Mark did not give an honest answer. “We usually wash it pretty often. Forget it. I’m going upstairs to shower.”Mary watched him quickly walk away before ratting on him to Arianne. “A young girl from the company sat in the front seat just as we left the office. It was raining and the entire seat got wet. Brian wiped it clean, but Mr. Tremont still found it unbearable. He has always been this way from a young age. He can never stand anything greasy, sticky, or damp. She got into the car and asked him to drop her off along the way. In the end, he chased out of the car and went off to pick you up. That’s what’s great about Mr. Tremont. He’s not a flirt.”The corners of Arianne’s lips lifted spontaneously. “Not bad… He’s really not much of a flirt. This girl—is her name Janice Bell? I know of her.”Mary nodded. “I think so. I saw that name on her staff card. She fought with her supervisor today too and ended up bleeding in the head. She ran to Mr. Tremont’s office to file a complaint, b
It was about an hour later when Smore finally fell asleep. Arianne returned to the bedroom to a scowling, silently-sulky Mark sitting on their bed, radiating a kind of aura only found in bitter housewives.She chuckled. “What?”“You,” he grumbled. “You work during the day, and when you come home, you focus only on that little fella over there. Then finally, you go to sleep! What, am I just an appendage?”Arianne climbed into the bed and underneath the sheet. She let out a satisfied, relaxed sigh before replying, “Well, are you saying I shouldn’t go to work, then? You agreed to this, though; no backsies. Besides, I think life is pretty good to us. I sleep with you every night rather than with Smore, you know, so honestly, I spend more time with you than with him. Now, you can’t possibly turn green over the attention I give to a child, can you? He’s your son.”He laid down next to her and pulled her into his embrace. “Oh, you’re sleeping with me, alright. You go straight to sleep aft
Jackson pressed the bell for a good long while but no one answered the door. He began to suspect that Tanya was avoiding the door, despite being at home, simply because she noticed it was him.He had just begun to brainstorm a workaround when Tanya’s voice suddenly rang from behind him. “What are you doing here?”Jackson turned. His sight landed on the food produce in her carrying bags and realized she had only gone to the market. “Got something to ask of you.”Tanya lowered her head a little, slightly nervous. “Um, o-okay… Let me open the door, and we can talk after we get in.”The first thing that Jackson did after stepping into the unit was to look around and say, “I thought you’d married that Jett guy. So, why is he still letting you stay in an apartment unit you rented?”Tanya had nothing to answer him. She didn’t know if Jett owned a house of his own or how much money he had in his bank account. All she knew about her supposed husband was that he, at the very least, owned a
Tanya clenched her jaw for a second, as though mustering her last ounce of courage before making an important decision. “I know very little of anything. All I know is that Alejandro pretends to be disabled and that he mentioned spending three years falling in love with Tiffany. All that he does is always for the same goal—he wants to break apart you and Tiffany. That’s it, that’s all I know. I’ve told you everything I know, so please keep this a secret from Tiffany. Please, because if she knows a single thing about this, I’ll be dead!”Three years?A name sprung into Jackson’s mind immediately: Ethan Connors.Ethan was the one person Tiffany had loved for three years. He was also the man who made Jackson jealous.Suddenly, it felt as though a hedge of brambles had grown all over his heart, stinging and prickling him with unease. If Alejandro was Ethan in disguise, then everything that had occurred finally made perfect sense.How ironic it was that while Tiffany had loved Ethan for
Jackson nodded and pulled her back to their table, beckoning her to finish her meal while he swept his troubles under his mental rug.He regretted mentioning Ethan’s name and frightening Tiffany like that. To be fair, he had not at all expected her to take it so badly—and now he wished he could tell her with absolute conviction that Ethan died in South Africa. But things always refused to go as smoothly as one hoped.The weekend came. Jackson sent Tiffany away to Lilian’s place for the day and promised to come back for her at night. Then, he went straight to the Tremont Estate.He recounted everything he knew up to this point to Mark, who, for his part, took some time to comb through the information before saying, “It’s not that hard to find out whether Alejandro Smith is or isn’t Ethan Connors—we just need to do a DNA analysis. He’s currently staying in a hospital, right? That makes it easier to get a hold of his blood sample.”“What if he is, without a doubt, Ethan?” Jackson demu
The Chief Nurse was just as helpless. “What can we do? Does anyone from the Smith family look like someone we can go up against? Urgh, just extract another blood sample from that patient.”Jett caught up with the nurse and bumped into her before swapping the blood sample in her pocket with the one he had swiped earlier. “Excuse me.”The nurse rummaged through her pocket out of habit before drawing out a sigh of relief at finding the sample intact.Jett stood still at his spot and waited until the nurse was farther away. He only resumed following her after she turned into another corner.He watched the nurse pass the sample to Jackson and quickly hurried back to Alajendro’s ward. “Mr. Smith, Jackson sent that nurse, who gave him the blood sample. I’ve switched out your blood with another sample before she could get it to him without the nurse noticing.”Alejandro’s mien turned icy, muttering, “Suspecting me already, huh? That’s sooner than I thought. What went wrong? They shouldn
“Do you hope that Alejandro is really Ethan?” Arianne suddenly asked.Mark fell silent, slightly unsure of what she meant when she asked him this question.Having received no reply, she did not continue her question. “I’m going to check on Smore. You should get an early night.”Mark returned to his senses when he heard the room door close. Tonight, he had been abandoned once again. Ever since Aristotle’s arrival, his presence had been relegated into extra space in the house. Even Mary seemed more important than him. At least, Arianne would ask Mary about Aristotle after work every day, and he wasn’t of any use at all! The weekend had finally arrived and Arianne was still the same, her world revolving around Aristotle.A tinge of jealousy rose from within Mark’s heart. How could he possibly sleep in peace now? In the past, he could always call Eric and Jackson to go out for a drink with him. Now, however, Eric was gone and Jackson was busy taking care of the pregnant Tiffany. He had
She could feel his alcoholic breath drawing closer and closer towards her. She turned her head to the said. “What are you doing? Go to sleep if you’re drunk. I’m tired…”He suddenly caught her chin and forced her to look straight at him. Neither of them could see each other’s expressions clearly. Arianne’s heart was still racing. Every time she tried to leave, he would tighten his hold on her. She was left with no choice but to submit to his will. She did not want to show up at work on Monday with bruises.Her soft lips were sealed. Her mind was muddled by the alcohol in his breath. Actually, he was still the same Mark, but for the fact that he had tried his best to put on a face that she liked in front of her. She didn’t know what she did to draw his ire. Was she not supposed to ask that question, or was she not supposed to snatch his liquor glass away?Finally, he broke away. She heaved large, labored breaths to take in some fresh air. She was close to suffocation. Kisses were sup