When it was near the original time to get off work, Tiffany felt mild aches flaring up all over her waist, shoulders, and back. She leaned onto her chair, feeling a little burned out.Desperate, she sent a text to Jackson: ‘Are you sure we’re supposed to work overtime tonight? Can I say no? Like, I think I’m about to fall apart. Can I request for leave? If you don’t reply to me, I’ll assume the answer is yes.’Tiffany had expected the man to be too busy with whatever was occupying his time to spare her any attention, yet his reply was lightning-fast. ‘No overtime? Only if you join me at the hotel. It’s this, or stay in the company. Choose.’The term “hotel” cued Tiffany to jump into more risqué imaginations; however, when part of her mind reminded her of her pregnancy, her eagerness dissipated. She replied to him a little guiltily, ‘Why do you want me at the hotel, hmm? I’ll be upfront; I’m not into casual sex. And also, we broke up.’To her shock, Jackson’s next reply came from ca
Jackson went into the elevator first, followed by a very dawdling Tiffany. To accommodate her, he courtly reached out to the side of the elevator doors to stop them from shutting.It was a little gesture, but it was enough to add a few more regrets into Tiffany’s mind. She was really beginning to wonder if she had been jinxed by some kind of vodou when she wanted to break up with him.Jackson had said nothing the whole time they were inside the elevator. He stared ahead while wearing a stoic, uncaring expression as he casually tucked his hands into both pockets of his jeans. He had rolled up his sleeves to about his elbows, hence exposing a small section of his ivory-fair skin. Clasped on his left wrist was an expensive luxury watch that betrayed his social status.If one were to describe the aura Jackson exuded, it would be that he was seventy-percent gallantry blended with thirty-percent knavishness.During their descent, several other guests in the hotel boarded the same elevato
Jackson’s patience had reached its peak. He stared at her gloomily. “Do you have to do this to me? What the hell are we? Won’t you…” Be with me?He kept the final part of his sentence to himself, because he couldn’t control the tremors in his voice.Tiffany hung her head. “It’s not that… Aren’t we going to eat? Let’s grab a bite. I’m hungry.”Jackson didn’t answer. He strode quickly to the car, obviously enraged. Tiffany heaved a sigh and quickly followed him. She was waiting for him to speak but did not receive those words.They arrived at the steakhouse. Jackson automatically ordered her favorite medium-rare steak, as he knew her preferences. In the past, he’d always order for her whenever they went out for a meal. She wanted to tell him that she couldn’t take rare meat, but she didn’t, so she added onto the order, asking for a bowl of pasta. Tiffany ignored the steak once it was served. Instead, she finished her bowl of pasta. Food portions were small in this restaurant, so sh
Jackson immediately rose to his feet. “Okay. I’m coming home at once. Where is she hurt? Is it serious?”Jackson heaved a sigh of relief when he heard that Summer had only hurt her leg. After ending the call, he turned to Tiffany and said, “You enjoy your meal. My mother’s been in an accident, so I have to rush home. I’ll pay for the meal. We’ll talk on the phone later.”He had already disappeared before Tiffany could answer. She felt slightly disappointed but was worried about Summer at the same time. When she arrived home, she waited until Jackson had nearly arrived home before calling him. “Is Mrs. West alright?” she asked.Jackson was in the hospital. “It’s nothing serious. Her right leg is broken. She’s complaining about her troubles in her old age, that she’s always getting hurt and is worried that she’ll end up a cripple. She’s in a pretty good mood. It’s late, why aren’t you asleep? Get an early night’s rest. Gotta go.”She did not insist on continuing the conversation. She
Aristotle seemed more energetic now that his fever was gone. His appetite had returned too. Arianne was relieved. She forced Mark to leave. She couldn’t possibly let the baby’s illness drag the entire family down. It’s not like they had to stay next to him all day.Meanwhile, in a different hospital, Jackson stayed by Summer’s bedside the entire night. The next morning, he bought lychees and grapes at his mother’s request and peeled them for her. He put the bowl in her hands. “I think, aside from the inconvenience from your bad leg, nothing’s really stopping you from eating. Don’t you have a chauffeur? What happened?”Summer complained as she ate. “Seriously, my chauffeur has always been a steady driver. It’s been so many years. His wounds are more serious than mine. Go and buy some supplements and pay him a visit later. His injuries are considered work-related, so we’ll pay for whatever’s necessary in the medical bills. Everything was fine when we went out yesterday, but then a car
Tiffany had just arrived at the office when she received the message and immediately replied: ‘I’ve heard from Jackson that you’ve been in an accident. I was just thinking of coming home to visit you this weekend. I’ll drive home after work this Friday.’The lychee in Summer’s mouth seemed to taste extra sweet once she saw that message. Since Jackson couldn’t go over, then having Tiffany come home would be no different. She happily replied: ‘Okay. Then come straight to my house after arriving home on Friday night. I should be discharged by then. I’ll have delicious food waiting for you. We’ll eat together when you arrive.’Tiffany calculated the time and decided to take the afternoon off on Friday, then go home straight away. Summer was still longing for her after the accident. She couldn’t make her wait that long.Jackson drove to Eric’s home immediately after leaving the hospital. The house was spotless thanks to the housekeeper. Everything was neat and tidy. Eric sat in the livin
“Yes, there’s one regret,” Eric instantly replied.That’s right, life was full of regrets. In the end, there was no time to fix them all.Suddenly, Jackson turned serious. “Don’t worry. I’ll get her back. My wayward ways have long been drowned by her every twinkle and smile, ever since I met her. I’ve never loved anyone like her. I never thought of marriage until I met her. You go back to your drawing. I’ll take you for a walk around some greenery this weekend. We’ll go somewhere cooling. Don’t forget to leave your sketches to me. I want… something to remember you by.”Eric nodded. “Sure.”…Time was always moving at an inadvertent pace. One always wanted to hold onto it, but at the same time, could only watch as time slipped away. Friday arrived in the blink of an eye. Aristotle was discharged and sent home. He was just as cheerful as ever, blissfully unaware of the big scare that he had just given to Arianne and Mark.Arianne didn’t get to sleep much over the past few days. S
Davy was suddenly filled with fighting spirit too. He was feeling extremely uplifted. “Okay! The auction will start at 2PM. I’ll make preparations at once!”When they arrived outside the auction venue, Aristotle was fast asleep. Mark told Mary to hold onto him in the car. It would be inappropriate to bring a baby to such a stiff event.His guess was right. Alejandro came too, and he had Jett attend the event. Alejandro waited outside in the car.The auction this time was a clear struggle between two elites and no one else. Mark had given a price that no one else dared to raise, from the very beginning. Only Alejandro’s lackey, Jett, was willing to contend against him. He looked at Jett and continued raising the price, showing no signs of emotion.He wasn’t the impulsive type. If Alejandro, in a bid to release his frustrations, were to raise the price to sky-high rates, then sell it to him, that would undoubtedly prove that he had been cheated. He would give up if the price reached
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