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
Mark Tremont was negotiating a contract with a partner over the phone when he was disturbed by the ringing of his cell phone. Feeling rather annoyed, he turned off his cell phone without looking at the screen.Only after the contract was signed and he was back at the hotel did he turn on his cell phone again. His expression turned serious when he realized that the missed call was from Arianne. She usually never took the initiative to call him.He returned the call. After a long busy dial tone, a cold robotic female voice came through. “Sorry, the number you dialed cannot be reached at this moment. Please try again later.”Mark redialed to Tremont Estate, and the call was picked up by Mary. As soon as the call was connected, he asked, “Where’s Arianne?”Mary glanced upstairs and explained, “Madam isn’t feeling well. The light in her room was on all night yesterday, so I guess she is sleeping now since she didn’t get a good amount of sleep last night.”A sigh of relief involuntarily
Aery was already depressed. So when she saw Helen standing up for Arianne, her anger exploded in full force. “Last time you slapped me, it was because of her, and you prohibited me from scolding her. To put it harshly, she’s merely a piece of trash that you’ve discarded. She can’t be considered your daughter. Why are you protecting her so much? Is it out of guilt? You never fulfilled your responsibility as a mother to her before, so what’s with the hypocrisy?”Helen’s expression sank. “Aery Kinsey, if I ever hear you speak of such things again, I will disown you!”This wasn’t the first time they fought over Arianne. Aery simply couldn’t be bothered to argue with her mother. “Fine, I’m not your daughter. She is! Are you happy?”Helen turned around and left with a dark face, locking Aery in her room. “You’ll stay in this room until you’ve calmed down. Don’t cause any more trouble for me!”…By the time Arianne woke up, it was already night time. Mary, seeing how moody she was, didn’
Half an hour later, Mark finally emerged with Mr. Yates. Mr. Yates’s secretary followed closely behind, along with Brian. Arianne stood in front of the car and didn’t approach them. She waited until Mark and Brian were alone before stepping forward.Mark was taken aback when he saw her. “How long have you been here?” he asked in a seemingly casual tone.She put her hands, which had turned red from the cold, into her pockets. “I just got here. Right when you were walking out.”Her cheeks had grown red from the piercing cold wind. He wasn’t blind. He didn’t believe a word she said. “Get in the car. We’ll go to the hotel first.”The first thing Mark did upon returning to the hotel was take a shower. Arianne took advantage of his cleansing habits to think of the best way to broach the subject with him. The bathroom door opened before she could come up with anything. He lit a cigarette as he put on his bathrobe, took two puffs, then put it out. “What is it?”She was struck by nervous
What did he mean by “I know what to do”? Arianne had a sneaking suspicion that he was “starting his engine”, but the stern look on his face told her that that was not the case… As a result, she was beginning to suspect that something had gone wrong with her mind.He fell asleep as soon as he lay down; perhaps he was over exhausted.Arianne carefully lay on the bedside after her shower. She couldn’t sleep but was too afraid of moving too much. That feeling was really unbearable.Suddenly, Mark’s phone rang. As it happens, it was left on the bedside cabinet next to her. She got up and stole a glance. The lit phone screen showed one part of a message: ‘Mark, darling, are you asleep? I was wrong, I miss you. Can you come…’The next part of the message wasn’t shown, but she could guess what it contained—Aery wanted to see him!If she had to make a distinction, her hatred towards Mark was considered helpless and weak. However, her hatred towards Aery and Helen was as overwhelming as the
Arianne’s body promptly stiffened. These kinds of things scared her even more. “I can sleep. It’s just that I slept too much in the daytime. Go to sleep, I won’t bother you anymore…”Mark didn’t reply, and his hand didn’t continue wreaking havoc. She heaved a sigh of relief and stared emptily up at the black ceiling. Unbeknownst to her, his eyes were open as well and his gaze was sober and calm, unlike a few moments ago when he had just woken up…Early morning, the very next day.Arianne woke up from a nightmare and was sweating all over. The heater in the room was too warm, and she wasn’t used to it. She got up and turned down the heater. The skies were only just brightening outside, but Mark was still asleep… She sat on the sofa across the room from the bed, unlocked her phone, and read the news. Tiffany’s family’s factory had collapsed last night. The news was flooded with reports of the capital’s third best jewellery processing plant’s bankruptcy. They had even published the e