Robin called Arianne when the night fell. During the conversation, the young girl told her that Sylvain did not call her. Through her voice alone, Arianne could feel her moroseness.Arianne was quiet, inwardly debating if she should tell Robin that she had met Sylvain earlier. However, she was hesitant because she was not certain if Sylvain’s explanation about his reluctance was a white lie. Was he lying about not liking Robin or was he telling the truth? In the end, she decided to let it remain a secret. She seamlessly changed the topic. “Say, are you at home now? Are things better with your mom?”The young girl sighed. “No, I told my dad I’m not coming home for a while. I’m going to be staying with my aunt for two days or so. I mean, just thinking about my mom makes my stomach churn. I mean, I don’t hate her, but I feel suffocated whenever I look at her. This feeling has accompanied me as I grew up,” Robin muttered. “Well, since I’ve made up my mind to escape her claws, I might as
Mark took a seat and poured himself a glass. “Alright, spill it. What happened between you and Tiffany that she allowed you to come to a place like this alone?”Jackson sank back into the couch and sighed. “Goddamnit. In the end, I’m right about the benefits of staying unmarried! Now, now, before you call me an a**hole for thinking like that, hear me out. I’m so done with that new kid at home! Seriously, that kid never! Stops! Yapping! All day, all night. It doesn’t matter, he yaps until no one gets to sleep. I swear, I’m gonna die out from extreme exhaustion if this keeps up,” he ranted, “You know what’s worse? Tiffany’s extremely patient with the little rascal. However, all her bad mood is vented on me! She exhausted all her patience with the kid and has none left for me! As if I have anything to do with it! Seriously, Mark, have you ever been so frustrated when you first started this whole being-a-father business?”Mark thought for a second before he replied, “Uh, actually, I’m ok
Janice looked at Mark and noticed his silence so she sat next to him. “I do part-time jobs because I don’t have anything else to do after work anyway. I get paid very well in these places. I’m paid by day so I don’t think it’s too bad…”“Are you short of money?” Mark asked casually. He believed that her family must be in dire straits since she used to receive financial aid from him. She had to work part-time, likely because she lacked funds.Janice lowered her head. “I’m fine. I’m not particularly short on cash. I’m out in society now so it’s different from when I was a student. I spend a lot more now so I have to work a little harder. That way, I can live with a little more dignity and won’t need to feel so out of place among the people around me.”Jackson was slightly tipsy so he had grown chatty. “That’s a good idea. You have to earn money through legal means, regardless. There’s nothing shameful about it. You’re not feeling this way because you met your boss, are you? Don’t worr
Mark rose to his feet and straightened out his clothes before he bluntly replied, “You should avoid fanciful thoughts and just do your job. It doesn’t matter if I’m distancing myself from you, I’m your boss. That’s our only connection. I’ve provided financial aid for a lot of people. I’ve never considered asking for repayment.”Then, he left the bar at once. He lifted his hand to sniff his collar when he entered the car. He made sure the smell of alcohol on him was not too strong before he relaxed. He could sense that Arianne disliked him drinking. The thought of her pulling a long face gave him a headache. He was truly helpless whenever that woman was involved....As expected, Tiffany burst into anger the moment Jackson arrived home reeking of alcohol. “Aren’t you supposed to be working overtime? So you went drinking instead?” Her chest was heaving heavily from her anger.Jackson felt his scalp tingle. “My mom says that breastfeeding mothers shouldn’t get angry, it’ll spoil the m
Jackson grabbed her wrists. His eyes were filled with exhaustion. “I only went drinking with Mark. I didn’t do anything else, that’s the truth. Forget it, I’ll be honest with you. This isn’t the life I want. I only planned on having you in my life, not my mother living with us or a kid. I can’t accept having two additional people in the house all of a sudden. It’s so noisy every day. It doesn’t feel merry to me, it’s uncomfortable. It’s torture. Every time the baby cries at night, I’ll wake up and can’t go back to sleep. I’m close to dying from exhaustion.”Tiffany stared at him, taken aback. “If you love me, you should love everything else about me. That’s our baby, not some ba*tard I had with someone else. You’re his biological father! One more thing, that’s your mother. Why are you so uncomfortable? It’s not like you didn’t agree to have the baby. What are you talking about?”Bolstered by liquid courage, Jackson took a deep breath and gave voice to his feelings. “Yes, I didn’t dis
Jackson was helpless. “I don’t think you’ve read the doctor’s recommendation after you’ve been discharged. You need to wait for two months. Just give me a moment, I’ll come to bed after my shower. Go to bed first, it’s late. You won’t have any milk if you stay up too late. You don’t have much to begin with.Tiffany watched him walk into the shower skeptically. She thought she would be fine in a month. However, the breast milk production issue was strange. Arianne was so frail, and yet, she was able to feed Aristotle. She was much healthier than Arianne, but she had to supplement her baby with milk formula. Regardless of the nutrients she had taken, it was futile....The next day, Tiffany brought the subject up to Summer while Jackson had gone to the office. “Mom, you can bring the baby home with you. I’d like to go back to work. I’m getting bored. We’ll have dinner at your place after work to visit the baby before coming home. We’ll take the baby out for some fun during the weekend
Tiffany nodded and released Summer. Actually, she really could not bear to part with Plato. The thought of it made her anxious. Most women would put their babies at the center of their universe after having a baby. However, she could not ignore Jackson who was clearly distressed.Two hours later, Atticus arrived in a car. Tiffany watched her son taken away from her with tears streaming down her face. As the saying went, ‘Nothing ventured, nothing gained.’ This was probably the case.Her home suddenly felt empty. She could not stay at home any longer and called Arianne. She found out Arianne was sketching outside and immediately drove over to meet her. She needed to rant and would die if she continued to hold it in.She arrived at a park with a lake where Arianne was. Her eyes brimmed with tears when they met up. “Ari, Jackson’s mom is raising my baby.”Arianne took out her earphones and asked, “What’s going on? This is so sudden. I thought you were going to personally take care of
Seeing this, Jett turned the car around.After a while, Alejandro said, “Send the picture to Arianne and Tiffany.”Jett nodded. “By the way, Don Smith has asked you to visit Mrs. Smith in Ayashe soon. When do you plan on going? I’ll book your flight tickets.”Alejandro furrowed his brows. “If Melanie wants to see me, she can personally come and see me. Didn’t she return to Ayashe because she thinks I’m an eyesore? Ignore that old bat. Let him do whatever he wants. If he’s so eager to maintain relations between our families, he should do it himself.”...Meanwhile, Arianne and Tiffany had gone to a restaurant.Tiffany’s phone rang just as they placed their orders. She happily checked her phone, thinking that it was from Jackson. To her surprise, it was a picture from an anonymous number. The picture showed a booth in a bar with romantic and dim lighting. A woman dressed in a bunny costume sat next to Jackson. The pair could be seen sitting together, smiling, and drinking. Upon see