flu; plus, it was raining outside. Hence, they decided against bringing him along. They left him at home in Mary’s care.Mark was dressed in a black suit too, which gave him a very stately air. The pair brought a bouquet of flowers and left the house. It was a two hour drive before they arrived at the cemetery.The dark clouds in the sky cast an eerie light over the cemetery. It was practically deserted, except for the old, bespectacled caretaker, who was reading today’s paper in a small hut.Arianne felt gloomy. It had been a long time since her grandmother’s death, and she was only visiting her now. She felt resentful and helpless at
Mark shaded the mother and daughter from the rain with his umbrella. His clothes were soaked too. Helen noticed this and said, “Arianne, I think it’s time to go. The rain is getting heavier. Mark’s completely soaked.”Arianne looked at Mark. “Okay, let’s go.”Helen had driven herself here. Arianne stopped before getting into the car. “Come over to the house and have dinner with us when you have the time. You can see your grandson.”Helen’s eyes brimmed with tears. “O-okay!” she stammered with great difficulty. She knew that Arianne had finally forgiven her and recognized her as her mother.Along the way home, Arianne turned to Mark and asked, “Are you feeling cold? You’re completely soaked.”Mark shook his head with a smile. “I’m not, it’s fine. You’ve grown up.”She smiled as well. “The last time you said this to me… wasn’t really a good omen…”He did not comment. He had too many memories of her that flooded his entire brain. He couldn’t remember when he had said those words. I
Jackson pushed her onto the side of the bed. “I’ll massage it for you. Will that do? Why did you choose to walk around in high heels? It’s not healthy to wear heels too often.” He lifted her foot and placed it on his lap then carefully massaged it. He was pretty skilled.Tiffany stared at him calmly. “Why have I never noticed this extra skill of yours? We’ve been together for so long, yet you’re still keeping secrets from me! It’s not like I like wearing heels. The men around me are so tall, it’s like they inhaled hormones while growing up. I’d look way too short if I don’t wear heels, like a pumpkin next to bamboo trees. Do you really think that I can avoid wearing them? You, Mark, and Eric, which one among you is short?”Jackson chuckled at her. “Haha… You… seriously… Must you describe yourself in that way? I like you just the way you are; that’s good enough. Why should you worry about how others perceive you? Arianne isn’t any taller than you, and she wears flats when she’s next t
Tiffany pretended to be blind to Jackson’s presence and affected composure. “I… I, uh, I’m not in the Capital. I’m at Ayashe right now and will probably be back only by tomorrow night. So maybe some other day? Yeah, we’ll meet up some other day.”Jackson inhaled long and hard before moving away from her body. He strode toward the window, a cigarette lit.When the call ended, Tiffany acted as though nothing had happened by uttering a quick mumble. “I… I’ll hit the sack now.”Jackson replied nothing; he did not even look back at her. In his silence, she bolted out of the room as though she was escaping from a fire.It was her fortune that Arianne called her suddenly. She could not fathom what could have happened otherwise.Back in the Tremont Estate, a somewhat listless Arianne sank into the couch, mulling over the boredom that had now permeated her life since she got pregnant and had a son. She was reluctant to be so devoid of work in her life, and every day, she found herself more
“You women don’t make a lick of sense,” Mark grumbled. “Every other woman out there would dream of having your life, yet you keep wanting to play the life of an everyday person. Do you know just how many women out there are dying to live this comfortably without lifting a finger? I’m inclined to believe that you’re having all these thoughts precisely because there’s nothing else in life for you to fret about. Frankly, I’d like for you to spend your days caring for our son at home, sometimes going out shopping if you get bored, and waiting for me to come home around the evenings. In fact, I would very much rather you act like other housewives, frequenting beauty salons and being patrons of luxury shops instead of being obsessed with going out to work.”Arianne lost her patience. “But that isn’t what I want. I never wanted that at all! You can’t control how I live or limit what I can do just because we’re married! I don’t want to live the rest of my life in this unhappy stupor, Mark. Th
The corner of Mark’s lips trembled a little. After being patient for so long, he was finally allowed to sleep with the woman he loved and enjoy her at night without holding back, which was why nothing could be less horrifying than the prospect of sleeping alone for the rest of his life. Yet, at the same time, he frowned at the idea of Arianne going out there for work.It was not that he was chauvinistic or old-fashioned. He just did not want his sweetheart to break a sweat, ever.Fine, maybe the other teensy-weensy factor was that there were too many men out there who could fall for her beauty, and Mark was not okay with that at all.Arianne had not the slightest bit idea of the direction Mark’s thoughts had taken. She was too excited to hear his answer tomorrow. Naturally, she was sure that he would, ultimately, consent to her request and let her get a job.Then, in the darkness, she heard the unmistakable sound of a plastic packet being ripped open.A shiver ran through her body
Despite everything, Arianne didn’t oppose Mark’s “preferred method”. For her, the reason was more straightforward — she was just worried that Smore’s midnight tantrums might disturb his daddy’s sleep. Arianne could replenish lost winks in the day, but Mark would have to go through work in a state of sleep deprivation, and that would be quite terrible.After washing up, Arianne tidied the bed for a bit and accidentally found an opened box of condoms. There were only three packets inside, but the packaging said there were originally twelve…She had no idea that the man had secretly prepared something like this. Stirred by this finding, Arianne did a quick count and realized that Mark had been letting his carnal desires run loose more and more often.Her phone suddenly rang. She looked down and was met with Tiffany’s name on the screen.“Hey, Tiffie. You’re back in the Capital?” she asked.Tiffany’s voice sounded a lot more despondent than usual. “Hey, Ari? Just calling to say I migh
Arianne nodded her head as a sign of understanding and proceeded to push the buggy into the office.Mark was drinking his tea. When his wife and son entered, he almost choked on his drink. “Cough! What the heck are you doing here? And why did you bring the baby? Did you come here alone?”She sneered. “Alone? What, your son doesn’t qualify as a person? It’s not raining today, so I brought him out for a walk. Later today, Tiffie will return from Ayashe, and I’m going to go meet her,” she replied. “The main point, though, is you. What did your ‘intense contemplation’ tell you, hmm? You promised me an answer today, and I’m not waiting until you come back home. I want you to tell me right now.”Mark put down the cup and rubbed his chin. “Hmm. My head’s blank. Answer tonight.’She knew it. She knew this jerk would use this obvious tactic, so she pushed the buggy closer to him. “Stop bullsh*tting me, Mark. If you don’t give me an answer now, I’ll leave our son right here and go on my own.
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