Arianne instinctively shot Mark a glance. Honestly, Arianne was not quiet by nature—before eight years old, her childhood was one of joy and rambunctious guffaws, especially when she was playing with her friends. The only reason why she became so quiet was that Mark influenced her that way. In other words, Smore was quiet because he followed his father’s trait, and as the baby grew, the resemblance became unmistakable.At night, as the two laid down side by side, Arianne asked, “Have you always been this icy and stoic since you were a kid, Mark Tremont? ‘Cause Smore’s acting quite like you when you were a kid, isn’t he?”Mark pinched the bridge of her nose. “What did you just call me? For some reason, hearing it makes me miffed.”She slapped his hand away. “I called you by your name, duh! Isn’t that a normal thing to do? You can’t possibly expect me to call you ‘honey’ at the drop of a hat, right? Come on, you’re not really gonna fixate on the terms I use to call you, right? What el
As Mark inhaled the scent of Arianne’s hair, his breaths became a mite more elaborate while his sleepiness, which had been growing for the past few minutes, gradually receded.He bit on her earlobe. “I want you. Now.”Arianne’s breath stopped, her body shrinking from him slightly. “But aren’t you sleepy?”Hot breaths warmed through the woman’s ear.“Nope. Not anymore.”…It was Saturday, yet Mark rose early in the morning despite not going to work. Instead, he spent his morning playing with Smore.Arianne was bored and had nothing to occupy her mind. In the end, she thought of seeing Tiffany.While in the hospital and waiting for the elevator, Arianne met Jett by coincidence. Contrary to the usual lunchbox, his arms were full of motherhood and baby products today. It became clear that his zero experience in fatherhood, as well as the general lack of motherhood knowledge in a typical man, had caused Jett to purchase a few unnecessary items, including a few redundant products and
Arianne chose to let that slide and pivoted to a new subject instead. “Say, it’s been a few months since Melanie Lark’s pregnancy, right? Surely, she’s going to deliver the child very soon.”Jett leveled a silent, steady gaze into hers for a while before replying, “Yes, Melanie’s pregnant. But I took a break to care for Tanya for months. I haven’t been working under the Smiths for a while. If there’s any information about them that interests you, the odds of gleaning them from me won’t be satisfactory.”Arianne had to admit that Jett was no ordinary person—he was perceptive and very alert.Her lips thinned. “Hey, I didn’t help you today to squeeze intel out of you; don’t misunderstand me. Besides, if I really wanted to know something, I have my ways of getting it that don’t involve prying it from you,” she said. “Anyway, I should be going. You take good care of Tanya after childbirth, please.”She went to Tiffany’s ward right after, and while chatting, told the other woman about Ta
There was an undercurrent of wary gingerness in Tiffany’s voice when she continued, “You’re only not picking a fight with me because I’ve just given birth to your son, right? If this were the past, storm clouds would have been all over your face already! But you gotta remember, I haven’t been talking to Alejandro, and I don’t know how he knew about whatever I’m going through. Hell, he even managed to send me flowers on the exact day I leave the hospital, too! But he’s only doing this out of genuine goodwill as a friend. I myself have always seen him as nothing more than a friend! You’re the one who insists on being jealous.”Jackson looked up and met her eyes. “You might treat him as nothing more than a friend, but he doesn’t. Either way, I don’t want you to hang out with him or contact him at all—you know what, I’ll expand the scope. I don’t want you hanging out with any other guy in the world! That’s right; I’m that possessive. Deal with it, sistah.”Tiffany giggled giddily. “Aha!
“That’s right,” he replied, not bothering to hide his opinion. “The old ones are too thick and gaudy. These are great. Don’t you like them?”She didn’t dare express her dislike. “No, no, they’re pretty good. I quite like them. I’ll use the ones you’ve bought from now on. I’ll go downstairs to check on Smore. You should get some rest if you’re tired.”Mark’s phone rang just as Arianne had left. His limited time of peace and quiet was disturbed, which made him frown. He picked up the call without checking the screen. “Hello?”Janice’s voice answered him from the other end. “Mr. Tremont, there’s an urgent document you need to see. Davy had an emergency and left the office, but not before asking me to send it over to you. Is this a convenient time?”“This is a part of his job,” Mark replied impatiently. “Have I given him permission to leave the office early? Tell him to bring it over himself!” He ended the call immediately after that.How could he not be aware of Davy’s emergency? Dav
Arianne grunted in reply and carried Aristotle upstairs.Mark took a deep, impatient breath, forcing himself to contain his rage. Then, he quickly strode upstairs. “Are you… angry?”“Children don’t have great memories. He would never have displayed such familiarity if he hadn’t seen her so often. How many times have you left Smore with Janice? Look at her, she’s so good with kids. Even I, his mother, am put to shame. I’m starting to question my own child-rearing methods.”Mark was having a headache. “No, it really was just once or twice. Smore hasn’t been to my office in a long time, and it’s not like you’re not aware. Maybe he doesn’t actually remember Janice, but he was just having fun. It doesn’t mean anything if the baby is having fun playing with her, does it? I suggested firing her, but you told me not to. What the hell am I supposed to do?”Arianne paused in her footsteps, turned around, and looked at him. “‘What the hell am I supposed to do’? I’ve never asked you to do anyt
He loved her, probably because she was simply Arianne Wynn. However, men were visually-stimulated beings. This was in their nature. Anyone would grow weary of a gradually old and faded woman.Why did she give birth to Aristotle? She was beginning to seriously ponder this question. Was it because it was her last chance to become a mother? Or… was it because she loved Mark?She stared at Aristotle in her arms and felt a slight ache in her heart. He was going to be one-year-old soon, yet Mark still had the nerve to accuse her of insisting on having Aristotle, right in front of the baby. This gave the impression that he never wanted Aristotle to be born in the first place. It was disappointing.Arianne’s heart filled with grief at that very moment. She wanted to protest, but she had become pale and weary after a bout of rage. She thought that he had given her enough love and that he would allow her to do whatever she wanted to do and live life on her own terms. Unfortunately, it was all
Arianne shook her head. “It has got nothing to do with you. We were going to fight over certain things sooner or later; it was only just a matter of time. I’m not hungry. Not eating. Smore is still asleep. Thank you for taking care of him during the day. I’ll try to come home as soon as I can when I’m done at the office. From now on, send the bill for all of Smore’s expenses to me. Do not ask Mark. I don’t want to spend a single cent of his money. The same goes for Smore.”Mary gaped, unable to speak. This was the first time they had ever had a fight like this. She wasn’t sure of how to advise her.Arianne’s mind was still in a mess when she arrived at the office. Every time she closed her eyes, she was reminded of everything Mark had said last night. She wanted to console herself. It was completely normal for people to say hurtful things in the heat of the moment, but hadn’t she stayed silent last night? She was capable of controlling herself from spewing hateful words, but he was n