He had bound himself to the fame and expectations of a “renowned fashion designer,” and he knew that Jessica could easily ruin him through that. Either Jessica falls alone, or he dies along with her—it was high time that Sylvain made a decision.He might still wear the glorious façade of prestige in public, but he knew better. His current life had ceased to provide him with even a shadow of design inspiration, and he had not produced any exceptional work for at least half a year. He had become nothing more than a useless parasite leeching off a woman.Jessica was right to suspect his ulterior motive for returning. Yes, it was because of Robin Cox—the girl with a name most befitting of her character. She was a happy, chirping robin in a bright, sunny day. Whenever Sylvain was with her, he also felt his personhood acknowledged. He felt as though he was slowly reanimating, and his creativity—stifled for half a year—began to see signs of life.The one thing Sylvain wanted the most was t
Instead of turning red in frustration and slamming down the phone, Mark simply placed his hand on top of the folder and replied calmly, “Oh, is that so? You’re that confident that I won’t ever dig up your secrets, huh?”Jessica was sure that her secrets were secured. “Do I sound like I have doubts? So, are we gonna meet up?”Mark’s lips twisted into a smirk. “No, I don’t think I will. In fact, if you’ve got nothing to say now, I’ll hang up right away.”After that, he hung up. To Mark, the victor in this battle had already emerged.The next day started with multiple major international media websites breaking all kinds of intimate photos between Jessica and many different men. Eyeball-popping as they were, they instantly became viral both within and outside the country.The bombshell news then escalated into such drastic levels that many prominent media sites had censored much of the details even before Jessica could personally conduct damage control. Unfortunately, the censors wer
Jessica’s raging fit eventually died, but in its wake, pure spite and malice lingered in her eyes.Quickly, she booted up her laptop and disseminated the story between her and Sylvain out into the public. If her world was going to crumble, then she might as well drag someone down with her.A few days later, the most recent development in Jessica's scandals made headlines back home. The strength of the gathered evidence, along with her affront to legality and common decency, effectively cemented Jessica as guilty. She was sentenced to three years of imprisonment.The case’s ripple effect then passed onto famous male fashion designers who had worked closely with her. Since many of their illicit relationships with Jessica were also publicly outed, their future was more or less doomed.Arianne was one of the last persons to have heard about the entire debacle. In fact, she only caught wind of it because her co-workers were engrossed in the discussion the scandal had sparked. Sure, Mark
Arianne was stunned for a second before relief overwashed her. “Ah. So Sylvain still has a conscience after all. I know his betrayal was more of a self-preserving gambit than anything, but hey… he made a good choice.”‘And, at least, Robin didn’t fall in love with the wrong person,’ she added in her head.“Sylvain sent you home once, didn’t he?” Mark suddenly took a sharp turn in their discussion. “You don’t happen to think I knew nothing about it, do you? And also, what’s with this relief in your voice, huh? What, happy that some other guy isn’t a complete douchebag?”Arianne pursed her lips. “Oh, so someone’s installed security cameras on the entrance gate and spied on me, huh? ‘Cause I know for a fact that Mary wouldn’t have told you that. But to get to your question: yes, he did send me home once. That was before I knew him well enough!—Scrap that; I still don't know him well enough even now. And didn’t he get close to me out of an ulterior motive? I was the one who received him
Of course, Mark denied the request. “Don’t even think about it. My face is not your torture device. I will not look like a sissy.”The more he protested, the more Arianne wanted to do it. She pulled out a facial mask and forced him down on the bed. “Don’t move. It’ll be over soon. You’ll love it. Your face will be all soft and fragrant by the time I’m done. Isn’t that wonderful? Come on, let’s try.”Mark vehemently objected. He twisted his head around. “No!”He began to give up when he noticed droplets of water from the facial mask on his body. He was now too afraid to make any more big movements. “Take it away. I don’t need it!”Realizing that his struggling had lessened, Arianne swiftly pasted the facial mask on his face. “See, isn't it better to listen to me? You just had to struggle, didn’t you?”Suddenly, Arianne’s phone rang. She already had her way, so she got down from bed to answer the call. She reminded him, “Take care of that yourself. Don’t leave it all scrunched up or
Once she sensed his slightly stiffened body relax, Arianne went to sleep in peace.…The weather was getting warmer in spring. Warm winter wear was shirked off and Aristotle was now crawling even faster than before. Not even Arianne could keep up with him, let alone Mary. She usually ended up drenched in sweat from chasing him around. Furthermore, Aristotle had begun showing signs of learning to walk and would prop himself against a wall to take two steps, then stumble and fall on his bum. Even so, he didn’t cry. He was a strong baby.Tiffany was getting ready for the birth and would call Arianne every day lately, asking her questions on what the baby would need and what to prepare. She would ask the same question countless times, over and over again. She was getting overly worried.Jackson had completely let go of work too. He stayed with Tiffany every day, refusing to leave her at all.Tiffany checked into the hospital during the estimated time of her birth. She had initially de
“Tiffany’s about to pop too, isn’t she?”Arianne turned to the side to look and found Jett holding a lunch box. Looks like Tanya had checked in at the hospital to wait for her birth too. After all, she conceived around the same time as Tiffany. She nodded. “That’s right. Tanya’s almost due too, isn’t she?”“Mm,” Jett replied. The elevator door opened then. He stayed in his spot and let Arianne go in first. Then, he followed.Now, it seemed that everything Tanya had gone through was for nothing. Jett was the father of her baby, and a meticulous and chivalrous man. Tanya would have a good life with him.Arianne and Jett weren’t close, so they simply exchanged a few conversational words.However, bumping into Jett served as a reminder for Arianne that there was a ticking time bomb in the form of Alejandro, lying in wait. Who knew when he would decide to explode?Smith Manor.At the dinner table, Don Smith took meticulous care of Melanie. The table was filled with an array of nutrit
Alejandro frowned at the mention of Tiffany’s name. “Stop fixating on other people’s business and take care of yourself.”“You’re worried that I’m paying Tiffany too much attention, aren’t you?” she asked. “Don’t worry, I won’t do anything to her. That’s not who I am. I’m just giving you an update on her condition. You’d be keeping an eye on her too, even if I kept my mouth shut, wouldn’t you?”Alejandro didn’t deny it. It’s true, he had been paying close attention to everything about Tiffany, including her checking into the hospital to wait for her delivery. He knew all about it.At that moment, Melanie truly felt exhausted. It was an exhaustion that stemmed from her mental state. Alejandro was like a rock, a rock that would never warm up. No matter how much she tried, she would only ever have a cold reception from him. His occasional display of warmth was simply to put on a show for outsiders.She didn’t want to live the next half of her pregnancy in depression. After a long paus