Arianne took Aristotle for a bath after a short rest. Mary was old, so Arianne would take care of Aristotle’s needs whenever she was home. She was exhausted but happy to do it. Childhood only happened once, and it was fleeting. She did not want to miss out on Aristotle’s growth.Heavy snow was falling outside, but the house was just warm enough. After a tiring time in the bathroom, Arianne emerged, drenched in sweat. However, the sight of the fresh-smelling Aristotle brought her a sense of fulfillment. She carried Aristotle back to the room, put on his clothes, and put him in his cot. “Mommy’s going to take a bath. Have fun with daddy, okay?”Aristotle grinned at her as he ate his fingers. She smiled back.Mark walked to the cot and looked at Aristotle. “Do you want me to treat you like how Jackson treats Tiffany?” he asked her.Arianne was taken aback. Then, she answered seriously, “I do, and I don’t. Women like being taken care of, but everyone is different. You and Jackson are v
Suddenly, Aristotle woke up, probably because of the sudden noise. He crawled up from the side of his bed with his tiny arms. “Yaya…”Mark stiffened. He shut his eyes helplessly, surrendered, and got up to coax his son. “Aren’t you supposed to be asleep? If you’re going to sleep, stay asleep. Why are you crawling up?”Arianne wanted to laugh but held it all back. “Then I’ll leave Smore to you. I’ve got work tomorrow, so I’m going to bed.”The next day, Brian took the day off, saying that he had to go back to his hometown for a blind date. Thus, Mark drove himself.“Wait for me, I’ll pick you up after work,” he said after dropping off Arianne at the office.Arianne nodded. She was just about to open the car door when he pulled her back in. He didn’t say a word and simply stared at her. His gaze was slightly begrudging.She carefully planted a kiss on his lips, and he finally let go. She noticed that he had become extra clingy since last night. Not only had he personally helped dry
Arianne didn’t like being patient. She did not want to shoulder such baseless accusations. Her intention was to teach Robin, not just to order her around. She got up and deliberately raised her voice. “Robin, I haven’t looked into how the sample got destroyed. Even though we salvaged it in the end and there was no particular setback, we can’t just let go of something like this. I’m going to request for the surveillance footage from Mr. Yaleman. You take care of these sketches. Thank you.”Robin knew that Arianne was going to kick up a fuss, so she carefully replied, “Mm.”There were surveillance cameras in every corner of the office, including the workshop. Everything was clear once they checked the footage. The staff who usually bossed Robin around had been the ones behind it. They hadn’t known that it was Arianne’s sample and had to use the mannequin the next day. Thus, they had taken out the sample straight away. That would have been fine, except that they had cruelly planned on m
Janice’s expression froze slightly into that of uncertainty. A few moments later, she recovered and held her palms together, bidding farewell. “If you’d excuse me…”After she left, Mark yanked Davy into his office and lambasted, “You’ve got one job, Davy—just one! Your seat is right outside my office door, and you can’t even guard my door? Since when have I ever allowed anyone to enter my space without my explicit permission? This floor is a restricted area, and unless it’s something urgent, no one would be able to come in, got it? This is my last warning, Davy. If I see Janice Bell inside my office without my knowledge, you’re fired!”Davy was dumbfounded. “B-But, Sir, I’ve never seen you express any problem with this? A-And the two of you always seem so close, and so I thought you wouldn’t mind something like this,” he explained. “Then there’s the fact that she has this charismatic way with people and knows the exact right word at the exact right time. It’s not easy resisting a cha
Outside an abortion operation studio in the hospital, Alejandro sat on his wheelchair and waited quietly with Jett loyally standing beside him. Melanie was in the middle of the surgery.The little thing which came without his blessing would soon be removed. Alejandro had thought that he would be unperturbed by the entire process, and indeed, that was the case when they arrived at the hospital in the morning or when Melanie was doing a series of pre-surgical checkups.Then his wife was sent into the studio, and he suddenly became restless and troubled. He thought of how Tiffany and her large baby bump looked like. He remembered Smore’s cute little face. He did not hate kids—he just hated the idea of fashioning posterity from his unsightly, ignoble blood.“Mr. Smith, what if Don Smith found out about this? I mean, he might be able to tell from tiny details of Melanie’s recovery, since we’re all living under the same roof, which makes it very hard to conceal the effects of this abortio
“All I did was to back out of a decision I made, and you’re already so obnoxiously thankful for it?” Alejandro snapped. “Seriously, thanking me for something like this? Do you honestly see this as some kinda royal pardon? Despicable. You’re Melanie Smith née Lark, the princess of the Lark family. You have no reason to kowtow to anyone! And you should have fought me harder and never agreed to abandon that child.”His words baffled Melanie, especially since he was the one who had taken both hard and soft power to make her bend to his will. “What are you saying? I… I didn’t wanna start a fight with you because of the baby. Regardless of how I wanted to be a mother, if you insist on not wanting a kid of our own, I’ll still defer to you for the sake of our future together.”“Ha. That wasn’t your way of telling me that you’ve fallen in love with me, was it?” Alejandro jeered.Melanie froze, finding herself hard-pressed to reply to him. The mocking tone stung her right at heart, making the
As though noticing Arianne’s attention, Mark quickly turned to meet her eyes briefly. “What are you looking at? Is there something on my face?”Arianne averted her eyes guiltily. “Excuse you! I wasn’t looking at you. I was looking at… Er, the beautiful scenery outside your window! Look at the weather today—it’s great! It’s not snowing! It’s a bit cold, though.”He raised his eyebrows in skepticism. “And what’s so different about the scenery from your window and mine, huh? Is it so great that you had to try to look past me for it? Should I apologize for blocking your view?”Arianne’s tongue was tied in embarrassment. Why did he have to expose her like that?They arrived at the fancy Italian fine-diner Mark had booked. When they stepped through the door, Mark placed his hand on his hip to form a small loop for Arianne, who naturally hooked her arm through it.Her heart was beating fast. She had to admit that going on a date definitely brought some highs.Arianne deliberately picked
Arianne was still perplexing over the origin of this ring when Mark pointed out, “I designed it myself a long time ago. Revamped a bit and had someone craft it for three months. I only decided to give it to you after I was satisfied enough.”His admission reminded Arianne—she had seen its design plan in his study when she was still a kid! This was why she felt as though she had seen it before!Back then, Arianne had imagined the ring to be something Mark had designed for his future wife. How would she have known that the same ring would one day fall on her hand?Fate was an enigmatic mistress. By her machination, Arianne’s life was bound to Mark’s for this lifetime.She closed the box carefully, clearly not intending to wear the ring right there and then. She was afraid of losing it during work.Mark was a little displeased with her action. In fact, his handsome face became stormy. “You’re not gonna wear it?”“Well, I don’t want to lose it…”“I can always hire someone to remake