“I had something on earlier, Mom. That is why we are home late. Why haven’t you slept?”There was nothing Yvette could say since Mark took the blame. “I have been asleep for a while. I was a little thirsty, so I got up to drink some water.”“I will go upstairs first, Mom.” Summer stepped out of his arm and went upstairs.Mark did not follow her. He and Yvette were still talking in the living room.Summer walked to the bed, picked up the quilt from the bed and grabbed a pillow with the other hand, then laid them nicely on the settee.When Mark came in, he frowned at seeing this. He walked over to grab her arm. “Sleep on the bed.”She found it laughable. “Do you even want to dictate where I sleep?”He pursed his lips and squinted at her.“Go to the bed then. At least it is more comfortable.” While speaking, she took the quilt and pillow back to the bed. She had little emotion on her face.Mark went into the bathroom when she was making the bed. He had finished his shower and cam
Next early morning.Mark glanced at the time with his eyes barely open. It was 7:00 am. The sky was still dark.He looked at her, who was sleeping beside him. She no longer slept in her usual position, which was to snuggle into his arms and hug him.Instead, she slept by curling up like a baby on the edge of the bed with her back facing him.His brow tightened. Her sleeping posture angered him. He pursed his lips and hissed. How he wished he could strangle her.But she did not avoid him any further than that.Just then, his phone vibrated. He pulled back his eyes and picked up the phone, then whisked the quilt away and got out of bed.“Mr. Valentine, I am calling to remind you about the inspection trip to New Haven Plaza at nine in the morning,” his assistant, Harry, said over the phone.“Okay.” He stepped into the bathroom and hung up the phone.He then went into the dressing room. When he reemerged, he was in his business suit, looking stalwart and charming. He glanced at th
Kayla followed her friend’s eyes and saw a group of men in formal attire walking past. They seemed to be senior executives of the mall, having an inspection tour of the mall.The leading man was none other than Mark, who walked in the front middle of the group, yet his striking appearance made him stand out.The other men followed him with respect. They were reporting to him while other personnel greeted him wherever he went.Looking from this direction, Kayla could only see his side profile, which looked as sharp as a knife. He was so charming that Kayla’s heart was thumping out of control.“Summer is so lucky!” Kayla said with envy before letting out a sigh. “Let’s go shopping. I need to fill up that space in me.” “How is the preparation for New Year’s Eve?” Mark asked while walking ahead.“Everything is in place.” The manager replied quickly.“New Year’s Eve is the busiest time of the year. Make sure everything is done diligently, especially the firewalls of each corridor an
Summer hesitated when she thought of what happened last night. At last, she picked up. “Hello?”“Do you have time at noon, Summer? I would like to invite you to a meal.” Dean’s voice still sounded loud and deep in a pleasant way.“Why not? You fix the venue and call me again.” She agreed at once. She felt she owed him an apology.Not wanting to stay in the Valentine mansion, she headed out after telling the kitchen not to prepare her lunch.She met with Dean in front of a coffee shop. He was wearing a green police uniform, looking even more upright, confidence- and awe-inspiring.She was seeing him in uniform for the first time. And he looked not half bad at all.“Hello, Officer Singleton.” She chuckled and saluted him playfully.Dean looked awkward. “Stop making fun of me. The weather is too cold outside. Let’s get inside.”The heating in the coffee shop was on full blast. Summer felt hot and wanted to take off her coat as soon as she walked in.But Dean stopped her. “You are
“It is getting late. I must make a move first. You two please talk to each other. Who knows, you two will have some common interests?” Summer changed the subject.Kayla furrowed her brow. This sounded so awkward. Was this a blind date? Dean’s situation was no better. He watched Summer leaving and was anxious to leave.Summer could not help laughing. “She won’t eat you for lunch, Officer Singleton. Why are you so nervous?”She patted Dean on his shoulders a few times, then left the two to themselves.……At nightfall, Raine was heating milk in the kitchen. She had been having insomnia for the past nights. So she gave up coffee, which could make her problem worse.As the milk was done, she poured it into a glass and carried it out of the kitchen.Just then, she saw Mark walking up the stairs with a cosmetic box in his hand.Who did he buy cosmetics for?Her heart started pounding as she watched him disappearing from her sight.Who else would he give the cosmetics box to if not
When Mark suddenly spoke, her hand reflexively clicked on the ‘hit’ button and got the king, which meant she burst.She turned around and glared at him. “Look what you did to me! Don’t suddenly speak behind me!”He should not have told her this and that while she was focusing on the game. Mark smirked. He took the tie off his burgundy shirt and sunk into the settee. “It is just a card game. Why do you have to get so serious?”She finally paid attention to him—not because of the cosmetics, but the goddamn card game.“Isn’t it just a card game? Do you know how difficult it is to achieve a total of twenty-one? You should not have disturbed me while I am focused on it!”She was still fit to be tied. She had played ten games and lost nine. When she thought she could make it all back in this game, he screwed it up for her. She lost almost all her tokens.“Wasn’t the mouse in your hand? I was just cheering for you. It was you who hit that damn button.” She glared at him. ‘Cheering?
Sitting in front of the dressing table and glancing at the cosmetic set, Summer instantly knew that it was high-end stuff.Mark gave it to her?The corner of her mouth turned up in a sneer. She wondered why he gave her this cosmetic set.Was it because she was his wife, or was he just showing affection in front of outsiders?Could it be also that he realized he had used harsh words in front of her, and so this was a gesture of apology?Of these three possibilities, she figured, the last possibility was almost zero.She fiddled with the cosmetic box for a while before she unpacked the packaging. Everything inside was written in Korean, which she could not understand a bit.Mark emerged from the bathroom. He smelled of orange—fresh, natural, and pleasing fragrance.He whisked open the quilt and climbed in, then looked at her from behind.Summer squeezed some lotion on her palm and gently and evenly patted it on her cheeks. She was instantly bursting with radiance and enchanting.
Yvette looked at Raine, her eyes flickering. “I almost forgot about Raine. Do you want to join us, Raine?”“I have a gathering with my friends in the afternoon. So I am afraid that I can’t join you guys.”Raine said with a clean and tactful smile, her eyes involuntarily glancing at Mark.Mark did not seem to notice her glances. He sipped his coffee and glanced sideways at the woman beside him.Summer ignored the conversation between the two of them. She ate her oatmeal and occasionally talked with Jazz in a voice that only the two of them could hear.Mark narrowed his eyes a little as he kept an eye on the two.“Well then, we will leave in a minute,” Yvette said with a smile.After eating breakfast, the three of them headed out, leaving only Raine and Jazz in the living room.Jazz looked at the time and lazily stretched, then got up from the settee. “I am leaving, Aunt.”“Where are you going?” Raine pulled her mind back and asked in puzzlement.“My part-time job, of course. I