As always, there was storm-like rapacity in Alejandro’s kiss. Melanie pushed him away in panic, yelling, “I… I’ll be going now! You, um, rest early too!”Before she could rise, Alejandro gripped her by her waist. “I want you tonight.”Melanie was hardpressed to answer him. Part of her welcomed the invitation, yet a larger part of her was repelled by it. It was a strange repulsion that was somehow sowed since giving birth to Melissa. Indeed, carnal impulses occasionally took form in her mind, but she didn’t want to realize them. Whenever a chance to indulge in sex presented itself, she would feel repulsed and wished to flee instead.If she had to pin the cause on something, Melanie would point her finger at childbirth. She had once searched the internet about her condition and found that some women experienced the same thing, but no one seemed to know why it happened.Overwhelmed, Melanie held onto the desk behind her. “Please don’t…”Alejandro looked up at her rosy cheeks and mutt
As they talked, a younger woman crossed into the yard. Sallow skinned, she donned a pair of rain boots, her hair unkempt and messy after an uncaring treatment by the breeze, her hands full with a dirty bucket full of pig feed. Noticing strangers in her house, the woman became wary, and she remained standing in the yard with no signs of coming inside.The older woman walked up to the door and called, “Sarah, sweetie, come in! Mr. Smith has come to see us. Oh, look at how splendid these city men are! They wear good, look good, and are so, so rich.”Alejandro, who hated sitting on that stool, took this as a chance to leap on his feet and approached the yard. “Good day, Mrs. Orange. I’m Alejandro Smith—your husband’s boss.”The woman nodded and said nothing. She seemed to be a very reticent, taciturn woman; no one could tell if this was her nature or if there was another reason behind it.In comparison, the old woman was overly talkative. “Oh, Mr. Smith, don’t you mind her. We women in
Sarah’s face turned pale. “Stop it, Mr. Smith. As long as he still sends home money, I don’t care what game he plays out there. Ain’t this how life is? I stay at home and take care of his old ma and our kid; he goes outside, sweating his blood and tears making money. I understand if he wants to have fun sometimes, it’s fine. But now, he’s dead. We don’t mind any amount of money you give, so if there’s nothing more to say, then excuse me.”Alejandro dropped the affected cordiality in his voice. “I’m sure you already know: if I ever find his a**, I’ll make him as dead as he’s supposed to be. He’s already dead in the eyes of the law, right? So what’s wrong with killing a dead man, hmm? Not even the cops think he’s alive. Now, since I know he’s alive, I won’t stop until I find him, whether it’s with your help or not. Don’t worry though, after I’m done with your dear husband, I’ll make sure I send his severed head to you just to let you know how he’s holding up. After all, you people have
All Alejandro needed was for one of them to talk.He signaled his man to release the woman from his clutch, but Sarah remained kneeling on the floor, too petrified to stand. “I know Jeffery must have done something sinful—something against the Lord—and I don’t wanna protect him, but he’s my husband and my son’s father. I have no choice!”Alejandro tossed his cigarette butt out to the yard. With a faint frizzle, its last ember died, drowning in damp soil. “I get you, Mrs. Orange, which is why I need you to call Jeffrey right now and tell him to come home. I don’t care what excuse you make. I just want him here. I’ll wait, but if he doesn’t show up tonight, your son won’t show up tomorrow.”“W-what happens then?” Sarah asked, her voice trembling. “What’ll you do to him—kill him?”“Don’t you call!” The old woman cracked out a shrill.The bodyguard reacted by slapping her, which Alejandro tacitly approved by not stopping him. “Oh, no. I still need a witness, after all. If he does as h
The woman’s gaze went blank for one second. “I don’t know. I’ll probably take my son and hightail out of here, as far as we can go. The Oranges are a difficult bunch. It’ll be my fault that Jeffery’s going to prison, and the old bat won’t let me get away with it. I’m also scared that Jeffery would take revenge on me after his release. So, I have to get as far away as I can.”Alejandro agreed with her train of thought. “That’s right. That’s exactly what you should do. Instead of serving an ungrateful family, why not live a carefree life? I don’t see any sign of happiness on you. Life is hard enough. Why add difficulties? It’s best to live out your life comfortably, regardless of whether you have money or not.”The woman packed her and her son’s luggages in her free time. It looked like she had decided to leave immediately once Jeffrey was taken into custody.The old woman sat tied to the chair with her mouth gagged, weeping to the skies, as if she were trying to commit suicide with h
Alejandro was suspicious. “Seaton spoke to you, personally? He let you know who he was? Is he that careless?”Jeffrey spilled the beans. “I’ve been living in the big city for a long time. Of course, I’ve seen those famous business people on the news, even if I don’t meet them in person. Seaton’s men took me to a mansion. I’ve never seen such a nice house in my life. Seaton talked to me with his back facing me, but I could tell that he was foreign. I even saw his picture on the wall, a large frame just hanging on the wall. It was Seaton. He was so generous. I’d never earned that much money in my life, so I was brainwashed by the money he offered. That’s why I agreed. Please let me go, just this once.”Alejandro now understood. He asked his bodyguards to release Jeffrey. “If you want to live, Jeffrey Orange, you will testify as our witness like a good boy, tell the judge everything you know.”Jeffrey was still a clever man. “But… Even if we report him, he won’t get a death sentence. H
Mark closed his eyes to rest in the plane during their flight back to the country. Alejandro was chattering incessantly next to him. “Could you give me some of the shares from Seaton’s company? Tremont Enterprises has just overcome a critical juncture, and the money you have will be more than enough. I pretty much shared the burden with you, and it’s not like it's our first partnership.”“30%. Pay up,” Mark agreed swiftly.Alejandro could tell that he was in a good mood, so he decided to take advantage. “Since you trust me now, can we convert our transportation agreement to an exclusive contract?”Mark shot him a sidelong glance. “Why are you fixating on that transportation agreement? It’s not like you rely on it to put food on the table. Whacko.”Alejandro refused to give up. “No one would refuse money. Just say yes or no.”“I’ll consider it. Continue annoying me and we’ll have nothing to discuss,” Mark snapped, annoyed with him.Alejandro tactfully stopped talking. At some poin
By the time he arrived back at the Tremont Estate, it was already growing dark. Arianne knew that Mark would be coming home today, so she asked Mary to prepare a sumptuous dinner beforehand.“Are you okay with selling off Wynn Mansion?” Mark suddenly asked during dinner.“I had no choice, we were short on cash back then,” Arianne replied casually. “Besides, you put a lot of money into the renovations. It’s fine. No one was going to live in it anyway, and we would’ve had to spend money on its maintenance.”Mark knew that deep down, she felt differently. She must’ve wanted to keep Wynn Mansion, but it wouldn’t be easy to get it back, now that it was sold.“You don’t have to get Wynn Mansion back,” she said seriously, as if she had seen right through him. “There’s no need. It’s done. The Wynns have separated, some are already dead. Why should we keep that old mansion? It was supposed to be a keepsake, but it’s come into good use, so it’s not so bad. The new owners will certainly tak