Jett noticed the tears in his eyes when he returned to the car. His jaw dropped. Only Tiffany could reduce him to this.“Drive,” Alejandro ordered, “Back to the office.”Jett quickly turned the car around, too afraid to say another word. At that moment, anything he said would put him on the chopping block.Tiffany watched as Alejandro’s car drove off and heaved a sigh of relief. She hoped that he would listen to her. She was not sure if she made the right decision by meeting him. However, it seemed like she had developed the courage to face her past. It was a great feeling. All of her sadness had turned into a heavy weight, and she would have to let it go at some point. Letting go would be the sign of a new turn for her.She slowly walked away after finishing her cup of coffee. However, when she arrived at the café entrance, she panicked. Jackson’s car was parked at the side of the road near the café! Did he catch her in the act? She was sure he was not there just a few minutes ago
Alejandro stared at Jett for a few seconds. “If only you were a woman. Perhaps, I’d feel some sort of comfort. Stop dawdling here. I don’t need you to watch over me.”Jett was firm in his decision and did not leave.“I’m not that nice to you. Don’t you hold a grudge against?” Alejandro remarked in a self-mocking tone, “Don Smith is gone now. You probably want to leave as well, don’t you? If you really want to leave, I’ll set you free.”“I’ve considered it before,” Jett replied seriously, “But, I’ve changed my mind. You’re not exactly nice to me, but you’re not bad either. Who’s to say that I won’t end up in an even worse predicament if I switch bosses? Why would I want to go through that? Besides, I’m used to staying with you.”Alejandro stroked his chin and stared at him calmly. “I never would have thought that you’d have such steadfast loyalty to me.” Then, a sense of loss welled up in his heart. “Hey Jett, tell me, am I destined to have bad luck with women? Did my sins sever my
Melanie instinctively bolted downstairs when she heard the car. She lunged at Alejandro when she saw him and grabbed his shirt. “Give my baby back to me! She’s not used to powdered milk, and she cries whenever she’s away from me! Where did you take her?”Alejandro took a breath. “Why are you always so… emotional? Can you calm down? She’s my daughter too. What can I possibly do to her? Go back to the room, calm down, and I’ll tell the nanny to bring Melissa to you. At this rate… You’ll scare the baby.”Melanie did not notice the gentleness in his tone. She was going crazy. She was afraid that he would imprison her. In fact, he was doing it right now. He would not let her leave, be near her baby, or contact anyone. “Who’s the frightening one? You’re the most frightening one of all!”Alejandro’s body stiffened imperceptibly. “Is that what you think of me? Fine… Since you won’t listen when I’m talking to you nicely, I don’t have to be civil. If you don’t go back into the room and wait l
It took her a long time to calm down. She bit the back of her hand until it bled in order to do so. By the time she got up and went back into the room, Alejandro had already finished with his shower and was sitting by the window, smoking. The grim expression on his face was not very obvious under the warm light. In fact, it softened his face. She gathered her courage and pulled out the letter of divorce. “I drew this up last night at home. I’ve said it before, I just want the baby. Please, I’m begging you, sign this.”Alejandro turned to the side and looked at the agreement in her hand. His gaze trailed up her arm. He was shocked when he saw her bloodied hand. “I’m not the one driving you mad here, you’re driving yourself mad. Put down the paper and bandage wound. I need some time to think.”She let out a sigh of relief when he did not blow up. She placed the paper in a spot nearest to him. Then, she pulled out the first aid kit and sat on the bed, cleaning and bandaging her wound. I
Mark shot him a look and irritably replied, “What do you mean ‘a woman like Arianne’? Watch your words.”Alejandro laughed carelessly. “I don’t mean it in a derogatory way. I just mean she’s not easy to deal with. She’s a woman who’d rather die than give in. How did you convince her to be with you? I’m very curious…”Mark did not answer his question. Instead, he asked another question of his own. “I’ve heard that there have been threats of a divorce on your end. Are you at your wit’s end? Is that why you came to speak to me? The prerequisite to making a woman devote herself to you is for her to love you.”Alejandro was apprehensive. “Then, what if she’s already in love? Why does she suddenly want a divorce? What would one do under these circumstances?” He was confident that Melanie was still in love with him.Mark displayed hints of annoyance on his face. “That’s your problem. Stop bothering me, I’m busy. Don’t you have anything better to do? Did you come all the way here just to f
Melanie was a little taken aback. “How could it be? He wouldn’t even let me go out without a fight. Even if I’m allowed out, Jett has to come along. Do you know why? Because he’s scared that I might bring Melissa back to Ayashe. I… I’ve been discussing the prospect of a divorce with him, but for some reason, he wouldn’t sign the paper.”“It’s obvious he doesn’t want a divorce,” Arianne said, trying to analyze Melanie’s situation. “You two have been married for more than a year now. You even have a daughter together. And a divorce… isn’t something to be taken lightly. Why would you want that? You can share your reasons with me.”Melanie watched the clouds drifting in the sky as she murmured, “Initially, I was truly happy about our marriage. I love him, sincerely and passionately. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him as happily as we could be. But time and time again, he broke my heart. These sorrows and disappointment, they accumulate, you know? Then, one day, you wake up an
The two women only bade each other farewell and went their separate ways when it was almost dusk.Melanie emerged from the conversation a visibly spirited woman. It seemed like this stemmed from having her worries soothed.She returned to Smith Manor and resumed her old ways without mentioning getting a divorce. She told herself that she would give both Alejandro and herself one last chance.Jett had furtively reported Melanie’s new emotional development to Alejandro.Upon hearing that, Alejandro stopped hiding and went home earlier than usual to play with his daughter. He acted as though nothing had happened as well. He only stopped playing with Melissa when she began to bawl and nothing he did could soothe her.No one mentioned the divorce. No one knew if Alejandro had quietly tossed the divorce agreement that Melanie had given him earlier away....Tremont Estate.As soon as Mark stepped through the door, he discovered Arianne was regarding him with a strange expression on h
Arianne nodded. “That’s a pretty good idea. But I thought Alejandro is looking to work with you in the long term? It’s a little bit dishonorable to use him as a learning opportunity and to dump him in the future, right? Suppose Alejandro knows that you’re tagging along only because you’re looking to accumulate experiences for your own transportation business in the future. Won’t this sow a seed of grudge in him?”Mark had, naturally, considered this as well. “Oh, please. Any scenario you come up with, I’ve already thought about it, and so did Alejandro, I bet. He knows I’m reluctant to have a long term partnership or an exclusive contract. However, if he can’t stomach less savory prospects like these, then, he can pack it up and quit being a businessman.”Mark continued to say, “Moreover, I was just casually talking about venturing into the transportation business. I didn’t put any real thought into it yet. After all, Tremont Enterprise has so many ventures that I don’t think I shoul