Although it was the festive season, delivery services were not disrupted. Hence, Arianne bought some nuts and had them delivered to him in exchange for his gift. She had used an alias in the sender’s column so Zoey and her husband would not find out that she had sent it.The holiday week had already ended by the time Mark returned. He looked exhausted, it was clear he had been very busy.Instead of complaining, Arianne only asked how everything went in the company. Mark did not go into detail, “It’s fine, I can handle so don’t worry about it. Have you started work?”Arianne shook her head and said, “Our company treats us rather well. We’re only resuming work tomorrow.”After not seeing Smore for over ten days, Mark did not rest and carried Smore to play with him. However, it seemed like Smore did not like to be carried around anymore. He preferred to crawl now. Therefore, when Mark carried him, he flailed his limbs around. Mark laughed and said, “My boy’s really strong.”Arianne
Mark held her even tighter. “Come on.”“I don’t know how,” she replied, playing dumb.He blew softly into her ears. “Say, ‘Good night, honey’. Come on.”Arianne could hear her heart thumping wildly. She parted her lips and tentatively said, “Good night… honey?”Her voice was not coaxing, cute, or girly so Mark was dissatisfied. “Your voice must be sweeter when you’re acting cute, understand? Perhaps… I should teach you?” As soon as he finished speaking, his hand began to roam mischievously on her body.She felt her breath caught her throat. “Give me one night to think it over. We’ll talk tomorrow.”Mark no longer persisted. Perhaps, he was too exhausted. His breath gradually evened out, and he stopped moving around....The next morning, Arianne woke up in a daze. As soon as her eyes opened, she met Mark’s intense gaze.Based on how bright-eyed and fresh he looked, he had probably woken up for a while now. He propped his head on his hand and stared at her unflinchingly, causin
After arriving in the office, Arianne had just sat down when Robin greeted her. “How was your Christmas, Arianne? I’m glad to see you on the first day back at work.Arianne had prepared a small gift for her. “Here, this is for you. Consider it a belated Christmas gift.”Robin accepted the gift. An expression of delight and shyness could be seen on her face. “Thank you. I haven’t gotten you a present… By the way, I heard that a really talented fashion designer is joining the company. He’s extremely handsome. However, he hasn’t arrived yet. It seems like he’s late on his first day. Honestly, favored employees have nothing to fear.”Based on Robin’s description, it seemed like this designer was more experienced than her. For that reason, Arianne was curious. “How talented is he? Is he more talented than me?”“Oh, I’m just saying,” Robin replied with a smile. “You’re the most talented designer to me. No one can ever live up to you. I only overheard it from the people in the office so I
Naturally, Mr. Yaleman did not object to bringing Robin along on account of Arianne. He was a stingy man by nature and rarely took his employees or clients out for meals. However, today, he brought them to an expensive restaurant. It seemed like he did not care about the money he had to spend as he cheerfully laughed. It was not surprising. After all, with a designer like Sylvain onboard, wealthy clients would be flocking to the company and earn him money. Those wealthy clients would earn him more money than working with some companies. He was being generous because he knew he would receive great returns.When they arrived at the restaurant, Robin tactfully poured water for everyone. She knew she was little more than a prop here. The least she could do was be useful.Mr. Yaleman looked at Sylvain and Arianne. The more he looked at them, the happier he felt. “With both of you around, my humble company will surely rise to great heights.”Sylvain pursed his lips and smiled. He did not
Sylvain raised an eyebrow. His lips curved into a small smile. “I thought that you’re just… shy. I’ve only met two types of women; those who can’t tear their eyes away from me and those who avoid looking at me. However, all of them share a similarity—I make their hearts race…”His bold display of confidence was shocking to Arianne. It seemed like he was quite the narcissist. She admitted that he was very handsome. He had style, looks, and money. If he were her type, it would have been fine. Maybe she would spare him a few extra glances. However, he was not. Why was he talking so much? They had just met, and they were not close. She coughed awkwardly before she cleared her throat and said, “My heart isn’t racing. I’m just not used to having people so close to me and hitting on me. In any case, Mr. Yaleman won’t mind. You can take a hike now to search for inspiration if you like…”Sylvain was taken aback. He wheeled himself away on the chair. “I was just teasing you. You’re no fun.”A
At the end of the day, Sylvain was a leading fashion designer. They had small talks during the journey that inspired Arianne. In the end, she felt that Sylvain sending her home was not such a bad idea.Sylvain waved at her when they arrived outside the entrance to Tremont Estate. “See you tomorrow.”She thanked him and quickly exited the vehicle.Mary had seen all of this and strode forward with Aristotle in her arms. “Ari, who sent you home? That isn’t Mr. Tremont’s car.”“A colleague,” Arianne replied casually.Mary grew increasingly apprehensive. “A colleague? A male? I may not have much experience, but after working for the Tremonts for so many years, I can tell how expensive that car is. What colleague of yours could possibly drive such an expensive car? One look at that color, and you can just tell how unreliable he is. You should avoid him as much as possible. Why is a grown man driving a red car? Mr. Tremont won’t be happy if he finds out about this.”Only after Mary’s na
Mark seemed to have assumed that Arianne was already asleep because he came through the door, still on the phone, instead of trying to hide the conversation. “I couldn't care less whatever it is that you plan to do,” he barked. “You go ahead and crap out as many troubles as you like until the world ends. I don’t care. Sorry to burst your bubble, but I’m not, by any means, an unprincipled man.”Hearing the steely rage in his voice, Arianne put her pen down and looked up at him.Their eyes met, and a slight change overcame Mark’s expression before he hung up immediately. “You’re still awake? What are you doing in the living room?”Arianne tucked her unfinished draft toward herself. “Waiting for you, what else? Who were you talking to? You sounded pissed.”Weariness rose in his eyes. “It’s nothing. I’m going for a bath. You should rest early.”Arianne was quite upset with him waving the question aside. She had heard every single word he spoke while he was on the phone, and her instin
The first rationale that came into Arianne’s mind was that Sylvain lived in a nearby neighborhood, which would be a reasonable explanation that begged no further attention. Since Arianne found going forward and bidding him good morning a little too bothersome, she decided to turn around and leave the area via another route.Sylvain suddenly rolled down his car window and waved at her. “Morning, Sunshine! We work at the same place, don’t we? I could give you a lift.”Arianne could not catch his expression from her spot across the street, but he still managed to throw her off. Why did she feel as though this guy had been here doing groundworks out of an unfathomable intent?Naturally, Sylvain’s greeting made it impossible to feign not seeing him. Uneasily, she went into his car and asked, “Why are you here?”Sylvain leveled her with an enigmatic, meaningful smile. “What will you do… if I tell you that I had been waiting for you at this spot, this whole time, with the explicit intenti