Tiffany curled into a ball as she hugged her knees on the couch and cast him a sidelong glance. “It’s been one full day and one night. Are you awake now? Have you thought of a good script to cheer me up? You haven’t answered me. You’ve had fun being with a few women behind my back. If you tell the truth, we’ll have something to talk about. If you’re going to lie, forget it.”He looked at Arianne pleadingly. Arianne shrugged, holding Aristotle in her arms, indicating that she was at her wit’s end too. He had no choice but to surrender. “I did not. Really. Last night was the first time I’ve brought a woman to a party. We didn’t do anything else. I don’t even know that woman. She’s a last-minute female date that I’ve asked a friend to help rent out. I didn’t even give her my contact details. Mark and I had one each. If you don’t believe Mark and me because you think that we’re in cahoots, you can ask the other woman. That woman’s name is Janice Bell. She’s from Mark’s company. Ask her if
Jackson laughed thoughtlessly. “Are you really the kind of person who’d be scared of his own wife? I’m going stir-crazy. Why can’t I have a smoke? Just spray it off with some perfume or something later.”Nevertheless, Mark did not put out Jackson’s cigarette. He lit one up for himself since no one else was looking. “Is it settled? Tiffany didn’t tear you to pieces?”Jackson exhaled. “No. I got lucky, I guess. My arms and legs are still attached. Pregnant women have terrible tempers. In the past, I would have faced her straight-on. This time, I had to wait one day and one night for her to calm down before coming over. She’s having a baby, and I have to suffer with her too. It’ll be fine once this baby is born.”Mark, who had experience, shook his head confidently. “Nope. It only gets worse after the birth, trust me.”The corners of Jackson’s lips twitched. He put out his cigarette. “Don’t scare me. By the way, you really aren’t going to hesitate at all with Alejandro? He’s Ethan, an
Arianne took Aristotle for a bath after a short rest. Mary was old, so Arianne would take care of Aristotle’s needs whenever she was home. She was exhausted but happy to do it. Childhood only happened once, and it was fleeting. She did not want to miss out on Aristotle’s growth.Heavy snow was falling outside, but the house was just warm enough. After a tiring time in the bathroom, Arianne emerged, drenched in sweat. However, the sight of the fresh-smelling Aristotle brought her a sense of fulfillment. She carried Aristotle back to the room, put on his clothes, and put him in his cot. “Mommy’s going to take a bath. Have fun with daddy, okay?”Aristotle grinned at her as he ate his fingers. She smiled back.Mark walked to the cot and looked at Aristotle. “Do you want me to treat you like how Jackson treats Tiffany?” he asked her.Arianne was taken aback. Then, she answered seriously, “I do, and I don’t. Women like being taken care of, but everyone is different. You and Jackson are v
Suddenly, Aristotle woke up, probably because of the sudden noise. He crawled up from the side of his bed with his tiny arms. “Yaya…”Mark stiffened. He shut his eyes helplessly, surrendered, and got up to coax his son. “Aren’t you supposed to be asleep? If you’re going to sleep, stay asleep. Why are you crawling up?”Arianne wanted to laugh but held it all back. “Then I’ll leave Smore to you. I’ve got work tomorrow, so I’m going to bed.”The next day, Brian took the day off, saying that he had to go back to his hometown for a blind date. Thus, Mark drove himself.“Wait for me, I’ll pick you up after work,” he said after dropping off Arianne at the office.Arianne nodded. She was just about to open the car door when he pulled her back in. He didn’t say a word and simply stared at her. His gaze was slightly begrudging.She carefully planted a kiss on his lips, and he finally let go. She noticed that he had become extra clingy since last night. Not only had he personally helped dry
Arianne didn’t like being patient. She did not want to shoulder such baseless accusations. Her intention was to teach Robin, not just to order her around. She got up and deliberately raised her voice. “Robin, I haven’t looked into how the sample got destroyed. Even though we salvaged it in the end and there was no particular setback, we can’t just let go of something like this. I’m going to request for the surveillance footage from Mr. Yaleman. You take care of these sketches. Thank you.”Robin knew that Arianne was going to kick up a fuss, so she carefully replied, “Mm.”There were surveillance cameras in every corner of the office, including the workshop. Everything was clear once they checked the footage. The staff who usually bossed Robin around had been the ones behind it. They hadn’t known that it was Arianne’s sample and had to use the mannequin the next day. Thus, they had taken out the sample straight away. That would have been fine, except that they had cruelly planned on m
Janice’s expression froze slightly into that of uncertainty. A few moments later, she recovered and held her palms together, bidding farewell. “If you’d excuse me…”After she left, Mark yanked Davy into his office and lambasted, “You’ve got one job, Davy—just one! Your seat is right outside my office door, and you can’t even guard my door? Since when have I ever allowed anyone to enter my space without my explicit permission? This floor is a restricted area, and unless it’s something urgent, no one would be able to come in, got it? This is my last warning, Davy. If I see Janice Bell inside my office without my knowledge, you’re fired!”Davy was dumbfounded. “B-But, Sir, I’ve never seen you express any problem with this? A-And the two of you always seem so close, and so I thought you wouldn’t mind something like this,” he explained. “Then there’s the fact that she has this charismatic way with people and knows the exact right word at the exact right time. It’s not easy resisting a cha
Outside an abortion operation studio in the hospital, Alejandro sat on his wheelchair and waited quietly with Jett loyally standing beside him. Melanie was in the middle of the surgery.The little thing which came without his blessing would soon be removed. Alejandro had thought that he would be unperturbed by the entire process, and indeed, that was the case when they arrived at the hospital in the morning or when Melanie was doing a series of pre-surgical checkups.Then his wife was sent into the studio, and he suddenly became restless and troubled. He thought of how Tiffany and her large baby bump looked like. He remembered Smore’s cute little face. He did not hate kids—he just hated the idea of fashioning posterity from his unsightly, ignoble blood.“Mr. Smith, what if Don Smith found out about this? I mean, he might be able to tell from tiny details of Melanie’s recovery, since we’re all living under the same roof, which makes it very hard to conceal the effects of this abortio
“All I did was to back out of a decision I made, and you’re already so obnoxiously thankful for it?” Alejandro snapped. “Seriously, thanking me for something like this? Do you honestly see this as some kinda royal pardon? Despicable. You’re Melanie Smith née Lark, the princess of the Lark family. You have no reason to kowtow to anyone! And you should have fought me harder and never agreed to abandon that child.”His words baffled Melanie, especially since he was the one who had taken both hard and soft power to make her bend to his will. “What are you saying? I… I didn’t wanna start a fight with you because of the baby. Regardless of how I wanted to be a mother, if you insist on not wanting a kid of our own, I’ll still defer to you for the sake of our future together.”“Ha. That wasn’t your way of telling me that you’ve fallen in love with me, was it?” Alejandro jeered.Melanie froze, finding herself hard-pressed to reply to him. The mocking tone stung her right at heart, making the