Yvette slumped down on the settee, catching her breath.She could not believe that she had such a treacherous son.Summer looked at Jazz from behind as he stormed out of the house. She was worried about him and wanted to give chase.But Mark grabbed her wrist again, stopping her from doing so. She stood there and could do nothing.Just then, Summer suddenly realized that she was too reckless. If she gave chase, it would not do Jazz any good.Yvette looked at Mark. “Have you read today’s headlines?”“Yeah,” Mark said.“Don’t you have anything to say to me?”“The media are just trying to attract eyeballs by making up such headlines,” Mark said with a deep voice.Summer looked over at Mark with her eyes narrowed.Yvette was startled. “I checked the time. That night was your birthday. She made an excuse, saying that she had a stomachache, and left. But after that, she was in a man’s arms as they went into a room in the middle of the night.”Mark’s eyes narrowed, his voice indiff
Mark forced his fist on the steering wheel and said in a deep, gloomy voice. “When will you be normal again?”“I am normal now,” Summer said flatly.Damn it! How he wished he could ravage her and rip that damn expression off her face.He turned the steering wheel to the left and looked at her. “Let us talk tonight,” he said, spelling out the words.Summer ignored him and looked out of the window listlessly. She did not think there was anything to talk about between them.Just then, a cell phone rang and Mark picked up his. It was Harry, his assistant. “Mr. Valentine, the meeting started half an hour ago. When will you be back?”“Halt the meeting for half an hour,” he ordered in a deep voice, and then hung up.Earlier, when the meeting first started, he saw his assistant hid a newspaper behind him, and the principal of the school called at the same time. His secretary asked if he would like to answer it.There was only one reason for the principal to call him, and that reason wa
Summer was even more puzzled. “Since you are from Class Ten, why not go back to your class?”A boy sitting in the front row put his hand to his forehead in an I-can’t-even fashion. “Ms. Hart, they are all here to see Jazz.”Hearing that, the female students sitting in the back rows nodded and became even more excited. “Why hasn’t Jazz come to class yet, Ms. Hart?”“Did he ask for leave? Did he say when he would return to school?”“Will he come this afternoon?”The girls were all scrambling to ask questions, as if Jazz was a celebrity and they were his diehard fan.Summer was bemused, knocking the blackboard eraser on the podium, and then said in a clear and loud voice, “This is a school, not a fan meeting. All go back to your class.”But those female students still refused to give up and continued to ask, “Will Jazz come to school this afternoon?”“Do you want the principal to ‘invite’ you all back personally?” These were truly diehard fangirls.Upon hearing this, those girls
The wind was freezing cold. Raine opened the car door and got into the front passenger seat. “Your mom asked me to find you in your office. But You were not there, so I asked your assistant. You moved out with Summer?”“Uh-huh.” Mark just gave a short response.“Here?” Raine couldn’t believe it.The apartments here were rundown, the environment and air quality anything but good. And those dilapidated units badly needed a major makeover.So it must be Summer who rented a house here.And Mark was following her to stay here. This thought really upset Raine.“Yeah.” He gave another nonchalant response, occasionally checking his watch, his handsome face gloomy.Raine’s expression was as clear and tactful as usual, but she felt terrible inside. Mark was fastidious, yet he could bear to stay in such a place.She panicked again when she thought about this.Right at this moment, a pair of dazzling light beams swept over them as a black Hyundai pulled up at the roadside.Immediately af
No matter how unhappy and resentful Summer was toward Raine, she kept it polite when talking to her. “Thank you, Aunt. But I don’t need it.”Likewise, Raine was resentful of Summer, but her expression remained the same, except for the slightly more serious tone of voice when she spoke.“Well then, you had better remember to keep a distance from those men around you.”Summer was pissed by what Rained said, but she fought back her anger. “I know. I will keep that in mind.”Raine furrowed her brows upon hearing Summer’s reply. “Since you know, why did you still do that?” She looked at Raine puzzledly. “Can you please be more specific about what I have done?”“The newspaper headlines have caused a squabble in the Valentine mansion. Shouldn’t you keep your distance and control your own behavior?” Raine’s voice slightly deepened as she was displeased with Summer’s behavior.Because of the headline news in the newspaper, the relationship between Yvette and Jazz had gone sour, and ther
She felt the two were in their own world where she could not get in.Mark’s well-knotted hands gripped Summer’s wrist tightly as he took her into the apartment. His face was grave all this while.Not that Summer wanted to catch up with him, he just walked too fast. She reminded Mark. “But Aunt is still there.”“Mark.” Raine called out at him from behind.The corners of Summer’s mouth turned up in a smile as she expected him to let go of her.But he did not. Instead, he clenched her wrists harder. “I will stay here tonight. You go back and tell her.”He said nothing further and brought her into the apartment.Raine stood alone outside in the cold—the type of cold that she had never experienced before.He walked away with Summer and abandoned her by the roadside.Perhaps it was not the weather but Mark’s action and words that caused the chills.But she believed Mark had never fallen in love with Summer. Absolutely not. She was confident of this.Her black skirt fluttered in th
Summer came out of her thought after a while and went into the kitchen to make a simple corn chowder. She then sat at the dining table and started eating, once again ignoring him completely. Mark found the water hard to swallow when he saw she was giving him the cold shoulder again. Gloominess shrouded his good mood, his deep squinted eyes staring at her from behind. “Let’s talk, Mrs. Valentine.” After taking a sip of the corn chowder, her hands and feet warmed up. She looked up at him and spelled out her words. “What does Mr. Valentine want to talk to me about? Is it about the tripartite relationship between the three of us? Since you refuse to divorce, then your intention must be to maintain the status quo. And the so-called status quo means that our marriage is just a transaction. When you have the right to interfere with my affairs, but I can’t with yours, what is the point of talking?” Mark narrowed his eyes, thinking she was not ordinarily smart. She always hit the nail o
After that, he picked up the quilt and blanket from one side. Instead of returning to the living room, he spread the blanket on the floor and lay down beside the bed. The room was small and just for two people. Even though the heater did not work properly, it was still much better than sleeping in the living room. There was only the faint breathing sound of the two of them in the room. Summer woke up in the middle of the night to answer nature’s call. Pregnancy made her not only lethargic but also prone to frequent urination. Sitting up in bed, she could barely make out a person lying on the floor under the faint moonlight. She frowned, turned on the table lamp, and she finally saw it clearly. The man was sleeping on the floor with his handsome face resting on his arm. He was casual, lazy, and looked entirely different under the moonlight. Perhaps, outside the apartment, after he ignored Raine, grabbed her by the wrist, and took her away; or perhaps, when she asked him if h