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
Alejandro’s voice echoed behind her. “Something terrible has happened to my brother.”Arianne’s legs wobbled. She almost fell walking down the steps. Fortunately, Alejandro caught her hand in the nick of time. However, his grip was a little too tight.She righted herself and willed herself to calm down. “W-w-we should talk in the living room, okay? T-t-tell me what happened?”Alejandro waited until she took a seat on the couch before he recounted what happened. “The freight ship we boarded is wrecked. I don’t understand. I’ve ordered countless inspections and made sure that it had no faults and is in top condition. We encountered mild turbulence at sea, but it shouldn’t pose a problem to a ship like that. It… it doesn’t make sense why it’s so weak. Someone must have sabotaged the ship, someone wants to kill me! Or maybe… maybe the target is Mark. I don’t know. I really don’t know. When we were trying to save ourselves, we discovered the lifeboats have been sabotaged as well. Not eve
Arianne only moved when Henry looked for her. Staying stationary in the same position brought a wave of nausea when she finally moved. However, compared to the agony roiling in her heart and body, it was nothing. She took a few deep breaths and mustered up her courage before she said, “Henry, please bring some people with you and assist them in the search and rescue. As for the company, I’ll handle it. Remember, this piece of news cannot be leaked. No matter what the rumors might be, not a word about Mark’s death is allowed to get out.”Henry nodded. “Understood. I’m on it.”Arianne’s face was as white as a sheet of paper. She was like a husk, as though her spirit had left her body. She went to her dressing table and plastered her ashen face with makeup to look somewhat more presentable before she changed and left the house.Her first destination, she told Brian, was her company. There, she informed Mr. Yaleman that she wanted to quit without giving him any reason. Her poor ex-boss