Morning light shone into the hotel walls, which made everything seem brighter. Temperatures were slowly rising from the summer weather, but the light was dimmed when they stepped into the hotel lobby, the heat diminished as well.Aristotle sneezed when they walked into the elevator, and Arianne held him closer against her body. “The temperature in this hotel is too low. It’s a little cold.Mark reacted instantly. “This hotel belongs to us. I’ll tell them to fix the temperature.”‘This belongs to us?’ Arianne was shocked. The hotel exterior alone seemed rather prestigious when she arrived. It was obviously a five star hotel… Mm, the Tremonts really did have a lot of business ventures and generally covered every industry. She had to get used to this.She paused in her footsteps when they stepped out of the elevator. “Is it really possible that Ethan has returned? You tried to kill him, so he’d never leave us alone. When will this end? It’s different now that we have a baby. I don’t w
‘That’s not important.”Arianne’s reply allowed Mark’s tensed nerves to relax. He only needed her forgiveness. No one else mattered. He only cared about her opinions. Hearing those words from her was good enough.“It’s not that we don’t have a conscience,” Zoey objected weakly. “It’s just that... that kidnapper said that… your grandmother died after Mark visited her, that… he was behind it. I was wondering about that myself; it was only pneumonia and shouldn’t have caused her death. Besides, it was such a coincidence… Why? Of all the times for her to die… I’m not trying to imply anything. After all, I’m not sure what exactly happened. I admit that it was my idiot husband who caused your grandmother’s illness. I’ve always wanted to divorce him, but I couldn’t do it… My son was kidnapped this time. I was left with no choice. Wouldn’t you have sent the letter too, if you were in my shoes? What parent would want to watch their child die?”Arianne was speechless. She stared at Zoey, her
Zoey’s husband eyed Mark warily, gathered his courage, then said, “This is just my opinion, but shouldn’t your aunt have a share in the old Wynn Mansion? Doesn’t sound appropriate for you to take it all for yourself, does it? Besides, you have everything you want now. You could have half of the capital at the flick of your hand. It’s different for us, as we’re poor. Your aunt carries the Wynn name too. You shouldn’t be too cruel.”She knew that this would happen. Arianne carried Aristotle and sat on the couch. She squinted her pretty eyes and stared calmly at the family of three. “You’re right, I have everything I need. However, the Wynn Mansion is special. It’s priceless to me. It’s true that my aunt carries the Wynn name, but granny left the mansion to me. How could I share it with you? Perhaps… you should ask granny yourselves for her approval?”Zoey’s face turned ashen with fright. “No no no, we don’t want it! Your grandmother’s left it to you. We won’t take it from you!”“You’v
Mr. Harris grew increasingly unsatisfied. “Why? We’ve always been the old woman’s caretakers. But did she give us anything in the end? Did you see the look on Arianne’s face? She’s disowned us as relatives, just because we’re poor. The Tremonts have more than enough money, yet they’re still hounding after the Wynn Mansion. Who knows what she’s thinking? She’s a woman. She’s married. So I guess we’ll have to change the Wynn Mansion’s name in the future then. That mansion should belong to Harvey. Giving the Wynn mansion to her father’s murderer. What a novel idea!”Harvey felt absolutely disgusted by his parents when he overheard all of this. “Will you stop talking? Everything in the Wynn family should belong to her anyway. Let’s set aside the fact that we’ve been caring for grandma all these years. If I remember correctly, you’ve been asking my brother-in-law for a lot of money, haven’t you, dad? At least a few hundred thousand? Mom and I haven’t seen a single cent. They’re already bei
Henry was not alone when he entered the house, for following closely behind was Helen. The surprise appearance was not planned, however. She simply met Henry by the gate.Arianne, with Smore in her arms, stepped forward to greet her. “Sweetie, say hi to your grandma.”The look Helen cast on Smore was absolutely brimming with affection, yet she made no mention of wanting to hug or hold the baby, perhaps wary that Arianne might not like it. “What a beautiful baby! He looks like you but has Mark’s expressions.”Arianne smiled. “Take a seat, please. So, finally having some free time, huh?”Helen made herself comfortable on the living room couch and muttered thanks to Mary when the latter passed her a glass of water. “En route to running an errand. Then I remembered that you might be at home right now, so I thought of visiting.”“En route?” There was no way the Tremont Estate could be “en route” of any trip because its location was not along any freeway or oft-traveled roads. It was su
Arianne tried to snatch the pendant back from Smore, but the baby’s hand somehow turned into a stubborn lobster’s claw and refused to let go, no matter how hard she tried to pry it open. Fearful of accidentally hurting him, Arianne gave up and relented. “Fine. It’s not returning to us until he gets bored with it. Oh, that reminds me… Uh, how’s, well, Aery?”Given a choice, Arianne would have rather not mentioned Aery at all, but she was desperately running out of topics. She could not possibly turn the rest of their “chat” into a staring competition, right?Helen, for her part, did not expect her to mention Aery of her own accord. After the shock passed, she answered, “Well, she’s currently studying abroad. To my relief, she appears to have gone back on track. See, I found her a host family whom I’ve established a close connection with so that I can monitor her every move and situation from here. Honestly, as long as she could put her mind to educating herself and not ruining her own
The corner of Mark’s lips twitched, but his smile did not reach his eyes. It was a smile that acted as a mask.“You can’t be suggesting that I, of all people, go look for this hypothetical plot, right?” he began. “Anyone with a functional brain could dream up a ‘solution’ as simple as this one! The reason why this meeting is a thing is that I want results and progress. But you cast this… question to me as though you’re asking for my permission. Seriously? Don’t you even have a modicum of sensibility to determine that for yourself?! Fine, great. I guess I should start counting down on the days till my company folds.”The young executive member immediately packed his document folder as if he was about to bolt out of the room. “Right, right! I’m on it right away, Sir! I’ll make you proud next time, I promise!”Mark massaged his forehead. “Jesus Christ. Can any of you adults get into work the moment you believe you have a good solution? What if I agree, hmm? Stop waiting for my permissi
Jett shook his head. “Bah, don’t bother. This is a pretty nice place to stay, anyway. See? It’s got two bedrooms and sh*ts. One for each of us. I might even crash here whenever it’s convenient,” he said. “And really, there is no need to go to work, you. My work is enough for both of us, at least before that kid comes out. But that’s a question for some other time; we might not have a future, but the kid’s mine, so don’t worry too much and follow what I say. Hey, if we look past the fact that we aren’t staying together, I think we can pull off this husband-wife thing pretty fine.”A pang shot through Tanya’s chest, as though a wall closing around her heart had crumbled and crashed. For the first time, she considered Jett carefully… and found that her yearning for Jackson diminished.In a split second, she wished the arrangement between her and Jett were consensual—bona fide, genuine. She wanted a family of her own, but none of this was real. They were just foams atop turbulent waves.